---
title: Add plugins and extensions in Elastic Cloud Enterprise
description: Plugins extend the core functionality of Elasticsearch. Elastic Cloud Enterprise makes it easy to add plugins to your deployment by providing a number...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2341/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/add-plugins
---

# Add plugins and extensions in Elastic Cloud Enterprise
Plugins extend the core functionality of Elasticsearch. Elastic Cloud Enterprise makes it easy to add plugins to your deployment by providing a number of plugins that work with your version of Elasticsearch. One advantage of these plugins is that you generally don’t have to worry about upgrading plugins when upgrading to a new Elasticsearch version, unless there are breaking changes. The plugins are upgraded along with the rest of your deployment.
<note>
  This page refers to Elasticsearch plugins that come built-in with the Elastic Cloud Enterprise platform. For details on adding other plugins, refer to [Add custom bundles and plugins to your deployment](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2341/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/add-custom-bundles-plugins).
</note>

Adding plugins to a deployment is as simple as selecting it from the list of available plugins, but different versions of Elasticsearch support different plugins. Plugins are available for different purposes, such as:
- National language support, phonetic analysis, and extended unicode support
- Ingesting attachments in common formats and ingesting information about the geographic location of IP addresses
- Adding new field datatypes to Elasticsearch

Additional plugins might be available. If a plugin is listed for your version of Elasticsearch, it can be used.
You can also [create](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2341/extend/elasticsearch) and add custom plugins.
To add plugins when creating a new deployment:
1. [Log into the Cloud UI](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2341/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/log-into-cloud-ui) and select **Create deployment**.
2. Make your initial deployment selections, then select **Advanced settings**.
3. Beneath the Elasticsearch master node, expand the **Manage plugins and settings** caret.
4. Select the plugins you want.
5. Select **Create deployment**.

The deployment spins up with the plugins installed.
To add plugins to an existing deployment:
1. [Log into the Cloud UI](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2341/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/log-into-cloud-ui).
2. On the **Deployments** page, select your deployment.
   Narrow the list by name, ID, or choose from several other filters. To further define the list, use a combination of filters.
3. From your deployment menu, go to the **Edit** page.
4. Beneath the Elasticsearch master node, expand the **Manage plugins and settings** caret.
5. Select the plugins that you want.
6. Select **Save changes**.

There is no downtime when adding plugins to highly available deployments. The deployment is updated with new nodes that have the plugins installed.