Managed Search Index Servers
A managed search index server is a server instance of the Apache Solr™ enterprise search platform controlled by the Model Manager server itself. The Managed Search Index Servers page, opened by clicking Search Index Servers in the System navigation sidebar, shows a table with the configurations of all such managed search index servers. If you selected during installation to let Model Manager server automatically set up a new database, or if you kept the suggested configuration settings for the search indexes when adding the database on first launch, a single configuration — Default managed Apache Solr™ server — is initially shown in the table. See also The Default Managed Database.
Links to the Managed Search Index Servers page are hidden in the web interface if you cleared the Managed Apache Solr™ checkbox in the Products step of the Model Manager server installation.
Click on the label of a managed search index server in the table to show more details for that managed server. Click the Add button to add a managed search index server.
Adding Managed Search Index Servers
You can add a managed search index server to the Model Manager server from the Add Managed Search Index Server page. This is useful, for example, if you want to use different options than the default ones for the automatically added managed search index server but at the same time want to keep it around as a reference. You would also need to add the managed search index server if you want to connect to one that already exists on the file system, possibly created from another Model Manager server installation.
To add a managed search index server:
1
Write a label for the managed search index server in the Label field.
The label is only used for display purposes in the Model Manager server web interface.
2
Write the path on the file system where the data directory for the managed search index server is located in the Data directory field. The data directory will be automatically created if it does not already exist on the file system.
The data directory must be located on a physical disk. Placing the directory on a network disk is not supported.
3
Specify the maximum heap memory that will be allocated to the Java virtual machine (JVM) of the managed search index server in the Heap memory list. Select Default to keep the default settings for the server. Select Custom and specify an integer value in either megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).
The Default setting is recommended as a starting point. As your Model Manager server database grows in size, you could consider increasing the value if the current heap memory usage — as displayed on The Managed Search Index Server Page — stays close to the maximum value for an extended period of time.
4
Select when and how the managed search index server is started in the Start mode list. Select Automatic if the server should start when the Model Manager server is started or when the search index server is first used by a Model Manager database. Select Manual if the server must be manually started on The Managed Search Index Server Page.
5
Click Save to add the new configuration. The data directory will be automatically created as needed the next time the managed search index server is started.
The specified data directory must be empty if you want to create a new managed search index server. A nonempty data directory is assumed to belong to an existing managed search index server that you want to add a configuration for in the Model Manager server.
When the Start Mode is set to Manual, the parent directory to the data directory must already exist on the file system for the managed search index server to successfully start. If it does not exist, you can manually create it from The Managed Search Index Server Page. Parent directories are created automatically for Start Mode set to Automatic.
Placing the data directory of a managed search index server on a network file system is not supported — see also Installation Planning.
At least two search indexes need to be added to the managed search index server in order to use it for a Model Manager server database — see Search Indexes.
Unlike Managed SQL Database Servers and Managed Resources Directories, a managed search index server requires no backup.
The Managed Search Index Server Page
The Managed Search Index Server page contains details on the configuration of a managed search index server added to the Model Manager server — see Adding Managed Search Index Servers. The configuration fields are:
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Platform. The search platform used for the managed search index server.
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Label. The label of the managed search index server. Used for display purposes in the Model Manager server web interface.
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Heap memory. The maximum heap memory that will be allocated to the Java virtual machine (JVM) of the managed search index server — Default if the default setting is used for the server, otherwise a custom size in either megabytes or gigabytes.
The current heap memory usage is displayed below the maximum heap memory setting. You should consider increasing the setting if the current usage remains close to the maximum value for an extended period of time.
The JVM on some platforms may not respect a too low of a value for the Heap memory field and instead end up using a larger value than specified.
•
Data directory. The file system path to the data directory of the managed search index server.
The currently available disk space on the file storage containing the data directory is shown below the path.
You can see the current status of the data directory in its Status field. If the data directory does not exist on the file system, click the Create button to create it.
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Start mode. The start mode of the managed search index server — Automatic if the server starts when the Model Manager server is started or when the search index server is used by a Model Manager database, Manual if the server must be manually started.
The adjacent Status field shows, for example, if the server is currently running together with its current uptime or if the server has failed to start due to some configuration issue. For the latter case, read the nested error information to look for hints to the underlying cause.
Click the Stop button to stop a running managed search index server. Click Start to start it.
To edit the configuration for a managed search index server, proceed as follows:
1
Deactivate all Model Manager server databases using Search Indexes in the managed search index server. See also The Database Page.
2
Click the Stop button to stop the managed search index server.
3
Click the Edit button.
4
Enter the new configuration settings. If you change any directory paths, manually move the corresponding directories on the file system via, for example, a system file explorer before saving.
5
Click the Save button.
6
Start the managed search index server if not automatically started.
7
Activate all databases deactivated in the first step.
Deleting a Managed Search Index Server Configuration
Click the Delete Permanently button to permanently delete the configuration.
Clicking Delete Permanently will only delete the configuration for the managed search index server; it will not delete its data directory. You can add an existing search index server again by adding a new configuration that points to its data directory.
Search Indexes
The search data used by the Model Manager search functionality is populated in search indexes in the managed search index server. A Model Manager server database requires two search indexes. The search indexes are stored inside the data directory for the managed search index server.
A search index cannot be shared between Model Manager databases. Multiple Model Manager databases may, however, share the same managed search index server.
The Search indexes section shows a table with all search indexes in the search index server. The table columns are:
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The Name column — the name of the search index.
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The Used by column — the Model Manager database using the search index, if any.
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The permanently delete column — click the Delete Permanently button to permanently delete the search index.
A permanently deleted search index can be recreated by first adding back a new, empty, search index. The empty search index is then automatically populated with search data when the Model Manager server database using the search index is activated.
To add a new search index, write the name of the search index and click the Add button under the Search Indexes section on the Managed Search Index Server page. The name may only contain the letters a–z and digits 0–9 and must start with a letter. Suggested names are assets and items — the same names used by The Default Managed Database.
The search index server must be running in order to add new search indexes.
Unlike the data directories of Managed SQL Database Servers and Managed Resources Directories, the data directory and its search indexes do not require backup because the contents can be recreated from that of the SQL database — see Restore of a Managed Search Index Server.
Restore of a Managed Search Index Server
A managed search index server is automatically restored if its data directory is missing when the server is started, although all of its search indexes are then empty. The search indexes will be automatically populated with search data when the Model Manager server database using the search indexes is activated.
You can also manually restore the data directory as follows:
1
Deactivate all Model Manager server databases using Search Indexes in the managed search index server. See The Database Page.
2
Stop the managed search index server.
3
Move any existing data directory to a new location.
4
Start the managed search index server.
At this point, the data directory and its search indexes will be recreated based on the configuration settings of the managed search index server. The search indexes will, however, be empty of search data.
5
Activate all databases deactivated in the first step.
At this point, the empty search indexes will be automatically repopulated with search data loaded from the corresponding SQL database as needed.
Populating the search indexes after a restore may take some time depending on the size of the SQL database.