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Setting up Azure Cognitive Search for Azure Blob Storage

Azure Cognitive Search is a search service solution provided by Microsoft Azure, enabling sophisticated and powerful search capabilities for applications without requiring management of the underlying infrastructure. Leveraging Azure's capabilities, it offers a scalable and fully managed search service.

Document Central utilizes Azure Cognitive Search to enable search functionality for documents stored in the Azure Blob Storage repository. To harness the full-text search capabilities for Azure Blob Storage, it's essential to establish and configure an Azure Cognitive Search Service. This service will provide the necessary functions and information for full-text search functionalities.

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, 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.

Setting up a new Azure Cognitive Search Service

The Cognitive Search Service can be created from Document Central.

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

  1. Start in the DMS by Simova - Administrator role.
  2. Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and execute the action Repository.
  3. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  4. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  5. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Azure Cognitive Search Setup.
  6. Click on Begin to start the creation of a new Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  7. Choose Create new Cognitive Search.
  8. Click on Next to proceed, and the configuration page for the Azure Cognitive Search Service will be displayed.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  14. The Azure Cognitive Search Service is now created.

Info

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. 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.

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

Setting up a connecting to an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service

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

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

  1. Start in the DMS by Simova - Administrator role.
  2. Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and execute the action Repository.
  3. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  4. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  5. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Azure Cognitive Search Setup.
  6. Click on Begin to start the creation of a new Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  7. Choose Use existing Cognitive Search.
  8. Click on Next to proceed, and the configuration page for the Azure Cognitive Search Service will be displayed.
  9. Choose a Subscription and a Resource Group from the dropdown list.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Click on Next to proceed. If there are still some changes to be made, click on Back to go back to the previous page.
  13. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  14. The Azure Cognitive Search Service is now connected.

Info

The index needs to be configured manually if the Azure Cognitive Search Service is connected to an existing Azure Cognitive Search Service. 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.

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

Deleting an Azure Cognitive Search Service

It is also possible to delete the Cognitive Search Service via Document Central.

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

  1. Start in the DMS by Simova - Administrator role.
  2. Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and execute the action Repository.
  3. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  4. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  5. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Delete Azure Cognitive Search.
  6. The Azure Cognitive Search Service will be deleted.

Warning

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

Setting up a new Index, Indexer, and Datasource

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.

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

  1. Start in the DMS by Simova - Administrator role.
  2. Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and execute the action Repository.
  3. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  4. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  5. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Configure Index.
  6. In the Azure Search Index page, select the action Index Setup.
  7. Click on Begin to start the creation of a new Index, Indexer, and Datasource.
  8. Choose Create a new Indexer and click on Next to proceed. The configuration page for the Index will be displayed.
  9. 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 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.
  10. Click on Next to proceed. If there are still some changes to be made, click on Back to go back to the previous page.
  11. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Index.
  12. The index is now created.

Setting up an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource

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

  1. Start in the DMS by Simova - Administrator role.
  2. Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and execute the action Repository.
  3. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  4. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  5. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Configure Index.
  6. In the Azure Search Index page, select the action Index Setup.
  7. Click on Begin to start the configuration of an existing Index, Indexer, and Datasource.
  8. Choose Use an existing Indexer. and click on Next to proceed. The configuration page for the Index will be displayed.
  9. Enter an existing Indexer Name. The lookup function can be used to retrieve the existing Indexer Name from the Azure Cognitive Search Service.
  10. Click on Next to proceed. If there are still some changes to be made, click on Back to go back to the previous page.
  11. Click on Finish to create the Azure Cognitive Search Index.
  12. The index is now connected.

Deleting an Index, Indexer, and Datasource

It is also possible to delete a index, indexer, and datasource via Document Central.

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

  1. Start in the DMS by Simova - Administrator role.
  2. Click on Setup in the ribbon bar and execute the action Repository.
  3. Select a repository with the type Azure Blob Storage.
  4. Click on the Configure Azure Cognitive Search action.
  5. In the Azure Cognitive Search page, select the action Configure Index.
  6. In the Azure Search Index page, select the action Delete Indexer.
  7. The index, indexer, and datasource will be deleted.

Warning

If the index, indexer, and datasource will be deleted, it will be permanently removed from both Document Central and Azure. This action is irreversible and results in the permanent deletion of the index, indexer, and datasource from the Azure Cognitive Search Service.