What is Elasticsearch?

Elasticsearch is a highly scalable open-source full-text search and analytics engine. It allows you to store, search, and analyze big volumes of data quickly and in near real time

elastic.co/products/elasticsearch

TLDR

docker run --name elasticsearch bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

Docker Compose

elasticsearch:
  image: bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

Get this image

The recommended way to get the Bitnami Elasticsearch Docker Image is to pull the prebuilt image from the Docker Hub Registry.

docker pull bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

To use a specific version, you can pull a versioned tag. You can view the list of available versions in the Docker Hub Registry.

docker pull bitnami/elasticsearch:[TAG]

If you wish, you can also build the image yourself.

docker build -t bitnami/elasticsearch:latest https://github.com/bitnami/bitnami-docker-elasticsearch.git

Persisting your application

If you remove every container and volume all your data will be lost, and the next time you run the image the application will be reinitialized. To avoid this loss of data, you should mount a volume that will persist even after the container is removed. If you are using docker-compose your data will be persistent as long as you don't remove application_data data volumes. If you have run the containers manually or you want to mount the folders with persistent data in your host follow the next steps:

Note! If you have already started using your application, follow the steps on backing up to pull the data from your running container down to your host.

The image exposes a volume at /bitnami/elasticsearch for the Elasticsearch data and configurations. For persistence you can mount a directory at this location from your host. If the mounted directory is empty, it will be initialized on the first run.

docker run -v /path/to/elasticsearch-persistence:/bitnami/elasticsearch bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

or using Docker Compose:

elasticsearch:
  image: bitnami/elasticsearch:latest
  volumes:
    - /path/to/elasticsearch-persistence:/bitnami/elasticsearch

Linking

If you want to connect to your Elasticsearch server inside another container, you can use the linking system provided by Docker.

Connecting a Elasticsearch container to other Elasticsearch container

Step 1: Run the Elasticsearch image with a specific name

The first step is to start our Elasticsearch server.

Docker's linking system uses container ids or names to reference containers. We can explicitly specify a name for our Elasticsearch server to make it easier to connect to other containers.

docker run --name elasticsearch-node1 bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

Step 2: Run another Elasticsearch container and link to the other one

Now that we have our Elasticsearch server running, we can create another container that links to it by giving Docker the --link option. This option takes the id or name of the container we want to link it to as well as a hostname to use inside the container, separated by a colon. For example, to have one Elasticsearch node accessible in another container with node1 as it's hostname we would pass --link elasticsearch-node1:node1 to the Docker run command.

Linking with Docker Compose

Step 1: Add a Elasticsearch entry in your docker-compose.yml

Copy the snippet below into your docker-compose.yml to add Elasticsearch to your application.

elasticsearch:
  image: bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

Step 2: Link it to another container in your application

Update the definitions for containers you want to access your Elasticsearch server from to include a link to the elasticsearch entry you added in Step 1.

myapp:
  image: myapp
  links:
    - elasticsearch:elasticsearch

Inside myapp, use elasticsearch as the hostname for the Elasticsearch server.

Configuration

Environment variables

When you start the elasticsearch image, you can adjust the configuration of the instance by passing one or more environment variables either on the docker-compose file or on the docker run command line. If you want to add a new environment variable:

• For docker-compose add the variable name and value under the application section:

application:
  image: bitnami/elasticsearch:latest
  environment:
    - ELASTICSEARCH_PORT=9201

• For manual execution add a -e option with each variable and value:

 $ docker run -d -e ELASTICSEARCH_PORT=9201 -p 9201:9201 --name elasticsearch -v /your/local/path/bitnami/elasticsearch:/bitnami/elasticsearch --network=elasticsearch_network bitnami/elasticsearch

Available variables:

• ELASTICSEARCH_PORT: Elasticsearch port. Default: 9200
• ELASTICSEARCH_NODEPORT: Elasticsearch Node to Node port. Default: 9300
• ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME: The Elasticsearch Cluster Name. Default: elasticsearch-cluster
• ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS: List of elasticsearch hosts to set the cluster. Available separatos are ' ', ',' and ';' .No defaults.
• ELASTICSEARCH_CLIENT_NODE: Elasticsearch node to behave as a 'smart router' for Kibana app. Default: false
• ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_NAME: Elasticsearch node name. No defaults.

Setting up a cluster

A cluster can easily be setup with the Bitnami Elasticsearch Docker Image using the following environment variables

• ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME: The Elasticsearch Cluster Name. Default: elasticsearch-cluster
• ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS: List of elasticsearch hosts to set the cluster. Available separatos are ' ', ',' and ';' .No defaults.
• ELASTICSEARCH_CLIENT_NODE: Elasticsearch node to behave as a 'smart router' for Kibana app. Default: false
• ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_NAME: Elasticsearch node name. No defaults.

Step 1: Create a new network.

docker network create elasticsearch_network

Step 2: Create a first node.

docker run --name elasticsearch-node1 \
  --net=elasticsearch_network \
  -p 9200:9200 \
  -e ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME=elasticsearch-cluster \
  -e ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS=elasticsearch-node1,elasticsearch-node2 \
  -e ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_NAME=elastic-node1 \
  bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

In the above command the container is added to a cluster named elasticsearch-cluster using the ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME. The ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS parameter set the name of the nodes that set the cluster so we will need to launch other container for the second node. Finally the ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_NAME parameter allows to indicate a known name for the node, otherwise elasticsearch will generate a randon one.

Step 3: Create a second node

docker run --name elasticsearch-node2 \
  --link elasticsearch-node1:elasticsearch-node1 \
  --net=elasticsearch_network \
  -e ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME=elasticsearch-cluster \
  -e ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS=elasticsearch-node1,elasticsearch-node2 \
  -e ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_NAME=elastic-node2 \
  bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

In the above command a new elasticsearch node is being added to the elasticsearch cluster indicated by ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME.

You now have a two node Elasticsearch cluster up and running which can be scaled by adding/removing nodes.

With Docker Compose the cluster configuration can be setup using:

version: '2'
services:
  elasticsearch-node1:
    image: bitnami/elasticsearch:latest
    environment:
      - ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME=elasticsearch-cluster
      - ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS=elasticsearch-node1,elasticsearch-node2
      - ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_NAME=elastic-node1

  elasticsearch-node2:
    image: bitnami/elasticsearch:latest
    environment:
      - ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_NAME=elasticsearch-cluster
      - ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS=elasticsearch-node1,elasticsearch-node2
      - ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_NAME=elastic-node2

Configuration file

The image looks for configuration in the conf/ directory of /bitnami/elasticsearch. As mentioned in Persisting your database you can mount a volume at this location and copy your own configurations in the conf/ directory. The default configuration will be copied to the conf/ directory if it's empty.

Logging

The Bitnami Elasticsearch Docker image sends the container logs to the stdout. To view the logs:

docker logs elasticsearch

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose logs elasticsearch

You can configure the containers logging driver using the --log-driver option if you wish to consume the container logs differently. In the default configuration docker uses the json-file driver.

Maintenance

Backing up your container

To backup your data, configuration and logs, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Stop the currently running container

docker stop elasticsearch

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose stop elasticsearch

Step 2: Run the backup command

We need to mount two volumes in a container we will use to create the backup: a directory on your host to store the backup in, and the volumes from the container we just stopped so we can access the data.

docker run --rm -v /path/to/elasticsearch-backups:/backups --volumes-from elasticsearch busybox \
  cp -a /bitnami/elasticsearch:latest /backups/latest

or using Docker Compose:

docker run --rm -v /path/to/elasticsearch-backups:/backups --volumes-from `docker-compose ps -q elasticsearch` busybox \
  cp -a /bitnami/elasticsearch:latest /backups/latest

Restoring a backup

Restoring a backup is as simple as mounting the backup as volumes in the container.

docker run -v /path/to/elasticsearch-backups/latest:/bitnami/elasticsearch bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

or using Docker Compose:

elasticsearch:
  image: bitnami/elasticsearch:latest
  volumes:
    - /path/to/elasticsearch-backups/latest:/bitnami/elasticsearch

Upgrade this image

Bitnami provides up-to-date versions of Elasticsearch, including security patches, soon after they are made upstream. We recommend that you follow these steps to upgrade your container.

Step 1: Get the updated image

docker pull bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

or if you're using Docker Compose, update the value of the image property to bitnami/elasticsearch:latest.

Step 2: Stop and backup the currently running container

Before continuing, you should backup your container's data, configuration and logs.

Follow the steps on creating a backup.

Step 3: Remove the currently running container

docker rm -v elasticsearch

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose rm -v elasticsearch

Step 4: Run the new image

Re-create your container from the new image, restoring your backup if necessary.

docker run --name elasticsearch bitnami/elasticsearch:latest

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose start elasticsearch

Contributing

We'd love for you to contribute to this container. You can request new features by creating an issue, or submit a pull request with your contribution.

Issues

If you encountered a problem running this container, you can file an issue. For us to provide better support, be sure to include the following information in your issue:

• Host OS and version
• Docker version (docker version)
• Output of docker info
• Version of this container (echo $BITNAMI_APP_VERSION inside the container)
• The command you used to run the container, and any relevant output you saw (masking any sensitive information)

License

Copyright 2015 Bitnami

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.