Display hybrid federated search results in SharePoint in Microsoft 365
APPLIES TO: 
2013 2016 2019 Subscription Edition SharePoint in Microsoft 365
This article is part of a roadmap of procedures for configuring SharePoint hybrid solutions. Be sure you're following a roadmap when you do the procedures in this article.
This article describes how to configure a hybrid SharePoint environment so that searches from the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 enterprise Search Center display hybrid results; that is, results from both search indexes (SharePoint in Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Server). This configuration is called inbound hybrid search.
The search results from SharePoint Server appear with the search results from SharePoint Server, but in a separate group called a result block. You can configure the block of results from SharePoint Server to appear above all the results from SharePoint in Microsoft 365, or to be ranked by relevance compared to the results from SharePoint in Microsoft 365.
To display hybrid search results in the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Search Center, follow these steps:
Step 2: Create a query rule to turn on hybrid search results in SharePoint in Microsoft 365
Step 4: Try a search from the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Search Center
Step 1: Create a result source that defines how to get search results from the SharePoint Server 2013 deployment
In this procedure, you create a result source in SharePoint in Microsoft 365. This result source is a definition that specifies SharePoint Server as a provider to get search results from. This definition specifies each of the following:
The protocol for getting search results from the SharePoint Server deployment.
The URL of the reverse proxy device. The reverse proxy device forwards search queries from SharePoint in Microsoft 365 to the SharePoint Server deployment.
The ID of the target application that stores the Secure Store SSL certificate.
Result sources can be created at the organization level, the site collection level, or the site level. In this procedure, you create the result source at the organization level. This makes the result source available to any query rule that is created at the same level, and also to any query rule that is created for a site collection or site.
For more info about result sources, see Understanding result sources and Manage result sources.
Go to More features in the SharePoint admin center, and sign in with an account that has admin permissions in Microsoft 365.
Under Search, select Open.
Select Manage Result Sources.
Select New Result Source.
On the page where you can create a new result source, do the following:
In the General Information section, in the Name text box, enter a name for the new result source (for example, Get results from SharePoint Server 2013).
(Optional) In the General Information section, in the Description text box, enter a description of the new result source. This description appears as a tooltip when the pointer rests on the result source on certain configuration pages.
In the Protocol section, select Remote SharePoint.
In the Remote Service URL section, enter the address of the external endpoint of the reverse proxy device, such as
https://spexternal.adventureworks.com. The reverse proxy device routes queries that are submitted in SharePoint in Microsoft 365 to the SharePoint Server deployment. For more info, see Configure a reverse proxy device for SharePoint Server hybrid. The external endpoint of the reverse proxy device is its Internet-facing endpoint. The address of that external endpoint is called the external URL. Get the value of the external URL from the External URL row in Table 3 of the SharePoint hybrid worksheet that you have been maintaining, and enter it in the Remote Service URL text box.In the Type section, select SharePoint Search Results.
In the Query Transform section, you can enter a query transform to narrow the search results to a specified subset (for example, a subset that is from a particular SharePoint in Microsoft 365 site collection or site). However, if you are not familiar with query transforms in SharePoint Server or SharePoint in Microsoft 365, we recommend that you keep the default query transform that's in the text box. The default transform is {searchTerms}, which is a query variable that stands for the query that the user entered, as it was changed by the most recent query transform. If you are familiar with query transforms, you can change the default query transform by either entering a different query transform in the text box, or launching the Query Builder to help you configure a query transform. For more info, see Plan to transform queries and order results in SharePoint Server and Query variables in SharePoint Server.
If you are connecting to your organization's intranet through a reverse proxy, in the Credentials Information section, select SSO Id and then in the Reverse proxy certificate (Secure Store Id) text box, enter the name of the target application (for example, SecureChannelTargetApp—which stores the Windows certificate that will be used to authenticate to the reverse proxy device). Get the name of the target application from the Target Application ID row in Table 6 of the SharePoint hybrid worksheet that you have been maintaining, and enter it in the Reverse proxy certificate (Secure Store Id) text box.
To save the new result source, select OK.
Step 2: Create a query rule to turn on hybrid search results in SharePoint in Microsoft 365
In this procedure, you create a query rule in SharePoint in Microsoft 365 that uses the result source that you created in the previous procedure in this article. When the query rule fires, it causes search results from content in the SharePoint Server search index to appear in a result block on a search results page in SharePoint in Microsoft 365.
Query rules can be created at the organization level, the site collection level, or the site level. In this procedure, you create a query rule at the organization level. Because you create the rule at this level, the rule can apply to any queries that users submit in this instance of SharePoint in Microsoft 365.
For more info about query rules, see Plan to transform queries and order results in SharePoint Server and Manage query rules in SharePoint Server
Go to More features in the SharePoint admin center, and sign in with an account that has admin permissions in Microsoft 365.
Under Search, select Open.
Select Manage Query Rules.
On the Manage Query Rules page, do the following:
Under the text For what context do you want to configure rules?, in the Select a Result Source dropdown, select a result source for which you want this query rule to be applicable. For testing, we recommend that you select the Local SharePoint Results result source here. If you do so, then by default the query rule will be applicable when a user performs a query in the Everything search vertical in the enterprise Search Center, because that vertical uses the Local SharePoint Results result source by default. After you select a result source from the dropdown, all existing query rules that apply to that result source appear on the page. (On the Search_service_application_name: Add Query Rule page, in the Context section, you will be able to add or remove result sources for which you want the rule to apply.)
(Optional) Under the text For what context do you want to configure rules?, in the User Segments dropdown, select a user segment for which you want this query rule to be applicable. User segments are based on terms that describe users in the term store of a Managed Metadata service application. (On the Add Query Rule page, in the Context section, you will be able to add or remove user segments for which you want the rule to apply.)
(Optional) Under the text For what context do you want to configure rules?, in the Topic Categories dropdown, select a topic category for which you want this query rule to apply. Topic categories are based on terms for categories in the term store of a Managed Metadata service application. (On the Add Query Rule page, in the Context section, you will be able to add or remove categories for which you want the rule to apply.)
Select New Query Rule.
On the Add Query Rule page, do the following:
In the General Information section, in the Rule Name text box, enter a name for the new query rule—for example, Show results from SharePoint Server.
If the Context section is collapsed, to expand it, select the arrow next to Context.
In the Context section, under Query is performed on these sources, select All sources if you want this query rule to apply for queries that users submit against any result source, or select One of these sources, and then, to add other result sources for which you want the query rule to apply, optionally select Add Source.
Note
The result source that you selected on the Search_service_application_name: Add Query Rule page (for example, Local SharePoint Results—see step 5a of this procedure) appears under One of these sources. > When you select One of these sources, this query rule applies only when a user submits a query against one of the result sources in this list. Therefore, make sure that the result source appears for which you want this query rule to apply (for example, Local SharePoint Results).
(Optional) Under Query is performed from these categories, specify the topic categories (based on terms for topic categories in the term store of a Managed Metadata service application) to perform the query from.
(Optional) Under Query is performed by these user segments, specify user segments (based on terms that describe users in the term store of a Managed Metadata service application) to which you want the query rule to apply.
In the Query Conditions section, specify conditions to control when the rule will fire, or if you want the rule to fire for any query text, select Remove Condition. For testing, we recommend that you select Remove Condition so that the rule fires for any query text.
In the Actions section, under Result Blocks, click Add Result Block.
(Optional) In the Block Title section, in the Title text box, change the title to the text that you want to display above the result block on the search results page, such as Results for "{subjectTerms}" from SharePoint Server.
In the Query section, you can enter the query you want to run. If you are not familiar with query transforms in SharePoint Server or SharePoint in Microsoft 365, we recommend that you keep the default query transform that's in the text box. The default transform is {searchTerms}. If you are familiar with query transforms, you can change the default query transform by either entering a different query transform in the text box, or launching the Query Builder to help you configure a query transform. For more info, see Plan to transform queries and order results in SharePoint Server and Query variables in SharePoint Server.
In the Query section, in the Search this Source dropdown, select the name of the result source that you created in the previous procedure in this article ( Step 1: Create a result source that defines how to get search results from SharePoint in Microsoft 365) (for example, Get results from SharePoint Server).
In the Query section, in the Items dropdown, select the number of search results from SharePoint Server that you want to show in this result block on the search results page. For example, select 3 to display three results from SharePoint Server in this result block.
If you want to display a Show More link at the bottom of the result block, expand the Settings section, and select More link goes to the following URL, and enter the URL for the link to a page that displays more results from the SharePoint Server search index. For example, to specify the main search results page as the page that displays more results, typically you can enter a URL of the following form (followed by "?k={subjectTerms}" to signify the user's search query): http:// Tenant_Name.sharepoint.com/sites/ Search_Center_Name/pages/results.aspx?k={subjectTerms}. When users select Show More, more results appear for the result block.
Specify the placement of the block of results from SharePoint Server relative to the results from SharePoint in Microsoft 365. Select This block is always shown above core results to display the result block at or near the top of the first page of search results. In this case, core results are the results from the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 search index. This option is useful for testing, or when most of the relevant content is located in the remote search index in the hybrid environment. If you select this option for more than one result block, you can configure the order in which the result blocks are displayed by ranking the associated query rules. Select This block is ranked within core results (may not show) to display the result block such that it is ranked by relevance compared to the core results, in which case the result block might not appear on the first page of search results. This is the default setting and is typically the more appropriate choice in a production environment. As with individual results, the rank of the result block might be different when users perform the same query later. For example, if users select search results in the result block, the result block will be ranked higher in the search results over time. Otherwise, the result block will be ranked lower over time.
(Optional) Specify a different URL for the group display template in the Group Display Template URL text box.
(Optional) Specify an item display template in the Item Display Template text box.
Skip the Routing section.
To add the result block, select OK.
(Optional) Specify when the query rule shall be active. In the Publishing section, use the Start Date, End Date, Review Date, and Contact fields. The start date and end date specify when the query rule will be active. If you specify a start date without an end date, the rule will always be active after the start date. If you specify an end date without a start date, the rule will always be active until the end date. If you do not specify a start date or an end date, the rule will always be active.
To activate the query rule, in the Publishing section, select Is Active. When a query rule is active, it fires whenever the query conditions are met.
Select Save.
After a few moments, when federated users submit queries from the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Search Center against a result source that you specified in step 5 of this procedure, they will see results from both search indexes, as shown in the following image. In the image, a block of two search results from SharePoint Server appears above the search results from SharePoint in Microsoft 365.
Note
A federated user is a user whose on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain account is synchronized between SharePoint Server and SharePoint in Microsoft 365, and who accesses resources in both environments by authenticating with the federation identity provider, such as Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0.
Step 3: Test your configuration for displaying search results from SharePoint Server 2013 in SharePoint in Microsoft 365
Use the following procedure to validate your configuration for viewing search results from the SharePoint Server deployment in SharePoint in Microsoft 365.
Important
If you are using single sign-on (SSO) authentication, it is important to test the hybrid Search functionality by using federated user accounts. Native user accounts and AD accounts that are not federated are not recognized by both directory services. Therefore, they cannot authenticate using SSO and cannot be granted permissions to resources in both environments. For more info, see Accounts needed for hybrid configuration and testing.
Go to More features in the SharePoint admin center, and sign in with an account that has admin permissions in Microsoft 365.
Under Search, select Open.
Select Manage Query Rules.
On the page for managing query rules, do the following:
- In the Select a Result Source dropdown, select the result source that you selected in step 4a of Step 2 in this article ( Step 2: Create a query rule to turn on hybrid search results in SharePoint in Microsoft 365) (for example, Local SharePoint Results).
A list of query rules that apply to that result source appears.
- In the list of query rules, select the query rule that you created according to step 2 in this article (Step 2: Create a query rule to turn on hybrid search results in SharePoint in Microsoft 365) (for example, Show results from SharePoint Server 2013).
On the page for editing the query rule, in the Actions section, in the Result Blocks subsection, next to the name of the query rule that will show results from the SharePoint Server search index (for example, Show results from SharePoint Server 2013), select edit.
In the edit result block dialog, in the Query section, select Launch Query Builder.
In the build your query dialog, on the BASICS tab, do the following:
In the Select a query section, select the result source that you created according to step 1 in this article ( Step 1: Create a result source that defines how to get search results from the SharePoint Server 2013 deployment) (for example, Get results from SharePoint Server).
In the Query text section, delete the default text, which is {subjectTerms}, and then enter a test query (such as the name of your company) that should yield search results from the SharePoint Server search index.
Select Test query.
In the Search Result Preview pane, if your search configuration is valid and there are relevant results in SharePoint Server, the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 search system will display search results from SharePoint Server. If there are problems with your configuration, the search system can display troubleshooting information.
Select OK.
Step 4: Try a search from the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Search Center
To validate your configuration for displaying search results from both SharePoint Server and SharePoint in Microsoft 365 in the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Search Center, you can sign in to SharePoint in Microsoft 365 as a federated user and try some searches from the enterprise Search Center. Use the following procedure to validate your configuration in this way.
Sign in to SharePoint in Microsoft 365 as a federated user who has been activated in SharePoint in Microsoft 365, and who has permissions to view the root site collection there.
Go to the enterprise Search Center in SharePoint in Microsoft 365.
Typically, the enterprise Search Center in SharePoint in Microsoft 365 is at https://< domain>.sharepoint.com/search—for example,
https://adventureworks.sharepoint.com/search.In the enterprise Search Center, do the following:
- In the search box, enter a test query, such as the name of your company.
Make sure that the test query should yield search results from the SharePoint Server search index and the search index for SharePoint in Microsoft 365 in Microsoft 365.
Select the search icon, or press Enter.
Select a search vertical that uses a result source that you specified in step 5c of the second procedure in this article (Step 2: Create a query rule to turn on hybrid search results in SharePoint in Microsoft 365), such as Local SharePoint Results. That is, select a search vertical that you specified on the Add Query Rule page, in the Context section, under Query is performed on these sources.
On the search results page, you should see results from the search index for SharePoint in Microsoft 365 and a result block from the SharePoint Server search index.
Note
To view the target of a search result that is from content in the SharePoint Server farm, a user must have at least Read permission for the root site collection in the primary web application. (In a SharePoint hybrid environment, the primary web application is in the SharePoint Server farm and is used to receive all connections from Microsoft 365. For more information about the primary web application, see Plan connectivity from Microsoft 365 to SharePoint Server.)
If you do not see results from both search indexes on the search results page, do the following:'
Verify that the search system in SharePoint Server has crawled the local content.
Verify that you have configured Search features and functionality as described in this article.
Correct any errors or omissions, and try a search again.
If you still do not see search results from both search indexes, check the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Unified Logging Service (ULS) logs, also called the SharePoint in Microsoft 365 trace logs.
For more info, see Overview of Unified Logging System (ULS) Logging.