Searchlight and SharePoint common challenges
Neil Pitman
In this blog, we will be going over the most common problems caused when trying to interface with Office365, either for emails or SharePoint.
Firewall changes
Sometimes the network firewall can block access for our applications trying to connect to SharePoint. Make sure that all Aquaforest products are whitelisted for all SharePoint addresses.
SharePoint Account Permissions
For the account used to connect to the site, ensure that it also has full permissions to read, save and edit data within SharePoint.
Multifactor Authentication
If the account has MFA enabled, you will need to generate an app password, as our applications cannot log in with anything that would request a code or open a webpage. If an app password cannot be generated due to internal policy, it might be worth it to have a special account created where this policy can be disabled.
Modern Authentication/ OAuth2
Some environments require accounts to also have extra security which comes in the form of “Modern Authentication” or “OAuth2” and as such need a few extra steps to get working with 3rd party applications.
Throttling
Some environments have a limit to how much data can be passed through in a certain time frame, either as a network speed limitation (Such as QoS) or a hard cap on data. If this is limit is too strict, it can slow down or even cause errors in some applications. It is best to either disable throttling to the product or take into account how it may affect it.
- If the environment is throttled and causing issues, Searchlight’s concurrent document counting is usually set to 8. It can be reduced by changing the number in the following line in the config:
- More information here
Diagnostic tool
If you are still encountering issues, you can also download the Diagnostic tool to help work out where the issue is. If the diagnostic tool fails and does not help you, you can then send the logs to us and we can raise a ticket for you.
Email Authentication
For emails, when using SMTP, ensure that the authentication method chosen matches your environment and that if authentication is required, make sure that the account has suitable permissions and security to allow 3rd party applications to send emails.
Neil established Aquaforest (later acquired by Nutrient) in 2001 to provide high-performance PDF, OCR, and SharePoint products to a worldwide market.
