Setting up Azure Cognitive Search for Azure Blob Storage

Azure Cognitive Search is a search service solution from Microsoft Azure that enables powerful search capabilities for applications without the need to manage the underlying infrastructure. By leveraging Azure capabilities, it provides a scalable and fully managed search service.

Document Central uses Azure Cognitive Search to enable search functionalities for documents in the Azure Blob Storage repository. To utilize the full-text search capabilities for Azure Blob Storage, it is necessary to set up and configure an Azure Cognitive Search service. This service provides the necessary functions and information for full-text search.

For optimal performance, it is recommended to create the Azure Cognitive Search service in the same region as the Azure Blob Storage account.

Prerequisites

Before creating an Azure Cognitive Search service, a fully configured repository of type Azure Blob Storage must be present. The configuration page for Azure Cognitive Search can be accessed via the repository definition page by selecting a repository of type Azure Blob Storage. A new action Configure Azure Cognitive Search will then be displayed.

Info

For creation by Document Central, the resource provider "Microsoft.Storage" must be registered in the Azure subscription.
To register the resource provider, open the desired subscription in the Azure portal, go to the Settings tab, and then to Resource Providers. Search for "Microsoft.Storage" there and click Register.

Setting up a new Azure Cognitive Search service

The Cognitive Search service can be created through Document Central.

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

Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and perform the action Repository.
Select a repository of type Azure Blob Storage.
Click on the action Configure Azure Cognitive Search.
On the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Azure Cognitive Search Setup.
Click Start to begin the creation of a new Azure Cognitive Search service.
Select Create New Cognitive Search.
Click Next to proceed, and the configuration page for the Azure Cognitive Search service will be displayed.
Fill in all fields with the required information. Some fields are pre-filled with information from the repository, but changes can be made if necessary.
Once all fields are filled, click Next to continue. A page for configuring an index, indexers, and a data source will be displayed. If the repository uses a single-container configuration, the Container Name field will be pre-filled with the container name from the repository. If the repository uses a multi-container configuration, the Container Name field will remain empty.
Fill in all fields with the required information. When using a multi-container configuration, the Container Name field must be filled with the name of the container to be used for the Azure Cognitive Search service. Since Document Central uses the Document Central - Document Library Code as the name of the container in a multi-container configuration, it is recommended to use the lookup function to retrieve the Document Central - Document Library Code from the database. Please note that the retrieved name will be formatted to be suitable for the Azure Blob Storage container.
Once all fields are filled, click Next to continue. If any changes need to be made, click Back to return to the previous page.
Click Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search service.
The Azure Cognitive Search service is now created.

Info

If there are already documents in the container, the indexing process may take some time depending on the number of documents in the container. The documents will only be searchable after the indexing process is complete. The Azure Cognitive Search service can only search documents that have already been indexed. If new documents are added to the container, the indexing process must be run again to make the new documents searchable.

Document Central has a job queue that automatically runs this process every 60 minutes. Ensure that the Job Queue - Search Indexer job queue is enabled.
The indexing process can be run manually via the Azure Search Index page, which can be accessed through the Configure Index action on the Azure Cognitive Search page.

Connecting to an existing Azure Cognitive Search service

It is also possible to create the Cognitive Search service through the Azure interface and then connect to the service.

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

Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and perform the action Repository.
Select a repository of type Azure Blob Storage.
Click on the action Configure Azure Cognitive Search.
On the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Azure Cognitive Search Setup.
Click Start to begin the creation of a new Azure Cognitive Search service.
Select Use Existing Cognitive Search.
Click Next to proceed, and the configuration page for the Azure Cognitive Search service will be displayed.
Select a subscription and a resource group from the dropdown list.
Enter or select an existing Azure Cognitive Search service. The lookup function can be used to retrieve the existing Azure Cognitive Search service from Azure based on the selected Subscription and Resource Group.
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, the Next button will be enabled.
Click Next to continue. If any changes need to be made, click Back to return to the previous page.
Click Finish to connect to the Azure Cognitive Search service.
The Azure Cognitive Search service is now connected.

Info

The index must be configured manually when the Azure Cognitive Search service is connected to an existing Azure Cognitive Search service. The Azure Cognitive Search service can only search documents that have already been indexed. If new documents are added to the container, the indexing process must be run again to make the new documents searchable.

Document Central has a job queue that automatically runs this process every 60 minutes. Ensure that the Job Queue - Search Indexer job queue is enabled.
The indexing process can be run manually via the Azure Search Index page, which can be accessed through the Configure Index action on the Azure Cognitive Search page.

Deleting an Azure Cognitive Search service

It is also possible to delete the Cognitive Search service through Document Central.

To delete an existing Azure Cognitive Search service, please follow the steps below:

Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and perform the action Repository.
Select a repository of type Azure Blob Storage.
Click on the action Configure Azure Cognitive Search.
On the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Delete Azure Cognitive Search.
The Azure Cognitive Search service will be deleted.

Warning

When the Azure Cognitive Search service is deleted, it will be permanently removed from both Document Central and Azure. This action is irreversible and will result in the permanent deletion of the Azure Cognitive Search service.

Setting up a new index, indexers, and a data source

The Azure Cognitive Search index is responsible for full-text search capabilities by establishing a connection between the Azure Cognitive Search service and Azure Blob Storage.

To create a new index, please follow the steps below:

Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and perform the action Repository.
Select a repository of type Azure Blob Storage.
Click on the action Configure Azure Cognitive Search.
On the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Configure Index.
On the Azure Search Index page, select the action Index Setup.
Click Start to begin the creation of a new index, indexers, and a data source.
Select Create a New Indexer and click Next to proceed. The configuration page for the index will be displayed.
Fill in all fields with the required information. If the repository uses a single-container configuration, the lookup function of the Container Name field will search for all existing containers in the Azure Blob Storage account. A new container can also be manually created by entering it manually. If the repository uses a multi-container configuration, the lookup function of the Container Name field will search for the Document Library Code field used by Document Central. Please note that the displayed names will be formatted to be suitable for Azure Blob Storage.
Click Next to continue. If any changes need to be made, click Back to return to the previous page.
Click Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search index.
The index is now created.

Setting up an existing index, indexers, and a data source

To configure an existing index, indexer, and data source, please follow the steps below:

Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and perform the action Repository.
Select a repository of type Azure Blob Storage.
Click on the action Configure Azure Cognitive Search.
On the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Configure Index.
On the Azure Search Index page, select the action Index Setup.
Click Start to begin the configuration of an existing index, indexer, and data source.
Select Use an Existing Indexer and click Next to proceed. The configuration page for the index will be displayed.
Enter an existing indexer name. The lookup function can be used to retrieve the existing indexer name from the Azure Cognitive Search service.
Click Next to continue. If any changes need to be made, click Back to return to the previous page.
Click Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search index.
The index is now connected.

Deleting an index, indexers, and a data source

It is also possible to delete an index, indexer, and data source through Document Central.

To delete an existing index, indexer, and data source, please follow the steps below:

Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and perform the action Repository.
Select a repository of type Azure Blob Storage.
Click on the action Configure Azure Cognitive Search.
On the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Configure Index.
On the Azure Search Index page, select the action Delete Indexer.
The index, indexer, and data source will be deleted.

Warning

When the index, indexer, and data source are deleted, they will be permanently removed from both Document Central and Azure. This action is irreversible and will result in the permanent deletion of the index, indexer, and data source from the Azure Cognitive Search service.