Indexing Microsoft Office Outlook while it is sandboxed

[SandboxedJeff]

I run Outlook in the sandbox all the time. During that time, Windows Search Index does not update. I've opened the file path for the three search processes (searchfilterhost.exe, searchindexer.exe, searchprotocolhost.exe) so they have access to Outlook itself, the folders where my PST files are stored, and the location where the Search Index is located. However, the Index still does not update until I open Outlook outside the sandbox. How can I do this?

 

[bastik-1001]

Hello, I might not be able to help you, since I don't know how Outlook does its things and how the search index is built.

Does Outlook update the PST files to a folder inside the sandbox, or does it write those outside of the sandbox?

 

[SandboxedJeff]

Hello, I might not be able to help you, since I don't know how Outlook does its things and how the search index is built.

Does Outlook update the PST files to a folder inside the sandbox, or does it write those outside of the sandbox?

Outlook has direct access to the PST files, so they are not located inside the sandbox.

The problem relates not so much to how "Outlook does its thing," but to how the Search Indexer processes do theirs.

Even without knowing anything about that, you might still be able to help if you can tell me something about how to use and configure OpenIpcPath statements in sandboxie.ini. Since posting, I thought of asking ChatGPT about how to do this, and it replied that I needed to use them. I looked at the article here (https://sandboxie-plus.com/sandboxie/openipcpath ) about how to use them, and thought that the provided examples generally aligned with the specific syntax of the statements that ChatGPT proposed, which I'll provide shortly.

Since you've written (and my thanks to you for doing that), I'll ask you about how they might be tweaked.

ChatGPT explained that the indexing processes and the Outlook process need to communicate both ways. This is what it had to say.

• Outlook and Windows Search communicate not just through file access but also through inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms like pipes or shared objects.
• 
  
• SearchProtocolHost.exe and other search-related processes do not directly index the raw PST files; they rely on Outlook's MAPI interface and often communicate with Outlook using named pipes and other IPC mechanisms to request data for indexing.
• 
  
• Windows Search Indexer (SearchIndexer.exe, SearchProtocolHost.exe, etc.) needs to query Outlook for MAPI data (email, calendar items, etc.) to index it. This means the Search processes must be able to communicate with the sandboxed Outlook process to ask for the data.
• 
  
• Conversely, Outlook also communicates back with the Search services to provide the data that needs to be indexed. So, Outlook needs to be able to talk back to the search-related processes, and those processes might also be using IPC mechanisms (like named pipes or shared objects) to get the data in a structured form from Outlook.
• 
  
• By adding an OpenIpcPath entry in the Sandboxie configuration, you're essentially giving permission for specific communication routes between sandboxed processes and external processes, allowing them to interact.
• 
  
• Adding OpenIpcPath and OpenPipePath statements to the Sandboxie configuration enables the Windows Search components (like SearchIndexer) to access sandboxed Outlook not just via files, but through the necessary inter-process communication mechanisms.

It suggested I add these four statements to sandboxie.ini.

OpenPipePath=*\pipe\MSFTHost*
OpenIpcPath=*\BaseNamedObjects*\SearchIndexer*
OpenIpcPath=*\BaseNamedObjects*\SearchProtocolHost*
OpenIpcPath=*\BaseNamedObjects*\SearchFilterHost*

However, after doing that, saving sandboxie.ini, and restarting Outlook in the sandbox, indexing still would not proceed.

I think that ChatGPT's explanation of the mechanisms involved in the indexing process is valid, and feel like these statements--or something like them--are putting me very close to a resolution

Ideas?

 

[bastik-1001]

It should just work normally, as far as I understand it, since the files the indexer should index can be accessed, but I see that it does not work for you.

@DavidXanatos can you explain, why it fails or just what needs to be done for it to work.

 

[SandboxedJeff]

It should just work normally, as far as I understand it, since the files the indexer should index can be accessed, but I see that it does not work for you.

@DavidXanatos can you explain, why it fails or just what needs to be done for it to work.

It appears that you've asked me two questions: "can you explain, why it fails or just what needs to be done for it to work?" However, I don't see what else I can usefully add about my situation. I'm left to wonder whether the syntax, with @DavidXanatos at the start of your statement, means that those questions are actually being addressed to David. Please let me know, and if you're asking me for more info, please be more specific about what you want.

 

[bastik-1001]

Oh, yes, those questions are not meant to you. The old forum software did not support this, so I only used @David to ask the developer to reply to the thread. In this case, the statement about was meant for you and the part following the @ was intended for David.

 

[SandboxedJeff]

Oh, yes, those questions are not meant to you. The old forum software did not support this, so I only used @David to ask the developer to reply to the thread. In this case, the statement about was meant for you and the part following the @ was intended for David.

Thanks for referring my situation to him.

 

[SandboxedJeff]

After making the OpenPipePath and OpenIpcPath mentioned above to Sandboxie.ini, Outlook operated properly. However, within the last 14 hours, while Outlook was open but not being used, and I was away from the machine, a problem developed. When I returned, I found the Sandboxie popup reporting the following error: "OUTLOOK.EXE: SBIE2317 Cannot initialize path list f (9742)." The count shown in parentheses was incrementing continuously, with a new error counted at least every second or part of a second. The Outlook window did not properly display, and the program was not functioning. I had to kill the process in Task Manager to close it.

I then opened the Troubleshooting Wizard, and, as instructed, opened Outlook again so that I could "collect logs." That happened, and I have submitted an error report. However, at this time, Outlook has opened and is functioning normally. SBIE is not reporting any errors.

The page with the explanation for SBIE error 2317 says, "Whenever a program starts in the sandbox, Sandboxie applies configuration settings from the Sandboxie Ini file to that program. This error message indicates a problem has occurred while preparing the configuration settings for name. name can be OpenFilePath, OpenPipePath, ClosedFilePath, ReadFilePath, OpenKeyPath, ClosedKeyPath, ReadKeyPath, OpenIpcPath, ClosedIpcPath, or OpenWinClass." From this list, it is only the newly-added OpenPipePath and OpenIpcPath statements that might have caused this problem. Since Outlook had operated properly for some time after adding these statements, and is operating properly now, while the search engine has been, and is now, operating properly (except for not indexing while Outlook is sandboxed), it seems probable that whatever happened during those 14 hours was just a transitory situation. However, the cause of the problem will probably always need to remain a mystery, because none of the Windows log files show any error or warning related to Outlook or Search during that period.

Still, I report all this here, and submitted the error report, in the hope that it might shed some light on why indexing will not take place while Outlook is sandboxed.

​

 

[SandboxedJeff]

Some time within the last hour or two, Outlook, or the indexer processes, began to report error 2317 again, although Outlook was sitting idle, and not new messages were being received or sent.

 

[SandboxedJeff]

Because of these problems, I've often run Outlook outside the sandbox in recent days. That's brought into stark relief how badly Outlook runs when sandboxed, aside from the indexing problems. Every thing is slowed down, even things as simple as shifting from folder to folder (for example, Inbox to drafts to sent items, etc). Sending a message is also usually painfully slow, as Outlook scans the file for spelling errors. All this happens despite the fact that, as I reported, I've given Outlook direct access to its PST files. Is there any reason why Outlook should perform poorly when run under Sandboxie control?

 

[bastik-1001]

Is there any reason why Outlook should perform poorly when run under Sandboxie control?

I can't address the rest and this part only generally. The more intensive a program operates, the more it can run into bottlenecks as every request is still evaluated by the Sandboxie driver. That being said, Outlook should not perform that much worse, from what I had guessed, but I have no experience with it.