Who is this article for?

Administrators who want to learn to configure SharePoint search schemas for Multi-Geo.

Administrators permissions are required with tenant-level access.

This article walks you through configuring the SharePoint search schema for a Multi-Geo setup, enabling users to view, search, sort, and filter email metadata within the Search application.

For answers to common questions, see Mutli-Geo SharePoint search schema FAQs.

Understanding Multi-Geo support

The Admin Client Email Search Schema wizard is not fully supported for Microsoft 365 Multi-Geo tenants.

Supported functionality:

• Deploy Seed Folder
• Create Email Columns
• Generate SharePoint Crawled Properties

Unsupported functionality:

• Automatic Managed Property creation
• Automatic Search Schema import
• Automatic mapping validation

Note: After the crawled properties have been generated, administrators must manually create and map Managed Properties for each Geo location including the Central / Default region.

Checking prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

System requirements:

• Ideagen Mail Manager Enterprise Administration client version 9.1.0 or later
• SharePoint Online Multi-Geo tenant (not supported on SharePoint On-Premises)
• Default content type OnePlaceMail Email (custom types not yet supported)

Configuration requirements:

• Configure the email search schema once per tenant to map crawled to managed properties and create email columns for the site URL
• For new sites under an existing tenant, run Add Email Columns to enable the Search App to populate email metadata

Permissions required:

• SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator role to open and edit search schema settings in SharePoint
• Site Collection Administrator on the Ideagen Mail Manager Administration Client to configure Mail Manager Enterprise
• Admin access to the specific geo's SharePoint Admin Centre (Multi-Geo tenants manage search schema separately for each geo)
• Permission to create folders and upload files in the target library

Environment access:

• Ideagen Mail Manager Administration Client installed on your machine
• Active connection from that client to an Ideagen Mail Manager Enterprise administration site

Deploying the seed folder

The Deploy Seed Folder step is supported and required for Multi-Geo tenants. The tool creates a seed folder with a sample .eml file containing email columns and values to initiate the SharePoint crawling process.

To deploy a seed folder:

1. Launch the Ideagen Mail Manager Administration Client from the desktop.
2. Select Email Search Schema from the left navigation.
3. Review the default deployment settings:
   • Admin Site URL - Your connected SharePoint admin site (automatically populated)
   • Library Name - Documents (default library for deployment)
   • Folder Name - .ideagenmailmanager-search (hidden folder for seed data)
4. Select Deploy Folder.
5. Wait for the deployment to complete (the status will update automatically from Not created (displayed in red) to Created (displayed in green) once successful).

6. Click Next to proceed to the Check Readiness step.

Checking readiness

After deployment, SharePoint needs time to crawl email columns and create the corresponding crawled properties. Crawled properties can take from minutes to hours to appear in the search schema. Once started, the crawl runs on Microsoft's search infrastructure even if you disconnect from Ideagen Mail Manager Administrator Site URL or close the Administration Client.

To check if crawled properties are available:

1. Click the SharePoint Admin Center link (this will open the Crawled Properties page in your browser).
2. Search for crawled properties starting with ows_Em.

3. Ensure that the following crawled properties are listed:
   • ows_EmSubject
   • ows_EmFrom
   • ows_EmFromName
   • ows_EmTo
   • ows_EmToAddress
   • ows_EmDateSent
   • ows_EmCategory
   • ows_EmAttachCount
   • ows_EmCc
   • ows_EmCcSMTPAddress
4. Return to the tool.
5. Tick I have verified that the crawled properties are ready to proceed to the next step.

Note: The remaining Admin Client steps are not supported for Multi-Geo tenants. Manual Search Schema configuration is required.

Configuring Managed Properties manually

Once the Crawled Properties have been created in the target Geo, manually map each Crawled Property to an available Managed Property.

Note: This can be any available RefinableString. If none are currently available, you must locate an available one and map it to the crawled property listed here.

Required mappings:

To search for available Managed Properties and map them to corresponding Crawled Properties:

1. Open the target Geo's SharePoint Admin Centre.
2. Navigate to More Features.
3. Select Search.
4. Click Open.
5. Select Manage Search Schema.
6. Click Managed Properties.
7. Search for an available RefinableString property with RefinableString.

8. Search for an available RefinableDate property with RefinableDate.

9. For each Managed Property, edit the property.
10. Set the Alias value.
11. Map the corresponding Crawled Property.
12. Save the changes.
13. Repeat the process for all properties listed above.

Reusing existing search schema configuration

If another Geo location requires the same Managed Property mappings, administrators can export the Search Schema configuration from a configured Geo and import it into another Geo. This avoids manually recreating each Managed Property mapping.

Note: To reuse the existing search schema configuration for import, another geo must have the same available RefinableString. Admins should check and validate this beforehand, before performing the import using 'Reuse Existing Search Schema Configuration'.

Important: Before importing a Search Schema configuration into another Geo:

• The seed folder must already be deployed in the target Geo
• SharePoint Search must have completed crawling the seed email
• The Crawled Properties listed in the mapping table must exist in the target Geo

Exporting search configuration

After completing and validating the Managed Property mappings in the source Geo, you can export the configuration for reuse.

To export search configuration:

1. Open the source Geo's SharePoint Admin Centre.

2. Navigate to More Features.
3. Select Search.
4. Click Open.
5. Select Export Search Configuration.

6. Click Export Search Configuration.
7. Save the generated XML file.

The exported file will contain:

• Managed Properties
• Aliases
• Crawled Property mappings
• Search Schema settings

Importing search configuration

To apply the same configuration to another Geo:

1. Open the target Geo's SharePoint Admin Centre.
2. Navigate to More Features.
3. Select Search.
4. Click Open.
5. Select Import Search Configuration.

6. Select the exported Search Configuration XML file.
7. Click Import.
8. Wait for the import to complete successfully.

Verifying Managed Properties

After configuration, verify that the following Managed Properties have been created correctly:

Reindexing a Geo

A reindex is only required if emails were already stored in the Geo before the Managed Property mappings were configured. If emails were saved after the Search Schema configuration was completed, SharePoint's normal indexing process will automatically process new content.

If reindexing is skipped:

• Existing emails remain discoverable
• Metadata fields such as Subject, From, To, and Category may not be searchable

To ensure historical email metadata is indexed correctly, perform a SharePoint Site Reindex after configuration.

Important: For Multi-Geo tenants, manually map the Managed Properties in each Geo where search is required. This is currently the only supported way to expose the email metadata needed by Central Search and SharePoint Search.