Monday users reported DocStar was not processing new documents and was running slower and slower.
Logged into the DocStar server via RDP as a Domain Administrator, then opened http://localhost:8984. Dashboard provided the first clue:
I took a look under the logging tab and was punched in the face.
After expanding the log entry I find the following
So I guess we’re out of memory.
Looks like DocStar comes with a configuration utility, the DocStar Configuration Utility, dig it. We can probably use that to change the amount of memory available to Solr.
So we go ahead and launch the DocStar Server Configuration.
Once it starts we can hit the Indexer menu on the left and we’ll see the following (your paths might be different, don’t freak bro)
We go ahead and change the Solr Max RAM (MB) value to something more reasonable for a large index. 6144 (6G). Then hit Finish. Not sure about you, but I got the following error:
Good fucking christ on a stick. Typical Windows message. Tells me nothing and only sets out to confuse the lowly non-Microsoft admin. I can figure this out later, I am sure. But for now, I have a whole department that can’t scan and store documents.
If you know of an easy-ish resolution to this fucking error, lmk asap and I’ll buy you a beer or coffee or make a donation in your name. Get in Contact
Pretty sure this value is set from a startup script somewhere in this bastardized Solr install. Why developers build shit on IIS/ASP/Microsoft is beyond me. It’s just unmaintainable in the long term is and is just one fucking hack on top of another. I digress. One shitty hack deserves another.
We go ahead and open up the path that the DocStar stack was installed to. In my case, this was C:\Program Files\Astria Solutions Group\Eclipse Server Services\Solr\bin and find the solr.in file.
Once we have the file open (most likely in Notepad, which fucking sucks. Get a real text editor, loser), we head down near the bottom of the file and fine the following line (I’ve highlighted it for those of you that can’t read)
If your line is commented out (REM, short for Remark, will make the interpreter ignore the line) and adjust for the value I tried to set earlier, but was denied. Save it. Close Notepad (thank god) and either restart the Solr service(s), but then you’d have to deal with the Windows Administration Tools, and I’m not sure you’re into self-harm, so just reboot the fucking machine. If you’re a Windows user, you’re used to this by now.
When the machine comes back up, I log in and check the Solr dashboard at http://localhost:8984 for an updated heap size
Fucking sweet. Memory usage is less than 99% so we’re good. Users reported everything was functioning again.
Conclusion
There. I saved you $3,500 because you didn’t have to purchase support for your out of date product. It’s a hack. Clearly it will break if you upgrade to a new version as the solr.in file will be overwritten, but you’re not going to upgrade, because if you did, you’d have support and wouldn’t be reading this, hoping for a fix.