FAST for SharePoint 2010 Setup on Developer standalone VM

FAST for SP2010 Install Prerequisites

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Install FAST for SharePoint 2010 Binaries on your SharePoint 2010 Development VM

Configure the stand-alone deployment VM

  1. Click the Start menu, Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Configuration Wizard as the local administrator.
  2. On the Welcomescreen, click Next.

  1. On the Select the deployment type page, choose theSingle server (stand-alone)option > click Next.

  1. On the Enter the user name and passwordscreen, enter the user name and password for the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint user. This user must be a domain user. I used my local dev/admin account on my development environment namely: demo\administrator.

  1. On the Enter a certificate passwordscreen, enter a certificate password of your choice. This password will be used to protect the general purpose FAST Search certificate. You will need this password to install certificates on other servers. Retype the password and then click Next.
  2. On the Server settingsscreen, enter the fully qualified domain name of the server and the base port. A deployment file will be generated automatically with all the settings configured.

  1. On the Database settingsscreen, enter connection information to the SQL database that you installed and created before you installed FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. Enter the Database connection string in the format <ServerName>\<DBInstanceName> (Example: 127.0.0.1 as this is on your local dev machine).

Enter the Database name and Database port. The database will be created when you complete the configuration wizard. Click Next.

  1. On the Click-through relevancy settingsscreen, add the desired relevancy click-through settings. Click-through relevancy enables automatic relevancy tuning based on how search users click on results. Select the relevant Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 installation type namely: the Standalone option, specify the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the SharePoint Server 2010 > Click Next.

  1. On the Configuration settings summaryscreen, review the settings and then click Configure.

Wait while the configuration finishes.

  1. On the Post-setup configuration was successful page, click Finish.

  1. Before you restart the server, make sure that administrative permissions are defined. Update the local FASTSearchAdministrators group (which was created by the configuration wizard) to include either the user who will administer the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farm, or the domain group of your FAST Search Administrators. (Ignore this step as the install account demo\administrators is already added)
  1. Restart the machine.

Verify that all modules are running

  1. Log in as a user who is a member of the local FASTSearchAdministrators group i.e. demo\administrator
  2. ClickStartAll ProgramsMicrosoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePointRight-click Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint shell and select Run as administrator.
  3. Enter the following PS cmd:PS:nctrl status
  4. Make sure that all FAST modules areRunning.

Create and set up the Content Search Service Application (FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint)

You have now completed the initial configuration of a stand-alone deployment. Now create and set up the FAST Search Content Search Service Application (Content SSA).

To be able to crawl content with the indexing connectors integrated in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, you must prepare the FAST Search Content Search Service Application (Content SSA). The Content SSA will crawl content and feed it into the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint back-end.

After you have created the Content SSA and before you add a content source and configure crawling with the Content SSA, you must enable SSL communication between FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. This is mandatory; you will not be able to feed content to FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint without enabling SSL communication.

Create and set up the Content SSA

Ensure the Windows Service SharePoint 2010 Administration (SPAdminV4) is running on machine.

C:\FASTSearch\install_info.txt has to help you configure the Content SSA.

  1. UsingCentral Administration, click Application ManagementManage Service ApplicationsOn the Manage Service Applicationsscreen, click NewSearch Service Application.
  1. On the Create New Search Service Applicationscreen, in the Name section, provide a unique name for the Service Application e.g. FASTContent
  2. In the FAST Service Application section, select FAST Search Connector.
  3. Set the Search Service Account i.e. demo\administrator
  4. In the Application Pool for Search Admin Web Service section, select an existing application pool under Use existing application pool.
  5. In the Content Distributors and Content Collection Name sections, enter the connection information to the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint installation. Use the install_info.txt file as a reference for the location of the content distributor. i.e.
  • Content Distributors: win-dev.demo.dev:13391
  • Content Collection Name: sp
  1. Click OK. It may take a while to finish. The Content SSA is added to the list of Service Applications (FASTContent).

You have now created the Content SSA. To be able to feed content to FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, you must configure SSL enabled communication between Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.

Configure SSL enabled communication

Configuring SSL enabled communication is mandatory. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) communication is required to feed content from SharePoint Server 2010 to FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. To enable secure communications, configure the Content SSA to use an SSL certificate for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint generates a self-signed certificate during post-setup configuration. This section describes how to use this certificate to enable SSL communication using the self-signed certificate. It is recommended to use certificates issued by a proper Certificate Authority in production environments.

  1. Copy the PS script from C:\FASTSearch\installer\scripts\ securefastsearchconnector.ps1 and copy the certificate file C:\FASTSearch\data\data_security\cert\FASTSearchCert.pfx to a newlycreate a new folder: c:\FASTSSL.
  1. Open a Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Management Shell with the Run as administrator

Navigate to the directory where you copied the securefastsearchconnector.ps1 script and run it, replacing the necessary parameters with the values for your environment.

.\SecureFASTSearchConnector.ps1 –certPath "path of the certificate\certificatename.pfx" –ssaName "name of your content SSA" –username “domain\username”

i.e. .\SecureFASTSearchConnector.ps1 –certPath "C:\FASTSSL\FASTSearchCert.pfx" –ssaName "FASTContent" –username “demo\administrator”

When prompted to enter the certificate password, enter the certificate password that you supplied when you ran the post-setup configuration of FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.

You have now configured the Content SSA to use SSL communication. You should now add at least one content source to the Content SSA to be able to verify the installation.

Add a content source

This section describes the steps to add a content source to the FAST Search Content SSA.

A content source is a set of options that you can use to specify what type of content is crawled, what URLs to crawl, and how deep and when to crawl. You must create at least one content source before a crawl can occur.

In order to feed content to the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint content collection using the integrated indexing connectors, you should add at least one content source to the FAST Search Content SSA. The default content collection name is sp.

The FAST Search Content SSA can have up to 500 content sources in it, and each content source can have a different configuration.

To verify a successful FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint installation, we recommend that you add a small content source to the Content SSA and start a full crawl. This can be one folder in a file share for example, or one Web site, I used an existing SharePoint site on the local VM.

Navigate to the Manage Content Sources page

  1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a service application administrator for the FAST Search Content Search Service Application.
  2. In CA, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.
  3. On the Manage Service Applications screen, click theFASTContentService Application.
  4. On the Search Administration Page, in the Crawling section, click NewContent Sources.

To create a content source

  1. On the Manage Content Sources page, click New Content Source.
  2. On the Add Content Source page, type a name for the new content source & in the Content Source Type section select a SharePoint 2010 site I already had on the VM also enter the start address namely:
  1. To immediately begin a full crawl, in the Start Full Crawl section, select the Start full crawl of this content source check box, and then click OK.
  2. Ensure the crawl has finished and items were crawled by viewing the “Crawl Log”.

Next step

You have now set up the Content SSA, enabled SSL communication and added a content source to the Content SSA.

To be able to query crawled content, create a FAST Search Query SSA and follow the instructions to enable queries from SharePoint Server.

Create and set up the FAST Search Query SSA

Important:
Make sure that the Windows Service called SharePoint 2010 Administration (SPAdminV4) is running on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. If it is stopped, it must be started.

The install_info.txt file, located directly under the FASTSearch installation folder on the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint administration server or single server (default c:\FASTSearch\install_info.txt), contains the URLs for configuring the SSA.

  1. On SharePoint Server 2010, on the Central Administration Home page, click Application Management and then Manage Service Applications.
  2. On the Manage Service Applications page, click New and then Search Service Application.
  3. On the Create New Search Service Application page, in the Name section, provide a unique name for the Service Application.
    Example: FAST Query SSA
    Warning: If the SSA creation fails, you must enter a new unique name for this field. Otherwise, it will fail again and you must re-enter all data.
  4. In the FAST Service Application section, select FAST Search Query.
  5. Set the Search Service Account.
    Note that the Search Service Account is the same across all Search Services. If you set this account to something other than the default value, it will affect all Search Services.
    If you want to change the Search Service Account later, go to the Central Administration Home page. Click Security and then click Configure Service Accounts. Change the user who runs Windows Service - SharePoint Server Search.
  6. In the Application Pool for Search Admin Web Service section, select either an existing application pool under Use existing application pool, or select Create new application pool and give it a unique name. Example: FAST_Query_Admin_SSA_App_Pool.
    If you create a new application pool, select a security account. The security account is used to run the SSA Admin Web service.
    Select Configurable, and enter the user account. The default is the managed service account.
  1. In the Application Pool for Search Query and Site Settings Web Service section, select either an existing application pool under Use existing application pool, or select Create new application pool, and give it a unique name. Example: FAST_Query_SSA_App_Pool.
    If you create a new application pool, select a security account. The security account is used to run the Web service for Search Query and Site Settings.
    Select Configurable, and enter the user account.
  2. In the Query Service Location, Administration Service Location and Resource Store Location sections, enter the connection information to the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint installation. The location (URLs/port numbers) of the services is included in the install_info.txt file.
    The examples here assume a base port of 13000 for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.
  3. Query Service Location:
    or
  4. Administration Service Location:
    or
  5. Resource Store Location:
  6. Account for Administration Service: demo\administrator.
  1. Click OK. It may take a while to finish.
    When finished, a new SSA is added to the list of Service Applications.

Verify user access to FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint administrative services

The user who runs the Application Pool for the web application in which you will configure FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, is the user who will communicate with the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint administration server. Therefore, make sure that the user who runs this Application Pool is a member of the FASTSearchAdministrators group on the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint administration server:

  1. On SharePoint Server 2010, on the Central Administration Home page, under Security, select Configure Service Accounts.
  2. Each web application has a separate Web Application Pool. Select the relevant component, typically Web Application Pool - SharePoint - 80.
  3. Make sure that the user account for this component is a member of the FASTSearchAdministrators group on the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint administration server.
Limit access to keyword management only

In a parent and child farm scenario, the child farm web application account must be authorized to access the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint (back-end) keyword service. The account can be authorized by adding it to the FASTSearchKeywordAdministrators group on the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint administration server. The FASTSearchKeywordAdministrators group is not automatically created during installation, but can be created manually if you want to use this level of authorization.

You can also select to give the account full access to the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint administrative services by adding it to the FASTSearchAdministrators group.

Connect the FAST Search Query SSA to your web application(s)

Important:
The following steps require that at least one web application was created. For information about how to create web applications in SharePoint Server 2010, see Create a Web application.
  1. On SharePoint Server 2010, on the Central Administration Home page, select Application Management.
  2. Under Service Applications, click Configure service application associations.
  3. Click the Application Proxy Group that you want to change, typically default.
  4. Make sure that the Query SSA (for example FAST Query SSA) is the default and only selected Search Service Application Proxy, and then click OK.
  5. Verify that the correct Query SSA is associated with the web application.

All the default search service applications should now point to FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.

Enable queries from Microsoft SharePoint Server (FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint)

You must configure claims authentication, which means that you export a certificate from SharePoint Server 2010 and import it on all query servers in FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. If you want to help secure query traffic by enabling HTTPS (optional), you must perform some additional steps, http is used in this scenario.

Configure claims authentication

This section describes how to transfer a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 STS certificate (MOSS_STS) from SharePoint Server 2010 to all FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint query servers to provide security trimmed queries.

Security trimming, or item level security, limits user access to items in search results that the user who submitted the query is authorized to see.

On SharePoint Server 2010, export the SharePoint STS certificate:

  1. Click theStart menu, All ProgramsMicrosoft SharePoint 2010 ProductsRight-click SharePoint 2010 Management ShellRun as administrator.
  2. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following command(s):
    $stsCert = (Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig).LocalLoginProvider.SigningCertificate

$stsCert.Export("cert") | Set-Content -encoding byte MOSS_STS.cer

The file MOSS_STS.cer is created in the directory from which you run the commands.

  1. Copy MOSS_STS.cer to a location that is available to the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint query servers.

On each FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint query server, import the SharePoint STS certificate:

  1. Click the Start menu >All ProgramsMicrosoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePointRight click Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint shellRun as administrator.
  2. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, browse to <FASTSearchFolder>\installer\scripts\, where <FASTSearchFolder> is the path of the folder where you have installed FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, for example C:\FASTSearch. Type the following command:
    .\InstallSTSCertificateForClaims.ps1 -certPath <"full path of MOSS STS certificate"

Enable HTTPS (optional)

If you want to help secure query traffic by using HTTPS, you must perform some additional optional steps. With FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, you can choose between HTTP and HTTPS for query traffic. HTTP is used as a default.

Disclaimer

This document is not supported and is a replication with screen shots of MS’s FAST for SP2010 articles off Technet. It is not for production systems and specifically applies to standalone VM’s with a local domain controller.

Reference

Other Info:

Main components are: Crawler (examines the data to be made searchable), Web Analyser and Indexer (performs the search queries).

Crawler servers maximum of 30 million docs per node (server), crawler produces 2 databases. Sizing is roughly 3GB per million docs in the log file and 4GB per million docs in content.