SwitchMasterToWeb.config in Sitecore 8.1 Update 2 missing patch for sitecore_list_index

Question

Last week I upgraded from Sitecore 8.0 Update 5 to Sitecore 8.1 Update 2.

I ran into one issue where the SwitchMasterToWeb.config example included with Sitecore 8.1 Update 2 does not seem to include a patch to delete sitecore_list_index. This patch does exist in Sitecore 8.1 initial release???

Without the patch, this error is thrown (https://kb.sitecore.net/articles/347205) Manually adding the patch removes this error. Was the removal of the patch an error on the part of Sitecore? Or is there something I need to do to avoid this error from being thrown?

I also note there does not appear to be a patch to remove: sitecore_marketingdefinitions_master I would think that should also be removed with SwitchMasterToWeb.config. Is there a reason that reference to a master index was not patched?

Question is why am I getting the error with the example file that is included in 8.1 Update 2 (or why was the patch removed from the file since it seems to be needed?) Or is something else missing? — eat-sleep-code
I would try asking this one on community.sitecore.net you'll be able to get Sitecore to confirm the exact settings you'll need patched. — Ian Graham

Gabbar Gabbar · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-13T18:53:33

I agree with Jay that SwitchMasterToWeb.config has never been implemented without noticing a few issues.

The reason you get that error is because there is no 'syncMaster' index update strategy is usually deleted along with all 'master' database indexes. That may have been deleted in the SwitchMastertoWeb.config file as well. Check to see if this exists in the file -

<indexUpdateStrategies>
   <syncMaster>
      <patch:delete />
   </syncMaster>
</indexUpdateStrategies>

Deleting 'sitecore_list_index' may also cause you some issues. The issues caused by deleting 'sitecore_list_index' maybe the reason that Sitecore left it out of SwitchMasterToWeb.config file. Here is an issue caused by deleting 'sitecore_list_index' - http://sitecoreunleashed.blogspot.com/2015/07/sitecore-8-update-3-cd-servers-and.html.

To get around the issues above, we set the index update strategy of 'sitecore_list_index' to 'onPublishEndAsync' instead of deleting it.

<index id="sitecore_list_index">
   <strategies>
      <strategy ref="contentSearch/indexConfigurations/indexUpdateStrategies/onPublishEndAsync" patch:instead="strategy[@ref='contentSearch/indexConfigurations/indexUpdateStrategies/syncMaster']"/>
   </strategies>
   <locations>
      <crawler>
         <Database>web</Database>
      </crawler>
   </locations>
</index>

You can even try to set the indexUpdateStrategy to 'manual' instead of onPublishEndAsync and check the logs for issues. Manual strategy only builds an index when you tell it to via code or from the Sitecore interface.

To read more about Index Update Strategies, try this link - https://dev.sitecore.net/sitecore_experience_platform/setting_up__maintaining/search_and_indexing/indexing/index_update_strategies

SwitchMasterToWeb.config in Sitecore 8.1 Update 2 missing patch for sitecore_list_index

2 Answers