Windows client doesn't use Windows Server index when searching share

Question

I have a Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard server, that is sharing out a folder. This index service is running on the server and the share is indexed. Searching by content works when queried directly on the server.

Windows 10 clients are connecting to the file share. What doesn't work is search by content from the clients; they think the share isn't indexed. I've tried both connecting via a UNC path and a mapped drive. This is not a DFS share. The server is not doing de-duplication.

I can see MS-WSP packets on the connection to the server (which is TCP 445) but can't tell why Windows isn't using the server-side index. I've also tried this with a Windows 7 client; it doesn't work either.

I know this has worked before, but not with these clients and this server. I can't remember what version of Windows client & server it used to work on. I don't have a working configuration to compare to.

Everything I've read says this should work. But I can't figure out why it doesn't.

Previously asked questions on this site don't seem to be relevant; they are either really old (Windows XP!), are not answering how to get Windows to search using the server-side index, or are not for this configuration.

How do you get Windows 10 to use the server-side index when searching a Windows 2012 server file share?

Answer 1

Hi,
Did you enable the "Advanced Option -> File Content" on the Client Computer. If that is the case it isn't going to work.
Andre