How to use the Catutil.exe tool

This article describes how to use the Catutil.exe tool to move indexes, to move property store files, and to delete indexes.

The Catutil.exe tool is an unsupported tool that is used to move property store files, to move indexes, or to delete indexes.

This section covers the following topics:

• Obtain and Use Catutil.exe
• Move Property Store Files
  • Move the Property Store File to a New Location
  • Move the Log Files to a New Location
• Move Index Files
• Delete an Index

Obtain and Use Catutil.exe

To obtain and use Catutil.exe, copy it from the SharePoint Portal Server CD-ROM to your server. This tool is located in the following path on the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 CD-ROM, where CD-ROM_drive is the drive letter that is assigned to your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive:

Important Do not start the Microsoft SharePoint PS Search service (SharePointPSSearch) while Catutil.exe is running.

Move Property Store Files

You can use Catutil.exe to move property store files and to change the location of the log files for the property store. Property store files contain the metadata from documents. SharePoint Portal Server shares these files across all workspaces on a single server. SharePoint Portal Server stores the property store and the related log files in the following folder: Note The Catutil.exe tool should be run from the SPS_path\Bin folder.

By default, the Data folder is located in the following path: The Data folder is located elsewhere if you chose to install the data files elsewhere during the server installation process. For high performance, the property store and related log files must be on separate dedicated physical volumes. You cannot use SharePoint Portal Server Administration to move property store files. You must use Catutil.exe to move property store files and to change the location of log files for the property store.

Important Do not change the location of the log files of the property store to the root of a folder (for example, do not change the location to D:\). SharePointPSSearch does not function correctly if the files are located in a folder root. If you have changed the location to a folder root and search no longer functions, change the location of the files to a subfolder (for example, change the location to D:\LogFiles).

For additional information about moving the log files of the property store to the root of a directory, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Move the Property Store File to a New Location

To move the property store file to a new location, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt window.
   
   For example, on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   net stop SharePointPSSearch
3. Use the cd (change directory) command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
4. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   catutil PROPSTORE
   A usage description appears.
5. To move the property store file to a new location, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   catutil PROPSTORE Site ID -m" path \sps.edb"
   For example, if you want to move the property store to the Store folder on drive D, type the following command:
   catutil PROPSTORE Site ID -m"D:\Store\sps.edb"
   Note You can change the name of the .edb file from Sps.edb to another name. For example, you can type:
   catutil PROPSTORE Site ID -m"D:\Store\MyFileName.edb"
6. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   net start SharePointPSSearch
7. Type exit, and then press ENTER to close the command prompt window.

Move the Log Files to a New Location

To move the log files to a new location, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt window.
   
   For example, on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   net stop SharePointPSSearch
3. Use the cd (change directory) command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
4. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   catutil PROPSTORE
   A usage description appears.
5. To move the log file to a new location, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   catutil PROPSTORE Site ID -L" path "
   For example, if the property store file is on drive D and you want to change the location of the property store log files to the Logs folder on drive E to improve performance, type the following command:
   catutil PROPSTORE Site ID -L "E:\Logs"
6. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   net start SharePointPSSearch
7. Type exit, and then press ENTER to close the command prompt window.

For additional information about how to use Catutil.exe to move the property store log files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Move Index Files

You can use Catutil.exe to move index files. If there is no remaining disk space in the location that contains the index (Search index) files for a workspace, you can use Catutil.exe to move the existing index files to another location (partition or hard disk). SharePoint Portal Server stores the index files for a workspace in the following folder: By default, the Data folder is located in the following path: The Data folder is located elsewhere if you chose to install the data files elsewhere during the server installation process.

To move the index files to a new location, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt window.
   
   For example, on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   net stop SharePointPSSearch
3. Use the cd (change directory) command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
4. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   catutil MOVECAT
   A usage description appears.
5. To move the index files to a new location, type the following command, and then press ENTER, where index_name is the name of the workspace:
   catutil MOVECAT Site IDindex_name " path " [/c]
   For example, if you want to move the index for a workspace named Adventure to the Index folder on drive D, type the following:
   catutil MOVECAT Site ID Adventure"D:\Index"
   The optional /c parameter determines whether the move will succeed, but does not move the files. You must type the command without the /c parameter to move the files.
6. When you are prompted with the following message and if you are sure that want to move the index file, type Y, and then press ENTER:
   Proceed with move catalog (Y/N)?
7. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   net start SharePointPSSearch
8. Type exit, and then press ENTER to close the command prompt window.

Delete an Index

You can use Catutil.exe to delete index files. For example, if you delete an index workspace from the server that is dedicated to indexing, but the propagated index remains on the server that is dedicated to searching, you can use Deletecat to delete the propagated index. SharePoint Portal Server typically deletes the propagated index when you delete the index workspace. However, if the destination workspace is unavailable at the time that you delete the index workspace, you must use Deletecat to delete the propagated index.

To delete an index, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt window.
   
   For example, on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   net stop SharePointPSSearch
3. Use the cd (change directory) command to change to the folder that contains Catutil.exe.
4. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   catutil DELETECAT
   A usage description appears.
5. To delete an index, type the following command, and then press ENTER, where index_name is the name of the workspace:
   catutil DELETECAT Site IDindex_name [http:// server_name / workspace_name ]
   The parameter [http:// server_name / workspace_name ] is required only if you are deleting a propagated index from the server that is dedicated to searching; server_name is the name of the server that is dedicated to searching, and workspace_name is the name of the workspace on that server.
6. Type the following command, and then press the ENTER key:
   net start SharePointPSSearch
7. Type exit, and then press ENTER to close the command prompt window.