nctrl.exe reference
Applies to: FAST Search Server 2010
Use nctrl to manage the node controller that holds the Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint processes and to perform general operations on the components (e.g., start, add, remove, resume, etc.).
There is one node controller on each FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint node. The node controller runs as a Windows service and can also be managed via the Windows Services controller.
Note
To use a command-line tool, 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.
Syntax
<FASTSearchFolder>\bin\nctrl [options] <command>
Parameters
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
<FASTSearchFolder> |
The path of the folder where you have installed FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, for example C:\FASTSearch. |
All options and commands are optional.
nctrl options
| Option | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
-h |
Displays help. |
|
-v |
Displays version information. |
|
-l |
<log_level> |
Specifies what information to record in the log entries:
|
-c |
<directory> |
Specifies the directory location of the configuration file, NodeConf.xml. Default: <FASTSearchFolder>\etc |
nctrl commands
| Command | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
start |
[process 1]...[process n] |
Starts all or specified processes. When the node controller service is running, the start command also resumes suspended processes. When the node controller service is not running, the start command without arguments starts the service and all non-suspended processes. |
stop |
[process 1]...[process n] |
Stops all (including the node controller service) or specified processes. When the node controller service is running, the stop command behaves identically to the suspend command. The processes will remain stopped (suspended) even if the node controller service is restarted. |
kill |
[process 1]...[process n] |
Terminates selected processes. |
restart |
[process 1]...[process n] |
Restarts selected processes (i.e., the same as issuing stop followed by start). |
status |
Displays services that are running on the node and their status. |
|
add |
[process] |
Adds another instance of type process. The process must be configured for dynamic multiplication, that is, marked with |
remove |
[process] |
Removes a process from configuration. The process must support dynamic multiplication, that is, marked with |
suspend |
[process 1]...[process n] |
Stops the specified processes. The processes must be resumed to be restarted. |
resume |
[process 1]...[process n] |
Starts the previously suspended processes to continue to process. |
reloadcfg |
Reloads the configuration for the running node controller service from <FASTSearchFolder>\etc\NodeConf.xml. |
Examples
This example stops search on all indexer and search nodes:
<FASTSearchFolder>\bin\nctrl stop search-1
The following example restarts the configserver (which is the same as stop followed by start):
<FASTSearchFolder>\bin\nctrl restart configserver
Remarks
Remember to run nctrl reloadcfg after you change the node controller configuration file <FASTSearchFolder>\etc\NodeConf.xml for your changes to take effect.
The list of valid nctrl processes and the component they belong to are:
| Process name | Associated with |
|---|---|
browserengine |
A component of the FAST Search Web Crawler |
configserver |
Administration (configuration) |
contentdistributor |
Content distributor |
crawler |
The main component of the FAST Search Web Crawler |
fdmworker |
A component of the Web Analyzer |
indexer |
Ilyzernandexing |
indexingdispatcher |
Indexing dispatcher |
nameservice |
Administration (name service) |
nctrl |
Administration (node controller) |
procserver_n |
Instances of item processing |
qrproxy |
Query processing component, interface with the Query SSA |
qrserver |
Main query processing component |
samadmin |
Administration (item level security) |
samworker |
Query processing component, handling item level security |
search_n |
An instance of the query matching process for one index partition |
spelltuner |
Administration (spell check dictionary improvement) |
sprel |
A component of the Web Analyzer, handing search clickthrough analysis |
topfdispatch |
Top level query dispatcher running on the query processing server |
walinkstorerreceiver |
A component of the Web Analyzer |
walookupdb0 |
A component of the Web Analyzer |
webanalyzer |
The main component of the FAST Search Web Analyzer |
Note
The processes associated with the FAST Search Web Crawler will run on a FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint single-server deployment even if the FAST Search Web Crawler is not used.
An operation like nctrl start can also be performed using net start fastsearchservice. The list of processes that are Windows Services and the name to use with Windows Service Controller are:
| Process name | Name associated with Windows Service Controller |
|---|---|
browserengine |
FASTSearchBrowserEngine |
nctrl |
FASTSearchService |
qrproxy |
QRProxyService |
samadmin |
FASTSearchSAMAdmin |
samworker |
FASTSearchSAMWorker |