Skip to content

Azure Cognitive Search

Azure Cognitive Search is a search service solution provided by Microsoft Azure. It enables a sophisticated and powerful search capabilities to their applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. Azure Cognitive Search leverages the capabilities of Azure to provide a scalable and fully managed search service. The DMS uses Azure Cognitive Search to provide a search functionality for the documents stored in the DMS specifically for Azure Blob Storage repository.

Azure Cognitive Search Service

To utilize the full-text search capabilities of Azure Blob Storage, it's essential to establish and configure an Azure Cognitive Search Service. This service will be the one that will hold and provide the necessary functions and information for the full-text search functionalities.

Prerequisites

Before creating an Azure Cognitive Search Service, it's necessary to have a fully configured repository with the type Azure Blob Storage. The configuration page for Azure Cognitive Search can be accessed via the Repository Definition page, specifically by selecting a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage. Subsequently, a new action Configure Azure Cognitive Search will be displayed.

Configuring an Azure Cognitive Search Service

Info

It is recommended to create an Azure Cognitive Search Service in the same region as the Azure Blob Storage account.

To configure an Azure Cognitive Search Service, please follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to the Repository Definition page.
  2. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  3. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  4. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Azure Cognitive Search Setup.

Info

If you already have an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service. Please refer to the Connecting to an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service section for more information.

Creating a new Azure Cognitive Search Service

To create a new Azure Cognitive Search Service, please follow the steps below:

  1. Click on Begin to start the creation of a new Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  2. Choose Create new Cognitive Search.
  3. Click on Next to proceed, and the configuration page for the Azure Cognitive Search Service will be displayed.
  4. Fill all the fields with the necessary information. Some of the fields are pre-filled with the information from the repository, but changes can be made if necessary.
  5. Once all the fields are filled, click on Next to proceed. A page to configure an Index, Indexer, and Datasource will be displayed. If the repository uses a single container setup, the Container Name field will be pre-filled with the container name from the repository. If the repository uses a multi-container setup, the Container Name field will be empty.
  6. Fill all the fields with the necessary information. If a multi-container setup is used, the Container Name field must be filled with the name of the container that will be used for the Azure Cognitive Search Service. As DMS uses the DMS - Document Library Code as the name of the container in a multi-container setup, it is recommended to use the lookup function to retrieve the DMS - Document Library Code from the database. Please note that the retreived name will be formatted to be suitable for the Azure Blob Storage container.
  7. Once all the fields are filled, click on Next to proceed. If there are still some changes to be made, click on Back to go back to the previous page.
  8. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Service.

Warning

If the container already have documents in it, the indexing process might take some time to complete depending on the number of documents in the container. The documents will not be searchable until the indexing process is completed.

Info

If you don't have an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service or wish to create a new one, please refer to the Creating a new Azure Cognitive Search Service section for more information.

Connecting to an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service

To connect to an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service, please follow the steps below:

  1. Click on Begin to start the creation of a new Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  2. Choose Use existing Cognitive Search.
  3. Click on Next to proceed, and the configuration page for the Azure Cognitive Search Service will be displayed.
  4. Choose a Subscription and a Resource Group from the dropdown list.
  5. Enter or choose an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service. The lookup function can be used to retrieve the existing Azure Cognitive Search Service from the Azure based on the chosen Subscription and Resource Group.
  6. After entering the Search Service Name, enter the Search Service Admin Key which can be retrieved from the Azure Portal. If the key is valid, then the next button will be enabled.
  7. Click on Next to proceed. If there are still some changes to be made, click on Back to go back to the previous page.
  8. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Service.

Deleting an Azure Cognitive Search Service

An Azure Cognitive Search Service can be deleted by clicking on the Delete Azure Cognitive Search action in the Azure Cognitive Search page. This will delete the Azure Cognitive Search Service from the Azure. This action cannot be reverted, as it permanently deletes the Azure Cognitive Search Service from DMS and Azure.

Warning

The index needs to be configured manually if the Azure Cognitive Search Service is connected to an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service. Please refer to the Azure Cognitive Search Index section for more information.

Info

The Azure Cognitive Search Service can only search documents that are already indexed. If there are new documents added to the container, the indexing process must be run again to make the new documents searchable.

  • DMS have a job queue which will do this process automatically every 60 minutes, please ensure that the DMS Job Queue - Search Indexer job queue by DMS is activated.
  • The indexing process can be run manually via the DMS - Azure Search Index page, which can be accessed via the Configure Index action in the Azure Cognitive Search page.

Azure Cognitive Search Index

The Azure Cognitive Search Index is responsible for the full-text search functionalities by establishing a connection between the Azure Cognitive Search Service and Azure Blob Storage. The index can be configured via the Configure Index action in the Azure Cognitive Search page. This will navigate to the DMS - Azure Search Index page.

Configuring an Index, Indexer, and Datasource

To configure an Index, Indexer, and Datasource, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to the Repository Definition page.
  2. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  3. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  4. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Configure Index.
  5. In the DMS - Azure Search Index page, select the action Index Setup.

Info

If you already have an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource. Please refer to the Configuring an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource section for more information.

Creating a new Index, Indexer, and Datasource

To create a new Index, Indexer, and Datasource, follow the steps below:

  1. Click on Begin to start the creation of a new Index, Indexer, and Datasource.
  2. Choose Create a new Indexer. and click on Next to proceed. The configuration page for the Index will be displayed.
  3. Fill all the fields with the necessary information. If the repository uses a single container setup, the Container Name field lookup function will look at all existing containers in the Azure Blob Storage account, a new one can also be created by typing it manually. If the repository uses a multi-container setup, the Container Name field lookup function will look at the DMS - Document Library Code field, which will be used by DMS, please note the the shown listed names will be formatted to be suitable for Azure Blob Storage.
  4. Click on Next to proceed. If there are still some changes to be made, click on Back to go back to the previous page.
  5. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Index.

Info

If you don't have an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource for an Azure Blob Storage or wish to create a new one, please refer to the Creating a new Index, Indexer, and Datasource section for more information.

Configuring an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource

To configure an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource, follow the steps below:

  1. Click on Begin to start the configuration of an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource.
  2. Choose Use an existing Indexer. and click on Next to proceed. The configuration page for the Index will be displayed.
  3. Enter an existing Indexer Name. The lookup function can be used to retrieve the existing Indexer Name from the Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  4. Click on Next to proceed. If there are still some changes to be made, click on Back to go back to the previous page.
  5. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Index.

Deleting an Index, Indexer, and Datasource

An Index, Indexer, and Datasource can be deleted by clicking on the Delete Indexer action in the DMS - Azure Search Index page. This will delete the Index, Indexer, and Datasource from the Azure Cognitive Search Service. This action cannot be reverted, as it permanently deletes the Index, Indexer, and Datasource from DMS and Azure.