Manage federated locations (FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint)

Applies to: FAST Search Server 2010

Federated locations provide information that exists outside of your internal network to your end-users. Federation in Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint is very similar to federation in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 search. However, there is a difference: FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint uses two separate Search Service Applications: the FAST Search Content Search Service Application (Content SSA) and the FAST Search Query Search Service Application (Query SSA). The Content SSA is used to crawl content and feed it into the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint back-end, and the Query SSA is used to provide query results from the content that is crawled by the Content SSA. Federated locations are configured in the FAST Search Query Search Service Application.

Add, edit, or delete a federated location

To go to the Manage Federated Locations page

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is an administrator for the FAST Search Query Search Service application.

2. On the Home page of the SharePoint Central Administration Web site, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.

3. On the Service Applications page, click the name of your FAST Search Query Search Service Application.

4. In the Quick Launch on your FAST Search Query Search Service Application Search Administration page, in the Queries and Results section, click Federated Locations.

To add a federated location

1. On the Manage Federated Locations page, click New Location.

2. On the Add Federated Location page, in the Location Name section, in the Location Name box, type a name for the new federated location. This name will appear to service application administrators and developers. In the Display Name box, type a name that will identify the federated location to service application administrators and site owners.

3. In the Description section, in the Description box, type a detailed description for this federated location.

4. In the Author section, in the Author box, type the name of the author that you want to appear to users of this location.

5. In the Version section, in the Version box, type a version number for this location.

6. In the Trigger section, select one of the following options:

   • Always: Query should always match.

   • Prefix: Query must begin with a specified prefix. If you select this option, type the prefix in the Add Prefix box.

   • Pattern: Query must match a specified pattern. If you select this option, type the pattern in the Add Pattern box.

7. Expand the Location Information section.

   1. In the Location Type section, select one of the following options:

      • Search Index on this Server

      • FAST Index

      • OpenSearch 1.0/1.1

   2. In the Query Template section, in the Query Template box, specify the template for passing queries on the selected location.

   3. In the "More Results" Link Template section, in the "More Results" Link Template box, type the URL of the page that displays results for a search query.

8. Expand the Display Information section, and then configure the following options:

   1. In the Federated Search Results Display Metadata section, clear the Use Default Formatting check box to do the following:

      • In the XSL box, edit the default XSL if necessary.

      • In the Properties box, edit the default properties if necessary.

      • In the Sample Data box, edit the default sample data as necessary.

   2. In the Core Search Results Display Metadata section, clear the Use Default Formatting check box to do the following:

      • In the XSL box, edit the default XSL if necessary.

      • In the Properties box, edit the default properties if necessary.

      • In the Sample Data box, edit the default sample data as necessary.

   3. In the Top Federated Results Display Metadata section, clear the Use Default Formatting check box to do the following:

      • In the XSL box, edit the default XSL if necessary.

      • In the Properties box, edit the default properties if necessary.

      • In the Sample Data box, edit the default sample data as necessary.

9. Expand the Restrictions and Credentials Information section

   1. In the Restrict Usage section, select one of the following options:

      • No restriction: All sites can use this location,

      • Use restriction: Only allowed sites can use this location. If you select this option, in the Allowed Sites box, type the start addresses, using semicolons to separate the URLs if necessary.

To edit a federated location

1. On the Manage Federated Locations page, point to the location that you want to edit, click the arrow that appears, and then click Edit Location.

2. After you have made the changes that you want, click OK.

To copy a federated location

1. On the Manage Federated Locations page, point to the location that you want to copy, click the arrow that appears, and then click Copy Location.

2. Select the federated location you wish to copy, and then click OK.

To delete a federated location

1. On the Manage Federated Locations page, point to the location that you want to delete, click the arrow that appears, and then click Delete Location.

2. Click OK to confirm that you want to proceed with the deletion.

To import a federated location

1. On the Manage Federated Locations page, click Import Location.

2. On the Import Federated Location page, in the Location Definition File section, in the Federated Location Definition File box, type the path of a federated location definition (.fld) file or an OpenSearch description (.osdx) file, or click the Browse button to find an .fld or .osdx file on the local file system or the network.

3. Click OK.