Working With LucidWorks Enterprise Components

Basics of LucidWorks Enterprise Components

LucidWorks Enterprise is comprised of four main components that can each be run together on a single server, or deployed on separate servers if desired:

LWE Core

The LucidWorks Enterprise (LWE) Core component is the main driver of the application.  It contains the search index, the index definitions, the query parser, the embedded Solr application and Lucene libraries, as well as serves the REST API (with the exception of Alerts, below).

Admin UI

The Administration User Interface component provides a web-based graphical interface to configure and control many LucidWorks Enterprise features.  Through the Admin UI, one can modify index fields, configure data sources for content collection, define aspects of the search experience and monitor system performance.

Search UI

The Search User Interface component provides a front-end for users to submit queries to LucidWorks Enterprise and review results.  It includes search features such as automatic completion of queries, spell checking, faceting, and sorting.

Alerts

The Alerts component provides a way for users of the front-end Search UI to save searches and receive notifications when new results match their query terms.  There is a user interface piece with forms and screens for users to configure and review their alerts, as well as a REST API for programmatic access to the Alerts features.

Configuring the Components

LWE Core must run on its own port, but the other components can be run on the same port, on their own distinct ports, or be completely disabled and unused.  In the example below, LWE Core is running on the same machine as the Admin UI and the Alerts Components, while the Search UI is being run on a separate machine.  Placement of the components on different ports or servers is accomplished with the installer.

Default Installation URLs

This guide will refer to example URLs that will reference the default installation URLs for each component. These defaults are:

These URLs are used by the installer for two purposes:

1. When the various components communicate with each other, or link to one another, they specify what URL will be used.
2. If the "Enable" check box is selected for a component when using the installer, then that component will be run locally, using the port specified in the URL.

Using Different Ports If LucidWorks Enterprise components have been installed on different ports, the URLs to those components must be complete addresses as they are in the above example.  For example, if the Search UI has been installed on port 7777, the URL to use would be http://localhost:7777/search.  Only the Admin UI is available at the root level, meaning that trying to access the Search UI at http://localhost:7777/ would not work.

Running Components on Different Ports on the Same Server

To run components on different ports of the same server, the installer must be run multiple times, with each installation located in a different installation path. (i.e., a distinct "LWE Home")

For example, consider a use case where we want to:

• Run the LWE Core component on port 8888
• Run the Admin UI component on port 8989
• Run the Search UI component on port 9033
• Disable the Alerts component

In this scenario, we need two installations, and our installation steps would be something like the following...

• Installation #1
  1. Launch the installer and follow the steps until the component selection screen
  2. Accept the default URLs for LWE Core at http://127.0.0.1:8888 and the Admin UI at http://127.0.0.1:8989
  3. Deselect the "Enable" check boxes for the Search UI and Alerts components so they will not be run as part of this installation
  4. Change the URL for the Search UI to http://127.0.0.1:9033/search - even thought it will not be run as part of this installation, this URL will be used by the Admin UI when linking to the Search UI
  5. Delete the URL for the Alerts component so that the text box is blank - this will ensure that the Admin UI and Search UI do not attempt to link to the Alerts UI
  6. Advance to the Next screen, and select a path for this installation
  7. Finish the installation
• Installation #2
  1. Launch the installer again, and advance to the component selection screen
  2. Deselect the "Enable" check boxes for the LWE Core and Admin UI components so they will not be run as part of this installation, but leave the URLs in place so that the Search UI knows how to communicate with them
  3. Change the URL for the Search UI to http://127.0.0.1:9033
  4. Deselect the "Enable" check box for the Alerts component and delete the corresponding URL so that the text box is blank
  5. Advance to the Next screen, and select a new path for this installation that is distinct from Installation #1

Please note:

• Starting and stopping server processes will need to occur in both installations; there is no single start/stop script that will work across multiple installations.
• The master.conf files in both installations will continue to refer to components that were not installed; care must be taken not to enable a component in the wrong installation.
• The Click Scoring Relevance Framework runs as part of the LWE Core, and requires that click-<collectionName>.log (generated by the Search User Interface) be available in the $LWE_HOME/logs/ directory. If LWE Core and the Search UI components are enabled in different installations, an external process must be responsible for copying that file into the $LWE_HOME/logs directory of the LWE Core installation.

Running Components on Different Servers

To run components on discrete servers, follow the same process used to install components on different ports of the same server. The only new step is to update the hostname/ip portion of the URL for each component during installation to identify which server should be used when components communicate with each other, or link to one another.