Moving the Indexing service

We recommend that, when moving an Indexing service's data, you move whole root paths intact and do not change the IndexRootPathEntry used by individual archives. These instructions describe moving whole root paths.

In the instructions below, the computer from which you are moving the Indexing service is the source computer, whereas the computer to which you are moving the service is the target computer.

To move the Indexing service

  1. Install the Enterprise Vault software on the target computer, as described in the Installing and Configuring Enterprise Vault manual.

  2. Configure an Indexing service on the target computer.

    You do not need to create root path locations using the Administration Console. Any locations that you create with the Administration Console are not used for the indexes moved to the target computer.

    You can also move data to an existing Indexing service, using exactly the same steps below. The moved indexes are placed in new root path locations and do not share existing root path locations.

  3. Perform the following steps to obtain the Vault Database Directory entry for the Indexing service on the target computer:

    • Search the ComputerEntry records in the directory until you find the entry for the target computer.

    • Note the ComputerEntryId for this entry.

    • Search the IndexingServiceEntry records in the directory for the one that contains this ComputerEntryId.

    • Note the IndexingServiceEntryId of this IndexingServiceEntry record.

    • You use this in 9.

  4. Perform the following steps to find the Directory database entry for the Indexing service on the source computer:

    • Search the ComputerEntry records in the directory until you find the entry for the source computer.

    • Note the ComputerEntryId for this entry.

    • Search the IndexingServiceEntry records in the directory for the one that contains this ComputerEntryId.

    • Note the IndexingServiceEntryId of this IndexingServiceEntry record.

    • You use this in 5.

  5. Perform the following steps to identify all the Indexing service root path locations on the source computer:

    • Search the IndexRootPathEntry records in the directory for those that contain the IndexingServiceEntryId for the source computer.

    • This is the value you obtained in 4.

    • Decide which root path locations to move to the target computer. You can choose to move all of them, if you want to move the entire Indexing service to a new computer, or only some of them, if you want to spread the load between two Indexing services.

    • Make a list of all the root path locations that you want to move. This list should record the IndexRootPathEntryID for each root path and the IndexRootPath folder where the index data is stored.

  6. Perform the following steps to create folders on the target computer corresponding to the root path locations:

    • On the target computer, manually create one folder for each root path on the list that you made in 5.

      There is normally one root path for each disk used for storing index data. If the target computer has fewer disks than the source computer, this may not be possible. In this case, create multiple folders on the same disk. There is no harm in this: the important thing is to create as many folders as there are root paths to be moved.

      Do not try to combine multiple root paths into one, or to split the data within a root path and store it in multiple root paths.

    • Assign one of these folders to each root path on the list that you made in 5.

    • You must create each new folder on the target computer on a disk with enough free space to hold all the data stored within its corresponding root path on the source computer.

    • If using NTFS, modify the security permissions on each folder (and on each file created in the folder) so that it is fully accessible to the Administrators group but not accessible to anyone else.

  7. Use the Service Control Manager to stop the Indexing services on both the source and target computers.

  8. Wait until both services have stopped.

  9. For each root path location on the list that you created in step 5, do the following:

    • Recursively copy all the files and subfolders from the root path location on the source computer to the corresponding folder on the target computer (that is, the folder you created in 6).

      There must be a one-to-one correspondence between the root path locations on the source computer and the new folders on the target computer. Do not use existing folders on the target computer, and do not copy more than one root path to the same folder.

    • When the data has been safely copied, use your database tool to select the root path's IndexRootPathEntry in the directory, using its ID recorded on the list made in 5.

    • Change the value in the IndexingServiceEntryID field to the ID that you obtained in 3.

    • This associates this IndexRootPathEntry with the Indexing service on the target computer.

    • Change the value in the IndexRootPath field to the name of the folder on the target computer into which the data for this root path has just been copied. Use the full, correct path name for the folder, including the drive letter.

    • Ensure that the modified IndexRootPathEntry is written back to the directory.

    Do not delete any data from the source computer at this stage.

  10. Perform the following steps to start the Indexing services:

    • Start the Indexing service on the target computer.

    • Identify all the archives whose data has been moved by searching the directory for all VaultEntry records that contain one of the IndexRootPathEntry IDs on the list created in 5.

    • Verify that the data has been copied and that the Vault Directory database has been updated correctly. You can do this by using the Web Access application to search each archive.

    • When you are sure that the target computer is working correctly, restart the Indexing service on the source computer if it still contains other root paths that were not moved.

    • Do not delete the index data from the source computer until you have safely backed it up on the target computer.