SharePoint 2013 Search components include the crawl component, content processing component, index core, query processing component, and analytics service. The search workflow involves crawling content from various sources, processing content for indexing, storing indexed content in the index core, handling search queries through the query processing component, and utilizing analytics. Common issues involve search components entering failed or degraded states, new content not appearing in search results due to crawl or indexing errors, and errors when opening crawl logs. Restarting services, servers, and running diagnostic scripts can help resolve many search issues.

1. SharePoint 2013 Search
ROBI VONČINA, KOMPAS XNET D.O.O.
SHAREPOINT SERVER MVP

2. SPONSORS

3. Robi Vončina
• Newcomer dad
• MVP, MCSE, MCT
• Degree in economics
• Started as MS Office instructor
• System administrator
• I started working with SharePoint from 2003 version on
• Leader of SloSPUG

4. Agenda
• Search components
• Search workflow
• Admin, crawl, content processing, query, index, analytics
• Search operations
• Tools and scripts
• Most common errors
• End User perspective
• What are crawled and managed properties
• What are display templates
• Displaying custom search results with display templates

5. Search components

6. HTTP
File shares
SharePoint
User profiles
Lotus Notes
Documentum
Exchange folders
Custom - BCS
SharePoint
SP Apps
Devices
Non-SP UX
SharePoint 2013 Search Workflow
Public API
Unit of scale/role boundary
Analytics Service
Feeding Chain Index Core Query Chain

7. HTTP
File shares
SharePoint
User profiles
Lotus Notes
Documentum
Exchange folders
Custom - BCS
SharePoint
SP Apps
Devices
Non-SP UX
SharePoint 2013 Search Architecture
Public API
Unit of scale/role boundary
Feeding Chain

8. Crawl Component
• OOB connectors
• Extensible through BCS
• Local disk cache
• Crawled items tracked in
Crawl database
• Configurations stored in
Admin database
• Crawl modes
• Full Crawl
• Incremental Crawl
• Continuous Crawl
Custom (BCS) Admin
mssearch.exe
Clarifying Guidance on SharePoint Security Groups
versus Active Directory Domain Services Groups | Kirk
Evans Blog
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/kaevans/2013/05/06
/clarifying-guidance-on-sharepoint-security-groups-
versus-active-directory-domain-services-groups/

9. Content Processing Component
• Stateless node
• Analyzes content for indexing
• Processing flow
• Dictionaries
• Schema mapping
• Stores links and anchors in Link
database (analytics)
• Extensible through web service call-
outs
• Configurations stored in admin
database
Content Enrichment
Web Service

10. HTTP
File shares
SharePoint
User profiles
Lotus Notes
Documentum
Exchange folders
Custom - BCS
SharePoint
SP Apps
Devices
Non-SP UX
SharePoint 2013 Search Architecture
Public API
Unit of scale/role boundary
Index Core

11. Replica
ReplicaReplica
Index Partition details
Partitions and Replicas
• n Partitions
• 1 Primary Replica
• ≥ 0 Secondary Replicas
Details
• Partition are a logical portion of the entire index
• Replicas are there for fault tolerance/ increased
query throughput
• All nodes performs indexing
• Journal shipping from primary to replicas
• Partitions can be added but NOT removed
• Index can scale in both horizontal (partitions) and
vertical (replicas) ways
Replica
Content Processing
Replica
Replica
Replica
Replica
Replica
Replica
Replica
Replica

12. HTTP
File shares
SharePoint
User profiles
Lotus Notes
Documentum
Exchange folders
Custom - BCS
SharePoint
SP Apps
Devices
Non-SP UX
SharePoint 2013 Search Architecture
Public API
Unit of scale/role boundary
Query Chain

13. SharePoint
SP Apps
Devices
Non-SP UX
Web Front-End
• Query APIs
• REST/OData API
• Client-Side object model (CSOM)
• Server-Side object model (SSOM)
• Search center
• Result templates
• ContentWebPart
• RefinerWebPart
• Portals and publishing
Admin

14. SharePoint
SP Apps
Devices
Non-SP UX
Query Processing Component
• Stateless node
• Processing flows
• Query analyzer
• Linguistics
• Dictionaries
• Result sources
• Schema mapping
• Query rules
• Query federation
• Configurations stored in
admin database Admin

15. HTTP
File shares
SharePoint
User profiles
Lotus Notes
Documentum
Exchange folders
Custom - BCS
SharePoint
SP Apps
Devices
Non-SP UX
SharePoint 2013 Search Architecture
Public API
Unit of scale/role boundary
Analytics Service

16. Analytics Service empowers (examples)…
• View counts
• Sort by popularity
• Recommendations
• Relevancy based on
usage
• Search reports
• «Suggested sites to
follow»
• «Are you looking for
these again?»

17. Analytics Processing Component
• Map-reduce
• Learns by usage
• Search Analytics
• Usage Analytics
• Enriches index by
updating index items
• Usage reports in
Analytics database
Event Stream
Admin

18. Search operations

19. Tools and scripts
• Create Search Service application with PowerShell
• X Blogs | Script for creating SharePoint 2013 Search service application
http://xblogs.kompas-xnet.si/post/Script-for-creating-SharePoint-2013-Search-service-
application
Add or Modify SharePoint 2013 Search Topology using a PowerShell built User Interface
- Scott Stewart - Site Home - TechNet Blogs
http://blogs.technet.com/b/scottstewart/archive/2015/05/21/add-or-modify-sharepoint-
search-2013-topology-using-a-powershell-built-ui.aspx

20. Tools and scripts
• Script Builds SP Search 2013 Index health reports for monitoring and
troubleshooting
• https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Builds-SP-Search-2013-10d72a25
• Get-SPSearchTopologyState script extended to check the synchronization
timer job
• https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Get-SPSearchTopologyState-
b7452c6a

21. Demo

22. Search troubleshooting

23. Search topology
WFE1
Query
Index
Admin
APP
Crawl
Content
Processing
Analytics
WFE2
Query
Index
Admin

24. Case 1: Search component in „failed state“
Suggested solution:
• Restart server with component in
failed state

25. Case 2: New elements are not shown in search results
• Open Central administration  Service applications Search_SA Crawl log Local SharePoint
sitescrawl history Open first crawl log.

26. Case 2a: Search components OK  no new elements are visible in search
results
• Error in crawl logs:
»The crawler could not communicate with
the server. Check that the server is available
and that the firewall access is configured
correctly. If the repository was temporarily
unavailable, an incremental crawl will fix this
error«
• Suggested solution:
• Restart server or IIS on crawl target
server

27. Case 2b: Search components OK  no new elements are visible in search
results
• Error in crawl logs:
»The item could not be indexed
successfully because the item failed in
the indexing subsystem. ( The item
could not be indexed successfully
because the item failed in the indexing
subsystem.«
• Suggested solution:
• Primary index component – restart
service or server
• Get-SPSearchTopologyState script
extended to check the synchronization
timer job
• https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/s
criptcenter/Get-
SPSearchTopologyState-b7452c6a

28. Case 3: Opening crawl logs throws an error
Open Central administration 
Service applications Search_SA
Crawl log Local SharePoint
sitescrawl history :
• »Retrieving the COM class factory
for component with CLSID
{0FF1CE15-0005-0000-0000-
000000000000} failed due to the
following error: 800703fa Illegal
operation attempted on a registry
key that has been marked for
deletion. (Exception from HRESULT:
0x800703FA).«
• Suggested solution
• Primary admin component
• Restart primary admin component

29. Degraded state:
• After server restart
• After service restart
• Index component in degraded state for too
long
Case 4: Index component in »degraded state«
• Suggested solution:
• Run Get-SPEnterpriseSearchStatus -Text -
SearchApplication [search sa name]
• Run Get-SpEnterpriseSearchStatusExtended
• Usually all will show degraded state
• Script Builds SP Search 2013 Index health reports for
monitoring and troubleshooting
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Build
s-SP-Search-2013-10d72a25
• Look for:
• Index component [I.2.0] left behind
• Not seeding!!!
• Restart search host controller service
• Run script again
• Wait for sync to complete

30. Search for Power User

31. Content Sources
• Content Sources are the core to search
• Without content, what is the point of search?
• Content can come from anywhere
• Out of the box support includes
• SharePoint Sites
• Web Sites
• File Shares
• Exchange Public Folders
• Line of Business Data
• Custom Repository
• External content with custom interfaces can be searched!
• Utilize the BCS connectors to custom code a connector to a source

32. Types of Crawls
• Full
• Full crawls will re-index everything in a content source
• Content, Columns, security ACLs
• Incremental
• Only things that have changed (Added, modified, deleted)
• Continuous
• Will continually crawl content that has changed
• Does NOT crawl “instantaneously”
• Runs at 15 minute intervals
• If not complete, will start new crawl thread

33. Crawl and Search Security
• Crawl Security
• By default, a single account is used to crawl all content
• Giving read access to all your content in the enterprise is frowned upon
• Consider breaking up the Read account across the different content sources to reduce
exposure to hackers
• BCS Connectors can be used to get security ACLS from custom sources
• Search Security
• Search results are security trimmed
• Only content a users can gain access to will show in the search results
• Means that target must contain ACLs that search can index
• Custom repositories must be built to map any internal authentication scheme to Active
Directory accounts

34. Columns, crawled and managed properties
Columns:
•CreatedBy
•ModifiedBy
Crawled
properties
•ows_Created_x0020_By
•ows_Modified_x0020_By
Managed
property
• Author
Crawl property naming convention is:
ows_q_<Type>_<ColumnName>
ows_r_<Type>_<ColumnName>
ows_taxId_<Type>_<ColumnName>
Managed property naming convention is:
<ColumnName>OWS<Type>
owstaxId<ColumnName>

35. Display templates
• HTML files
• Converted to js files
• Two types
• Search results web parts
• Content by search web parts Item
<property name="ItemTemplateId"
Item
Item

36. Demo

37. thank you
questions?
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