Managing Search Index Services

"System Managers" use the Services section to create and manage service configurations for search index services and set the specific configuration parameters provided by each service.

Note:
Creating a service configuration requires the corresponding service type to be enabled for the organization by the central administrator. For the service configurations to be available in the dependent management contexts (channels and applications), they must be individually made available by the parent sales organization.
Note:
Intershop Commerce Management integrates Apache Solr as the standard search option. Hence, this documentation covers the Solr search index configuration and management. For information about other search integrations, refer to the documentation that accompanies the corresponding adapter cartridge.

Creating Search Index Service Configuration

To create a search index service configuration:
  1. Select the management context from the context selection box.
    This opens the navigation bar for the management context.
  2. In the navigation bar, select Services.
    This displays the available service configurations.
  3. Click New.
    This starts the New Service Configuration wizard, displaying the Determine Service Type segment.
  4. Select the intended search index service type and click Next.
    Select the radio button of the service type for which you intend to create a new configuration. The available search services (index types) include SFProduct Search Solr, SFContent Search Solr, SFProduct Search Suggest Solr. Clicking Next displays the General Information segment.
  5. Specify the required general information and click Next.
    The mandatory information includes ID, display name and activation status. Clicking Next displays the Configuration Settings segment.
    Tip:
    Checking the Available checkbox enables the new service configuration globally. That is, it becomes operational as soon as it is set active on one of the dependent levels.
  6. Skip the configuration settings and click Next.
    This displays the Sharing Rule Selection segment. The configuration parameters are set after the service configuration is created, see Configuring Search Index Services.
  7. Select a sharing rule.
    The sharing rules define the availability of the current service configuration in the dependent management contexts. The available settings include shared and active, shared and inactive, shared and mandatory, as well as unshared.
    Tip:
    Sharing a search service configuration with dependent, or "child", management contexts makes the search index available in the dependent management contexts, too.
  8. Click Finish to create the service configuration.
    Otherwise, click Cancel to discard the operation.
For details about managing service configurations in general, see Services Management.

Configuring Search Index Services

To define the configuration parameters for a service:
  1. Select the management context from the context selection box.
    This opens the navigation bar for the management context.
  2. In the navigation bar, select Services.
    This displays the available service configurations.
  3. In the row of the intended search index service configuration, click the configure icon in the Action column.
    This opens the Configuration tab of the service configuration detail view.
    Tip:
    Alternatively, you can click the name of the intended service configuration, which opens the General tab of the detail view, and then change to the Configuration tab.
  4. Click Configure, and edit the service parameters as required.
    The following options are available:
    Table 1. Apache Solr-specific configuration parameters
    Parameter Description
    Solr Server URL Specifies the Solr server URL (http://<host>:<port>) when connecting to a Solr server. An empty value assumes the Apache Solr Web application is installed at the local (Intershop Commerce Management) application server that processes the current request. Note that in case of a load-balanced Solr cluster, the URL (host and port) of the load balancer must be specified.
    Solr Server Context Path Specifies the context path if the Solr server application is not deployed in the default context path, the default is /solr.
    List of Solr Cluster Node URLs To support a Solr cluster (propagate index updates, etc.), specify all Solr server URLs separated by comma. If there is only one Solr server, specifies the same URL as for Solr Server URL (above).
  5. Click Apply to save your settings.
    Otherwise, click Reset to discard your changes.
For details about index creation, search attributes, etc., see Managing Search Indexes.