How to Use the Catutil.exe Utility (297220)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001
This article was previously published under Q297220

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use the Catutil.exe utility to move indexes, move property store files, delete indexes, and specify the primary server that is dedicated to crawling shortcuts on the server that is dedicated to searching.

MORE INFORMATION

The Catutil.exe utility is an unsupported tool that is used to move property store files, to move or delete indexes, and to specify the primary server that is dedicated to crawling shortcuts on the server that is dedicated to searching.

This section covers the following topics:

Obtaining and Using Catutil.exe

To use Catutil.exe, copy it from the SharePoint Portal Server CD-ROM to your server. This utility is located in the following path on the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 CD-ROM:

CD-ROM_drive:\Support\Tools

Where CD-ROM_drive is the drive letter that is assigned to your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

IMPORTANT: Do not start the Microsoft Search (MSSearch) service while Catutil.exe is running.

NOTE: Catutil.exe has an integrity checker function. This function is not the same as the Isinteg.exe utility that is included with Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5. Do not use Isinteg.exe against the SharePoint Portal Server property store.

Moving Property Store Files

You can use Catutil.exe to move property store files and to change the location of the log files for the property store. Property store files contain the metadata from documents. SharePoint Portal Server shares these files across all workspaces on a single server. SharePoint Portal Server stores the property store and related log files in the following folder:

SPS_path\Data\FTData\SharePointPortalServer

By default, the Data folder is located in the following path:

system_drive\Program Files\SharePoint Portal Server

The Data folder is located elsewhere if you chose to install the data files elsewhere during the server installation process. For high performance, the property store and related log files must be on separate dedicated physical volumes. You cannot use SharePoint Portal Server Administration to move property store files. You must use Catutil.exe to move property store files and to change the location of log files for the property store.

IMPORTANT: Do not change the location of the log files of the property store to the root of a folder (for example, do not change the location to D:\). MSSearch does not function properly if the files are located in a folder root. If you have changed the location to a folder root and search no longer functions, change the location of the files to a subfolder (for example, change the location to D:\LogFiles).

For additional information about moving the log files of the property store to the root of a directory, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

274672 Do Not Use Catutil.exe to Move the Property Store Log File Folder to the Root of a Drive

Moving the Property Store File to a New Location

To move the property store file to a new location:
  1. Open a command prompt window. For example, on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
  2. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net stop MSSearch

  3. Use the change directory command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
  4. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    catutil PROPSTORE

    A usage description is displayed.
  5. To move the property store file to a new location, type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    catutil PROPSTORE SharePointPortalServer -m "path\sps.edb"

    For example, if you want to move the property store to the Store folder on drive D, type the following command:

    catutil PROPSTORE SharePointPortalServer -m "D:\Store\sps.edb"

    NOTE: You can change the name of the .edb file from Sps.edb to another name. For example, you can type:

    catutil PROPSTORE SharePointPortalServer -m "D:\Store\MyFileName.edb"

  6. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net start MSSearch

  7. Type exit, and then press the ENTER key to close the command prompt window.

Moving the Log Files to a New Location

To move the log files to a new location:
  1. Open a command prompt window. For example, on a computer that is running Windows 2000 Server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
  2. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net stop MSSearch

  3. Use the change directory command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
  4. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    catutil PROPSTORE

    A usage description is displayed.
  5. To move the log file to a new location, type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    catutil PROPSTORE SharePointPortalServer -l "path"

    For example, if the property store file is on drive D and you want to change the location of the property store log files to the Logs folder on drive E to improve performance, type the following command:

    catutil PROPSTORE SharePointPortalServer -l "E:\Logs"

  6. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net start MSSearch

  7. Type exit, and then press the ENTER key to close the command prompt window.
For additional information about changing the location of the property store log files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

291792 How to Use Catutil.exe to Move the Property Store Log Files

Moving Index Files

You can use Catutil.exe to move index files. If there is no remaining disk space in the location that contains the index (Search index) files for a workspace, you can use Catutil.exe to move the existing index files to another location (partition or hard disk). SharePoint Portal Server stores the index files for a workspace in the following folder:

SPS_path\Data\FTData\SharePointPortalServer

By default, the Data folder is located in the following path:

system_drive\Program Files\SharePoint Portal Server

The Data folder is located elsewhere if you chose to install the data files elsewhere during the server installation process.

When you create a workspace, SharePoint Portal Server creates an index in this folder. SharePoint Portal Server also creates all of the indexes that are propagated to the server under this root node. You can use SharePoint Portal Server Administration to change this path. When you change this path, the existing indexes do not move to the new index location. However, if you create additional workspaces, SharePoint Portal Server creates the new indexes for the workspaces in the new location. If you want to move existing indexes to a new location, you must use Catutil.exe. You cannot use Movecat to move propagated indexes on the server that is dedicated to searching.

To summarize, if you are planning disk space usage for a new workspace, you can use SharePoint Portal Server Administration to specify a new path for the index files before you create the workspace. When you create the new workspace, the index file and any propagated indexes are stored in the new location. If the location in which the index files are stored for existing workspaces has a small amount of disk space remaining, you can use Catutil.exe to move the existing files to a new location.

To move the index files to a new location:
  1. Open a command prompt window. For example, on a computer that is running Windows 2000 Server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
  2. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net stop MSSearch

  3. Use the change directory command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
  4. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    catutil MOVECAT

    A usage description is displayed.
  5. To move the index files to a new location, type the following command, and then press the ENTER key (where index_name is the name of the workspace):

    catutil MOVECAT SharePointPortalServer index_name "path" [/c]

    For example, if you want to move the index for a workspace named Adventure to the Index folder on drive D, type the following:

    catutil MOVECAT SharePointPortalServer Adventure "D:\Index"

    The optional /c parameter determines whether or not the move will succeed, but does not move the files. You must type the command without the /c parameter to move the files.
  6. When you are prompted with the following message

    Proceed with move catalog (Y/N)?

    if you are sure that want to move the index file, type Y, and then press the ENTER key.
  7. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net start MSSearch

  8. Type exit, and then press the ENTER key to close the command prompt window.

Deleting an Index

You can use Catutil.exe to delete index files. For example, if you delete an index workspace from the server that is dedicated to indexing, but the propagated index remains on the server that is dedicated to searching, you can use Deletecat to delete the propagated index. SharePoint Portal Server usually deletes the propagated index when you delete the index workspace. However, if the destination workspace is unavailable at the time that you delete the index workspace, you must use Deletecat to delete the propagated index.

To delete an index:
  1. Open a command prompt window. For example, on a computer that is running Windows 2000 Server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
  2. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net stop MSSearch

  3. Use the change directory command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
  4. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    catutil DELETECAT

    A usage description is displayed.
  5. To delete an index, type the following command, and then press the ENTER key (where index_name is the name of the workspace):

    catutil DELETECAT SharePointPortalServer index_name [http://server_name/workspace_name]

    The parameter [http://server_name/workspace_name] is required only if you are deleting a propagated index from the server that is dedicated to searching; server_name is the name of the server that is dedicated to searching, and workspace_name is the name of the workspace on that server.
  6. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net start MSSearch

  7. Type exit, and then press the ENTER key to close the command prompt window.

Changing the Index Workspace That Crawls Shortcuts

The Content Sources folder in each index workspace has one additional content source. This content source is called Portal Shortcuts. It is dedicated to crawling any shortcuts on the destination server. Shortcuts in a workspace on a server that is dedicated to searching (the destination server) might point to content that is located outside the workspace.

Only the first index workspace that propagates to the destination workspace actually crawls the shortcuts. Any other index workspaces that propagate to the destination workspace report errors in the gatherer log. The error message indicates which index workspace crawls the shortcuts. If you have propagated indexes to this workspace from one or more servers that are dedicated to indexing, you can use Catutil.exe to specify which server crawls these shortcuts on the server that is dedicated to searching.

IMPORTANT: Run the following procedure on the server that is dedicated to searching.

To change the index workspace that crawls shortcuts:
  1. Open a command prompt window. For example, on a computer that is running Windows 2000 Server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
  2. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net stop MSSearch

  3. Use the change directory command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
  4. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    catutil SETPRIMARYDCI

    A usage description is displayed.
  5. To change the index workspace that crawls shortcuts, type the following command, and then press the ENTER key (where index_workspace_name is the name of the index workspace on the server that is dedicated to indexing, server_name is the name of the server that is dedicated to searching, and workspace_name is the name of the workspace on that server):

    catutil SETPRIMARYDCI SharePointPortalServer index_workspace_name http://server_name/workspace_name

  6. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:

    net start MSSearch

  7. Type exit, and then press the ENTER key to close the command prompt window.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/10/2006
Keywords:kbhowto KB297220
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