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Is it ok to delete the Default Content Source

Answered Is it ok to delete the Default Content Source

  • Thursday, July 28, 2011 11:22 PM
     
     
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    I run Sharepoint 2010 Enterprise in a small farm enviroment. We are just now getting it setup. I don't have the option to delete my default Content Source and because it is setup to "crawl everything under the hostname for each start address" (the option to alter the crawl setting is greyed out) I am not able to break apart my content sources into smaller, more manageable pieces, since the start address is the root site collection of the application.

    How I can have different content sources on my application? If I try to add one I get the error that the content source I want to crawl is already included under an existing content source.

    Thanks!

    Love them all...regardless. - Buddha
     

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  • Friday, July 29, 2011 1:53 AM
     
     
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    Hi,

    The question is why you looking to create seperate content sources for site collections within the same web app? If you want to exclude anything from crawling, you can do that by using Crawl rules.

    Regards,

    Sid


     
  • Friday, July 29, 2011 2:54 AM
     
     
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    Hi Sid,

    My reason for doing this isn't to exclude content. Crawling an entire applicatoin causes the crawls to take a very long time to complete. For instance, if one site collection is frequently updated with new docs and requires weekly incremental crawls it is easier to manage if that is on it's own content source. It's much faster to crawl 20K docs than 10M.

    This is why I want to remove the default content source so that I can carve up my application into more meaningful units. This isn't allwed, as far as I know, with the current setup as explained in my original post.

    Thanks!

    Love them all...regardless. - Buddha
     
  • Friday, July 29, 2011 2:56 AM
     
     
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    To answer your question in the title "Is it ok to delete the Default Content Source", the answer is YES. As long as you have more than one content source for the search application.

     

    However you cannot specify a sub site URL as the starting address for your content source. Unlike crawling a non-SharePoint web site where SharePoint search just crawls through the links on the page, when SharePoint crawls a SharePoint site, it kind of use Object Models, eg. by going through a Web App, then all the site collections in the web app, then all the sub sites, list and libraries under the site collection...and so on.

     

    Use crawl rules to exclude stuff that you want out of index, and bare in mind that you also have security trimming on the search results.

     

     

    Allen Wang | http://blogs.msdn.com/allenwang
     
  • Friday, July 29, 2011 3:24 AM
     
     
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    Hi Allen. Thanks for your response. 

    My default content source is set to http://app.com. The crawl settings were set to "Crawl everything under the hostname for each start address".

    I added a second crawl on http://app.com/pathA/pathB  with the Crawl Setting "Only crawl the Site Collection of each start address" selected.

    The problem, and perhaps I'm wrong, is that the default crawl will include this in it's results. But I can't alter the default crawl, ergo my desire to delete it. In fact I can't just ignore it as it prevents me from adding crawls with the crawl settings set to "Crawl everything under the hostname for each start address". The error message is this content is already included in another content source (or something similar to that).

    The option to delete the default content source is still grayed out. So adding a second content source didn't give me the ability to remove the default one.  I'm wondering if deleting the search application and creating a new one isn't the only way to go.

     

    Love them all...regardless. - Buddha
     
  • Friday, July 29, 2011 3:45 AM
     
     
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    Hi Sid,

    My reason for doing this isn't to exclude content. Crawling an entire applicatoin causes the crawls to take a very long time to complete. For instance, if one site collection is frequently updated with new docs and requires weekly incremental crawls it is easier to manage if that is on it's own content source. It's much faster to crawl 20K docs than 10M.

    This is why I want to remove the default content source so that I can carve up my application into more meaningful units. This isn't allwed, as far as I know, with the current setup as explained in my original post.

    Thanks!

    Love them all...regardless. - Buddha

    Have a look at this article on how to delete the default content source:

    http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/anavijai/5264/

    However, I believe that you cant create a content source for the web application by specifiying "crawl everything under the hostname for each start address" followed by another content source for a site collection within the web app.

    If you are going by the site collection approach then 1st delete all content sources and then create based on site collection using "Crawl only the SharePoint site of each start address" method.

    Sid

     

     
  • Wednesday, August 03, 2011 3:26 PM
     
     
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    Thanks Sid,

    I'm not sure that deleting all of the content sources programmatically is a good idea at least not without a test farm to do this on. I don't have a test farm unfortunately. I love the idea but the author of that code didn't go into after effects and consequences of the code he wrote. I'm sure you could delete alot of things in Sharepoint programmatically but I don't want to blow away my support by doing so.

    Allen, even when a second content source is added, the option to delete the default content source is not activated. It remains grayed out.

    I want to crawl site collections, not applications. Apparently that default one is entered when the service is installed and automatically lays clain to the application. The only way I've been able to add a second content source is by changing it from http to https which will add unnecessary overhead to my crawls.

    The crux of the problem is that we don't seem to be allowed to delete or even modify the default 'Local Sharepoint sites' content source.

    Love them all...regardless. - Buddha
     
  • Wednesday, August 03, 2011 11:15 PM
     
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    Well,

    If you dont have a testing area then you could always take backup of the SSA and then try it. To me it looks like there is no other option but to delete the default content source to add site collection content sources. You can delete either using code or PowerShell script.

    And you're right. It seems bizzare that we are not allowed to delete the default content source.

    - Sid
    • Marked As Answer by Wayne Fan Saturday, August 06, 2011 4:52 AM
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  • Tuesday, May 08, 2012 6:46 PM
     
     
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    Hell sid,

    How did you fix this issue?

    Regards Amit

     
  • Tuesday, May 08, 2012 6:52 PM
     
     
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    Hi Amit,

    I don't believe this issue is resolvable. See http://www.richardaruth.com/?p=40 That default content source is read-only.

    Love them all...regardless. - Buddha

     
  • Tuesday, May 08, 2012 7:39 PM
     
     
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    Hi Kansas,

    As per the link that you have mentioned in your last reply, it is not even possible to change the start address however today itself i have removed the start address from the default content source.

    Regards Amit

     
  • Wednesday, May 09, 2012 12:28 AM
     
     
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    I was  able to change the start address in my default Content Source (2010 Enterprise Edition) but remove a start address? maybe I misunderstood your post but you can't save a content source without a Start Address.

    Love them all...regardless. - Buddha