I have a Sitecore 8.1 instance and we are using Solr 4.10 for search. I followed the Solr installation guide found here - https://sitecore-community.github.io/docs/search/solr/fast-track-solr-for-lazy-developers/. The instructions there show you how to start the Solr instance manually. However, I was wondering how to set up Solr as a Windows service so that it runs automatically.
Thanks, Corey
One option is to use NSSM - the Non-Sucking Service Manager.
It basically has the ability to install any .exe as a service in Windows.
Download it and put it anywhere in your system PATH. Then open up a command prompt, navigate to your SOLR-5.0.0 (as appropriate) directory and issue this command:
nssm install solr5
This prompts you to configure your service and get things going.
Reference: How to Run Solr5 as a Service on Windows
You might consider using the Bitnami Solr Stack. It's basically an "opinionated" stack if you will, and will help ensure that you retain the same structure and setup regardless of whether you're local or in the cloud. I've not extensively used this on production instances or "at scale", but it's a quick way to get Solr up and running on Windows locally.
Here's some Sitecore Community documentation for reference.
Corey if you are using Apache Tomcat then you can just set windows to start the service up automatically when the server/machine starts and it should spin up Solr and all work fine.
-- Update --
With regard to running two instances on the same machine I've done this before so it's definitely possible. I think you need to install Apache again with a named instance like so:
C:\> service.bat install SolrTomcat2
Then in the solr.xml file change the port number:
hostPort="9090"
Then start the 2nd Tomcat service and run it should spin up a 2nd solr instance on http://localhost:9090.
I have Solr as Service running using Bitnami you can download there here https://downloads.bitnami.com/files/solr/bitnami-solr-4.10.3-0-windows-installer.exe
Once installed look in this directory C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0\apache-solr\scripts (depends on your install location) you will find a file called serviceinstall.bat, you can use this batch file to install the Solr Service for Windows.
I have customized this file to to change my JavaHome to use a 64 bit version of Java so I can increase the Xmx and Xms values to allocate more memory to the Jvm.
My File is here
@echo off
rem -- Check if argument is INSTALL or REMOVE
if not ""%1"" == ""INSTALL"" goto remove
"C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr\scripts\prunsrv.exe" //IS//solr --DisplayName="solr" --Install="C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr\scripts\prunsrv.exe" --LogPath="C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr\logs" --LogLevel=Debug --StdOutput=auto --StdError=auto --StartMode=Java --StopMode=Java --Jvm=auto ++JvmOptions=-DSTOP.PORT=8079 ++JvmOptions=-DSTOP.KEY=s3crEt ++JvmOptions=-Djetty.home="C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr" ++JvmOptions=-Dsolr.solr.home="C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr/solr" --Jvm=auto ++JvmOptions=-Djetty.logs="C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr\logs" --JavaHome="C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_91" ++JvmOptions=-XX:MaxPermSize=256M ++JvmOptions=-Xms5120M ++JvmOptions=-Xmx5120M --Classpath="C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr\lib\*";"C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr\start.jar" --StartClass=org.eclipse.jetty.start.Main ++StartParams="C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0/apache-solr\etc\jetty.xml" --StopClass=org.eclipse.jetty.start.Main ++StopParams=--stop ++StopParams=-DSTOP.PORT=8079 ++StopParams=-DSTOP.KEY=s3crEt --Startup=auto
net start solr >NUL
goto end
:remove
rem -- STOP SERVICE BEFORE REMOVING
net stop solr >NUL
sc delete solr
:end
Once you are happy with the contents of the serviceinstall.bat file, open cmd prompt and navigate to the directory C:\Bitnami\solr-4.10.3-0\apache-solr\scripts (for my install) and run serviceinstall.bat INSTALL this will install a new windows service for Solr named Solr.
You can then go to your Windows Services and start the newly installed service.
I just wanted to add another answer, as Sitecore 9 requires SOLR (or Azure) now and that is be secure. Jeremy Davis wrote a good post on a script that installs SOLR, configures it for HTTPS, makes it a windows server and starts it with NSSM.
The post: https://jermdavis.wordpress.com/2017/10/30/low-effort-solr-installs/
The script: https://gist.github.com/jermdavis/8d8a79f680505f1074153f02f70b9105
In case the post goes away. Here is the script.
Param(
$solrVersion = "6.6.2",
$installFolder = "c:\solr",
$solrPort = "8983",
$solrHost = "solr",
$solrSSL = $true,
$nssmVersion = "2.24",
$JREVersion = "1.8.0_151"
)
$JREPath = "C:\Program Files\Java\jre$JREVersion"
$solrName = "solr-$solrVersion"
$solrRoot = "$installFolder\$solrName"
$nssmRoot = "$installFolder\nssm-$nssmVersion"
$solrPackage = "https://archive.apache.org/dist/lucene/solr/$solrVersion/$solrName.zip"
$nssmPackage = "https://nssm.cc/release/nssm-$nssmVersion.zip"
$downloadFolder = "~\Downloads"
## Verify elevated
## https://superuser.com/questions/749243/detect-if-powershell-is-running-as-administrator
$elevated = [bool](([System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).groups -match "S-1-5-32-544")
if($elevated -eq $false)
{
throw "In order to install services, please run this script elevated."
}
function downloadAndUnzipIfRequired
{
Param(
[string]$toolName,
[string]$toolFolder,
[string]$toolZip,
[string]$toolSourceFile,
[string]$installRoot
)
if(!(Test-Path -Path $toolFolder))
{
if(!(Test-Path -Path $toolZip))
{
Write-Host "Downloading $toolName..."
Start-BitsTransfer -Source $toolSourceFile -Destination $toolZip
}
Write-Host "Extracting $toolName to $toolFolder..."
Expand-Archive $toolZip -DestinationPath $installRoot
}
}
# download & extract the solr archive to the right folder
$solrZip = "$downloadFolder\$solrName.zip"
downloadAndUnzipIfRequired "Solr" $solrRoot $solrZip $solrPackage $installFolder
# download & extract the nssm archive to the right folder
$nssmZip = "$downloadFolder\nssm-$nssmVersion.zip"
downloadAndUnzipIfRequired "NSSM" $nssmRoot $nssmZip $nssmPackage $installFolder
# Ensure Java environment variable
$jreVal = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_HOME", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
if($jreVal -ne $JREPath)
{
Write-Host "Setting JAVA_HOME environment variable"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_HOME", $JREPath, [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
}
# if we're using HTTP
if($solrSSL -eq $false)
{
# Update solr cfg to use right host name
if(!(Test-Path -Path "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd.old"))
{
Write-Host "Rewriting solr config"
$cfg = Get-Content "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd"
Rename-Item "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd" "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd.old"
$newCfg = $newCfg | % { $_ -replace "REM set SOLR_HOST=192.168.1.1", "set SOLR_HOST=$solrHost" }
$newCfg | Set-Content "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd"
}
}
# Ensure the solr host name is in your hosts file
if($solrHost -ne "localhost")
{
$hostFileName = "c:\\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts"
$hostFile = [System.Io.File]::ReadAllText($hostFileName)
if(!($hostFile -like "*$solrHost*"))
{
Write-Host "Updating host file"
"`r`n127.0.0.1`t$solrHost" | Add-Content $hostFileName
}
}
# if we're using HTTPS
if($solrSSL -eq $true)
{
# Generate SSL cert
$existingCert = Get-ChildItem Cert:\LocalMachine\Root | where FriendlyName -eq "$solrName"
if(!($existingCert))
{
Write-Host "Creating & trusting an new SSL Cert for $solrHost"
# Generate a cert
# https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/pkiclient/new-selfsignedcertificate?view=win10-ps
$cert = New-SelfSignedCertificate -FriendlyName "$solrName" -DnsName "$solrHost" -CertStoreLocation "cert:\LocalMachine" -NotAfter (Get-Date).AddYears(10)
# Trust the cert
# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8815145/how-to-trust-a-certificate-in-windows-powershell
$store = New-Object System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Store "Root","LocalMachine"
$store.Open("ReadWrite")
$store.Add($cert)
$store.Close()
# remove the untrusted copy of the cert
$cert | Remove-Item
}
# export the cert to pfx using solr's default password
if(!(Test-Path -Path "$solrRoot\server\etc\solr-ssl.keystore.pfx"))
{
Write-Host "Exporting cert for Solr to use"
$cert = Get-ChildItem Cert:\LocalMachine\Root | where FriendlyName -eq "$solrName"
$certStore = "$solrRoot\server\etc\solr-ssl.keystore.pfx"
$certPwd = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "secret" -Force -AsPlainText
$cert | Export-PfxCertificate -FilePath $certStore -Password $certpwd | Out-Null
}
# Update solr cfg to use keystore & right host name
if(!(Test-Path -Path "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd.old"))
{
Write-Host "Rewriting solr config"
$cfg = Get-Content "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd"
Rename-Item "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd" "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd.old"
$newCfg = $cfg | % { $_ -replace "REM set SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE=etc/solr-ssl.keystore.jks", "set SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE=$certStore" }
$newCfg = $newCfg | % { $_ -replace "REM set SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE_PASSWORD=secret", "set SOLR_SSL_KEY_STORE_PASSWORD=secret" }
$newCfg = $newCfg | % { $_ -replace "REM set SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE=etc/solr-ssl.keystore.jks", "set SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE=$certStore" }
$newCfg = $newCfg | % { $_ -replace "REM set SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE_PASSWORD=secret", "set SOLR_SSL_TRUST_STORE_PASSWORD=secret" }
$newCfg = $newCfg | % { $_ -replace "REM set SOLR_HOST=192.168.1.1", "set SOLR_HOST=$solrHost" }
$newCfg | Set-Content "$solrRoot\bin\solr.in.cmd"
}
}
# install the service & runs
$svc = Get-Service "$solrName" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if(!($svc))
{
Write-Host "Installing Solr service"
&"$installFolder\nssm-$nssmVersion\win64\nssm.exe" install "$solrName" "$solrRoot\bin\solr.cmd" "-f" "-p $solrPort"
$svc = Get-Service "$solrName" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
if($svc.Status -ne "Running")
{
Write-Host "Starting Solr service"
Start-Service "$solrName"
}
# finally prove it's all working
$protocol = "http"
if($solrSSL -eq $true)
{
$protocol = "https"
}
Invoke-Expression "start $($protocol)://$($solrHost):$solrPort/solr/#/"
I was always annoyed by the need to use external applications to run Solr as a Windows service. Some time ago I found a PowerShell script that allows you to write services for Windows in PowerShell. I decided to adopt it to run Solr as a Windows service. I cleaned up the code with all the unnecessary functions.
The full script is available on my gist : https://gist.github.com/RobsonAutomator/6a74c6dfceb6bdcde9c27be9f2d36256
Configuration Configuration is a place where we can specify the port on which Solr will work and the amount of memory used by Java. The SOLR_HOME variable is used to locate the location where Solr is installed. If it is not set, the script will exit displaying the message: Solr.cmd not exist:
#region Solr configuration
$solrPort = '8983'
$solrMemory = '512m' # eg. 1g 4g
$solrHome = [environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("SOLR_HOME",[EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
$solrRoot = Split-Path -Path (Split-Path -Path $solrHome -Parent) -Parent
$sorlStartCmd = Join-Path -Path $solrRoot -ChildPath "bin\solr.cmd"
if( -not (Test-Path -Path $sorlStartCmd) )
{
Write-Warning "Solr.cmd not exist: $sorlStartCmd"
return
}
#endregion
Start In the region 'Solr Start' there is a code to run Solr:
#region Solr start
Log "$scriptName Starting $sorlStartCmd with parameteres start -f -p $solrPort -m $solrMemory"
&$sorlStartCmd start -f -p $solrPort -m $solrMemory
#endregion
Stop In the region "Solr Stop" there is a code to stop Solr:
#region Solr stop
&$sorlStartCmd stop -p $solrPort
#endregion
Setup First of all You have to run script with administrator rights Use this script is extremally simple. First run script with parameter -Setup This will create PSSolrService.exe and PSSolrService.ps1 in the folder:
$installDir = "${ENV:ProgramFiles}\$serviceName"
When PSSolrService is installed then use -Start parameter to start service. Till now you can start/stop PSSolrService as each Windows service.
Blog post: http://lets-share.senktas.net/2017/11/solr-as-a-service.html
I had written a step by step post how to run solr as a service using NSSM. Please follow the following link for more information.
In brief, it consists of 7 steps:
In the blog post, you will have the different links required to download the files
I had the same issue, resolved by starting the service Solr 6.6.2 manually. FYI, I am using windows 10.
This link speaks to this topic: http://blog.outerthoughts.com/2013/07/setting-up-apache-solr-on-windows-as-a-service/ (but note there are typos in the sample script in that link!).
I use the prunmgr.exe in that link and name it SolrService.exe and then execute this at the cmd line (assuming R is your installation drive for Solr):
R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore\SolrService.exe //IS//SolrService --DisplayName="Solr Service" --Install=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore\SolrService.exe --LogPath=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore\logs --LogLevel=Debug --StdOutput=auto --StdError=auto --StartMode=java --StopMode=java --Jvm=auto ++JvmOptions=-Djetty.home=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore ++JvmOptions=-DSTOP.PORT=8087 ++JvmOptions=-DSTOP.KEY=stopsolr ++JvmOptions=-Djetty.logs=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore\logs ++JvmOptions=-Dorg.eclipse.jetty.util.log.SOURCE=true ++JvmOptions=-XX:MaxPermSize=128M --Classpath=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore\start.jar --StartClass=org.eclipse.jetty.start.Main ++StartParams=OPTION=ALL ++StartParams=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore\etc\jetty.xml --StopClass=org.eclipse.jetty.start.Main ++StopParams=--stop ++JvmOptions=-Dsolr.solr.home=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore\solr --StartPath=R:\solr-4.10.4\sitecore
I have installed an instance or two using Docker. Unfortunately, it seems it doesn't have the exact versions we need for Sitecore compatibility at the moment - 4.10.4 and 6.6.1. Hopefully, they will get added, as Docker seems like it could potentially be a much easier way to host Solr as a container.
Official Solr containers here: hub.docker.com/_/solr
They are Linux containers though and don't have many of the versions that are recommended for compatibility. You will definitely want to make sure you are using the compatible/supportable version of Solr for your version of Sitecore. See this KB article for the compatibility table: https://kb.sitecore.net/articles/227897
Can't wait until, hopefully someday, Sitecore is .NET Core based and can run in a Linux container.
You may be interested in this question on How to run MongoDb and Solr via Docker: How do I run MongoDB and SOLR Docker images that work with Windows Server 2016?
Another option we ended up using was to write our own Windows service to run the standalone Solr installation. That way you have full control of the service and parameters via a config file, so you can change things more on-the-fly rather than manipulating the registry to change service parameters, like you might for NSSM.
If you already have an existing instance of Solr installed. Here's how you'd create the service using PowerShell:
$serviceName = "Solr"
$binaryPath = "Z:\Solr\solr-7.2.1\bin\solr.cmd -f -p 8984"
New-Service -name $serviceName -binaryPathName $binaryPath -displayName $serviceName -startupType Automatic
