Sitefinity search in Windows Azure
I've been working on migrating a test environment into the Windows Azure platform. However, the search folder in /App_Data/Sitefinity/Search were not included in the package that was uploaded to Windows Azure. Since I created a search index offline while in development, I decided to upload the search folder and corresponding files into the same location in Windows Azure using the Sitefinity file manager module and to my surprise, site searches worked. The only problem being that the search index quickly becomes stale as content is added, which begs the question: wouldn't it be possible to run a local copy of the site, attach it to the Sql Azure Sitefinity database and refresh the search index locally? This would theoretically allow for the manual uploading of the refreshed search index; clearly not a fancy solution, but at least it appears to work, especially if the site content doesn't change very often.
Has the Telerik team considered using something like the Azure Library for Lucene.Net (http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsazure/Azure-Library-for-83562538) to allow Sitefinity to gracefully continue using search while in Windows Azure?
Hi,
Thank you for using our services. Thank you for pointing out the need for such functionality. Yes, we are aware of the search functionality and are discussing a specialized search implementation for Sitefinity on Windows Azure for the future releases, however we haven't scheduled the task yet.
Greetings,
Boyan Barnev
the Telerik team
Has Sitefinity Search on Azure been fixed in release later than 5.1.3450 yet? If not, what is the work-around to getting search to work on Azure? How can we make it work?
Hi Chris,
Thanks for using Sitefinity.
At this time the default search functionality does not work with Azure in the lastest release, 5.2.8000. The reason is because Azure does not have write functionality which is required by the search engine to write the indexes. Thus the search cannot be created. We are looking at a specialized search method for Azure but we have no official date to expect it by, yet. The alternative is to use a third party search application, such as Google's search for websites, that doesn't require write permissions.
Google Custom Search Engine
Google Site Search
Does a Telerik representative have any update on this question? The last replay was December 2012. Checking in to see if they have updated any Search functionality to work with Windows Azure.
Hi Jared,
We still don't have support for search in Azure. The issue is that we use the Lucene engine and it wasn't until recently (in their latest version) that they supported search in Azure. We are working to implement this into Sitefinity in a future release, however, there is no firm release version that will include it.
I apologize for the inconvenience.
Hi,
Is there any update on this?
Thanks
Very much like to see this added to Telerik SiteFinity
I would also like to know what the status of this is now.
Is this just on the to do list or is it something that can not be done?
Hello,
This functionality is still on the the list. At this point I do not have further information when it will be available.
Regards,
Atanas Valchev
Telerik
Just updating that this is still an inconvenience, ( for me as I run most of my sites in Azure), and so am keen to see it fixed.
Hello,
There is no development on this limitation, I will check with the developers after the next major release and will update this thread.
Regards,
Atanas Valchev
Telerik
The lack of search support for Azure should be disclosed during the sales process as it is a major functionality gap for those using Azure. The recommended Google solution is also not ideal for those with content behind authenticated areas of a site.
When will this issue be resolved?
They also now need to add that the Site map generator also doesn't work on Azure.
What version of Sitefinity are you using in which the Sitemap Generator does not work? My site is running on 5.4 in Azure which does not come with an OOTB generator. I created a custom sitemap generator.
Jared - The Sitemap generator is the new feature in 7.1
But on the Search in Azure I have come up with a solution. I think the main issue is the ACL permissions in Windows Azure. There is no way to set them so they are all Read by default. (Expect the App_Data) Thus the sitemap generator and the search can not create the files.
I have tried and tested a solution hopefully it works for you as it is working for me right now.
www.sitefinity-stuff.com/.../azure-and-search
Thanks Darrin! Will be trying this
Good news. This issue is being addressed by the Sitefinity team.
www.sitefinity.com/.../search-in-windows-azure