Jackrabbit Lucene SearchIndex slows server performance

The purpose of the Jackrabbit SearchIndex tag is to index property values and node names when data is saved or whenever a data transaction is performed. With the Pentaho Platform, Jackrabbit’s Lucene tries to index all of the text from every file in the repository. The SearchIndex tag has been disabled for Pentaho 6.1 and higher to improve overall repository performance.

When you upgrade to Pentaho 6.1 or higher and bring your previous repository.xml forward to the new version, your server will start and function as it did in your previous version of Pentaho. This Jackrabbit Lucene indexing can cause degradation in repository performance.

If you are bringing forward your repository.xml, you will need to disable the SearchIndex tag within Jackrabbit. Depending on whether you have a custom-configured repository or a default repository, follow one of these procedures for disabling the SearchIndex tag.

Custom repository XML file

If you have a custom-configured repository.xml file, follow these steps to disable the SearchIndex tag:

1. Navigate to the pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit directory.

2. Open the repository.xml file with any text editor.

3. Search for the SearchIndex tag.

4. You should find it within two tags: the <Workspace> tag and the <Repository> tag.

5. In the <Repository> tag only, delete or comment out the SearchIndex tag. Make sure that you don't change the SearchIndex tag within the <Workspace> tag.

6. Save and close the repository.xml file.

Whenever you make any changes to the Jackrabbit repository.xml file, you need to delete the pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit/repository folder and restart your Pentaho Server. The folder will be recreated with your new repository.xml settings upon server restart.

Default repository XML file

If you have a default repository.xml file, follow these steps to disable the SearchIndex tag:

1. Navigate to the pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit directory.

2. Open the repository.xml file with any text editor.

3. Search for the following instance of the SearchIndex tag:

   <SearchIndex class="org.apache.jackrabbit.core.query.lucene.SearchIndex">
       <param name="path" value="${rep.home}/repository/index"/>
       <param name="supportHighlighting" value="true"/>
   </SearchIndex>

4. Delete or comment out that SearchIndex tag.

5. Save and close the repository.xml file.

Whenever you make any changes to the Jackrabbit repository.xml file, you need to delete the pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit/repository folder and restart your Pentaho Server. The folder will be recreated with your new repository.xml settings upon server restart.