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GSAn > Configuration

Use the GSAn > Configuration page to create either or both of the following two configurations:

  • GSA mirroring, in which more than one search appliance serves search results from a search index replicated from a single appliance.
  • A collaborative search solution, called distributed crawling and serving, or distributed crawling, in which several search appliances work together as if they were a single Google Search Appliance

GSA mirroring and distributed crawling can be used separately or together.

Warning: Do not create both a unified environment and GSAn configurations on a set of search appliances. Configure either a unified environment or GSAn configurations.

This help page provides information on the following topics:

Before Starting these Tasks

Perform the following tasks before configuring distributed crawling and serving:

  • Determine which search appliances will participate in the distributed crawling configuration.
  • Determine which search appliance will be the master. You enable distributed crawling from the master search appliance. After the non-master primary search appliances are configured, the master and non-master search appliances behave as if they are a single search appliance. All subsequent configuration, such as setting crawl patterns, is performed only on the master search appliance.
  • Determine whether the search appliances will use distributed crawling, GSA mirroring, or both.
  • Obtain the appliance ID and host name or IP address for each search appliance in the configuration.
  • Determine the network IP address for each search appliance in a distributed crawling configuration. The network IP addresses are used for communication among the search appliances in the configuration. The network IP addresses must conform to the private address space as defined in RFC 1918 and must not overlap with any other private address space in use on your network. Although the search appliance hostname can be IPv6, the network IP address must be IPv4.
  • Determine a secret token for each search appliance. The token can be any alphanumeric combination of characters.
  • If you are using self-signed SSL certificates, make sure that you install the correct root certificate authorities on the Admin Console, on the page Administration -> Certificate Authorities.

Perform the following tasks before configuring GSA mirroring:

  • Read "Configuring GSA Mirroring," which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.
  • Determine which Google Search Appliance will participate in the configuration.
  • Determine the appliance IDs of the participating search appliances.
  • Confirm that all search appliances are running the same software version.
  • Determine the host names or public IP addresses of the search appliances in the configuration.
  • Determine which search appliance is the primary search appliance in the configuration.
  • If you are using self-signed SSL certificates, make sure that you install the correct root certificate authorities on the Admin Console, on the page Administration -> Certificate Authorities.
  • Ensure that the certificate configuration is correct.

Configuring GSA Mirroring

GSA mirroring is a feature in which the search index and search appliance settings on a particular Google Search Appliance are duplicated to another search appliance. In one common use case, one of the mirrored search appliances is used for crawling and the other search appliance is used for serving. For more information on GSA mirroring use cases, see "Configuring Distributed Crawling and GSA Mirroring" which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.

The search appliance also supports mirroring for a node participating in a unification configuration. For information about how to set this up, see "Configuring Mirroring in a Unified Environment."

To configure the current search appliance as a primary node for GSA mirroring and add mirrors:

  1. Log in to the Admin Console.
  2. Ensure that crawling, serving, and security are correctly set up.
  3. Click GSAn > Configuration.
  4. Click Enable GSA mirroring. The current search appliance is designated a primary appliance. The network IP address and secret token are automatically assigned.
  5. To add a mirror for the current search appliance, type the GSA Appliance ID, Appliance hostname, Admin Username, and Password.
  6. Check Enable.
  7. Click Done or Add Another Replica.
  8. Optionally, click Export and save the mirroring configuration file.
  9. Log in to a replica (mirror) search appliance.
  10. Right-click the About link, choose Open in New Tab, and confirm that the replica node is on the same software version as the primary search appliance.
  11. Click Status and Reports. The Crawl Status page is displayed.
  12. Click Pause Crawl.
  13. Click Administration > Reset Index.
  14. Click Reset Index Now.
  15. Repeat steps 9 to 14 on each additional mirror node.
  16. On the GSAn > Configuration page for the master node, click Apply Configuration. This broadcasts the configuration data to all search appliances in the GSAn network.
    When you click the Edit link for the primary node, the Configuration Information for the node does not include the Admin Username and Passwordand you do not need to enter this information.

To add a replica to an existing primary node:

  1. Log in to the Admin Console.
  2. Navigate to GSAn > Configuration.
  3. Click the View/Edit link for the shard where you want GSA mirroring enabled.
  4. Click Add.
  5. On the drop-down list, choose Replica.
  6. Type in the replica node's GSA Appliance ID.
  7. Type in the Appliance hostname or the IP address of the search appliance.
  8. Type in the Admin username and Password.
  9. Type in the Network IP of the search appliance (must be IPv4).
  10. Type in the Secret token of this search appliance.
  11. Check Enable.
  12. Click Save.
  13. Optionally, click Export and save the configuration file to the local computer.
  14. Log in to the new replica search appliance.
  15. Right-click the About link, choose Open in New Tab, and confirm that the replica node is on the same software version as the primary search appliance.
  16. Click Status and Reports. The Crawl Status page is displayed.
  17. Click Pause Crawl.
  18. Click Administration > Reset Index.
  19. Click Reset Index Now.
  20. On the GSAn > Configuration page for the master node, click Apply Configuration. This broadcasts the configuration data to all search appliances in the GSAn network.

Configuring Distributed Crawling and Serving

To configure distributed crawling and serving:

  1. Log in to the Admin Console of the machine intended to be the master search appliance.
  2. If the crawl is currently running or if the search appliance already has an index from which it is serving, click Status and Reports > Pause Crawl.
  3. Click GSAn > Configuration.
  4. Type the number of shards in the Number of shards field. A shard in the distributed crawling configuration comprises a primary search
    appliance, and optionally one more search appliances (replicas) in a mirroring configuration.
  5. Type the total number of nodes (search appliances) to be configured in the Number of nodes field. This number includes the primary search appliances, as well as replica search appliances to be configured.
  6. Click Enable Distributed Crawling. A configuration form is displayed, listing each shard in the configuration by number. The master node is shard 0. Each additional shard is assigned a number incremented by 1. If there are four search appliances in the configuration, the shards are assigned numbers 0, 1, 2, and 3.
  7. If you previously saved a configuration that you want to reapply, load the saved configuration file using the Import/Export GSAn Configuration field and skip to step 20.
  8. Click the View/Edit link corresponding to the master shard. You see a screen that says There is no node in this shard. Add a node to this shard.
  9. Click Add. A form appears on which you enter information about the new node.
  10. On the drop-down list, choose Primary.
  11. Type in the node's GSA Appliance ID.
  12. Type in the Appliance hostname or the IP address of the search appliance.
  13. Type in the Admin username for the search appliance
  14. Type in the Password for the Admin username.
  15. Type in the Network IP of the search appliance (must be IPv4).
  16. Type in the Secret token of this search appliance.
  17. Click Save.
  18. Click the GSAn Configuration link.
  19. Repeat steps 8 through 18 on the current search appliance for each of the other shards in the distributed crawling configuration. When you are finished, each shard in the configuration is defined. Do not proceed to step 20 until all nodes are configured.
  20. When all nodes are configured, click Apply Configuration on the master node. This broadcasts the configuration data to all appliances in the GSAn network.
  21. Optionally, click Export and save the distributed crawling configuration file to your local computer.
  22. On the admin master node, click Status and Reports > Pause Crawl and restart the crawl.

Exporting a GSAn Configuration

Export a GSAn configuration when you want to duplicate the configuration on a different shard in the configuration or to create a backup of the configuration values.

To export a configuration:

  1. Log in to the Admin Console of a search appliance that is a member of the configuration.
  2. Navigate to GSAn > Configuration. The existing configuration details are displayed.
  3. Click Export.
  4. Navigate to the location on the local computer where you would like to save the configuration file.
  5. Click Save.

Importing an Existing Configuration

Use these instructions to import a configuration that you previously saved.

  1. Log in to the Admin Console of the search appliance into which you want to import the configuration.
  2. Navigate to GSAn > Configuration.
  3. In the section labeled Import an existing configuration, click Browse.
  4. Navigate to the location on the local computer where the configuration file you want to import is saved.
  5. Select the configuration file and click Open.
  6. Click Import.

Disabling GSAn Features

Use these instructions to disable the GSAn features.

To disable the GSAn feature:

  1. Log in to the Admin Console.
  2. Navigate to GSAn > Configuration.
  3. Click Disable GSAn.

For More Information

For more information on these configurations, see "Configuring Distributed Crawling and Serving" and "Configuring GSA Mirroring," which are linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.
 
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