Documentation

This is the current Fess documentation, covering installation, search, administration, the API, and configuration. Choose the topic you need below.

Introduction to Configuration
- Target Audience
- Before You Read
- Prerequisites
- Online Access
- Technical Support Contact
  - Commercial Support
- Third-Party Website References
- How to Submit Comments and Suggestions
Port and Network Settings
- Overview
- Port Configuration
- Proxy Configuration
- HTTP Communication Settings
- Virtual Host Configuration
  - Overview
  - Basic Configuration
- Reverse Proxy Integration
- Firewall Configuration
  - Opening Required Ports
  - Security Group Configuration (Cloud Environments)
- Troubleshooting
- References
Memory Configuration
- Overview
- Fess Web Application Memory Configuration
- Crawler Memory Configuration
- OpenSearch Memory Configuration
- Suggest and Thumbnail Processing Memory Configuration
  - Suggest Generation Process
  - Thumbnail Generation Process
- Memory Monitoring and Tuning
- Troubleshooting
- References
Windows Service Registration
- Registering as a Windows Service
Crawler Configuration: Web, File Server, and Database Crawling
- Overview
- Basic Crawler Concepts
  - What is a Crawler
  - Crawler Types
- Creating Crawl Configurations
- Running Crawls
- Basic Configuration Items
- File Size Configuration
  - Maximum File Size to Retrieve
  - Maximum File Size to Index
- word Length Restrictions
  - Overview
  - Configuration Method
- Proxy Configuration
- robots.txt Configuration
  - Overview
  - Configuration Method
- User-Agent Configuration
  - For the Web crawler
  - For the file crawler and others
- Encoding Configuration
  - Crawl Data Encoding
  - Filename Encoding
- Crawl Troubleshooting
- Best Practices
  - Crawl Configuration Recommendations
  - Schedule Configuration Recommendations
- References
Advanced Crawler Configuration
- Overview
- General Settings
- Document Processing Settings
- Protocol Settings
- robots.txt Settings
- Error Handling Settings
- System Monitoring Settings
  - Hot Thread Settings
    - Configuration Example
- Metadata Settings
- HTML Crawler Settings
- File Crawler Settings
- Cache Settings
  - Document Cache
    - Configuration Example
- JVM Options
- Performance Tuning
- Troubleshooting
- Best Practices
- S3/GCS Crawler Configuration
  - S3 Crawler
    - Configuration Example
  - GCS Crawler
    - Configuration Example
- References
Thumbnail Configuration
- Overview
- Supported File Formats
- Required External Tools
- HTML File Thumbnail Images
- Configuration
  - Configuration File
  - Main Configuration Items (fess_config.properties)
- generate-thumbnail Script
- Thumbnail Storage Location
  - Default Path
  - Directory Structure
- Disabling Thumbnail Job
- Troubleshooting
- Platform Support
Data Store Connector Guide
- Data Store Connector Overview
- Box Connector
- Dropbox Connector
- Google Workspace Connector
- Microsoft 365 Connector
- Atlassian Connector
- Slack Connector
- Git Connector
- Elasticsearch/OpenSearch Connector
- Salesforce Connector
- Database Connector (Database Search)
- CSV Connector
- JSON Connector
Search Features
- Overview
- Search Result Count Display
  - Default Behavior
  - Displaying Accurate Hit Counts
- Search Options
- Search Result Sorting
- Faceted Search
- Search Result Highlighting
- Suggest Feature
- Search Logs
- Performance Tuning
- Troubleshooting
Search-Related Settings
- Fuzzy Search
- Search Timeout Value
- Maximum Query Length
- Search Timeout Logging
- Hit Count Display
- Maximum Search Result Offset
- OR Search Re-Search Threshold
- Field Name for Geolocation Search
- Request Parameter Language Specification
- Default Search Language
- Language Code Mapping
- Prefix Query Specification
- Highlight String
- Highlight Fragment
- Highlight Generation Method
- Highlight Tags
- Values Passed to OpenSearch Highlighter
- Advanced Highlight Settings
- Field Names to Add to Response
- Adding Field Names
- Similar Document Collapsing (collapse)
- Search Preference
- Relevance (Boost) Settings
- Query Type Settings
- Prefix and Fuzzy Query Detailed Settings
- Facet Settings
- Settings for Retrieving Search Results in GSA-Compatible XML Format
Geolocation Search
- Overview
- Use Cases
- Configuration
  - Index Generation Settings
  - Search Settings
- Search Examples
- Field Name Customization
  - Changing the Default Field Name
- Implementation Examples
  - Web Application Implementation
  - Google Maps Integration
- Performance Optimization
  - Verifying Index Configuration
  - Optimizing Search Range and Response
- Troubleshooting
- References
Bulk Retrieval of Search Results
- Overview
- Use Cases
- Configuration
- Usage
- Response Format
- Data Processing Examples
- Performance and Best Practices
  - Efficient Usage
  - Optimizing Memory Usage
- Security Considerations
  - Access Restrictions
  - Rate Limiting
- Troubleshooting
- References
Search Form Integration
- Search Form Integration Method
  - Search Form
  - Suggest Feature
Hybrid Search and Rank Fusion (Semantic + Keyword)
- Overview
- What is Rank Fusion
- Supported Algorithm
  - RRF (Reciprocal Rank Fusion)
- Settings
  - fess_config.properties
  - JVM System Properties
- Integration with Hybrid Search
- Usage Examples
  - Basic Hybrid Search
- Performance Considerations
  - Memory Usage
  - Processing Time
- Troubleshooting
- Reference
Role-Based Search Configuration
- About Role-Based Search
- Role-Based Search Configuration
Virtual Host
- About Virtual Host
  - System Configuration
  - Crawl Configuration
LDAP Integration Guide
- Overview
- Supported LDAP Servers
- Prerequisites
- Configuration Overview
- Connection and Authentication Settings
- LDAP Administration and Behavior Settings
- Active Directory Configuration
- OpenLDAP Configuration
- Security Settings
  - LDAPS (SSL/TLS)
  - Password Protection
- Failover
- Troubleshooting
- Reference Information
Multitenancy Configuration
- Overview
- Virtual Host Feature
  - How It Works
- Virtual Host Header Configuration
- Admin UI Configuration
  - Crawl Configuration
- Access Control
  - Combining Virtual Hosts and Roles
  - Role-Based Search
- UI Customization
- API Access
  - API Request
- DNS Configuration
  - Subdomains to the Same Server
  - Reverse Proxy Configuration
- Data Separation
  - Index-Level Separation
- Best Practices
- Limitations
- Reference
SAML Authentication SSO Setup
- Overview
  - How SAML Authentication Works
- Prerequisites
- Basic Configuration
- IdP Side Configuration
  - Information to Obtain from IdP
- User Attribute Mapping
  - Group Attribute Configuration
  - Role Attribute Configuration
- Security Configuration
- Configuration Examples
  - Minimal Configuration (for Testing)
  - Recommended Configuration (for Production)
- Troubleshooting
  - Common Issues and Solutions
  - Debug Settings
- Reference
SSO Configuration with OpenID Connect
- Overview
  - How OpenID Connect Authentication Works
- Prerequisites
- Basic Configuration
- OP-Side Configuration
  - Information to Obtain from OP
- Configuration Examples
  - Minimal Configuration (for Testing)
  - Recommended Configuration (for Production)
- Troubleshooting
  - Common Problems and Solutions
  - Debug Configuration
- Reference
SSO Configuration with Entra ID
- Overview
  - How Entra ID Authentication Works
- Prerequisites
- Basic Configuration
- Entra ID Side Configuration
- Group and Role Mapping
  - Nested Groups
  - Default Group Settings
- Configuration Examples
- Troubleshooting
  - Common Issues and Solutions
  - Debug Settings
- Reference
SSO Configuration with Windows Integrated Auth
- Overview
  - How Windows Integrated Authentication Works
- Prerequisites
- Active Directory Side Configuration
  - Registering Service Principal Name (SPN)
- Basic Configuration
- LDAP Configuration
- Browser Settings
- Configuration Examples
  - Minimal Configuration (for Testing)
  - Recommended Configuration (for Production)
- Troubleshooting
  - Common Issues and Solutions
  - Debug Settings
- Reference
AI Search (RAG) and LLM Integration Overview
- Overview
- Supported Providers
  - Provider Comparison
- Plugin Installation
- Architecture
- Basic Configuration
  - Administration Screen General Settings / system.properties
  - fess_config.properties
- Common Settings
- Session Management
- Concurrency Control
- Evaluation Settings
- Per-Prompt-Type Settings
  - Prompt Type List
  - Configuration Pattern
- Next Steps
Ollama Configuration (Local LLM / RAG)
- Overview
  - Key Features
  - Supported Models
- Prerequisites
  - Installing Ollama
  - Downloading Models
- Plugin Installation
- Basic Configuration
  - Minimal Configuration
  - Recommended Configuration (Production)
- Configuration Options
  - Advanced Configuration
  - Concurrency Control
- Per-Prompt-Type Settings
- Ollama Model Options
- Thinking Model Support
  - Thinking Level
- Network Configuration
  - Docker Configuration
  - Remote Ollama Server
- Using HTTP Proxy
- Model Selection Guide
  - GPU Support
- Troubleshooting
- References
OpenAI Configuration (AI Search / RAG)
- Overview
  - Key Features
  - Supported Models
- Prerequisites
  - Obtaining an API Key
- Plugin Installation
- Basic Configuration
  - Minimal Configuration
  - Recommended Configuration (Production)
- Configuration Options
- Per-Prompt-Type Settings
- Retry Behavior
- Streaming and Usage Information
- Logging and Abnormal Detection
  - Credential Masking in URL Logs
- Reasoning Model Support
  - Additional Parameters for Reasoning Models
  - Configuration Examples
- Configuration via JVM Options
  - Docker Environment
  - systemd Environment
- Using HTTP Proxy
- Using Azure OpenAI
- Model Selection Guide
  - Cost Reference
- Concurrency Control
  - OpenAI Tier-based Limits
- Troubleshooting
- Security Notes
- References
Google Gemini Configuration (AI Search / RAG)
- Overview
  - Key Features
  - Supported Models
- Prerequisites
  - Obtaining an API Key
- Plugin Installation
- Basic Configuration
  - fess_config.properties Settings
  - LLM Provider Settings
    - Minimal Configuration
    - Recommended Configuration (Production)
- Configuration Options
- Authentication
- Retry Behavior
- Per-Prompt-Type Settings
- Thinking Model Support
  - Mapping by Model Generation
- Configuration via JVM Options
  - Docker Environment
  - systemd Environment
- Using HTTP Proxy
- Using via Vertex AI
- Model Selection Guide
  - Context Window
  - Cost Reference
- Concurrency Control
  - Free Tier Limits (Reference)
- Troubleshooting
- Security Notes
- References
AI Mode Configuration
- Overview
- Retrieval Pipeline
- How AI Mode Works
- Basic Configuration
  - Core Settings (fess_config.properties)
  - LLM Provider Selection (system.properties / Administration Screen)
- Configuration Path Quick Reference
- Core Settings List
- Generation Parameters
- Context Settings
- System Prompt
  - Customizing Prompts
- Session Management
  - Session Behavior
- Concurrency Control
  - Concurrency Control Considerations
- Conversation History Mode
- Query Regeneration
- Markdown Rendering
- API Usage
- Web Interface
- Troubleshooting
- References
Scripting Overview
- Overview
- Supported Scripting Languages
- Use Cases for Scripts
- Basic Syntax
- Execution Context and Available Objects
- Security
- Performance
- Debugging
- Reference Information
Groovy Scripting Guide
- Overview
- Basic Syntax
- Data Store Scripts
- Available Objects
- Scheduled Job Scripts
- Using Java Classes
- Accessing Fess Components
- Error Handling
- Debugging and Log Output
  - Log Output
  - Debug Output
- Best Practices
- Reference Information
Rate Limiting Configuration
- Overview
- HTTP Request Rate Limiting
  - Configuration
  - Behavior
- AI Mode Rate Limiting
- Crawler Rate Limiting
  - Web Crawl Configuration
  - Respecting robots.txt
- All Rate Limiting Properties
- Advanced Rate Limiting Configuration
  - Custom Rate Limiting
- Exclusion Settings
- Monitoring and Alerts
  - Log Output
- Troubleshooting
- Reference Information
Load Control Configuration
- Overview
- HTTP Request Load Control Configuration
- How It Works
  - Monitoring Mechanism
  - Request Control
- Configuration Examples
  - Limit Web Requests Only
  - Limit Both Web and API
- Difference from Rate Limiting
- Adaptive Load Control
  - Configuration
  - Behavior
- Troubleshooting
- Reference Information
Log Configuration
- Overview
- Log File Types
- Log Level Configuration
- Crawler Log Configuration
  - Configuration from Scheduler
- Log Rotation
- Log Monitoring
- Log Format
  - Default Format
  - Custom Format Examples
    - JSON Format Log Output
    - Include More Detailed Information
- Performance Impact
  - Best Practices
  - Performance Measurement
- Troubleshooting
- References
Log Notification
- Overview
- How It Works
- Setup
  - Enabling
    - Enabling from the Administration Screen
    - Enabling via System Properties
  - Notification Destination Configuration
- Configuration Properties
- Notification Message Format
  - Email Notification
  - Slack / Google Chat Notification
- Operations Guide
  - Recommended Settings
  - OpenSearch Index
- Troubleshooting
- References
Index Management
- Overview
- Index Structure
- Index Backup and Restore
- Configuration File Backup
  - Files to Back Up
  - Configuration File Backup Example
- Data Migration
  - Migration Procedure to a Different Environment
  - Version Upgrade Considerations
- Troubleshooting
- Related Topics
- References
Index Export Feature
- Overview
- How It Works
- Configuration Properties
- Enabling the Job
- Custom Query Filtering
- Exported File Structure
- Best Practices
- Troubleshooting
- Related Topics
Analyzer Configuration
- About Analyzer
- Analyzer Definition Files
- Registering Analyzers
- Tuning with Dictionaries
- Notes
Search Log Visualization Configuration
- About Search Log Visualization
  - Information That Can Be Visualized
- Data Visualization Configuration with OpenSearch Dashboards