Sitecore and Solr -- How to Integrate Apache Solr with Sitecore 9.0 using SearchStax

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Overview

SearchStax^® Managed Solr can be used to enable Apache Solr on a Sitecore 9.0 website.

This page demonstrates how easy it is to connect Sitecore to a Managed Solr cluster. SearchStax has created a PowerShell Core script that automates the steps of preparing Solr for Sitecore integration. This script is available to SearchStax clients free of charge from our Github site.

Contents:

1. Install Sitecore 9.0 without Solr
2. Create a New Deployment in Managed Solr.
3. Run the SearchStax Sitecore Plugin.
4. Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore.
5. Problems?

Install Sitecore 9.0 without Solr

This section describes how to install Sitecore 9.0 locally without Solr. We'll connect it to a Managed Solr deployment in a subsequent step.

1. Visit the Sitecore Experience Platform 9.0 Initial Release page. Under Download Options for On Premises Deployment, download Packages for XP Single.

   

   Farther down the same web page, under Release Information, download the Installation Guide.

   

2. With the exception of Solr, install all the prerequisite sub-components as mentioned in the installation guide.

3. Make the following changes in the configuration files.
1. install.ps1: Set the $Prefix to "sitecore" in your install script.
   
   Comment out the Solr root and service details in the install script:
   
2. sitecore-XP0.json: Comment out or remove the UpdateSolrSchema task:
   
3. xconnect-xp0.json: Comment out or remove the ConfigureSolrSchemas task.
   
4. Once all the above changes have been made, go ahead with the Sitecore installation by running your PowerShell install script .\install.ps1 as recommended in the Sitecore installation guide.
   

Create a New Deployment in Managed Solr

Assuming you have already created a SearchStax account and do not already have a deployment set up, click on the Cloud Manager tab and then click on the Create Deployment button at the top. Enter a deployment name, and select the most appropriate provider, region, plan, and Solr version for your needs.

Cloud Provider

A self-managed Sitecore project may use any of our cloud providers for the Solr deployment.

Single Node or Cluster

Sitecore will work with a single-node deployment (the "DN" series of Managed Solr deployments) for purposes of testing and evaluation. However, a production system requires a Managed Solr cluster (the "DC" series) to provide high-availability and failover features.

Sitecore/Solr Compatibility

Sitecore 9.0 is known to be compatible with Solr 6.6.2. Other combinations may or may not work. See Sitecore's Solr Compatibility Table for further information.

Once you create your deployment, you will see it in the Solr Deployments dashboard.

Clicking on the name of the deployment gives you pertinent information about your deployment's servers. The Solr HTTP Endpoint takes you to your Solr server dashboard.

Run the SearchStax Sitecore Plugin

This script is used to connect a Sitecore XP0 installation to a SearchStax Solr instance.

The script automates the following parts of the procedure:

• Upload the Solr config files to Solr
• Create the Sitecore collections in Solr
• Configure Sitecore files

Download the Plugin

The first step is to visit the SearchStax Github site and download the latest SearchStax Sitecore Plugin zip file.

Unzip the file to a convenient location. This creates the searchstax-sitecore-plugin-x.y directory.

Install PowerShell Core and Yaml Module

PowerShell Core is the open-source version of PowerShell. It has special capabilities that are required by the SearchStax Sitecore Plugin.

We assume you are on a Windows 10 computer. Open PowerShell, and install PowerShell Core 6 using the following command:

Windows PowerShell:

> iex "& { $(irm https://aka.ms/install-powershell.ps1) } -UseMSI"

Exit Powershell and start Powershell Core as the Administrator. Now install the powershell-yaml module:

Windows PowerShell Core:

> Install-Module powershell-yaml

Edit Plugin Configuration

Edit the config.yml file in the searchstax-sitecore-plugin-x.y directory. Enter the following configuration parameters:

settings:
  accountName: "SearchStaxAccount"
  deploymentUid: "ss123456"
  sitecorePrefix: "sitecore"
  pathToWWWRoot: "C:\\inetpub\\wwwroot"
  solrUsername: ""
  solrPassword: ""
  sitecoreVersion : "9.0.2" #Supported versions - 9.0.2 and 9.1.1
  isUniqueConfigs : "true"

Name	Description	Example
accountName	Name of the SearchStax account	ABCInternational
deploymentUid	UID of the SearchStax deployment to connect to	ss123456
sitecorePrefix	Prefix of the sitecore installation	sitecore
pathToWWWRoot	Path to wwwroot folder in inetpub, i.e. your %IIS_SITE_HOME% variable	C:\inetpub\wwwroot
solrUsername	Solr Basic Auth username	(Optional)
solrPassword	Solr Basic Auth password	(Optional)
sitecoreVersion	Version of Sitecore (9.0.2 or 9.1.1)	9.0.2
isUniqueConfigs	Switch between one config for all collections, and a unique config for each. (See below.)	"true"

When isUniqueConfigs is false, the script creates only one set of config files, and use that set for all of the Sitecore collections. The name of the config set is sitecore_<sitecorePrefix>. Example: sitecore_sitecore930.

When isUniqueConfigs is true (the default), the script creates a set of config files corresponding to each separate Sitecore collection. This lets Sitecore properly populate the schemas of the various collections. These configsets are named <sitecorePrefix>_<collectionName>. Example: sitecore930_core_index.

In Sitecore 9.0, the plugin overrides the isUniqueConfigs setting to always be true. The false setting breaks Sitecore in version 9.0.

Run the SearchStax Sitecore Plugin

From Powershell Core, run as Administrator, navigate to the searchstax-sitecore-plugin-x.y directory.

Change the execution policy to skip checking.

Windows Powershell Core:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

Run the sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1 script.

Windows Powershell Core:

> .\sitecore-searchstax-connector.ps1

The script will prompt you for your SearchStax user name and password. The script may take a few minutes to run, during which it will notify you of its actions.

Populate Schema from the Control Panel in Sitecore

Follow these steps to populate the Solr schema:

1. Log in to the Sitecore Content Management environment.
2. Open the Sitecore Control Panel.
3. In the Indexing tab, click Populate Solr Managed Schema.
4. Select all indexes and click Populate. (If you have difficulty populating the schema, see Why does Sitecore fail to populate schemas?)
5. On the same page, go to the Indexing Manager, select all, and click Rebuild.

Problems?

See Sitecore Connection Errors for a list of the most-common issues that arise when connecting Sitecore to your SolrCloud deployment.

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.