Overview

The SearchStax Managed Search service can be used to add custom indexes on a Sitecore website.

This page presumes that you have already installed Sitecore and connected it to a Managed Search deployment according to the directions for Sitecore 9.1, Sitecore 9.2, Sitecore 9.3, or Sitecore 10.

Therefore, you already have a Sitecore site that is connected to a compatible Managed Search deployment. You have access to the Solr Dashboard, and you have prepared Solr configuration files for your custom collections, including a custom Managed Schema file.

Contents:

1. Install the Zookeeper Script
2. Upload the Sitecore Configuration Files.
3. Create Sitecore Collections.

Install the Zookeeper Script

Apache ZooKeeper is a centralized service for maintaining configuration information. In a Managed Search deployment, Zookeeper acts as a centralized repository for your Solr configuration files.

SearchStax users do not have direct access to the Zookeeper configsets as they would in a local Solr installation. Instead, they interact with Zookeeper through a modified version of Solr’s standard zkcli script. SearchStax provides both Linux and Windows versions of the script.

You can download the zkcli ZIP file here: searchstax-client-master.zip.

Unzip the file. The top-level directory is \searchstax-client-master. Navigate to the solr-5, solr-6, solr-7, or solr-8 scripts subdirectory (such as \searchstax-client-master\solr-8\scripts). Locate zkcli.bat in that directory. This is the Windows version of the script.

Upload the Sitecore Configuration Files

We assume that you have a directory of configuration files prepared for your custom Sitecore collection. If not, you can download a Sitecore configset from your Solr Cloud deployment and then upload it again under a new name. The configset name should match the name of your custom index.

See How can I update my Solr configurations in Zookeeper? for instructions on using zkcli to download/upload configsets.

Follow these steps to upload the Solr configuration for your new collection:

1. Download any of the existing Sitecore configsets.
2. Upload the configset to Zookeeper under a new name that matches your custom index.

Create Sitecore Collections

When you have uploaded the Solr configuration to Zookeeper, you can create Sitecore collections by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Collections page in the Solr Dashboard.
2. Click Add Collection.
3. In the config set field, click the Sitecore configuration.
4. Specify the following fields as shown:
5. Repeat for each of the custom collections you wish to add.

The post Sitecore Custom Indexes appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Overview

The SearchStax Managed Search service can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Drupal 7 website using Drupal’s Search API and its Search API Solr modules.

This article was based on a blog post by Thomas Hada of Anant.

Basic Steps:

1. Create a new deployment in SearchStax.
2. Install the Zookeeper script.
3. Upload a custom configuration to your Solr Server.
4. Install Drupal.
5. Install the Search API and Search API Solr modules.
6. Configure the Search API Solr module.
7. Optional – Add sample content.
8. Optional – Manually index Your site.
9. Optional – Secure your site

Step 1: Create a New Deployment in Managed Search

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Deployments tab and then click on the Create New Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate region, plan, and Solr version for your needs. In this example we will be using Solr 5.5.5.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment will give you pertinent information about your deployment’s servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint will take you to your Solr server dashboard.

Step 2: Install the Zookeeper Script

Apache ZooKeeper is a centralized service for maintaining configuration information. In a SearchStax deployment, Zookeeper acts as a centralized repository for your Solr configuration files.

We have created a script to help you interact with Zookeeper. This script makes it easier to connect to Zookeeper and upload your Solr configurations. We provide both Linux and Windows versions of the script.

We have made the script available in several different ways. Choose the one that is easiest for you. All methods download the same master.zip or searchstax-client-master.zip file. This file contains both the Linux and Windows scripts. Unzip the file in a directory of your choice.

• From the Linux command line, you can use wget https://github.com/searchstax/searchstax-client/archive/master.zip.
• If you have a GitHub account, you can follow this link to a repository that contains the script and its libraries. Look for the green Clone or Download button to create and download a ZIP file. https://github.com/searchstax/searchstax-client
• If you are using Windows, or are not familiar with GitHub, you can download the ZIP file directly here: searchstax-client-master.zip.

Unzip the file. The top-level directory is \searchstax-client-master. Navigate to the scripts subdirectory (\searchstax-client-master\solr-6\scripts). Locate zkcli.sh and zkcli.bat in that directory. These are the Linux and Windows versions of the script, respectively.

Step 3: Upload a Custom Configuration to Your Solr Server

Download the Search API Solr module files: https://www.drupal.org/project/search_api_solr/

Included in the Search API Solr download are several configurations in the solr-conf folder, with subfolders 4.x, 5.x, and 6.x for the respective Solr versions.

SearchStax uses Apache ZooKeeper for maintaining configuration information. Upload the appropriate configuration files via Zookeeper and create a new collection. If you have your Zookeeper script already, the two commands you will need are as follows:

Upload Configuration:

Linux:

> ./zkcli.sh -zkhost <zookeeper URL> -cmd upconfig -confdir <Solr configuration> -confname <configuration name>

Windows:

$ zkcli.bat -zkhost <zookeeper URL> -cmd upconfig -confdir <Solr configuration> -confname <configuration name>

Create New Collection:

Linux:

> curl '<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1'

Windows:

$ curl.exe "<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1" -k

Step 4: Install Drupal

Please refer to the official Drupal 7 installation page.

Step 5: Install Search API / Search API Solr Module

Install the Drupal Search API Module.

Once the Search API is installed, you can add the Search API Solr Module.

Finally, you will need to enable the installed modules. Enable Search API and Solr Search.

Step 6: Configure the Search API Solr Module

Now that the modules have been enabled, click on the Configuration tab. Look for section SEARCH AND METADATA and click on Search API to configure it.

Once there, click Add Server.

Give your server a name. Make sure the Service class is set to Solr service. Check that HTTP protocol is set to https. The Solr host is the deployment’s Solr HTTP Endpoint without the /solr/ element. For incoming connections from Drupal, the Solr port is always 443. The Solr path is /solr/ plus the name of the collection, such as /solr/testcollection.

If your configuration settings are valid, you will see a message saying that the information was saved successfully.

Next you will need to define an index. In the Search API configuration screen, click on Add Index. Give your index a name, and select the item type you wish to index.

Step 7: Optional – Add Sample Content

Install the Devel module: https://www.drupal.org/project/devel. Then, enable Devel and Devel generate.

You will see new options in multiple menus. Go to Administration > Configuration, and scroll down to the Development section. Here you have options to Generate content via Devel.

Click on Generate Content.

Select a Content Type and enter the number of nodes. For example, selecting Article and typing “20” nodes will produce 20 new articles filled with dummy data.

Step 8: Optional – Manually Index Your Site

A cron job will periodically index your site automatically, but if you want to see your results immediately go to the Search API configuration screen and click on the index created earlier. At the bottom, click on the Index now button.

After you begin, you will see a progress bar. Once it reaches 100%, you will get a success message.

After your site has been indexed, you can view and query the data in Solr.

Step 9: Optional – Secure Your Site

SearchStax and Solr provide some optional security features that can help you lock down your Solr deployment. Please consider some or all of the following security options.

Connecting to the Managed Search Cluster

SearchStax recommends that you situate your application infrastructure in the same local network as your hosting provider (for example, the same AWS or Azure region). Internal network security for these hosting providers is extremely high and eliminates any chance of a hacker potentially sniffing your network traffic.

If your application is hosted elsewhere, try to host it as close to your search infrastructure as possible. This can be done by choosing the Cloud Provider Region which is closest to your application. This improves both security and performance.

Note that all connections to the SearchStax Dashboard use HTTPS, which encrypts your traffic in transit.

IP Filtering

SearchStax can limit access to a deployment to specific IP addresses. You can configure access for Zookeeper and Solr servers separately. Instructions will be found at SearchStax IP Filtering.

Tenant Users

Each SearchStax account is restricted to the owner (and admin) of that account plus any SearchStax “tenant users” who have been granted access to that account by the owner. The additional users may be enrolled as normal SearchStax operators or as admins at the owner’s discretion. See Managing Users.

Solr Authentication and Authorization

Solr offers an Authentication and Authorization feature that lets you set up username/password protection for the Solr server dashboard. SearchStax makes it very easy to enable this feature.

Note that Solr user accounts are independent of SearchStax user accounts.

If you set a username/password for Solr, you’ll need to edit the Search API server (under “Basic HTTP authentication”) and input the same information there.

The only warning is that enabling/disabling Solr authentication forces the Solr servers to restart. See Solr Authentication and Authorization.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Managed Search for Drupal 7 appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Overview

The SearchStax Managed Search service can be used to install Apache Solr on a Drupal 8 website using Drupal’s Search API and its Search API Solr modules.

This article was based on a blog post – How to Set Up a Drupal Website Connected to a SearchStax Solr Deployment – by Thomas Hada of Anant.

This example uses Drupal 8.3 and Solr 6.4.2.

Basic Steps:

1. Create a new deployment in SearchStax.
2. Install the Zookeeper script.
3. Upload a custom configuration to your Solr Server.
4. Install Drupal.
5. Install the Search API and Search API Solr modules.
6. Configure the Search API Solr module.
7. Optional – Add sample content.
8. Optional – Manually index your site.
9. Optional – Secure your site

Step 1: Create a New Deployment in Managed Search

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Deployments tab and then click on the Create New Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate region, plan, and Solr version for your needs. In this example we will be using Solr 6.4.2.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment will give you pertinent information about your deployment’s servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint will take you to your Solr server dashboard.

Step 2: Install the Zookeeper Script

Apache ZooKeeper is a centralized service for maintaining configuration information. In a SearchStax deployment, Zookeeper acts as a centralized repository for your Solr configuration files.

We have created a script to help you interact with Zookeeper. This script makes it easier to connect to Zookeeper and upload your Solr configurations. We provide both Linux and Windows versions of the script.

We have made the script available in several different ways. Choose the one that is easiest for you. All methods download the same master.zip or searchstax-client-master.zip file. This file contains both the Linux and Windows scripts. Unzip the file in a directory of your choice.

• From the Linux command line, you can use wget https://github.com/searchstax/searchstax-client/archive/master.zip.
• If you have a GitHub account, you can follow this link to a repository that contains the script and its libraries. Look for the green Clone or Download button to create and download a ZIP file. https://github.com/searchstax/searchstax-client
• If you are using Windows, or are not familiar with GitHub, you can download the ZIP file directly here: searchstax-client-master.zip.

Unzip the file. The top-level directory is \searchstax-client-master. Navigate to the scripts subdirectory (\searchstax-client-master\solr-6\scripts). Locate zkcli.sh and zkcli.bat in that directory. These are the Linux and Windows versions of the script, respectively.

Step 3: Upload a Custom Configuration to Your Solr Server

Download the Search API Solr module files: https://www.drupal.org/project/search_api_solr

Included in the Search API Solr download are several configurations in the solr-conf folder, with subfolders 4.x, 5.x, and 6.x for the respective Solr versions.

SearchStax uses Apache ZooKeeper for maintaining configuration information. Upload the appropriate configuration files via Zookeeper and create a new collection. If you have your Zookeeper script already, the two commands you will need are as follows:

Upload Configuration:

Linux:

> ./zkcli.sh -zkhost <zookeeper URL> -cmd upconfig -confdir <Solr configuration> -confname <configuration name>

Windows:

$ zkcli.bat -zkhost <zookeeper URL> -cmd upconfig -confdir <Solr configuration> -confname <configuration name>

Create New Collection:

Linux:

> curl '<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1'

Windows:

$ curl.exe "<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1" -k

Step 4: Install Drupal

Please refer to the official Drupal 8 installation page.

Step 5: Install Search API / Search API Solr Module

Install the Drupal Search API Module.

Once the Search API is installed, you can add the Search API Solr Module.

Before continuing, you may need to install the Composer Dependencies.

Finally, you will need to enable the installed modules. Enable the following items: Search API and Solr Search.

Step 6: Configure the Search API Solr Module

Now that the modules have been enabled, click on the Configuration tab. Look for section SEARCH AND METADATA and click on Search API to configure it.

Once there, click Add Server.

Give your server a name. Make sure the Backend is set to Solr. Check that HTTP protocol is set to https. The Solr host is the deployment’s Solr HTTP Endpoint without the /solr/ element. For incoming connections from Drupal, the Solr port is always 443. The Solr core is the name of the collection.

Note that the Solr path was /solr in version 8.x-2.7 of the Search API Solr Module, but it changed to / (no “solr”) in version 8.x-3.1. See Upgrade Search API Solr from 2.x to 3.1 for further information.

If your configuration settings are valid, you will see a message saying that the information was saved successfully.

Next you will need to define an index. In the Search API configuration screen, click on Add Index.

Give your index a name, and select the data sources you wish to index. For this example, select Comment and Content. Also, at the bottom of the page make sure that you select the Server created earlier.

Step 7: Optional – Add Sample Content

Install the Devel module: https://www.drupal.org/project/devel. Then, enable Devel and Devel generate.

You will see new options in multiple menus. Go to Manage > Configuration, and scroll down to the Development section. Here you have options to Generate content via Devel.

Click on Generate Content.

Select a Content Type and enter the number of nodes. For example, selecting Article and typing “20” nodes will produce 20 new articles filled with dummy data.

Step 8: Optional – Manually Index Your Site

A cron job will periodically index your site automatically, but if you want to see your results immediately go to the Search API configuration screen and click on the index created earlier. At the bottom, click on the Index now button.

After you begin, you will see a progress bar. Once it reaches 100%, you will get a success message.

After your site has been indexed, you can view and query the data in Solr.

Step 9: Optional – Secure Your Site

SearchStax and Solr provide some optional security features that can help you lock down your Solr deployment. Please consider some or all of the following security options.

Connecting to the Managed Search Cluster

SearchStax recommends that you situate your application infrastructure in the same local network as your hosting provider (for example, the same AWS or Azure region). Internal network security for these hosting providers is extremely high and eliminates any chance of a hacker potentially sniffing your network traffic.

If your application is hosted elsewhere, try to host it as close to your search infrastructure as possible. This can be done by choosing the Cloud Provider Region which is closest to your application. This improves both security and performance.

Note that all connections to the SearchStax Dashboard use HTTPS, which encrypts your traffic in transit.

IP Filtering

SearchStax can limit access to a deployment to specific IP addresses. You can configure access
for Zookeeper and Solr servers separately. Instructions will be found at SearchStax IP Filtering.

Tenant Users

Each SearchStax account is restricted to the owner (and admin) of that account plus any SearchStax “tenant users” who have been granted access to that account by the owner. The additional users may be enrolled as normal SearchStax operators or as admins at the owner’s discretion. See Managing Users.

Solr Authentication and Authorization

Solr offers an Authentication and Authorization feature that lets you set up username/password protection for the Solr server dashboard. SearchStax makes it very easy to enable this feature.

Note that Solr user accounts are independent of SearchStax user accounts.

If you set a username/password for Solr, you’ll need to edit the Search API server (under “Basic HTTP authentication”) and input the same information there.

The only warning is that enabling/disabling Solr authentication forces the Solr servers to restart. See Solr Authentication and Authorization.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Managed Search for Drupal 8 appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Overview

The SearchStax Managed Search service can be used to install Apache Solr on a Drupal 9 website using Drupal’s Search API and its Search API Solr modules.

This article was based on a blog post – How to Set Up a Drupal Website Connected to a SearchStax Solr Deployment – by Thomas Hada of Anant.

This example uses Drupal 9.5.11 and Solr 8.11.2.

Basic Steps:

1. Create a new deployment in Managed Search.
2. Create a Solr Collection.
3. Install Drupal.
4. Install the Search API and Search API Solr modules.
5. Configure the Search API module Server.
6. Configure the Search API module Index.
7. Optional – Index your site.
8. Optional – Secure your site

Step 1: Create a New Deployment in Managed Search

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Dedicated tab and then click on the Create New Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate region, plan, and Solr version for your needs. In this example we will be using Solr 8.11.2.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment will give you pertinent information about your deployment’s servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint will take you to your Solr server dashboard.

Click on Auth in the Security tab to create an Authentication username and password. Enable Auth.

Add a user with Admin permissions. Keep your credentials handy for next steps.

Step 2: Create a Solr Collection

Create a new Solr collection using the commands below. For now, use the _default config for the collection.configName parameter. Later in the guide, we will replace the config with one Drupal recommends.

The username and password is the one you defined in Step 1 when adding an Admin user.

Create New Collection:

Linux:

> curl '<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1' --user username:password

Windows:

$ curl.exe "<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1" -k -u username:password

Step 3: Install Drupal

We will assume you have Drupal 9 installed. If not please refer to the official Drupal 9 installation page.

Step 4: Install Search API / Search API Solr Module

Install the Drupal Search API Module. In this case, we are installing version 1.27.

Once the Search API is installed, you can add the Search API Solr Module. We are installing version 4.3.

Before continuing, you may need to install the Composer Dependencies.

Finally, you will need to enable the installed modules. Enable the following items: Search API and Search API Solr, and Search API Solr Admin.

Step 5: Configure the Search API Module

Now that the modules have been enabled, click on the Configuration tab. Look for section SEARCH AND METADATA and click on Search API to configure it.

Once there, click Add Server.

Give your server a name. Make sure the Backend is set to Solr. Check that HTTP protocol is set to https. The Solr host is the deployment’s Solr HTTP Endpoint without the /solr/ element. For incoming connections from Drupal, the Solr port is always 443. The Solr core is the name of the collection defined in Step 2.

Note that the Solr path was /solr in version 8.x-2.7 of the Search API Solr Module, but it changed to / (no “solr”) in version 8.x-3.1. See Upgrade Search API Solr from 2.x to 3.1 for further information.

Add the Solr node, Solr port, and Default Solr Collection. The Solr node can be found in the Endpoints section of your deployment under Solr HTTP Endpoint. The port is 443. The Default Solr Collection is the Collection you created in step 2.

Ensure you’ve added the correct Basic Authentication username and password defined in Step 1.

Click save at the bottom of the page.

If your configuration settings are valid, you will see a message saying that the information was saved successfully. Under Server Connection, it should read “The Solr server could be reached”. If not, you need to redo adding a Server.

Next we will replace the _default Solr schema causing the error message of incompatible Solr Schema. Click on “upload config.zip”.

Check Upload Button and Click Upload.

You will get a success message.

Step 6: Configure the Search API Module Index

Next you will need to define an index. In the Search API configuration screen, click on Add Index.

Give your index a name, and select the data sources you wish to index. For this example, select Content.

At the bottom of the page make sure that you select the Server created earlier. Click Save and add fields.

Add the fields you would like to Index. Take note of field types.

Step 7: Optional – Index Your Site

A cron job will periodically index your site automatically, but if you want to see your results immediately go to the Search API configuration screen and click on the index created earlier. At the bottom, click on the Index now button.

After you begin, you will see a progress bar. Once it reaches 100%, you will get a success message.

After your site has been indexed, you can view and query the data in Solr.

Step 8: Optional – Secure Your Site

SearchStax and Solr provide some optional security features that can help you lock down your Solr deployment. Please consider some or all of the following security options.

Connecting to the SearchStax Cluster

SearchStax recommends that you situate your application infrastructure in the same local network as your hosting provider (for example, the same AWS or Azure region). Internal network security for these hosting providers is extremely high and eliminates any chance of a hacker potentially sniffing your network traffic.

If your application is hosted elsewhere, try to host it as close to your search infrastructure as possible. This can be done by choosing the Cloud Provider Region which is closest to your application. This improves both security and performance.

Note that all connections to the SearchStax Dashboard use HTTPS, which encrypts your traffic in transit.

IP Filtering

SearchStax can limit access to a deployment to specific IP addresses. You can configure access
for Zookeeper and Solr servers separately. Instructions will be found at SearchStax IP Filtering.

Tenant Users

Each SearchStax account is restricted to the owner (and admin) of that account plus any SearchStax “tenant users” who have been granted access to that account by the owner. The additional users may be enrolled as normal SearchStax operators or as admins at the owner’s discretion. See Managing Users.

Solr Authentication and Authorization

Solr offers an Authentication and Authorization feature that lets you set up username/password protection for the Solr server dashboard. SearchStax makes it very easy to enable this feature.

Note that Solr user accounts are independent of SearchStax user accounts.

If you set a username/password for Solr, you’ll need to edit the Search API server (under “Basic HTTP authentication”) and input the same information there.

The only warning is that enabling/disabling Solr authentication forces the Solr servers to restart. See Solr Authentication and Authorization.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Managed Search for Drupal 9 appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Overview

The SearchStax Managed Search service can be used to install Apache Solr on a Drupal 10 website using Drupal’s Search API and its Search API Solr modules.

This article was based on a blog post – How to Set Up a Drupal Website Connected to a SearchStax Solr Deployment – by Thomas Hada of Anant.

This example uses Drupal 10.1.4 and Solr 8.11.2. Learn more about the Drupal 10 digital experience platform (DXP).

Basic Steps:

1. Create a new deployment in Managed Search.
2. Create a Solr Collection.
3. Install Drupal.
4. Install the Search API and Search API Solr modules.
5. Configure the Search API module Server.
6. Configure the Search API module Index.
7. Optional – Index your site.
8. Optional – Secure your site

Step 1: Create a New Deployment in Managed Search

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Dedicated tab and then click on the Create New Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate region, plan, and Solr version for your needs. In this example we will be using Solr 8.11.2.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment will give you pertinent information about your deployment’s servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint will take you to your Solr server dashboard.

Click on Auth in the Security tab to create an Authentication username and password. Enable Auth.

Add a user with Admin permissions. Keep your credentials handy for next steps.

Step 2: Create a Solr Collection

Create a new Solr collection using the commands below. For now, use the _default config for the collection.configName parameter. Later in the guide, we will replace the config with one Drupal recommends.

The username and password is the one you defined in Step 1 when adding an Admin user.

Create New Collection:

Linux:

> curl '<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1' --user username:password

Windows:

$ curl.exe "<Solr HTTP Endpoint>admin/collections?action=CREATE&name=<collectionName>&collection.configName=<configName>&numShards=1" -k -u username:password

Step 3: Install Drupal

We will assume you have Drupal 10 installed. If not please refer to the official Drupal 10 installation page.

Step 4: Install Search API / Search API Solr Module

Install the Drupal Search API Module.

Once the Search API is installed, you can add the Search API Solr Module.

Before continuing, you may need to install the Composer Dependencies.

Finally, you will need to enable the installed modules. Enable the following items: Search API and Search API Solr, and Search API Solr Admin.

Step 5: Configure the Search API Module

Now that the modules have been enabled, click on the Configuration tab. Look for section SEARCH AND METADATA and click on Search API to configure it.

Once there, click Add Server.

Give your server a name. Make sure the Backend is set to Solr. Check that HTTP protocol is set to https. The Solr host is the deployment’s Solr HTTP Endpoint without the /solr/ element. For incoming connections from Drupal, the Solr port is always 443. The Solr core is the name of the collection defined in Step 2.

Note that the Solr path was /solr in version 8.x-2.7 of the Search API Solr Module, but it changed to / (no “solr”) in version 8.x-3.1. See Upgrade Search API Solr from 2.x to 3.1 for further information.

Add the Solr node, Solr port, and Default Solr Collection. The Solr node can be found in the Endpoints section of your deployment under Solr HTTP Endpoint. The port is 443. The Default Solr Collection is the Collection you created in step 2.

Ensure you’ve added the correct Basic Authentication username and password defined in Step 1.

Click save at the bottom of the page.

If your configuration settings are valid, you will see a message saying that the information was saved successfully. Under Server Connection, it should read “The Solr server could be reached”. If not, you need to redo adding a Server.

Next we will replace the _default Solr schema causing the error message of incompatible Solr Schema. Click on “upload config.zip”.

Check Upload Button and Click Upload.

You will get a success message.

Step 6: Configure the Search API Module Index

Next you will need to define an index. In the Search API configuration screen, click on Add Index.

Give your index a name, and select the data sources you wish to index. For this example, select Content.

At the bottom of the page make sure that you select the Server created earlier. Click Save and add fields.

Add the fields you would like to Index. Take note of field types.

Step 7: Optional – Index Your Site

A cron job will periodically index your site automatically, but if you want to see your results immediately go to the Search API configuration screen and click on the index created earlier. At the bottom, click on the Index now button.

After you begin, you will see a progress bar. Once it reaches 100%, you will get a success message.

After your site has been indexed, you can view and query the data in Solr.

Step 8: Optional – Secure Your Site

SearchStax and Solr provide some optional security features that can help you lock down your Solr deployment. Please consider some or all of the following security options.

Connecting to the Managed Search Cluster

SearchStax recommends that you situate your application infrastructure in the same local network as your hosting provider (for example, the same AWS or Azure region). Internal network security for these hosting providers is extremely high and eliminates any chance of a hacker potentially sniffing your network traffic.

If your application is hosted elsewhere, try to host it as close to your search infrastructure as possible. This can be done by choosing the Cloud Provider Region which is closest to your application. This improves both security and performance.

Note that all connections to the SearchStax Dashboard use HTTPS, which encrypts your traffic in transit.

IP Filtering

SearchStax can limit access to a deployment to specific IP addresses. You can configure access
for Zookeeper and Solr servers separately. Instructions will be found at SearchStax IP Filtering.

Tenant Users

Each SearchStax account is restricted to the owner (and admin) of that account plus any SearchStax “tenant users” who have been granted access to that account by the owner. The additional users may be enrolled as normal SearchStax operators or as admins at the owner’s discretion. See Managing Users.

Solr Authentication and Authorization

Solr offers an Authentication and Authorization feature that lets you set up username/password protection for the Solr server dashboard. SearchStax makes it very easy to enable this feature.

Note that Solr user accounts are independent of SearchStax user accounts.

If you set a username/password for Solr, you’ll need to edit the Search API server (under “Basic HTTP authentication”) and input the same information there.

The only warning is that enabling/disabling Solr authentication forces the Solr servers to restart. See Solr Authentication and Authorization.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Managed Search for Drupal 10 appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

SearchStax offers many pages of Solr/Sitecore-related information, most of which were written in response to frequently-asked questions about connecting SearchStax Managed Search service deployments to Sitecore websites.

This page presently the full list of pages for rapid review.

SearchStax Sitecore Topics

The following topics are found in the SearchStax Help Center.

Can SearchStax provide Solr indexing to Sitecore?

SearchStax has hundreds of Sitecore clients. See the Sitecore/Solr Compatibility page for more information.

Optimizing the xConnect Search Service

Sitecore offers a page of advice about optimizing search and indexing of your xDB index. https://support.sitecore.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0671173

Lowering &rows=1000000

By default, Sitecore sends queries to Solr with the &rows parameter set to 1000000. This setting places enormous stress on Solr, sometimes maximizing CPU and JVM usage, because Solr allocates… Continue reading Lowering &rows=1000000

Unpublish/Delete Fails to Remove Item from Index

If you are using Sitecore 10.0 or an older version, you might face a problem when trying to unpublish an item from the web database or even delete an item… Continue reading Unpublish/Delete Fails to Remove Item from Index

SearchStax Cloud Sitecore Topics

Topics associated with the SearchStax Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.

Sitecore/Solr Compatibility

What Sitecore/Solr combination are available for Managed Search? Some Solr releases are compatible with some Sitecore releases. Other combinations may not work at all, or may seem to work until… Continue reading Sitecore/Solr Compatibility

Sitecore 9.1

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 9.1 website.… Continue reading Sitecore 9.1

Sitecore 9.2

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore website. This… Continue reading Sitecore 9.2

Sitecore 9.3

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 9.3 website.… Continue reading Sitecore 9.3

Sitecore 10.0

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 10.0 website.… Continue reading Sitecore 10.0

Sitecore 10.1

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 10.1 website.… Continue reading

Sitecore 10.2

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 10.2 website.… Continue reading Sitecore 10.2

Sitecore 10.3

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 10.3 website.… Continue reading Sitecore 10.3

Sitecore 10.4

SearchStax Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 10.4 website.… Continue reading Sitecore 10.4

Sitecore Custom Indexes

How to Add Custom Indexes to Sitecore using SearchStax Managed Search… Continue reading Sitecore Custom Indexes

Sitecore SwitchOnRebuild

Enable Sitecore’s SwitchOnRebuild with SearchStax Managed Search… Continue reading

Sitecore Topics from the SearchStax Blog

Plus, there are these selected blog posts from the full index of SearchStax Blog.

6 Reasons to Consider SearchStax Solr-as-a-Service

July 20, 2020
SearchStax Solr-as-a-Service has been selected by more than 200 customers over the last 4 years and here are the top 6 reasons why.

Sitecore Relies on SearchStax Managed Solr | SearchStax Blog

August 15, 2021
In our latest Case Study, see how Sitecore implements SearchStax Managed Solr to get a more stable, secure and robust Solr environment for their website.

Sitecore Best Practices for Solr Indexing | SearchStax Blog

Following our Sitecore best practices for Solr indexing will result in better performance and optimize resources consumption on Sitecore.

Migrating Azure Search to Solr Service for Sitecore – SearchStax

November 22, 2020
Migrating Azure Search to Solr Service for Sitecore is a fairly easy and straightforward process with SearchStax.

Sitecore SwitchOnRebuild and SearchStax SoIrCloud | The Search Experience Blog

April 27, 2020
Setting up the Sitecore SwitchOnRebuild feature with SolrCloud should be as simple as following the path to Grandma’s house – watch out for these red flags.

Sitecore Solr Stop Words Made Easy | The Search Experience Blog

April 2,2019
In Sitecore, it’s easy to use Solr stop words to remove specific words from queries to parse through the content and find the exact search phrase.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Solr for Sitecore FAQ appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

The SearchStax Managed Search service lets developers set up and deploy Solr infrastructure for Sitecore in minutes. Some Solr releases are compatible with some Sitecore releases. Other combinations may not work at all, or may seem to work until you encounter the incompatible feature at a later time.

SearchStax recommends certain specific combinations of Sitecore and Solr. We are prepared to support our Premium Clients who go down that path. The SearchStax Managed Search Connector for Sitecore helps you set up these systems.

We do not claim to be general Sitecore experts, and therefore cannot support Sitecore/Solr combinations that we have not tested and endorsed:

Our selection of supported combinations is derived from Sitecore’s published compatibility table.

• Note that even this table can be misleading because Sitecore did not support Solr Cloud deployments until Sitecore 9.0 update 2. SearchStax Managed Search deployments all require the Solr Cloud feature set, meaning that earlier versions of Sitecore are not compatible with Managed Search even though they can be used with some local Solr installations.
• Solr 8.x reached end-of-life on October 25, 2024. However, Sitecore advises customers to continue using compatible Solr versions.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Sitecore/Solr Compatibility appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Overview

The SearchStax Managed Search service can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 9.1 website.

This page demonstrates how easy it is to connect Sitecore to a Managed Search cluster. SearchStax has created a PowerShell 7 script that automates the steps of preparing Solr for Sitecore integration. This script is available to SearchStax clients free of charge from our Github site.

Contents:

1. Install Sitecore 9.1 without Solr
2. Create a New Deployment in Managed Search.
3. Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.
4. Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore.
5. Problems?

Deprecated: Integrate Apache Solr with Sitecore 9.1 without the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.

Install Sitecore 9.1 without Solr

This section describes how to install Sitecore 9.1 locally without Solr. We’ll connect it to a Managed Search deployment in a subsequent step.

1. Visit the Sitecore Experience Platform 9.1 Initial Release page. Under Download Options for On Premises Deployment, download Packages for XP Single.

Farther down the same web page, under Release Information, download the Installation Guide and the Quick Installation Guide.

2. With the exception of Solr, install all the prerequisite sub-components as mentioned in the installation guide.

3. Make the following changes in the configuration files.

A. XP0-SingleDeveloper.ps1: Change the $Prefix to “sitecore”.

Comment out the Solr root and service details:

B. XP0-SingleDeveloper.json: Comment out or remove the XConnectSolr and SitecoreSolr “includes:”

C. sitecore-XP0.json: Comment out or remove the UpdateSolrSchema task:

D. xconnect-xp0.json: Comment out or remove the ConfigureSolrSchemas task.

4. Once all the above changes have been made, go ahead with the Sitecore installation by running the PowerShell script .\XP0-SingleDeveloper.ps1 as recommended in the Sitecore installation guide.

Create a New Deployment in Managed Search

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Dedicated Infrastructure tab and then click on the Create Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate provider, region, plan, and Solr version for your needs.

Cloud Provider

A self-managed Sitecore project may use any of our cloud providers for the Solr deployment.

Single Node or Cluster

Sitecore will work with a single-node deployment (the “NDN” series of Managed Search deployments) for purposes of testing and evaluation. However, a production system requires a Managed Search cluster (the “NDC” series) to provide high-availability and failover features.

Sitecore/Solr Compatibility

Sitecore 9.1 is known to be compatible with Solr 7.2.1. Other combinations may or may not work. See Sitecore’s Solr Compatibility Table for further information.

Sitecore 9.1 is under sustaining support through 2026. Solr 7.2.1 is no longer supported by Apache.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Solr Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment gives you pertinent information about your deployment’s servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint takes you to your Solr server dashboard.

Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore

This script is used to connect a Sitecore XP0 installation to a Managed Search instance.

The script automates the following parts of the procedure:

• Upload the Solr config files to Solr
• Create the Sitecore collections in Solr
• Configure Sitecore files

Download the Connector

The first step is to visit the SearchStax Github site and download the latest Managed Search Connector for Sitecore zip file.

Unzip the file to a convenient location. This creates the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory.

Install PowerShell 7 and Yaml Module

PowerShell 7 has special capabilities that are required by the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.

We assume you are on a Windows 10 computer. Open your native PowerShell, and install PowerShell 7 using the following command:

Windows PowerShell:

> iex "& { $(irm https://aka.ms/install-powershell.ps1) } -UseMSI"

Exit Powershell and start Powershell 7 as the Administrator. Now install the powershell-yaml module:

Exit native Powershell and start Powershell 7 as the Administrator. Now install the powershell-yaml module:

Windows PowerShell 7:

> Install-Module powershell-yaml

> Install-Module powershell-yaml

Edit Connector Configuration

Edit the config.yml file in the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory. Enter the following configuration parameters:

settings:
  accountName: "SearchStaxAccount"
  deploymentUid: "ss123456"
  sitecorePrefix: "sitecore"
  pathToWWWRoot: "C:\\inetpub\\wwwroot"
  solrUsername: ""
  solrPassword: ""
  sitecoreVersion : "9.1.1" #Supported versions - 9.0.2 and 9.1.1
  isUniqueConfigs : "true"
  configurationMode : "XP"

settings:
  accountName: "SearchStaxAccount"
  deploymentUid: "ss123456"
  sitecorePrefix: "sitecore"
  pathToWWWRoot: "C:\\inetpub\\wwwroot"
  solrUsername: ""
  solrPassword: ""
  sitecoreVersion : "9.1.1" #Supported versions - 9.0.2 and 9.1.1
  isUniqueConfigs : "true"
  configurationMode : "XP"

Parameter	Description	Example
accountName	Name of the SearchStax account, upper right corner of the screen.	ABCInternational
deploymentUid	UID of the SearchStax deployment. Look in the deployment URL.	ss123456
sitecorePrefix	Prefix of the sitecore installation. We advise using the “sitecore” default. Do not use a period (.) in this value, as it causes issues with performance monitoring.	sitecore
pathToWWWRoot	Path to wwwroot folder in inetpub, i.e. your %IIS_SITE_HOME% variable	C:\inetpub\wwwroot
solrUsername	Solr Basic Auth username	(Optional)
solrPassword	Solr Basic Auth password	(Optional)
sitecoreVersion	Version of Sitecore (9.0.2 or 9.1.1)	9.1.1
isUniqueConfigs	Switch between one config for all collections, and a unique config for each. (See below.)	“true”
configurationMode	“XP” means to set up Sitecore only. “XCONNECT” means to set up an xDB index. “XP|XCONNECT” means both. For “XCONNECT” with Solr versions 6.6.0 to 8.6.2, you’ll need to have SearchStax Support enable configset.​upload.​enabled before running the connector.	“XP”

When isUniqueConfigs is false, the script creates only one set of config files, and use that set for all of the Sitecore collections. The name of the config set is sitecore_<sitecorePrefix>. Example: sitecore_sitecore930.

When isUniqueConfigs is true (the default), the script creates a set of config files corresponding to each separate Sitecore collection. This lets Sitecore properly populate the schemas of the various collections. These configsets are named <sitecorePrefix>_<collectionName>. Example: sitecore930_core_index.

Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore

From Powershell 7, run as Administrator, navigate to the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory.

Change the execution policy to skip checking.

Windows Powershell 7:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

Run the sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1 script.

Windows Powershell 7:

> .\sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1

The script will prompt you for your SearchStax user name and password. The script may take a few minutes to run, during which it will notify you of its actions.

Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore

Follow these steps to populate the Solr schema:

1. Log in to the Sitecore Content Management environment.
2. Open the Sitecore Control Panel.
3. In the Indexing tab, click Populate Solr Managed Schema.
4. Select all indexes and click Populate. (If you have difficulty populating the schema, see Why does Sitecore fail to populate schemas?)
5. On the same page, go to the Indexing Manager, select all, and click Rebuild.

Problems?

See Sitecore Connection Errors for a list of the most-common issues that arise when connecting Sitecore to your SolrCloud deployment.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Sitecore 9.1 appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Overview

The SearchStax Managed Search service can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore website.

This page demonstrates how easy it is to connect Sitecore to a Managed Search cluster. SearchStax has created a PowerShell 7 script that automates the steps of preparing Solr for Sitecore integration. This script is available to SearchStax clients free of charge from our Github site.

Contents:

1. Install Sitecore 9.2 without Solr
2. Create a New Deployment in Managed Search.
3. Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.
4. Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore.
5. Problems?

Install Sitecore 9.2 without Solr

This section describes how to install Sitecore 9.2 locally without Solr. We’ll connect it to a Managed Search deployment in a subsequent step.

1. Visit the Sitecore Experience Platform 9.2 Initial Release page. Under Download Options for On Premises Deployment, download Packages for XP Single.

Farther down the same web page, under Release Information, download the Quick Installation Guide for a Developer Workstation.

2. With the exception of Solr, install all the prerequisite sub-components as mentioned in the installation guide.
3. Make the following changes in the configuration files.
   • XP0-SingleDeveloper.ps1: Change the $Prefix to “sitecore”.

     Comment out the Solr root and service details:

     
   • XP0-SingleDeveloper.json: Comment out or remove the XConnectSolr and SitecoreSolr “includes:”
   • sitecore-XP0.json: Comment out or remove the UpdateSolrSchema task:
   • xconnect-xp0.json: Comment out or remove the ConfigureSolrSchemas task.

4. Once all the above changes have been made, go ahead with the Sitecore installation by running the PowerShell script .\XP0-SingleDeveloper.ps1 as recommended in the Sitecore installation guide.

Create a New Deployment in Managed Search

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Dedicated Infrastructure tab and then click on the Create Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate provider, region, plan, and Solr version for your needs.

Cloud Provider

A self-managed Sitecore project may use any of our cloud providers for the Solr deployment.

Single Node or Cluster

Sitecore will work with a single-node deployment (the “NDN” series of Managed Search deployments) for purposes of testing and evaluation. However, a production system requires a Managed Search cluster (the “NDC” series) to provide high-availability and failover features.

Sitecore/Solr Compatibility

Sitecore 9.2 is known to be compatible with Solr 7.5.0. Other combinations may or may not work. See Sitecore’s Solr Compatibility Table for further information.

Sitecore 9.2 is under sustaining support through 2027. Solr 7.5.0 has reached end-of-life and is no longer supported by Apache.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Solr Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment gives you pertinent information about your deployment’s servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint takes you to your Solr server dashboard.

Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore

This script is used to connect a Sitecore XP0 installation to a SearchStax Solr instance.

The script automates the following parts of the procedure:

• Upload the Solr config files to Solr
• Create the Sitecore collections in Solr
• Configure Sitecore files

Download the Connector

The first step is to visit the SearchStax Github site and download the latest Managed Search Connector for Sitecore zip file.

Unzip the file to a convenient location. This creates the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory.

Install PowerShell 7 and Yaml Module

PowerShell 7 has special capabilities that are required by the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.

We assume you are on a Windows 10 computer. Open your native PowerShell, and install PowerShell 7 using the following command:

Windows PowerShell:

> iex "& { $(irm https://aka.ms/install-powershell.ps1) } -UseMSI"

Exit native Powershell and start Powershell 7 as the Administrator. Now install the powershell-yaml module:

Windows PowerShell 7:

> Install-Module powershell-yaml

Edit Connector Configuration

Edit the config.yml file in the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory. The entries take the form shown below. The connector will ignore any values that it doesn’t need as determined by the configurationMode value. Note the required indentation, which is two spaces under the “settings” header.

settings:
  accountName: "SearchStaxAccount"
  deploymentUid: "ss123456"
  sitecorePrefix: "sitecore"
  pathToWWWRoot: "C:\\inetpub\\wwwroot"
  solrUsername: ""
  solrPassword: ""
  sitecoreVersion : "9.2.0" 
  isUniqueConfigs : "true"
  configurationMode : "XP"

Name	Description	Example
accountName required string	Name of the SearchStax account, upper right corner of the screen.	“ABCInternational”
deploymentUid required string	UID of the SearchStax deployment. Look in the deployment URL.	“ss123456”
sitecorePrefix required for Sitecore, XConnectstring	Prefix of the sitecore installation. We advise using the “sitecore” default. Do not use a period (.) in this value, as it causes issues with performance monitoring.	“sitecore”
pathToWWWRoot optional string	Path to wwwroot folder in inetpub, i.e. your %IIS_SITE_HOME% variable	“C:\inetpub\wwwroot”
solrUsername optional string	Solr Basic Auth username	“username”
solrPassword optional string	Solr Basic Auth password	“password”
sitecoreVersion required string	Version of Sitecore	“9.3.0”
isUniqueConfigs required for Sitecore string	Switch between one config for all collections (“true”), and a unique config for each (“false”). (See below.)	“true”
configurationMode required string	“XP” means to set up Sitecore only. “XCONNECT” means to set up an xDB index. “XP|XCONNECT” means both at once. For “XCONNECT” with Solr versions 6.6.0 to 8.6.2, you’ll need to have SearchStax Support enable configset.​upload.​enabled before running the connector.	“XP”

When isUniqueConfigs is false, the script creates only one set of config files, and use that set for all of the Sitecore collections. The name of the config set is sitecore_<sitecorePrefix>. Example: sitecore_sitecore930.

When isUniqueConfigs is true (the default), the script creates a set of config files corresponding to each separate Sitecore collection. This lets Sitecore properly populate the schemas of the various collections. These configsets are named <sitecorePrefix>_<collectionName>. Example: sitecore930_core_index.

Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore

From Powershell 7, run as Administrator, navigate to the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory.

Change the execution policy to skip checking.

Windows Powershell 7:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

Run the sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1 script.

Windows Powershell 7:

> .\sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1

The script will prompt you for your SearchStax user name and password. The script may take a few minutes to run, during which it will notify you of its actions.

Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore

Follow these steps to populate the Solr schema:

1. Log in to the Sitecore Content Management environment.
2. Open the Sitecore Control Panel.
3. In the Indexing tab, click Populate Solr Managed Schema.
4. Select all indexes and click Populate. (If you have difficulty populating the schema, see Why does Sitecore fail to populate schemas?)
5. On the same page, go to the Indexing Manager, select all, and click Rebuild.

Problems?

See Sitecore Connection Errors for a list of the most-common issues that arise when connecting Sitecore to your SolrCloud deployment.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Sitecore 9.2 appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Overview

Managed Search can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 9.3 website.

This page demonstrates how easy it is to connect Sitecore to a Managed Search cluster. SearchStax has created a PowerShell 7 script that automates the steps of preparing Solr for Sitecore integration. This script is available to SearchStax clients free of charge from our Github site.

Contents:

1. Install Sitecore 9.3 without Solr
2. Create a New Deployment in Managed Search.
3. Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.
4. Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore.
5. Problems?

Install Sitecore 9.3 without Solr

This section describes how to install Sitecore 9.3 locally without Solr. We’ll connect it to a Managed Search deployment in a subsequent step.

1. Visit the Sitecore Experience Platform 9.3 Initial Release page. Under Download Options for On Premises Deployment, download Packages for XP Single.

   Farther down the same web page, under Release Information, download the Quick Installation Guide for a Developer Workstation.

   
2. With the exception of Solr, install all the prerequisite sub-components as mentioned in the installation guide.
3. Make the following changes in the configuration files.
   • XP0-SingleDeveloper.ps1: Change the $Prefix to “sitecore”.

     Comment out the Solr root and service details:

   • XP0-SingleDeveloper.json: Comment out or remove the XConnectSolr and SitecoreSolr “includes:”

     
   • sitecore-XP0.json: Comment out or remove the UpdateSolrSchema task:
   • xconnect-xp0.json: Comment out or remove the ConfigureSolrSchemas task.
4. Once all the above changes have been made, go ahead with the Sitecore installation by running the PowerShell script .\XP0-SingleDeveloper.ps1 as recommended in the Sitecore installation guide.

Create a New Deployment in Managed Search

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Dedicated Infrastructure tab and then click on the Create Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate provider, region, plan, and Solr version for your needs.

Cloud Provider

A self-managed Sitecore project may use any of our cloud providers for the Solr deployment.

Single Node or Cluster

Sitecore will work with a single-node deployment (the “NDN” series of Managed Search deployments) for purposes of testing and evaluation. However, a production system requires a Managed Search cluster (the “NDC” series) to provide high-availability and failover features.

Sitecore/Solr Compatibility

Sitecore 9.3 is known to be compatible with Solr 8.1.1. Other combinations may or may not work. See Sitecore’s Solr Compatibility Table for further information.

Sitecore 9.3 is under sustaining support through 2027. Solr 8.1.1 has reached end-of-life and is no longer supported by Apache.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Solr Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment gives you pertinent information about your deployment’s servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint takes you to your Solr server dashboard.

Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore

This script is used to connect a Sitecore XP0 installation to a Managed Search instance.

The script automates the following parts of the procedure:

• Upload the Solr config files to Solr
• Create the Sitecore collections in Solr
• Configure Sitecore files

Download the Connector

The first step is to visit the SearchStax Github site and download the latest Managed Search Connector for Sitecore zip file.

Unzip the file to a convenient location. This creates the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory.

Install PowerShell 7 and Yaml Module

PowerShell 7 has special capabilities that are required by the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore.

We assume you are on a Windows 10 computer. Open your native PowerShell, and install PowerShell 7 using the following command:

Windows PowerShell:

> iex "& { $(irm https://aka.ms/install-powershell.ps1) } -UseMSI"

Exit Powershell and start Powershell 7 as the Administrator. Now install the powershell-yaml module:

Windows PowerShell 7:

> Install-Module powershell-yaml

Edit Connector Configuration

Edit the config.yml file in the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory. The entries take the form shown below. The connector will ignore any values that it doesn’t need as determined by the configurationMode value. Note the required indentation, which is two spaces under the “settings” header.

settings:
  accountName: "SearchStaxAccount"
  deploymentUid: "ss123456"
  sitecorePrefix: "sitecore"
  pathToWWWRoot: "C:\\inetpub\\wwwroot"
  solrUsername: ""
  solrPassword: ""
  sitecoreVersion : "9.3.0" 
  isUniqueConfigs : "true"
  configurationMode : "XP"

Name	Description	Example
accountName required string	Name of the SearchStax account, upper right corner of the screen.	“ABCInternational”
deploymentUid required string	UID of the SearchStax deployment. Look in the deployment URL.	“ss123456”
sitecorePrefix required for Sitecore XConnectstring	Prefix of the sitecore installation. We advise using the “sitecore” default. Do not use a period (.) in this value, as it causes issues with performance monitoring.	“sitecore”
pathToWWWRoot optional string	Path to wwwroot folder in inetpub, i.e. your %IIS_SITE_HOME% variable	“C:\inetpub\wwwroot”
solrUsername optional string	Solr Basic Auth username	“username”
solrPassword optional string	Solr Basic Auth password	“password”
sitecoreVersion required string	Version of Sitecore	“9.3.0”
isUniqueConfigs required for Sitecore string	Switch between one config for all collections (“true”), and a unique config for each (“false”). (See below.)	“true”
configurationMode required string	“XP” means to set up Sitecore only. “XCONNECT” means to set up an xDB index. “XP|XCONNECT” means both at once. For “XCONNECT” with Solr versions 6.6.0 to 8.6.2, you’ll need to have SearchStax Support enable configset.​upload.​enabled before running the connector.	“XP”

When isUniqueConfigs is false, the script creates only one set of config files, and use that set for all of the Sitecore collections. The name of the config set is sitecore_<sitecorePrefix>. Example: sitecore_sitecore930.

When isUniqueConfigs is true (the default), the script creates a set of config files corresponding to each separate Sitecore collection. This lets Sitecore properly populate the schemas of the various collections. These configsets are named <sitecorePrefix>_<collectionName>. Example: sitecore930_core_index.

Run the Managed Search Connector for Sitecore

From Powershell 7, run as Administrator, navigate to the searchstax-cloud-connector-for-sitecore-x.y directory.

Change the execution policy to skip checking.

Windows Powershell 7:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

Run the sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1 script.

Windows Powershell 7:

> .\sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1

The script will prompt you for your SearchStax user name and password. The script may take a few minutes to run, during which it will notify you of its actions.

Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore

Follow these steps to populate the Solr schema:

1. Log in to the Sitecore Content Management environment.
2. Open the Sitecore Control Panel.
3. In the Indexing tab, click Populate Solr Managed Schema.
4. Select all indexes and click Populate. (If you have difficulty populating the schema, see Why does Sitecore fail to populate schemas?)
5. On the same page, go to the Indexing Manager, select all, and click Rebuild.

Problems?

See Sitecore Connection Errors for a list of the most-common issues that arise when connecting Sitecore to your SolrCloud deployment.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.

The post Sitecore 9.3 appeared first on SearchStax Docs.