---
title: Index management settings
description: You can use the following cluster settings to enable or disable index management features. This setting affects the following built-in index templates:...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/elasticsearch/configuration-reference/index-management-settings
products:
  - Elasticsearch
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted: Generally available
  - Self-managed Elastic deployments: Generally available
---

# Index management settings
You can use the following cluster settings to enable or disable index management features.

<definitions>
  <definition term="action.auto_create_index logo cloud">
    ([Dynamic](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/stack-settings#dynamic-cluster-setting)) [Automatically create an index](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/operation/operation-create) if it doesn’t already exist and apply any configured index templates. Defaults to `true`.
  </definition>
</definitions>


<definitions>
  <definition term="action.destructive_requires_name logo cloud">
    ([Dynamic](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/stack-settings#dynamic-cluster-setting)) When set to `true`, you must specify the index name to [delete an index](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/operation/operation-indices-delete). It is not possible to delete all indices with `_all` or use wildcards. Defaults to `true`.
  </definition>
</definitions>


<definitions>
  <definition term="cluster.indices.close.enable logo cloud">
    ([Dynamic](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/stack-settings#dynamic-cluster-setting)) Enables [closing of open indices](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/operation/operation-indices-close) in Elasticsearch. If `false`, you cannot close open indices. Defaults to `true` for versions 7.2.0 and later, and to `false` for previous versions. In versions 7.1 and below, closed indices represent a data loss risk: if you close an index, it is not included in snapshots and you will not be able to restore the data. Similarly, closed indices are not included when you make cluster configuration changes, such as scaling to a different capacity, failover, and many other operations. Lastly, closed indices can lead to inaccurate disk space counts.
    <warning>
      For versions 7.1 and below, closed indices represent a data loss risk. Enable this setting only temporarily for these versions.
    </warning>
    <note>
      Closed indices still consume a significant amount of disk space.
    </note>
  </definition>
</definitions>


<definitions>
  <definition term="stack.templates.enabled">
    ([Dynamic](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/stack-settings#dynamic-cluster-setting)) If `true`, enables built-in index and component templates. [Elastic Agent](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/fleet) uses these templates to create data streams. If `false`, Elasticsearch disables these index and component templates. Defaults to `true`.
  </definition>
</definitions>

<note>
  It is not recommended to disable the built-in stack templates, as some functionality of Elasticsearch or Kibana will not work correctly when disabled. Features like log and metric collection, as well as Kibana reporting, may malfunction without the built-in stack templates. Stack templates should only be disabled temporarily, if necessary, to resolve upgrade issues, then re-enabled after any issues have been resolved.
</note>

This setting affects the following built-in index templates:
- `.kibana-reporting*`
- `logs-*-*`
- `metrics-*-*`
- `synthetics-*-*`
- `profiling-*`
- `security_solution-*-*`

This setting also affects the following built-in component templates:
- `kibana-reporting@settings`
- `logs@mappings`
- `logs@settings`
- `metrics@mappings`
- `metrics@settings`
- `metrics@tsdb-settings`
- `synthetics@mapping`
- `synthetics@settings`


### Universal Profiling settings

The following settings for Elastic Universal Profiling are supported:
<definitions>
  <definition term="xpack.profiling.enabled logo cloud">
    *Version 8.7.0+*: Specifies whether the Universal Profiling Elasticsearch plugin is enabled. Defaults to *true*.
  </definition>
  <definition term="xpack.profiling.templates.enabled logo cloud">
    *Version 8.9.0+*: Specifies whether Universal Profiling related index templates should be created on startup. Defaults to *false*.
  </definition>
</definitions>


### Elasticsearch OTLP endpoint settings

<applies-to>
  - Elastic Stack: Preview since 9.2
</applies-to>

The following settings can be used to customize the [OTLP endpoint](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/manage-data/data-store/data-streams/tsds-ingest-otlp):
<definitions>
  <definition term="xpack.otel_data.registry.enabled">
    Specifies whether OpenTelemetry related index templates should be created on startup. Defaults to *true*.
  </definition>
  <definition term="xpack.otel_data.histogram_field_type Elastic Stack: Preview in 9.3 Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available">
    Defines how OTLP histograms are mapped in Elasticsearch.
    Valid values are:
  </definition>
</definitions>

- `histogram`: Map histograms as T-Digests using the `histogram` field type (Default on <applies-to>Elastic Stack: Preview in 9.3</applies-to>)
- `exponential_histogram`: Map histograms as exponential histograms using the `exponential_histogram` field type (Default on <applies-to>Elastic Stack: Planned</applies-to> <applies-to>Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available</applies-to>)


## Reindex settings


<definitions>
  <definition term="reindex.remote.whitelist logo cloud">
    ([Static](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/stack-settings#static-cluster-setting)) Specifies the hosts that can be [reindexed from remotely](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/operation/operation-reindex). Expects a YAML array of `host:port` strings. Consists of a comma-delimited list of `host:port` entries. Defaults to `["\*.io:*", "\*.com:*"]`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.certificate logo cloud">
    Specifies the path to the PEM encoded certificate (or certificate chain) to be used for HTTP client authentication (if required by the remote cluster) This setting requires that `reindex.ssl.key` also be set. You cannot specify both `reindex.ssl.certificate` and `reindex.ssl.keystore.path`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.certificate_authorities logo cloud">
    List of paths to PEM encoded certificate files that should be trusted. You cannot specify both `reindex.ssl.certificate_authorities` and `reindex.ssl.truststore.path`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.key logo cloud">
    Specifies the path to the PEM encoded private key associated with the certificate used for client authentication (`reindex.ssl.certificate`). You cannot specify both `reindex.ssl.key` and `reindex.ssl.keystore.path`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.key_passphrase logo cloud">
    Specifies the passphrase to decrypt the PEM encoded private key (`reindex.ssl.key`) if it is encrypted.
    <admonition title="Deprecated in 7.17.0">
      Prefer `reindex.ssl.secure_key_passphrase` instead. Cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.secure_key_passphrase`.
    </admonition>
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.keystore.key_password logo cloud">
    The password for the key in the keystore (`reindex.ssl.keystore.path`). Defaults to the keystore password.
    <admonition title="Deprecated in 7.17.0">
      Prefer `reindex.ssl.keystore.secure_key_password` instead. This setting cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.keystore.secure_key_password`.
    </admonition>
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.keystore.password logo cloud">
    The password to the keystore (`reindex.ssl.keystore.path`).
    <admonition title="Deprecated in 7.17.0">
      Prefer `reindex.ssl.keystore.secure_password` instead. This setting cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.keystore.secure_password`.
    </admonition>
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.keystore.path logo cloud">
    Specifies the path to the keystore that contains a private key and certificate to be used for HTTP client authentication (if required by the remote cluster). This keystore can be in "JKS" or "PKCS#12" format. You cannot specify both `reindex.ssl.key` and `reindex.ssl.keystore.path`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.keystore.type logo cloud">
    The type of the keystore (`reindex.ssl.keystore.path`). Must be either `jks` or `PKCS12`. If the keystore path ends in ".p12", ".pfx" or "pkcs12", this setting defaults to `PKCS12`. Otherwise, it defaults to `jks`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.secure_key_passphrase (Secure) logo cloud">
    Specifies the passphrase to decrypt the PEM encoded private key (`reindex.ssl.key`) if it is encrypted. Cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.key_passphrase`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.keystore.secure_key_password (Secure) logo cloud">
    The password for the key in the keystore (`reindex.ssl.keystore.path`). Defaults to the keystore password. This setting cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.keystore.key_password`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.keystore.secure_password (Secure) logo cloud">
    The password to the keystore (`reindex.ssl.keystore.path`). This setting cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.keystore.password`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.truststore.password logo cloud">
    The password to the truststore (`reindex.ssl.truststore.path`).
    <admonition title="Deprecated in 7.17.0">
      Prefer `reindex.ssl.truststore.secure_password` instead. This setting cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.truststore.secure_password`.
    </admonition>
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.truststore.path logo cloud">
    The path to the Java Keystore file that contains the certificates to trust. This keystore can be in "JKS" or "PKCS#12" format. You cannot specify both `reindex.ssl.certificate_authorities` and `reindex.ssl.truststore.path`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.truststore.secure_password (Secure) logo cloud">
    The password to the truststore (`reindex.ssl.truststore.path`). This setting cannot be used with `reindex.ssl.truststore.password`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.truststore.type logo cloud">
    The type of the truststore (`reindex.ssl.truststore.path`). Must be either `jks` or `PKCS12`. If the truststore path ends in ".p12", ".pfx" or "pkcs12", this setting defaults to `PKCS12`. Otherwise, it defaults to `jks`.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reindex.ssl.verification_mode logo cloud">
    Indicates the type of verification to protect against man in the middle attacks and certificate forgery. One of `full` (verify the hostname and the certificate path), `certificate` (verify the certificate path, but not the hostname) or `none` (perform no verification - this is strongly discouraged in production environments). Defaults to `full`.
  </definition>
</definitions>