Managing Vault Indexing

You can use M-Files Admin to manage vault indexing. This can be helpful, for example, when you want to do one of these:

  • Start the reindexing process and monitor the status of the index rebuild.
  • Make sure that indexing for the vault has completed.
  • See when the last object of the indexing round was processed.

The Index Management section in M-Files Admin divides indices into three categories: Active Index, Used for Indexing, and Disabled.

Index category Description Available operations
Active Index
  • Active indices are used for searches in the vault.
    • dtSearch uses two active indices: metadata index and file data index.
    • Micro Focus IDOL and Smart Search use one active index.
  • Active indices are always enabled.
  • Active indices cannot be disabled.
  • Active index configurations cannot be deleted.
  • To set a new active index, select an index in the Used for Indexing category and click Set as Active.
  • Reindex (Micro Focus IDOL and Smart Search only)
  • Delete and Reindex
Used for Indexing Used for Indexing indices are enabled for indexing but are not active. In other words, they are not used for searches in the vault.
  • Reindex (Micro Focus IDOL and Smart Search only)
  • Delete and Reindex
  • Disable
  • Set as Active
  • Remove Configuration (not available for default indices)
Disabled Disabled indices are not indexed or used for searches in the vault.
  • Enable
  • Set as Active
  • Remove Configuration (not available for default indices)

For a description of the operations, see this table.

When an index rebuild process is ongoing, a blue notification icon () is shown next to the name of the index. When it is necessary to rebuild an index, a yellow notification icon () is shown.

More technical information about the feature is available in Index Management in M-Files Admin.

Viewing indexing information

To see information about the indexing status:

  1. Open M-Files Admin and go to a vault.
    1. Open M-Files Admin.
    2. In the left-side tree view, expand an M-Files server connection.
    3. Expand Document Vaults.
    4. Expand a vault.
  2. Click Index Management.
  3. In the task area, click the name of the index.
  4. On the Status tab, expand an indexing scenario.
    For example, Reindexing or New or Modified.
    Result:The indexing status information is shown.
For a description of a piece of information, click the information icon ().

Using indexing operations with index management

To use the operations in Index Management:

  1. Select an index in the left-side navigation area.
  2. In the top-right corner of the user interface, select one of the commands available for the index.
    The table given here contains a description for all available commands. The availability of the operations depends on the state of the index, the search engine that the vault uses, and your user rights.
    Command Description Necessary access rights
    Set as Active Active indices are used for searches in the vault. With Micro Focus IDOL and Smart Search, only one index can be active at a time. With dtSearch, one metadata and one file data index are active at the same time. System admin
    Enable Enabled indices are kept up to date with changes in the vault data. In other words, they are indexed. System admin
    Disable Disabled indices are not kept up to date with changes in the vault data. In other words, they are not indexed. System admin
    Delete and Reindex
    Important: The process can take a large amount of time. With vaults that contain a million, millions, or tens of millions of documents, indexing can take days or even weeks. There are many things that have an effect on the indexing speed. For example, used indexer, hardware resources, and type of data in the vault.
    This operation deletes the selected index and then builds it from scratch. The operation is available for all search engines. If you use dtSearch, we recommend that you also refer to Rebuilding the dtSearch Full-Text Search Index.    		 System admin or vault admin
    Reindex
    Important: The process can take a large amount of time. With vaults that contain a million, millions, or tens of millions of documents, indexing can take days or even weeks. There are many things that have an effect on the indexing speed. For example, used indexer, hardware resources, and type of data in the vault.
    This operation is available for Micro Focus IDOL and Smart Search only.

    Micro Focus IDOL:

    • Timestamps are deleted.
    • Objects are reindexed completely (file data and metadata) on top of the old data.
    • The index is not deleted. Thus, some old unnecessary content can be left in the index.
    • Rebuild information is written from scratch (occurs when the timestamp is zero).

    Smart Search:

    • Timestamps are deleted.
    • Only metadata is reindexed for the vault. External repositories are always reindexed completely (file data and metadata).
    • The index is not deleted. Thus, some old unnecessary content can be left in the index.
    • Rebuild information is written from scratch (occurs when the timestamp is zero).
    • If something has not been indexed correctly before, only metadata is indexed.
    		 System admin or vault admin
    Remove Configuration This operation removes only the configuration. Index data must be deleted separately. System admin