Manage FAST Search Authorization (FSA)

 

Applies to: FAST Search Server 2010

When you install FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, the FSA manager and worker services are installed automatically as Windows Services on the administration server. Whenever you configure an additional FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint server that has QRServer on it, another FSA worker service is started on that host. Once the FSA services are installed and started, there is little you have to manage on a regular basis. The most common administration tasks are described in this article:

• Restart FSA

• View and monitor the FSA log files

• Change the FSA log settings by using Windows PowerShell

• Determine if a FSA user store exists by using Windows PowerShell

• Use FSA cmdlets in Windows PowerShell

Restart FSA

Under ordinary usage, you should not have to restart the FSA manager or worker services. On rare occasions, you may have to restart the system:

• FSA manager

  • The Xxx-FASTSearchSecurityXxx cmdlets fail because they cannot communicate with the FSA manager

  • If user/group information upload requests from the FAST Search Lotus Notes connector fail

• FSA worker

  • If query is not working on a specific query processing node

  • If the FSA worker is using too much memory

  • If you change a FSA configuration setting

  • If synchronization from the FSA manager is unsuccessful

Use the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint node controller (nctrl) to stop and start FSA if you have to restart FSA. The node controller will restart the FSA services if it detects that they stopped prematurely.The correct order is as follows:

1. Stop the FSA manager (samadmin service)

2. Stop all FSA worker processes (samworker services)

3. Start all FSA worker processes (samworker services)

4. Start the FSA manager (samadmin service)

For more information, see nctrl.exe reference.

View and monitor the FSA log files

FSA log files are written to the administration host where the FSA manager resides, under <FASTSearchFolder>\var\log\syslog, where <FASTSearchFolder> is the path of the folder where you have installed FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, for example C:\FASTSearch. Here you will find two kinds of log files, one for the FSA manager and one for each FSA worker:

• authorization-admin_<host_name>.log

• authorization-worker_<host_name>.log

Change the FSA log settings by using Windows PowerShell

Use the Set-FASTSearchSecurityLogLevel cmdlet to configure the FSA log level. The logging levels from most verbose to least verbose are as follows:

• DEBUG

• INFO

• WARNING

• ERROR

1. To use the cmdlets, verify that you meet the following minimum requirements: You are a member of the FASTSearchAdministrators local group on the computer where FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint is installed.

2. Open a Windows PowerShell session as an Administrator.

3. Run the Set-FASTSearchSecurityLogLevel cmdlet. The following example sets the log level for the Microsoft namespace to the Warning level:

   Set-FASTSearchSecurityLogLevel -WarningNameSpaceLogLevel Microsoft
   

   Note

   The Set-FASTSearchSecurityLogLevel cmdlet changes the log levels in all the FSA manager and worker logs, not merely one particular log file.

For more information, see Set-FASTSearchSecurityLogLevel.

Determine if a FSA user store exists by using Windows PowerShell

1. To use the cmdlets, verify that you meet the following minimum requirements: You are a member of the FASTSearchAdministrators local group on the computer where FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint is installed.

2. Open a Windows PowerShell session as an Administrator.

3. To check whether a user store exists, run the Get-FASTSearchSecurityUserStore cmdlet. For example:

   Get-FASTSearchSecurityUserStore -Identity
   

   If you do not specify one user store id with the –Identity parameter, the cmdlet will retrieve all user stores.

For more information, see Get-FASTSearchSecurityUserStore.

Use FSA cmdlets in Windows PowerShell

1. On a FAST Search server, open the Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint command prompt as an administrator. This will open a Windows PowerShell window and load the Microsoft.FASTSearch.Powershell cmdlet snap-ins.

2. If you have to run Windows PowerShell script files, you must set the execution policy to RemoteSigned. For example:

   Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
   

   Type Get-Help Set-ExecutionPolicy for more information about the Windows PowerShell execution policy.

Tip

Windows PowerShell has an auto-complete feature that can help in selecting FSA cmdlets. You can test this by typing GET-FASTSearchSecurity and pressing the Tab key to have Windows PowerShell complete your cmdlet.