Managing Indexes With the Control Panel

You can use the Control Panel to create, configure, and delete local database indexes and Virtual List View (VLV) indexes. A local database index is used to find entries matching search criteria. A VLV index is used to process searches efficiently with VLV controls. Unindexed searches are denied by default unless the user has the unindexed-search privilege. For more information, see Root Users and the Privilege Subsystem.

To Display a List of Indexes

This procedure shows how to display a list of all the indexes configured for the directory server.

1. Start the Control Panel, as described in To Start the Control Panel.
2. Click the Manage Indexes link under the Indexes menu on the left side of the Control Panel window. The Manage Indexes window appears, displaying all configured indexes in a list on its left side.
   

To Add an Index

If your clients search on particular attribute frequently, you can add an index for that attribute to return results more efficiently.

1. Start the Control Panel, as described in To Start the Control Panel.
2. Click the Manage Indexes link under the Indexes menu on the left side of the Control Panel window. The Manage Indexes window appears, displaying all configured indexes in a list on its left side.
3. Click the New Index button,

   The New Index window appears.

4. Select the attribute that you want to index from the Attributes list.
5. If necessary, specify a number in the Entry Limit fields other than the default, 4000.

   The entry limit is the maximum number of entries allowed in the index before the directory server stops maintaining the index.

6. Select one or more Index Type options.

   • approximate-Used to help improve the efficiency of searches using approximate equality search filers.

   • equality-Used to help improve the efficiency of searches using equality search filters.

   • ordering-Used to help improve the efficiency of searches using "greater than or equal to" or "less than or equal to" search filters. In the future, this index type might also be used for server-side sorting.

   • presence-Used to help improve the efficiency of searches using presence search filters.

   • substring-Used to help improve the efficiency of searches using substring search filters.

7. Click the OK button.

   The Index Rebuild Required window appears.

8. To rebuild the index now, click the Yes button

   Otherwise, to rebuild the index later, click the No button. However, the index does not improve search efficiency until it is built.

   If you select the Yes button, the New Index window displays the progress of the rebuild operation.

9. When the operation is complete, click the Close button to close the New Index window.

To Add a VLV Index

1. Start the Control Panel, as described in To Start the Control Panel.
2. Click the Manage Indexes link under the Indexes menu on the left side of the Control Panel window. The Manage Indexes window appears, displaying all configured indexes in a list on its left side.
3. Click the New VLV Index button.

   The New VLV Index window appears.

4. Specify the following information in the fields of the New VLV Index window:

   Name

   A unique name to identify the VLV index

   Base DN

   The base DN where you want to apply the new VLV index. If you select Other, enter the DN in the empty field to the right.

   Search Scope

   The search target where you want to apply the index

   Filter

   The LDAP filter used in the query being indexed, which can be any valid LDAP filter

   Max Block Size

   The number of entry IDs to store in a single sorted set before it must be split.

   Sort Order

   The names of the attributes by which the entries are sorted and their order of precedence, from highest to lowest.

   Select the name of each attribute from the list of available attributes, select a sort order for the attribute (either Ascending or Descending) and then click the Add button to add the attribute to the list below. Adjust the position of a selected attribute in the sort order list as needed by clicking the Move Up and Move Down buttons. Remove a selected attribute from the sort order list by clicking the Remove button.

5. Click the OK button.

   The VLV index is configured, but it is not used for search operations until it has been rebuilt for the first time.

To Delete an Index

If an index is not used, you can delete it and release the resources that it uses.

1. Start the Control Panel, as described in To Start the Control Panel.
2. Click the Manage Indexes link under the Indexes menu on the left side of the Control Panel window. The Manage Indexes window appears, displaying all configured indexes in a list on its left side.
3. In the list of indexes, select the index that you want to delete.
4. Click the Delete Index button.
5. A window appears, asking you to confirm that you want to delete the selected index.
6. Click the Yes button.
7. The Delete Index window appears, displaying the progress of the operation.

To Verify Indexes

The contents of an index can become incorrectly organized. You can verify that any or all indexes are correctly prepared for effective searching. If the verification operation shows that an index is not correctly organized it, rebuild indexes as described in To Rebuild Indexes.

1. Start the Control Panel, as described in To Start the Control Panel.
2. Click the Verify Indexes link under the Indexes menu on the left side of the Control Panel window.

   The Verify Indexes window appears, displaying all configured indexes in a list on its left side.

3. If needed, select the base DN whose indexes you want to verify in the Base DN field.
4. Select one of the verification options:

   • Verify Entry Contents are Properly Indexed

   • Verify All Index Key ID's are Clean and Refer to Existing Entries

5. If you selected Verify Entry Contents are Properly Indexed, add the indexes that you want to verify to the Selected Indexes list by using one of these steps
   • Double-click the name of the index in the list of Available Indexes.
   • Select the name of the index in the list of Available Indexes and then click the Add button.
6. Click the OK button.

   The Verify Indexes window displays the status of the operation

7. When the operation completes, click the Close button.

To Rebuild Indexes

Over time, as new entries are added, an index can become less efficiently organized. You can rebuild any or all indexes to organize them most efficiently.

1. Start the Control Panel, as described in To Start the Control Panel.
2. Click the Rebuild Indexes link under the Indexes menu on the left side of the Control Panel window.

   The Rebuild Indexes window appears, displaying all configured indexes in a list on its left side.

3. Add the indexes that you want to rebuild to the Selected Indexes list by using one of these steps:
   • Double-click the name of the index in the list of Available Indexes.
   • Select the name of the index in the list of Available Indexes and then click the Add button.
4. Click the OK button.

   The Confirmation Required window appears, asking you to confirm that you want to rebuild the selected indexes.

5. Click the Yes button.

   The Rebuild Indexes window displays the status of the operation.

   While the indexes are being rebuilt, the back end is disabled and none of its suffixes can be accessed.

6. When the operation completes, click the Close button.