No Search Service Application

Question

I have created two SharePoint foundation 2013 preview installations on separate internet-facing servers.  to my knowledge, I did not do anything significantly differently.  After I while of playing, I got around to looking at Search.  On one server, I have a Search Service Application, but on the other, there is none.

On server A, there are several Service Applications, whereas on server B, only "Application Discovery and Load balancer Service Application", and then "Security Token Service Application" are showing.

If I try to create a new Search Service application (as given in the Technet instructions), the only options are for App management, BDC and Secure Store Services.

I am not aware of any Features that I have missed.

Does anyone know what has gone wrong, and how I create a Search Service Application?

Answer 1

SharePoint Foundation 2013 doesn't have a search service, search is available only for SharePoint Server 2013. 

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Jason Warren

Infrastructure Architect

Habanero Consulting Group

habaneroconsulting.com/blog

Answer 2

@Jason - Actually there is Search for Foundation

@Mike - recheck that it is not in list

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Please mark this as answer if it helps.
Microsoft Certified Trainer
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Answer 3

Is the search service running?

Answer 4

There are only two Service Applications showing.  If I did something different during the Install, I would expect to be able to add the Search Service Application afterwards, but I cannot do that.

Answer 5

Mike,

I had the same issue in my test farm where I did not have the GUI option to create a Search Service application. I am assuming (from the screen shot you posted) that you did not use the farm configuration wizard. I had the same scenario.

I tried several things to create the service application including attempting to create it usng PowerShell. Unfortunately the SpSearchService* commandlets(Search Server Express commands) did not exist and the SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication threw an error that I need the SP Server (rather than foundation).

The only solution that I found for this problem was to run the Farm Configuration Wizard and let it create (ONLY) the Search Service Application. You can go to Central Admin -> Cinfiguration Wizards to fire it off. It will let you make selections on which service application you want created with the wizard (Business Connectivity, Search, Secure Store etc), you can uncheck all services except search and complete the wizard. You can skip the option to create a Site Collection.

The Farm configuration wizard, when completed selecting only the Search Service Application, will create following Applications:

1. A SharePoint -80 Web Application
2. Search Administration Web Server for Search Service Application
3. Search Service Application
4. WSS_UsageApplication (usage and health Data collection, even though you uncheck it)

Also it seems, just as in SP 2010 you will not have the option to create State Service from GUI and will have to use PowerShell to do it if you dont create it in Farm Config Wizard.

Good Luck

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I want to believe

Answer 6

I have had EXACTLY the same problem as you Mike Atkins.

I am also having it on the RTM version of SPF 2013 as well.

I too installed SharePoint Foundation 2013 on multiple servers (to be specific, on server 2008 r2 service pack 1 with all possible hotfixes and updates installed).

One server- (the first, of course, so I didn't know anything would be wrong) Search service application showed up under the New button in the Service Applications page, no problem. On every, single server after that- even using the exact same SQL server (so that can't be the problem), Search is absolutely not an option under the New button. Ever.

It's available if I want the darned configuration wizard to set it up for me (not). Allfeatures are accounted for in powershell, the registry entry listed below about ServerRole under WSS being Application is correct. Nothing seems different- but yet- no love.

AND I'm using the RELEASE version of the product. Seriously. What the heck??

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CA Callahan | Author: Mastering Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 and Mastering Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 | Community Launch Leader |

Answer 7

Rather disheartening to see that RTM has the problem too.

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I want to believe

Answer 8

Have the same Issue. I like to Setup a Foundation 2013 Tenant System with search, there I need Powershell. But at the moment i cannot see a way to build up search in foundation with powershell.

Anybody some Ideas?

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teddy

Answer 9

As far as I am aware it is by design.  The powershell cmdlets are for "none" foundation instances and you must us the wizard for initial creation in 2013 foundation.

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Regards John Timney http://www.johntimney.com

Answer 10

Thanks John. I'd recently gotten an email reply from someone who said basically what you reported.

And I have to call shenanigans on it.

C'mon- as far as I can tell, SharePoint Foundation 2013 is just Search Server Express 2013 with some farm capabilities, and app management stapled to it.

AND- with SSX, you could easily use the New button in the Service Applications page to create the Search Application- and it only let you enable one instance.

The fact that they neglected to make it possible to do that in the RTM version, and gimped the powershell commands, is just an oversight. I am afraid it looks too much like a mistake they are trying to cover up than something that took foresight. It's embarrassing.

When they chose to do something so thoughtless to a product many, many people use, they don't seem to realize that it is fundamentally disrespectful towards those people, their businesses, and their commitment to the product. Microsoft's product. It just smacks of MS wanting to shed their business.

I am a passionate supporter of WSS and SPF, and a committed evangelist concerning those products. However, SharePoint Foundation 2013, and how search is mis-handled, is an extreme disappointment for me.

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CA Callahan | Author: Mastering Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 and Mastering Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 | Community Launch Leader |

Answer 11

Sadly I wasn't part of the team who designed Foundation, but I'm sure they have their commercial reasons for making it tick that way.

I'm not a big foundation user myself, but If I had to try and rationalize that decision, I could suggest that powershell for many users of Foundation is a step too far for them and this removes another possible layer of complexity, and many users do actually use the wizard to configure stuff and just run with it. Not saying it is right, or if it is an approach I encourage but it provides a nice get out of jail free card other than just suggesting they never had time to create the powershell of the GUI given how pressed the SharePoint teams are to hit the release deadlines.

We live with it until someone creates a powershell extension I expect.

Regards

John

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Regards John Timney http://www.johntimney.com

Answer 12

John makes a good point. SharePoint Foundation is intended for companies who don't have the resources to deploy a full SharePoint Server farm. The software is provided free of charge (licensing is included in the Windows Server licensing where it runs) and to expect it to have the same configuration options as SharePoint Server is unrealistic.

As a follow up to my first post, I didn't even realize SharePoint Foundation 2013 even had a search service as the previous versions of Foundation and WSS's search capabilities did not (what was present was pretty limited). That search is available at all is a welcome step, maybe we can look forward to cmdlets in the future.

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Jason Warren

Infrastructure Architect

Habanero Consulting Group

habaneroconsulting.com/blog

Answer 13

I know you mean well, as does Jason below, but that is pretty insulting to those of us supporting SharePoint Foundation/Windows SharePoint Services implementations. Our customers are actually able to handle powershell just like any other company's IT department. They just don't need to pay the added expense for SharePoint Server when all they need is collaboration and other features SPF offers.

To say that the product has been so obviously gimped for the first time in it's life cycle, is not a good sign. It really shows a fundamental disrespect of the organizations using the product. It seems that Microsoft is fully convinced that those that use Foundation should absolutely move to Office 365.

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CA Callahan | Author: Mastering Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 and Mastering Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 | Community Launch Leader |

Answer 14

As someone who has dedicated years to the WSS/SPF product, I can assure you that the reason folks use SPF of SP is both a financial one, and the fact that they don't need a lot of the services (and overhead) that the full server version requires. It is simply the right fit for them. Those companies *do not* expect the same configuration options as Server. Just that the options they *do have* work fully. Not gimped in such a transparent, intentional way.

The fact that SharePoint Foundation has search to the extent it does in 2013, is because Microsoft, which also offered a product called Search Server 2010, rolled those capabilities into SharePoint Foundation 2013, and ended the Search Server product with that transition. In addition, there may be some search capabilities built into SPF (since it's is supposed to be the "foundation" of Server) that were inherited from the now also defunct FAST search standalone product.

But- Search Server Express 2010 could only have one instance of the Search Application per farm as well- and yet, it did not gimp any commands, nor force the administrators to use the configuration wizard. It was capable of offering the Search Application once under the New button on the Service Applications page, and then the option would not be available after the first instance was created.

The lack of commands and that over sight in the Service Application page smacks of the whole thing being under beta-tested (should have had me on the earlier betas...), and simply overlooked. Overlooking those who would use the product as well.

I would be deeply grateful if Microsoft fixed this oversight in the future, and returned the cmdlets to PowerShell.

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CA Callahan | Author: Mastering Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 and Mastering Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 | Community Launch Leader |

Answer 15

Same "issue" here...

Is there a way to deploy Search Server 2010 on SharePoint Foundation 2013 to get back some Powershell cmdlet ?

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MCITP : Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010
Engineer Hosted Exchange solutions

Answer 16

I don't think so JoR_.

The database versions of SharePoint Foundation 2013 and that of Search Server 2010 are different. I'm pretty positive that you can't do that and have SPF 2013 work.

Crazy isn't it?

Honestly, except for App Management, the newer version of PowerShell, and a few odds and ends, I am having a hard time seeing why I should upgrade to SPF 2013 (write a new book on it, or suggest my readers upgrade). Especially since you can only do a db attach to upgrade SPF 2010 to 2013 anyway- I see a better argument to move SPF 2010 to Search Server Express 2010 instead. I can't help but feel discouraged.

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CA Callahan | Author: Mastering Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 and Mastering Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 | Community Launch Leader |

Answer 17

Yes sure, with this "rectriction" on Powershell cmdlet Microsoft prevent Hosters from doing multi-tenant on SharePoint Foundation 2013...

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MCITP : Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010
Engineer Hosted Exchange solutions

Answer 18

Did you perchance uncheck the option to run the product configuration wizard after you finished installation?

I unchecked it because I wanted to have control of the names of the databases that got installed. After running psconfig to configure and provision the configuration and CA databases I ran CA and saw that the only service available for me to provision (through the configuration wizard) was the health and usage service. Nothing else appeared under the wizard and when I went to manage service applications nothing appeared in the dropdown when I clicked the "New" button. 

When I tried to add a search service application using powershell with "Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance" it would fail with an error message that it couldn't find the server.

Turns out that there are a couple more psconfig commands I needed to run:

psconfig -cmd services -install
psconfig -cmd services -provision

The search service is now available to install through CA.

I only wasted a couple days figuring that out.

Cheers,

Michael