Change the content index location for a query server (Search Server 2008)

Applies To: Microsoft Search Server 2008

 

Topic Last Modified: 2009-06-02

Note

The information in this section does not apply to Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express. It applies to the full version of Microsoft Search Server 2008 only.

This article describes how to change the location of the content index that is saved to the file system of a query server. The content index continually propagates from the index server to each query server in the farm. After you assign the query server role to a server, you may want to change the location of the content index that is propagated to the query server for one of the following reasons:

  • You want to use a different drive than the default content index location.

  • You have added a hard disk drive or storage area network (SAN) to store the content index for this query server.

  • You discover that the location that you chose has insufficient available disk space.

Note

Do not perform this procedure if the query server role is deployed to the same server that hosts the index server role. In this case the index server recognizes that the query server role is located on the same server. It does not attempt to propagate the content index to other query servers and the setting configured in this procedure is not used.

Important

To perform this procedure, you must be a farm administrator.

Change the location of the content index on a query server

Use this procedure to change the location of the content index on the file system of a query server.

Change the location of the content index on a query server

  1. In Central Administration, on the Operations tab, in the Topology and Services section, click Services on server.

  2. On the Services on Server page:

    1. If the server name that appears is not the query server that you want to view, click the arrow next to the server name, click Change Server, and then click the appropriate query server.

    2. In the Start services in the table below section, click Office SharePoint Server Search.

  3. On the Configure Office SharePoint Server Search Service Settings page, in the Query Server Index File Location section, type the path of the new location for the content index in the Query server index file location box. This path can be a local or a mapped drive.

  4. The location in the Query server index file location must be shared to allow the index server to propagate the content index to it. Depending on how you want to configure the share, select one of the following choices:

    • If the location in the Query server index file location is not configured as a share, click Configure share automatically. In the User name box, type the name of a user account that is a member of the Administrators group on this query server. In the Password box, type the password of the user account named in the User name box.

    • Select I will configure the share with STSAdm, if you want to change the path of the content index using the Stsadm command-line tool with the Osearch operation and the propagationlocation parameter. For more information, see Osearch: Stsadm operation (Office SharePoint Server). This operation shares the location and gives the search service account write permission to the share.

    • Select Do nothing. The share is already configured if the location for the content index is already shared and the search service account has write access to that share.

  5. To save the changes and return to the Services on Server page, click OK.

See Also

Concepts

View or change content index locations (Search Server 2008)
View the content index location for the index server (Search Server 2008)
Change the content index location for the index server (Search Server 2008)
View the content index location for a query server (Search Server 2008)