SharePoint 2010 Search Service Not Working

Question

I am having an issue with getting the search function to work within SharePoint 2010. The search service was working before but stopped. I have done many things to troubleshoot but its still not working. These are the steps that I have taken so far.

1. created a new service account for the search service and used the following link to setup and configure a new search service application: http://www.boostsolutions.com/blog/how-to-configure-the-search-service-in-sharepoint-2010/
2. checked and rechecked account permissions on the web application
3. checked permissions on the service application:

I have checked the logs and I seem to be having a permissions problem but I do not know where to fix it.

Has anyone seen this before? I dont know what else could be causing this.

Answer 1

Try to narrow down your issue as following:

1. Start->Run->type “services.msc”->find out “SharePoint Search Host Controller” service and “SharePoint Server Search” service->right click and click Properties->update the user account and password in the Log On tab and check if these services are running.

2. Go to Central Administration site->Search service application->check if the default content access account is \spsearch that the same as you give the permission to web applications.

Answer 2

Try to log in with the search account to the portal. I had once situation when someone has expired my service account by mistake and that was the issue, but the error coming from SP was confusing. On another case I had an issue with the clock synchronization between the servers and domain controller, but then the error coming back as password incorrect.