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Alfresco Search and Insight Engine

Installation options

You can install Search and Insight Engine using the distribution zip or Docker Compose. There are two different ways you can install the software, the first is with mutual TLS, and the second is without mutual TLS (HTTP with secret word in request header).

Important: From version 2.0, you cannot install Search and Insight Engine without mutual TLS (plain HTTP) because it is no longer supported.

Install with mutual TLS (zip)

Use this information to install Search and Insight Engine on the same machine as Alfresco Content Services with mutual TLS.

Mutual TLS is used for authentication between the Repository and Search and Insight Engine.

This task assumes you have:

  • Installed Alfresco Content Services 6.2 or above, see Supported platforms.

  • Set the following properties in the <TOMCAT_HOME>/shared/classes/alfresco-global.properties file:

      index.subsystem.name=solr6
  solr.secureComms=https
  solr.port=8983

Important: Alfresco strongly recommends you use firewalls and other infrastructure means to ensure the Search and Insight Engine server is not accessible from anything other than trusted hosts and/or users, and only on the ports needed for Search and Insight Engine.

  1. Download alfresco-insight-engine-2.0.x.zip from the Hyland Community.

  2. Extract the Search and Insight Engine distribution.

    By default, the contents of alfresco-insight-engine-2.0.x.zip are decompressed in a root folder as /alfresco-insight-engine. See Search and Insight Engine directory structure for more details.

  3. If you use several languages across your organization, you must enable cross-language search support in all fields. To do this update the alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome/conf/shared.properties file:

     alfresco.cross.locale.datatype.0={http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}text
 alfresco.cross.locale.datatype.1={http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}content
 alfresco.cross.locale.datatype.2={http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}mltext

  4. (Optional) Suggestion is disabled by default. To enable suggestion update the alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome/conf/shared.properties file.

     alfresco.suggestable.property.0={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}name
 alfresco.suggestable.property.1={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}title
 alfresco.suggestable.property.2={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}description
 alfresco.suggestable.property.3={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}content

    Note: The spell check functionality does not work with Search and Insight Engine when suggestion is enabled.

  5. To secure access to Search and Insight Engine, you must create a new set of keystores and keys.

    1. Generate secure keys specific to your Alfresco installation. For more information, see Secure keys.

    2. Create a new keystore directory at alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome.

    3. In the production environment, copy your custom keystore and truststore to the alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome/keystore directory.

    4. Update the SSL-related system properties by replacing <SOLR_HOME> with alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome, and set your keystore and truststore passwords.

      (Windows) update the alfresco-insight-engine/solr.in.cmd file:

       set SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE=<SOLR_HOME>/keystore/ssl-repo-client.keystore
 set SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE_PASSWORD=keystore
 set SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE_TYPE=JCEKS
 set SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE=<SOLR_HOME>/keystore/ssl-repo-client.truststore
 set SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE_PASSWORD=truststore
 set SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE_TYPE=JCEKS
 set SOLR_SSL_NEED_CLIENT_AUTH=true
 set SOLR_SSL_WANT_CLIENT_AUTH=false

      (Linux) update the alfresco-insight-engine/solr.in.sh file:

       SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE=<SOLR_HOME>/keystore/ssl-repo-client.keystore
 SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE_PASSWORD=keystore
 SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE_TYPE=JCEKS
 SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE=<SOLR_HOME>/keystore/ssl-repo-client.truststore
 SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE_PASSWORD=truststore
 SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE_TYPE=JCEKS
 SOLR_SSL_NEED_CLIENT_AUTH=true
 SOLR_SSL_WANT_CLIENT_AUTH=false

    5. Set the SOLR_PORT environment variable:

      (Windows) update the alfresco-insight-engine/solr.in.cmd file:

       set SOLR_PORT=8983

      (Linux) update the alfresco-insight-engine/solr.in.sh file:

       SOLR_PORT=8983

  6. (Optional) If you want to install Search and Insight Engine on a separate machine, set the SOLR_SOLR_HOST and SOLR_ALFRESCO_HOST environment variables before starting Search and Insight Engine, for more see Configuring Search and Insight Engine.

    (Windows) update the alfresco-insight-engine/solr.in.cmd file:

     set SOLR_SOLR_HOST=localhost

     set SOLR_ALFRESCO_HOST=localhost

    (Linux) update the alfresco-insight-engine/solr.in.sh file:

     SOLR_SOLR_HOST=localhost

     SOLR_ALFRESCO_HOST=localhost

  7. To configure the Solr6 cores, set the following:

    • Before creating the alfresco and archive cores:
      • Set alfresco.secureComms=https in alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome/templates/rerank/conf/solrcore.properties.

      • Copy the custom keystores to the alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome/keystore directory.

          ssl-repo-client.keystore
  ssl-repo-client.truststore
    • If the alfresco and archive cores already exist, ensure that alfresco.secureComms is set to https for both the cores. For example:
      • alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome/alfresco/conf/solrcore.properties
      • alfresco-insight-engine/solrhome/archive/conf/solrcore.properties

  8. For running a single instance of Search and Insight Engine (i.e. not sharded), use the following commands:

     cd alfresco-insight-engine
 ./solr/bin/solr start -a
 "-Dcreate.alfresco.defaults=alfresco,archive
 -Dsolr.ssl.checkPeerName=false
 -Dsolr.allow.unsafe.resourceloading=true
 -Dssl-keystore.password=keystore
 -Dssl-keystore.aliases=ssl-alfresco-ca,ssl-repo-client
 -Dssl-keystore.ssl-alfresco-ca.password=keystore
 -Dssl-keystore.ssl-repo-client.password=keystore
 -Dssl-truststore.password=truststore
 -Dssl-truststore.aliases=ssl-alfresco-ca,ssl-repo,ssl-repo-client
 -Dssl-truststore.ssl-alfresco-ca.password=truststore
 -Dssl-truststore.ssl-repo.password=truststore
 -Dssl-truststore.ssl-repo-client.password=truststore" -f

    Note: The -Dcreate.alfresco.defaults=alfresco,archive command automatically creates the alfresco and archive cores. Therefore, you should only start Search and Insight Engine with -Dcreate.alfresco.defaults=alfresco,archive the first time you run Search and Insight Engine. Additionally, to ensure that Search and Insight Engine connects using the IPv6 protocol instead of IPv4, add -Djava.net.preferIPv6Addresses=true to the startup parameters. FInally, You should run this application as a dedicated user. For example, you can create a Solr user.

    The default port used is 8983.

    The command line parameter, -a passes additional JVM parameters, for example, system properties using -D.

    Once Search and Insight Engine is up and running, you should see a message like:

     Waiting up to 180 seconds to see Solr running on port 8983 []  
 Started Solr server on port 8983 (pid=24289). Happy searching!

    To stop all instances of Search and Insight Engine, use:

     ./solr/bin/solr stop

    The logs are stored in the alfresco-insight-engine/logs/solr.log file, by default. This can be configured in solr.in.sh (for Linux) or solr.in.cmd (for Windows) using SOLR_LOGS_DIR.

    You have successfully created an alfresco core and an archive core. To verify, in a browser, navigate to the Solr URL, https://localhost:8983/solr.

    Note: You need to install the browser.p12 certificate in your browser before accessing this URL.

    In the Solr Admin UI, select the core selector drop-down list and verify that both the alfresco and archive cores are present.

    Allow a few minutes for Search and Insight Engine to start indexing.

If you are not using sharded Search and Insight Engine:

  1. Access the Admin Console > Search Service Sharding page.
  2. Deselect Dynamic Shard Instance Registration.
  3. Select Purge at Startup.

Install without mutual TLS - HTTP with secret word (zip)

Use this information to install Search and Insight Engine on the same machine as Alfresco Content Services without mutual TLS, using HTTP with a secret word in the request header. This means communication between the Repository and Search and Insight Engine is protected by a shared secret that is passed in a configurable request HTTP header.

Important: This installation method is only supported when using Content Services 7.1 and above.

This task assumes you have:

  • Installed Alfresco Content Services 7.1 or above, see Supported platforms.

  • Set the following properties in the <TOMCAT_HOME>/shared/classes/alfresco-global.properties file:

      index.subsystem.name=solr6
  solr.secureComms=secret
  solr.sharedSecret=password    
  solr.port.ssl=8983

Important: To ensure the security of your system specify your own custom secret word for the solr.sharedSecret property, than the one provided in the example.

  1. Download alfresco-insight-engine-2.0.x.zip from the Hyland Community.

  2. Extract the Search and Insight Engine distribution.

    By default, the contents of alfresco-insight-engine-2.0.x.zip are decompressed in a root folder as /alfresco-search-services. See Search and Insight Engine directory structure for more details.

  3. Configure HTTP.

    1. Open solrhome/templates/rerank/conf/solrcore.properties.

    2. Replace alfresco.secureComms=https with:

       alfresco.secureComms=secret
 alfresco.secureComms.secret=password

      This ensures that the Solr cores are created in plain HTTP mode with the shared secret communication method. The property alfresco.secureComms.secret includes the same word used in the solr.sharedSecret property in the Repository configuration.

      Alternatively, you can add this configuration in the system properties (using -D) when starting Solr. This alternative is safer because the shared secret is not stored in the filesystem. For example, add the following to the startup parameters in step 7.

       -Dalfresco.secureComms=secret
 -Dalfresco.secureComms.secret=password

  4. If you use several languages across your organization, you must enable cross-language search support in all fields. To do this add the following to the alfresco-search-services/solrhome/conf/shared.properties file:

     alfresco.cross.locale.datatype.0={http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}text
 alfresco.cross.locale.datatype.1={http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}content
 alfresco.cross.locale.datatype.2={http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}mltext

  5. (Optional) Suggestion is disabled by default. To enable suggestion update the alfresco-search-services/solrhome/conf/shared.properties file.

     alfresco.suggestable.property.0={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}name
 alfresco.suggestable.property.1={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}title
 alfresco.suggestable.property.2={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}description
 alfresco.suggestable.property.3={http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}content

    Note: The spell check functionality works with Search and Insight Engine when suggestion is enabled.

  6. (Optional) If you want to install Search and Insight Engine on a separate machine, set the SOLR_SOLR_HOST and SOLR_ALFRESCO_HOST environment variables before starting Search and Insight Engine, for more see Configuring Search and Insight Engine.

    (Windows) update the alfresco-search-services/solr.in.cmd file:

     set SOLR_SOLR_HOST=localhost

     set SOLR_ALFRESCO_HOST=localhost

    (Linux) update the alfresco-search-services/solr.in.sh file:

     SOLR_SOLR_HOST=localhost

     SOLR_ALFRESCO_HOST=localhost

  7. To start Search and Insight Engine with all the default settings, use the following command:

     ./solr/bin/solr start -a "-Dcreate.alfresco.defaults=alfresco,archive"

    The command line parameter, -a passes additional JVM parameters, for example, system properties using -D.

    Note: The -Dcreate.alfresco.defaults=alfresco,archive command automatically creates the alfresco and archive cores. Therefore, you should only start Search and Insight Engine with -Dcreate.alfresco.defaults=alfresco,archive the first time you run Search and Insight Engine. In addition you should run this application as a dedicated user. For example, you can create a Solr user. Finally, to ensure that Search and Insight Engine connects using the IPv6 protocol instead of IPv4, add -Djava.net.preferIPv6Addresses=true to the startup parameters.

    Once Search and Insight Engine is up and running, you should see a message similar to the following:

     Waiting up to 180 seconds to see Solr running on port 8983 []
 Started Solr server on port 8983 (pid=24289). Happy searching!

    To stop the currently running Search and Insight Engine instance, use:

     ./solr/bin/solr stop

    The logs are stored in the alfresco-search-services/logs/solr.log file, by default. This can be configured in solr.in.sh (for Linux) or solr.in.cmd (for Windows) using SOLR_LOGS_DIR.

    You have successfully created an alfresco core and an archive core. To verify, in a browser, navigate to the Solr URL, http://localhost:8983/solr. In the Solr Admin UI, select the core selector drop-down list and verify that both the alfresco and archive cores are present.

    Allow a few minutes for Search and Insight Engine to start indexing.

  8. Go to Admin Console > Repository Services > Search Service and verify that:

    1. You see the Solr 6 option in the Search Service In Use list.

    2. Under Main (Workspace) Store Tracking Status, the Approx Transactions to Index is 0.

Install with Docker Compose

Use this information to start up Alfresco Content Services 6.2 or above and Search and Insight Engine 2.0 using Docker Compose. Due to the limited capabilities of Docker Compose, this deployment method is recommended for development and test environments only.

Prerequisites

  • Docker
    • This allows you to run Docker images and Docker Compose on a single computer.
  • Docker Compose
    • Docker Compose is included as part of some Docker installers. If it’s not part of your installation, then install it separately after you’ve installed Docker.
  • Access to Quay
    • Docker requires access to certain images which are stored on Quay. You need to use the correct credentials provided by Alfresco to access these images. Contact Alfresco Support to request the credentials.

Note: Make sure the following ports are free on your computer: 5432, 8080, 8082, 8083. These ports are set in the docker-compose.yml file.

  1. Download the latest Alfresco Content Services docker-compose.yml file by accessing the Download Trial page.

  2. Save the file in a local folder.

  3. Edit the file and change the Solr 6 service. Add a # prefix to Alfresco Search and Insight Engine so it is commented out.

         solr6:
         #image: alfresco/alfresco-search-services:2.0.x
         image: quay.io/alfresco/insight-engine:2.0.x
         mem_limit: 2500m
         environment:
             #Solr needs to know how to register itself with Alfresco
                 - SOLR_ALFRESCO_HOST=alfresco
                 - SOLR_ALFRESCO_PORT=8080
             #Alfresco needs to know how to call solr
                 - SOLR_SOLR_HOST=solr6
                 - SOLR_SOLR_PORT=8983
             #Create the default alfresco and archive cores
                 - SOLR_CREATE_ALFRESCO_DEFAULTS=alfresco,archive
                 - "SOLR_JAVA_MEM=-Xms2g -Xmx2g"
         ports:
             - 8083:8983 #Browser port

    Note: If you want to use the Apache Zeppelin visualization interface with Search and Insight Engine you have to deploy it using Docker Compose along with Alfresco Content Services, you cannot install it manually. See Building Reports and Dashboards for the additional container information you need to add to your docker-compose.yml file.

  4. Save the file.

  5. Log in to Quay using the following command:

     $ docker login quay.io
             login against server at https://quay.io/v1/
             Username: <<Quay.io Credential Username>>
             Password: <<Quay.io Credential Password>>

  6. Change directory to the location of the docker-compose.yml file and deploy Alfresco Content Services and Search and Insight Engine using the following command:

     docker-compose up

    This downloads the images, fetches all the dependencies, creates each container, and then starts the system. If you downloaded the project and changes were made to the project settings, any new images will be pulled from Quay before the system starts.

  7. Wait for the logs to complete.

    If you encounter errors while the system is starting up:

    • Stop the session (by using CONTROL+C).
    • Remove the container (using the --rmi all option): For example docker-compose down --rmi all.
    • Try allocating more memory resources. As advised in docker-compose.yml set it to at least 16 GB. To adjust the memory, in Docker, go to Preferences (or Settings) > Advanced > Memory. Once you have adjusted the memory make sure you restart Docker and wait for the process to finish before continuing.
    • Go back to step 6 and retry the deployment.

  8. Open your browser and check everything starts up correctly:

    • Alfresco: http://localhost:8082/alfresco
    • Share: http://localhost:8080/share

    • Solr: http://localhost:8083/solr

      Note: When you access the solr url you will see the version of Search and Insight Engine that is installed.

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