Export and import search collections

The following are possible use cases for exporting and importing search collections:

• We have verified the search collections on a test portal, and to move these collections to the production portal.
• We have verified the search collections locally on a portal, and to move these collections to a configuration with remote search.
• We have verified the portal search configuration and search collections on a single portal, and to move these collections to a portal cluster environment.
• We are staging the portal to production using the ReleaseBuilder.

To export and import the search collections, use...

Manage Search portlet > Import or Export Collection

1. On the source portal export the search collections.

   This exports the configuration data and all document URLs of the search collections.

   1. Before exporting, verify the portal application process has write access to the target directory location.

   2. Be aware the export can overwrite files in the export directory.

2. Document all of the following data:

   • The target file names and directory locations to which we export the collections. For example...
     /nas/search/collections

   • location, name, description, and language for each collection.

3. Create the search collections on the target portal.

   This task creates the empty shell for the search collection. Complete the following data entry fields and select the following options according to the data that you documented:

   Location of Collection	Fill this in with the new collection location.
   Name of Collection	Fill this in with the collection name. The name can match the old setting, but does not have to match it.
   Description of Collection	Fill this in with the collection description. The description can match the old setting, but does not have to match it.
   Specify Collection Language	Select this to match the old setting.
   Select Summarizer	We do not need to select this option. The value will be overwritten by the import.

   We do not have to add content sources or documents; that will be completed by the import task.

4. Import the data of the search collections into the target portal. For the import source information use the documented file names and directory locations to which we exported the collections before the portal upgrade.

Results

What to do next

1. Additionally to exporting and importing the search collections, we have to configure Portal Search on the target portal. This depends on the requirements of the target portal environment and configuration. For details about how to do this refer to the appropriate topics of the Portal Search documentation, such as Planning and preparing for Portal Search and Administering Portal Search.

2. Before exporting a collection, verify the portal application process has write access to the target directory location. Otherwise we might get an error message, such as File not found.

3. Import collection data only into an empty collection. Do not import collection data into a target collection that has content sources or documents already.

4. When we import search collection data into a collection, most of the collection configuration data are also imported. For example, this includes the content sources, schedulers, filters, and language settings. If we configured such settings when creating the new collection, they are overwritten by the imported settings.

5. To migrate from one portal version to a higher version, we need to delete the search collections between the export and the re-import. Follow the steps described under the topic about Migrating web search collections.

6. When we import a portal site collection from a Version 5.1 portal to a Version 6 portal, the collection configuration data are imported, but not the documents. Therefore, to enable users to search the portal site collection on the target portal, we can either import the portal site collection and then start a crawl, or re-create the portal site collection. See the topic abut Resetting the default search collection. This restriction does not apply if you migrate your portal site search collections between Version 6 portals.

7. When we import a collection, a background process fetches, crawls, and indexes all documents which are listed by URL in the previously exported file. Therefore be aware the crawling process can require extended memory and time, depending on the Portal Search configuration. For more information see the topic about Tips for Portal Search crawls.

Parent Set up search collections

Related concepts:

Plan for Portal Search

Related tasks:

Administer Portal Search
Reset the default search collection
Migrate web search collections

Related reference:

Tips for Portal Search crawls

Related information

Portal Search