Installing and Upgrading Full-Text Search
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 introduces the side-by-side install of the full-text engine. One instance of Microsoft Full-Text Engine for SQL Server (MSFTESQL) service, which is based on the Microsoft Search (MSSearch) service, is installed per instance of Microsoft SQL Server. This means that SQL Server no longer has to share the MSSearch service with other server products that use the MSSearch service.
Important
We recommend that you change the service account for Full-Text Search immediately after installing SQL Server 2005. For information about changing this service account, see How to: Set the Service Startup Account for Full-Text Search (SQL Server Configuration Manager).
Isolating the full-text engine to the instance level simplifies the process of managing and updating servers. Now, updates to the operating system, or other instances of server products on the system do not affect SQL Server Full-Text Search. Furthermore, you can install products like Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server without worrying about a newer version of the MSSearch service affecting the behavior of Full-Text Search.
Side-by-side install means that each of the following components exists at the instance-level of SQL Server.
- MSFTESQL
The full-text engine service manages the filter daemon component, performs administrative operations, and executes full-text queries. It appears as MSFTESQL$<instance_name> for a named instance.
- MSFTEFD
The full-text filter daemon safely loads and drives third-party extensible components used for index and query, such as word breakers, stemmers, and filters, without compromising the integrity of the full-text engine service itself.
- Word breakers, stemmers, and filters
Each instance now uses its own set of word breakers, stemmers, and filters, rather than relying on the operating system version of these components. These components are also easier to register and configure at a per-instance level.
For more information about the architecture of Full-Text Search, see Full-Text Search Architecture.
Important
If you uninstall the Full-Text Search component, you must restart the server.
Setting Up Full-Text Search
To get started using Full-Text search, you must set up full-text indexing capability on the columns of the tables that you want to access using the full-text engine. For more information, see Getting Started with Full-Text Search.
Upgrading
Upgrading to SQL Server 2005 is done during setup. An instance of SQL Server 2005 is set up side-by-side with the old version of SQL Server, and data is migrated. If the old version of SQL Server had Full-Text Search installed, a new version of Full-Text Search is automatically installed.
In SQL Server 2005, the format of full-text catalogs has changed significantly. This change requires all full-text catalogs from previous versions of SQL Server to be rebuilt. The rebuilding of full-text catalogs occurs automatically and does not prevent upgrade from completing. As a result, the rebuilding of full-text catalogs might continue after upgrade. A new folder is created under the path where the full-text catalog was originally located. The files associated with the rebuilt full-text catalogs are listed in this new folder.
See Also
Concepts
Microsoft Full-Text Engine for SQL Server
Word Breakers and Stemmers
Full-Text Search Filters