Install the Microsoft Filter Pack (Search Server 2008)

  • Article

Applies To: Microsoft Search Server 2008

 

Topic Last Modified: 2009-04-13

Note

Unless otherwise noted, the information in this article applies to both Microsoft Search Server 2008 and Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express.

This article describes how to install the Microsoft Filter Pack and configure Search Server 2008 to recognize and use the IFilters contained in the pack. IFilters are used by Search Server to index the contents of content items it crawls. The Microsoft Filter Pack includes IFilters for the following formats: .docm, .docx, .one, .pptm, .pptx, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .vdx, .vsd, .vss, .vst, .vsx, .vtx, and .zip.

A file type can be crawled by Search Server if the IFilter is installed and associated with the appropriate file type on the index server and the file type is listed in the Manage File Types page. Some of the file types in the Microsoft Filter Pack are already listed in the Manage File Types page even though they do not have IFilter support, by default. Also, some of the file types are already associated with the IFilter on the index server. The procedure in this article specifies which IFilters need to be added to the Manage File Types page and which need to be associated with the appropriate file types on the index server.

Important

You must be a member of the Administrators group on the index server and a member of the Farm Administrators group in Search Server to perform this procedure.

To install the Microsoft Filter Pack

Use this procedure to install the Microsoft Filter Pack on the index server.

Install the Microsoft Filter Pack

  1. Download and install the Microsoft Filter Pack.

    1. Download the Microsoft Filter Pack. For more information, see 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=120247&clcid=0x409).

    2. If the index server is running a 64-bit operating system, download FilterPackx64.exe. If the index server is running a 32-bit operating system, download FilterPackx86.exe.

    3. After the download is complete, double-click FilterPackx64.exe or FilterPackx86.exe to begin the installation. When prompted, click Run. The Microsoft Filter Pack Setup Wizard starts.

    4. Click Next.

    5. Read the end-user license agreement, and then select I accept the terms in the License Agreement to continue.

    6. After the installation completes, click OK.

  2. Add file types included in the Microsoft Filter Pack to the Manage File Types page.

    1. On the Search Administration page, on the Quick Launch, in the Crawling section, click File types.

    2. On the Manage File Types page, click New File Type.

    3. On the Add File Types page, type the file name extension for the file type that you want to add in the File extension box. Do not include the period (.) character.

    4. Click OK.

    5. Continue to add new file types for each extension that you want to add to the Manage File Types page.

  3. Associate file types with IFilters.

    Important

    The IFilters for .docx, .pptm, .pptx, .xslm, .xslx, and .xlsb associate with these file types on the index server automatically. For these file types, this step is not needed.

    Warning

    Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

    1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

    2. In Registry Editor, expand and select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\ registry subkey. The file types are listed in the left-hand pane under this subkey.

    3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key. Type the three or four letter file name extension that identifies the file type, such as .one, and then press ENTER. Be sure to include the period character in the file name extension.

    4. In the right-hand pane, right-click the registry entry that you created in the previous step, and then click Modify. The Edit String dialog box appears. Copy the GUID for that file type, from the table in the next step and paste the GUID value into the Value data box, and then click OK.

    5. Continue the two previous steps to add subkeys from the following table for the file types that you want to associate to an IFilter:

    File name extension GUID

    .zip

    {20E823C2-62F3-4638-96BD-90F4F6784EBC}

    .one

    {B8D12492-CE0F-40AD-83EA-099A03D493F1}

    .vsd

    {FAEA5B46-761B-400E-B53E-E805A97A543E}

    .vss

    {FAEA5B46-761B-400E-B53E-E805A97A543E}

    .vst

    {FAEA5B46-761B-400E-B53E-E805A97A543E}

    .vdx

    {FAEA5B46-761B-400E-B53E-E805A97A543E}

    .vsx

    {FAEA5B46-761B-400E-B53E-E805A97A543E}

    .vtx

    {FAE5B46-761B-400E-B53E-E805A97A543E}

  4. Restart the Office SharePoint Server Search service.

    1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To do this in Windows Server 2008, click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

    2. At the command prompt, type net stop osearch, and then press ENTER.

    3. At the command prompt, type net start osearch, and then press ENTER.

    4. Type exit, and then press ENTER to exit the command prompt.

  5. Click OK. A full crawl is required to add the data from the content items that are of the newly associated file types.

See Also

Concepts

IFilters and protocol handlers (Search Server 2008)
About IFilters (Search Server 2008)
About protocol handlers (Search Server 2008)
Start a full crawl (Search Server 2008)