Adding Full Text Search via command line

Question

I'm trying to add the full-text search to sql server via command line since we got a core-server.

I already searched the web but all I get is adding it with GUI or re-installing the complete SQL-instance. Anybody got any idea how to do? (Hope it's on-topic, sorry otherwise: I'm not a DBA, where should I ask?)

Answer 1

I used the GUI version of setup to create a ConfigurationFile.ini that can be used to run the command-line setup to add the necessary Full Text Search components to an installation of SQL Server Core.

The contents of the ini file, which would need to be modified for your scenario, include QUIET="True" which prevents setup.exe from displaying a Graphical User Interface.

Modify the below items for your needs, then save the file as ConfigurationFile.ini in a location where you can refer to it when running setup.exe on the core server.

;SQL Server 2012 Configuration File
[OPTIONS]
; Specifies a Setup work flow, like INSTALL, UNINSTALL, or UPGRADE. This is a required parameter. 
ACTION="Install"
; Detailed help for command line argument ENU has not been defined yet. 
ENU="True"
; Parameter that controls the user interface behavior. Valid values are Normal for the full UI,AutoAdvance for a simplied UI, and EnableUIOnServerCore for bypassing Server Core setup GUI block. 
UIMODE="Normal"
; Setup will not display any user interface. 
QUIET="True"
; Setup will display progress only, without any user interaction. 
QUIETSIMPLE="False"
; Specify whether SQL Server Setup should discover and include product updates. The valid values are True and False or 1 and 0. By default SQL Server Setup will include updates that are found. 
UpdateEnabled="False"
; Specifies features to install, uninstall, or upgrade. The list of top-level features include SQL, AS, RS, IS, MDS, and Tools. The SQL feature will install the Database Engine, Replication, Full-Text, and Data Quality Services (DQS) server. The Tools feature will install Management Tools, Books online components, SQL Server Data Tools, and other shared components. 
FEATURES=FULLTEXT
; Specify the location where SQL Server Setup will obtain product updates. The valid values are "MU" to search Microsoft Update, a valid folder path, a relative path such as .\MyUpdates or a UNC share. By default SQL Server Setup will search Microsoft Update or a Windows Update service through the Window Server Update Services. 
UpdateSource="MU"
; Displays the command line parameters usage 
HELP="False"
; Specifies that the detailed Setup log should be piped to the console. 
INDICATEPROGRESS="False"
; Specifies that Setup should install into WOW64. This command line argument is not supported on an IA64 or a 32-bit system. 
X86="False"
; Specify the root installation directory for shared components. This directory remains unchanged after shared components are already installed. 
INSTALLSHAREDDIR="C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server"
; Specify the root installation directory for the WOW64 shared components. This directory remains unchanged after WOW64 shared components are already installed. 
INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR="C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server"
; Specify that SQL Server feature usage data can be collected and sent to Microsoft. Specify 1 or True to enable and 0 or False to disable this feature. 
SQMREPORTING="False"
; Specify if errors can be reported to Microsoft to improve future SQL Server releases. Specify 1 or True to enable and 0 or False to disable this feature. 
ERRORREPORTING="False"
; Specify the installation directory. 
INSTANCEDIR="C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server"
; Add description of input argument FTSVCACCOUNT 
FTSVCACCOUNT="NT Service\MSSQLFDLauncher$INSTANCE"

An example command-line might be:

setup.exe /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS /CONFIGURATIONFILE configurationfile.ini

See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/install-windows/install-sql-server-using-a-configuration-file for details about the configuration file.

Answer 2

Setting up full-text search is a job for your system's DBA. When you say you're not a DBA, is there someone else who is a DBA, or are you the acting DBA? You'll need administrator access to SQL Server to get all this set up.

Let's assume you're the acting DBA, at least.

1. If the full-text components are not installed, they will need to be. This should not require reinstalling your SQL instance from scratch; it should be possible to add them in with the SQL installer. That does assume that your SQL Server edition supports full-text search. I believe there's at least one service that needs to be set up for full-text indexing. The SQL installer should do this for you, but you'll need to double-check and make sure the service is configured to start the way you want it (presumably, automatically).

   Note: see Max Vernon's answer for help with that on SQL Server Core.

2. Once you have full-text search up and running, you need to create full-text indexes on the columns you want to use full-text search with. The business owners of the system would be the ones to decide which columns these are; the DBA would be the one to identify the actual columns in the system (if needed), and to set up the indexes.

3. Finally, you have to use the full-text predicates and functions in your SQL commands to get the benefit of full-text search.

Here is the link to MS's documentation on full-text search. The landing page is an overview, but you should be able to find details on the various commands needed in steps 2 and 3 using the left navigation.