Installation and Configuration Process
This article provides an overview of the installation step guide that you will need to successfully install and configure PoolParty for SharePoint.
Here is an overview of the steps that you will take during installation and configuration of PoolParty for SharePoint.
Create a SharePoint site where you will install the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application.
Use a PowerShell script from the deployment package to create system lists that the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application needs to run properly.
Create a site app catalog. It will allow you to deploy the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application to the site.
Create a Site App Catalog for PoolParty for SharePoint Administration
Note
Alternatively, you can use a tenant app catalog to install PoolParty for SharePoint Administration. We however strongly recommend using the site app catalog to limit the deployment of the application to a single site.
Upload the package with the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application to the site app catalog that you created in the previous step.
Deploy PoolParty for SharePoint Administration to the Site App Catalog
If you want to enable management of site permissions from the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application, log in to the SharePoint admin center and approve a pending request from the application web part to access the Microsoft Graph API.
In SharePoint, a site can contain one or more pages, which in turn can contain one or more web parts. To be able to use the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application from a page on your site, you first need to add the application to the site.
Add the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application as a web part to a specific page on the SharePoint site.
Create a SharePoint site where you will install the PoolParty for SharePoint Search application.
Create a site app catalog. It will allow you to deploy the PoolParty for SharePoint Search application on the site.
Create a Site App Catalog for PoolParty for SharePoint Search
Upload the package with the PoolParty for SharePoint Search application to the site app catalog that you created in the previous step.
Deploy PoolParty for SharePoint Search to the Site App Catalog
In SharePoint, a site can contain one or more pages, which in turn can contain one or more web parts. To be able to use the PoolParty for SharePoint Search application, you first need to create a new site page that will contain the PoolParty for SharePoint Search web part.
Add the PoolParty for SharePoint Search application as a web part to the page you created in the previous step.
If you want to use the Tagging module, deploy the PoolParty for SharePoint Command Bar and Views application to a SharePoint tenant app catalog from where you can add it to any site in that tenant.
The PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application delegates the identity and access management to Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). As a first step, establish a one-way trust relationship from the application towards Microsoft Entra ID by registering the application with the Microsoft identity platform.
Note
If you want to use both the Tagging and the Term Store Synchronization modules, you can create a separate app registration for each of them. Each of the app registrations has to be separately configured.
As a next step, configure the app registration to allow the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application to authenticate and authorize against resources. The configuration process includes the following steps:
Note
Repeat the steps for each app registration you created in step 1.
Grant the app registration permissions to call the Microsoft Graph and SharePoint APIs. You also need to grant the app registration an admin consent to access your organization's data.
Create a key vault, which will allow you to generate a certificate and a client secret for your app registration.
Generate a certificate.
Export the certificate in a CER format so that you can upload it into the app registration.
Upload the certificate into the app registration.
Add a client secret to the app registration.
Create function apps that will host the execution of the Azure functions used by PoolParty for SharePoint.
Note
You need a dedicated function app for each of the PoolParty for SharePoint modules (the Tagging module, the Term Store Synchronization module) you want to install. Each of the function apps has to be separately configured.
Use Azure Kudu to upload the zip files with the Azure functions into corresponding function apps.
Configure each function app by editing its settings in bulk.
Optional: The Azure functions communicate with the PoolParty server via REST API calls, which are by default protected with Basic Authentication. You can change the authentication method to OAuth 2.0.
Specify Authentication Method for the API Calls between the Azure Functions and PoolParty
Recommended: If you want to use the Tagging module, you can lower Azure costs by excluding certain file types such as videos or images from the tagging process.
Note
The tagging process works with text-based files and other file types will not return any results.
Optional: You can use the Azure functions to verify that the connection between the PoolParty server and the Azure Portal works as expected.
Verify the Connection between PoolParty and the Azure Portal
Take note of the URLs and app keys of the function apps you have just created, as you will need them to establish communication between the PoolParty for SharePoint Administration application and the PoolParty for SharePoint Search application on the one hand and the PoolParty server on the other hand.
After you have installed PoolParty for SharePoint Administration on a SharePoint site, set up authentication for the application and deployed Azure functions to the Azure portal, go to SharePoint and further configure PoolParty for SharePoint Administration to enable communication between the application and the PoolParty server as well as between the application and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory).
After you have installed PoolParty for SharePoint Search on a SharePoint site, further configure it to enable communication between the application and the PoolParty server as well as between the application and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory).