Resolving Umbraco Examine cannot index queue items error

ByPiotr Bach Reading Time: 2 minutes

Introduction

Recently, while working with Umbraco 8.6.0 deployed on Azure I encountered an Examine error:

Cannot index queue items, the index is currently locked
Umbraco.Examine.UmbracoContentIndex

This is a nasty error that can cause a few problems like:

  • Crashing the whole app for visitors
  • Causing all kinds of back-office errors (searching, editing, examine panel overview)
  • Making editors’ work impossible
  • The sharp increase in log size causing additional storage costs. 
Examine Cannot Index Queue Items Error Log View
Log view – Examine cannot index queue items
Examine Management Index Error
Examine Management error – Failed to retrieve indexer details

Add SqlMainDomLock setting

You should follow the great thread here to get some good insights regarding Examine lock-related errors.

To resolve the issue consider adding an additional setting to your appSettings section:  

<add
    key="Umbraco.Core.MainDom.Lock"
    value="SqlMainDomLock" />

Umbraco’s recommended configuration can be found here and the most essential part is:

<add
    key="Umbraco.Core.MainDom.Lock"
    value="SqlMainDomLock" />
<add
    key="Umbraco.Core.LocalTempStorage"
    value="EnvironmentTemp" />
<add
    key="Umbraco.Examine.LuceneDirectoryFactory"
    value="Examine.LuceneEngine.Directories.SyncTempEnvDirectoryFactory, Examine" />

Rebuild Examine indexes

Once you configure/fix the app properly, you should:

  • Delete all sub-folders in App_DataTEMPExamineIndexes (External, Internal, Members) with all lock files
  • Restart the app
  • Rebuilt indexes manually via backoffice panel (if index rebuilding does not happen automatically)

References

Similar Posts

Logging Umbraco Api errors with a custom action filter

ByPiotr Bach Reading Time: 2 minutes

How to log exceptions in Umbraco Api Controller? In this short article, I am going to present a simple technique for logging exceptions in UmbracoApi with ActionFilters. There are many ways to handle exceptions in Umbraco CMS, however, logging using filters has quite a benefits: Short implementation time Can be applied globally or only on individual…

Setting Umbraco to work with Azure private storage

ByPiotr Bach Reading Time: 5 minutes

Umbraco media and Azure private blob storage insights Setting up Umbraco to work with Azure blobs is quite easy with UmbracoFileSystemProviders.Azure package when the blob storage has default settings and “Allow blob public access” is enabled. However, if you want to follow MS security recommendations and store media files on private blob storage – things get a…

How to add roles to members programmatically in Umbraco CMS

ByPiotr Bach Reading Time: 1 minute

Let say we have a member with email umbraco-member@piotrbach.com The system has two member groups named: “Customers” and “Partners” To add a member to both roles you can use a handy method called ‘AddUserToRoles’ available in ‘System.Web.Security’ namespace: You need to specify the user name and desired membership groups (roles) array and that’s it. Once you…

Creating Umbraco custom helper in AngularJS

ByPiotr Bach Reading Time: 2 minutes

Introduction The entire Umbraco back-office panel is built around AngularJS which allows for easy extension and modification of basic functionalities. For the work to be effective, you should use a ready set of filters, services, and directives that allow you to speed up the development time. See Umbraco 8 Backoffice UI API Documentation to discover the full…

How to get translation in Umbraco by dictionary key

ByPiotr Bach Reading Time: 3 minutes

This article will demonstrate how to get translation in Umbraco Cms using LocalizationService for a given dictionary key. Defining translations in the Backoffice At this stage, we need some data to work. Login to the Umbraco Backoffice panel. Go to the Translation section. Find the Dictionary section (left panel). Create a dictionary item called “Forms.ContactForm.ThankYouMessage”….