Manual
Once you have installed Searchlight, please be sure to have a look at the Networking Manual.
Searchlight consists of three parts. The Searchlight Administration interface which is a Mac OS X System Preference panel, the Searchlight web interface and the Searchlight iPhone App. Through the Searchlight Administration interface you are able to configure Searchlight and start and stop the Searchlight Server which provides the web and iPhone interface.
Clients then connect with the Searchlight iPhone App or any web browser (such as Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer) with the Searchlight Server. The clients are able to search for files on the machine that runs the server. Results can be previewed, downloaded or opened through file sharing.
Searchlight clients can be iPhones, Macs, Windows or Linux machines. The Searchlight Administrator is supported on Mac OS X Leopard or Mac OS X Leopard Server.
Administration
In the administration interface you can configure Searchlight, as well as start and stop the Searchlight Server. To configure Searchlight press the "Options..." button. A new window will come up to configure Searchlight.
The On/Off button on the left of the administration interface can be used to start and stop the Searchlight Server (this requires authenticating yourself as Administrator). Once started the server will run as a background process until you stop it again in the administration interface. If Searchlight is configured to be on it will be automatically started on System startup.
You must authenticate yourself as Administrator in order to switch Searchlight on or off.
Once you have installed Searchlight, please be sure to have a look at the Networking Manual.
General Settings
In the "General" tab you can configure the name and desired port of the Searchlight Server.
The chosen server name must be resolvable to the IP address of the machine and typically shouldn't be changed. If you have problems with Windows clients accessing the server you should try to enter the IP address of the server instead of the name. It might be the case that your DNS server is unable to resolve the server name to the correct IP address.
The port number must be unused on the machine. If there is already a service running that is using the default port 9000 you have to choose another one that is available. Careful, the port number must be larger or equal to 3000.
In the "General" tab you can configure the name and desired port of the Searchlight Server.
The chosen server name must be resolvable to the IP address of the machine and typically shouldn't be changed. If you have problems with Windows clients accessing the server you should try to enter the IP address of the server instead of the name. It might be the case that your DNS server is unable to resolve the server name to the correct IP address.
The port number must be unused on the machine. If there is already a service running that is using the default port 9000 you have to choose another one that is available. Careful, the port number must be larger or equal to 3000.
Security
If you desire to access your data via SeachLight when away from your local network we recommend you enable SSL encryption. Alternatively you can set up a VPN connection to your local network in order to ensure security. Both the iPhone and desktop operating systems support many popular VPN formats.
If you desire to access your data via SeachLight when away from your local network we recommend you enable SSL encryption. Alternatively you can set up a VPN connection to your local network in order to ensure security. Both the iPhone and desktop operating systems support many popular VPN formats.
Installation
Searchlight ships as a System Preference Pane, so it integrates itself in the
System Preference System of Mac OS X.
Install by double clicking the Searchlight icon in the disk image that you downloaded from the Gravity Applications website. Searchlight can be installed for your user only or all users of this computer. We recommend to install Searchlight for all users. Starting and stopping the Searchlight Server requires Administrator authorization later on. After the installation process has finished the Searchlight Preference Pane will come up.
If you are installing a newer version of Searchlight, we recommend to stop the Searchlight
Server before installing the new version. You must restart Searchlight after an Update.
If you also want to use Searchlight on the iPhone please install Searchlight iPhone App.
Uninstall
In order to uninstall Searchlight make sure that you stopped the Searchlight Server. The
On/Off switch in the Searchlight preference pane must be in the “Off” state.
Press the “Show All” button in the toolbar of the System Preference Application to show
the icon view of all installed preference panes. Now press the right mouse button on top of the Searchlight icon and choose “Remove Searchlight Preference Pane” to remove Searchlight from your system.
In order to uninstall Searchlight make sure that you stopped the Searchlight Server. The
On/Off switch in the Searchlight preference pane must be in the “Off” state.
Press the “Show All” button in the toolbar of the System Preference Application to show
the icon view of all installed preference panes. Now press the right mouse button on top of the Searchlight icon and choose “Remove Searchlight Preference Pane” to remove Searchlight from your system.
Search Folders
The "Search Folder" tab is used to configure which parts of the system are searchable. You can define as many Search Folders as you like. To organize your Search Folders, you can also group Search Folders into Search Groups, and drag and drop Search Folders into the Search Group.
A "Search Folder" has a unique name that comes up in the web interface. For each Search Folder a path is configured that will be searched. You can configure the Search Folder to allow the download of search results. With the download option enabled the clients are able to get a copy of the files that are on the Searchlight Server. Any updates on these files on the client are local only and are not copied back to the server.
In order to access the files directly on the server without creating a copy you need a share point. A share point is provided for a given path and can be mounted by clients in order to get direct access to files. Mac OS X supports the Apple File Sharing (AFP) and Windows File Sharing (SMB) protocols. You have to configure File Sharing in the "Sharing" preference panel on Mac OS X. On Mac OS X Server you configure Share Points in the Server Administration application.
Searchlight automatically recognizes configured share points and uses this information for your convenience. Experienced users with specialized server configurations can overwrite the share point information.
The "Search Folder" tab is used to configure which parts of the system are searchable. You can define as many Search Folders as you like. To organize your Search Folders, you can also group Search Folders into Search Groups, and drag and drop Search Folders into the Search Group.
A "Search Folder" has a unique name that comes up in the web interface. For each Search Folder a path is configured that will be searched. You can configure the Search Folder to allow the download of search results. With the download option enabled the clients are able to get a copy of the files that are on the Searchlight Server. Any updates on these files on the client are local only and are not copied back to the server.
In order to access the files directly on the server without creating a copy you need a share point. A share point is provided for a given path and can be mounted by clients in order to get direct access to files. Mac OS X supports the Apple File Sharing (AFP) and Windows File Sharing (SMB) protocols. You have to configure File Sharing in the "Sharing" preference panel on Mac OS X. On Mac OS X Server you configure Share Points in the Server Administration application.
Searchlight automatically recognizes configured share points and uses this information for your convenience. Experienced users with specialized server configurations can overwrite the share point information.