Install Helix Search

This section describes the deployment and installation process for the Helix Core Search API and Helix Core Server. The Helix Search service can be deployed in a variety of ways depending on the customers use-case, see Installation scenarios .

Process overview

Helix Search requires the deployment and install of a number of elements:

List of host addresses for Elasticsearch nodes you want to use for Helix Search.
Login credentials optional, but recommended.
The p4search service, see Deploy the p4search service
Install the Extensions, see Extension configuration.
Select one of the indexing methods, see Index Helix Search.

Deploy the p4search service

The p4search service is a wrapped JAR that runs as a Windows or Linux service. It uses a Java properties file config.properties to store the services configuration details and connection information for the Helix Core Server and Elasticsearch instance.

Install Helix Search on Linux

To install Helix Search for Linux:

Import the Perforce package signing key and configure the Perforce package repository on the server hosting HelixPlugin Filter. To do this, see Install the Helix Plugin Filter.
Install the Helix Search package on the server hosting Helix Search.

Follow the instructions for your OS distribution:

Ubuntu

sudo apt-get install helix-p4search
RHEL (run these commands as root):
yum install helix-p4search
Important
Helix Search uses ImageMagick and Tesseract for its installation which requires an EPEL repository on your system.

To add an EPEL repository to your system, run the following commands:
```
dnf install -y epel-release
/usr/bin/crb enable
```
For more information on how to install ImageMagick, see the ImageMagick download page

For more information on how to install Tesseract, see theTesseract documentation
Note
The firewall configuration may need to be adjusted to allow access to the web server. For the default port 1601, run (as root):
```
firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=1601/tcp --permanent
sudo systemctl reload firewalld
```
If you subsequently wish to enable HTTPS, run (as root):
```
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo systemctl reload firewalld
```
To configure Helix Search, you can either run the following configuration script:
```
cd /opt/perforce/helix-p4search/etc
./configure.sh
```
Or edit the config.properties file located in the installation directory as a root user.
- For instructions on configuring Helix Search using configure.sh script, see Configure using a script.
- For instructions on configuring services used by Helix Search, see Helix Search configuration.
- For a full list of all the properties for the services used by Helix Search, see Configure Helix Search.
Restart Helix Search service:

Follow the instructions for your OS distribution:

Check that everything is green by navigating to the service status page, you might need to log in to view the page:

http://myhelixsearch.mydomain.com:1601/p4search/settings/status

The Service status page opens. For more information about the service status page, see Check service status.

If the Service status page fails to open, see Service status page fails to open.

Install Helix Search on Windows

To install the Helix Search, Helix Core Server, and Elasticsearch services:

Review the process overview, see Process overview.
Check that you have met the prerequisites before starting the installation, see Prerequisites .
Download the Helix Search installer from the Helix Search download page on the Perforce website.
Double click on the installer to start it and confirm that you want the installer to make changes to your computer when prompted.

To start the installation click Next >:

Select the folder you want install to and click Next >:

Configure the Helix Search service and click Next >.

By default, the Helix Search service is public to machines on the same network.

Tip

You can configure the Helix Search web service to use HTTPS, see Configure SSL security for Helix Search.

Configure the Helix Core Server and click Next >:

Configure the Elasticsearch connection and click Next >:

Configure image detection and click Next>:

To complete the installation click Finish.
To configure Helix Search do one of the following as an admin user:
- Open the configuration web page using the connection details you set for the Helix Search service during the installation.
- Edit the config.properties file in the installation directory.

Installer layout

The directory layout after installation depends on the operating system but is typically located under:

Linux: /opt/perforce/helix-p4search/...
Windows: c:\Program Files\Perforce\helix-p4search\...

  - etc/
    - config.properties                          (configuration information for the p4search service)
    - configure.sh                               (script file to configure Helix Search)
    - indexFilter.json                           (location where index filter mappings are saved)
    - typesFilter.json                           (stores all the different file types) 
    - debug-log4j2.xml                           (sample log configuration file for debug level) 
    - info-log4j2.xml                            (sample log configuration file for debug info) 
    - log4j2.xml                                 (standard log configuration file) 
    - mapping.json                               (standard Elasticsearch field mappings) 
    - settings.json                              (standard Elasticsearch index settings)
    - policy.json                                (stores the configuration settings, including default values, 
                                                  for a specific policy or set of rules) 
    - truststore.jks                             (location of Helix Search's local trust store)
  - jre/                                         (Java RunTime)
  - lib/
    - f3d/                                       (F3D application binaries. 
                                                  Used to create 2D preview images if Blender is not present)
    - helix-core-search-ping.p4-extension        (checks if the external URL of your Helix Search instance is reachable)
    - helix-core-search-asset.p4-extension       (indexes your assets)
    - helix-core-search-indexer.p4-extension     (indexes your changes)
    - helix-core-search-obliterate.p4-extension  (removes obliterated files from the index)
    - p4search-xxx.jar                           (P4Search service)
    - p4search-filter-7.17.11-xxxx.zip           (Elasticsearch filter plugin for Elasticsearch 7.17.11)
    ...
    - p4search-filter-7.17.26.x-xxxx.zip         (Elasticsearch filter plugin for Elasticsearch 7.17.26)
    - p4search-filter-8.8.1-xxxx.zip             (Elasticsearch filter plugin for Elasticsearch 8.8.1)
    ...
    - p4search-filter-8.16.1-xxxx.zip            (Elasticsearch filter plugin for Elasticsearch 8.16.1)
  - log/
    - error.log                                  (service wrapper error log)
    - p4search.log                               (P4Search service log)
  - sbin/
    - p4search                                   (service wrapper)
    - p4search.vmoptions                         (wrapper JVM options)
  - tmp/                                         (temporary file directory)

Tip

Advanced users: allocate more memory to Helix Search by changing the jvm.options file using an editor, defaults are -Xms8g and -Xmx4096m

Linux: /opt/perforce/helix-p4search/sbin/p4search.vmoptions
Windows: c:\Program Files\Perforce\helix-p4search/sbin/p4search.vmoptions

Create users and tickets for external services

There is a guided installation for Linux, after the package install you can run the etc/configure.sh script file to configure users, groups, and the required permissions for Helix Core Server. The etc/configure.sh script file is located in the installation directory. For more details, see Configure using a script.

If you wish to manually install Helix Search, you must create the Helix Core Server users and tickets required by the external services.

Important

At security level 6 (or security level 5 when using service specifications):
- The Helix Core Index user must be of type 'standard' with super permissions.
- The Helix Core Service user must be of type 'service' with admin permissions.
  - The long lived ticket must be a local ticket and not an all hosts ticket.
- The Helix Core Server must have a valid server spec with the AllowedAddresses field set. For information about Security level 6, see Server security levels in the Helix Core Server Administrator Guide.
At lower security levels:
- The Helix Core Index user must be of type 'standard' with super permissions.
- You can use the same Helix Core user for both the Index user and Service user.
- If you are using a different Helix Core Service user then it must be of type 'standard' with admin permissions.

Create the Perforce Service user

The Perforce 'Service' user can be a 'Standard' or 'Service' user with a minimum of admin permissions to authorize the proxy connection at security level 5 and above.

The service user name and ticket details are required when you set the following configurables:

com.perforce.p4search.core.service.p4user
com.perforce.p4search.core.service.p4ticket

Create the service user in Helix Core Server with an unlimited ticket:

On your Helix Core Server, create the user with:

p4 user -f p4search

Create a group with unlimited timeouts and add the user to the group. For example:
1. Create a group called unlimited:
2. Edit the group spec to change Timeout to unlimited.
3. Edit the group spec to add the p4search user to the group.
Open user protections form with:
p4 protect
Give the p4search user admin permissions by adding the following entry to the form:

admin user p4search * //...

Set the password with:

p4 -u p4search passwd

Get a ticket for the user with one of the following commands based on the on the security level of the Helix Core Server:
- Security level 4 and below: create an all hosts ticket:
- Security level 5 and above: create a local host ticket:
Make a note of the p4search user name and ticket details.

Create the index user

The index user must have super permissions to read content from Helix Core Server, to set file attributes, and to install extensions. If the index user is undefined, the Perforce Service user is used.

The index user name and ticket details are required when you set the following configurables:

com.perforce.p4search.core.index.p4user
com.perforce.p4search.core.index.p4ticket

Create the index user in Helix Core Server with an unlimited ticket:

On your Helix Core Server, create the index user with:

p4 user -f p4index

Create a group with unlimited timeouts and add the user to the group. For example:
1. Create a group called unlimited:
2. Edit the group spec to change Timeout to unlimited.
3. Edit the group spec to add the p4index user to the group.
Open user protections form with:
p4 protect
Give the p4index user super permissions by adding the following entry to the form:

super user p4index * //...

Set the password with:

p4 -u p4index passwd

Get a ticket for the user with:

p4 -u p4index login -ap

Make a note of the p4index user name and ticket details.

Post installation

Install the Extensions, see Extension configuration.
Select one of the indexing methods, see Index Helix Search.