Index FTP content with SharePoint 2007/Search Server 2008

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Question: Can SharePoint 2007/Search Server 2008 index and search ftp?

Answer: OOTB you cannot. But we have a FTP protocol handler in SharePoint 2001 ResKit, and that one can be used on SharePoint 2007 or Search Server 2008.

Important Notice: This approach is NOT supported by Microsoft. It is just for your test purpose only, and should not be used in an important production envoriment.

Some restrictions may apply: x86 and anonymous ftp only.

Here's the steps.

1. Get a copy of ftpph.dll. It is in SharePoint 2001 ResKit.

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2. Copy it to c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Bin

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3. Register this dll. Open command prompt, navigate to c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Bin, run "regsvr32 ftpph.dll".

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4. Open Regedit, navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\12.0\Search\Setup\Protocol Handlers

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5. Insert a new string item: "ftp". The value is "FtpPH.SearchProtocol.1".

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6. In command prompt, restart search service by "net stop osearch" and "net start osearch"

7. Download SharePoint Search Admin at https://www.codeplex.com/SearchAdmin , and then add a new custom content source for your ftp site.

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8. Start full crawl, and you will see the crawl log. Job done!

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