Federated search using opensearch protocol

Question

I am trying to create a new result source in a SharePoint online tenant for implementing federated search. The result source is of type OpenSearch. I am not able to understand how  the common authentication mechanism works since I want to authenticate that the queries coming to the open search endpoint are from sharepoint. I do not have an option of creating an open endpoint.

Answer 1

Hi Eshwari,

As I explained, the actual credentials depend on the authentication used by the federated location. Given the complexity of the enviroment that you're using a REST api endpoint as a federated location, I would suggest you post a new thread in our dedicated SharePoint Search forumfor further assistance. The engineers there will provide you with more professional suggestions. You may directly provide this thread for their reference.

Thanks for your understanding.

Lingyu Sun

Answer 2

hi lingyu sun,

thanks for your reply.

the federated location that i am using will be a rest api endpoint of our web application. our web application runs on a non microsoft stack (it a django web application). the federated location details that i have set are as follows -

protocol - opensearch 1.0/1.1

source url - https://local.wazoku.com/api/v1/discover?q={searchterms}

credentials - this is the section i am unsure of.

i want to set it to common so that some credentials are sent to our server when sharepoint executes the search query.

i tried using basic and set the account name and password to a account name and password on our server. but i get an access is denied error when i try to save the result source.

i am not sure how to use any of the other authentication mechanisms. i have also been unsuccessful is finding any documentation about how to implement these authentication mechanisms when the protocol being used is opensearch

i have attached two screenshots for your reference.


regards,

eshwari

Answer 3

Hi Eshwari,

This specifies how SharePoint will send the credentials for the searching user to the federated location. Make sure that you set the credentials in the 'Common' section. The actual credentials depend on the authentication used by the federated location. So, could let us know what your federated location is? Could you provide more information about your configuration of result source, maybe a screenshot? To insert a screenshot, click on Use rich formatting to create your post. On the edit page, select Insert/Edit Media icon to upload a screenshot.

Thanks,

Lingyu Sun

Answer 4

Hi Allan,

Yes its a similar scenario. However my result source follows the opensearch protocol and I am not sure how to use the common credential mechanisms like basic authentication/NTLM/Form authentication/Cookie authentication. It seems to work only with Anonymous authentication. Basically I am trying to expose external data into sharepoint search using  open search protocol but I don't want to create a completely open ended endpoint like bing, google etc.

Answer 5

Hi Eshwari,

Do you mean the hybrid search results? Here are some articles for your reference:

Display hybrid search results in SharePoint Online

Manage result sources

Please feel free to let us know if anything is misunderstood.

Regards,

Allan