Roll over to a new index

TIP: We recommend using the index lifecycle rollover action to automate rollovers. However, Serverless does not support Index Lifecycle Management (ILM), so don't use this approach in the Serverless context.

The rollover API creates a new index for a data stream or index alias. The API behavior depends on the rollover target.

Roll over a data stream

If you roll over a data stream, the API creates a new write index for the stream. The stream's previous write index becomes a regular backing index. A rollover also increments the data stream's generation.

Roll over an index alias with a write index

TIP: Prior to Elasticsearch 7.9, you'd typically use an index alias with a write index to manage time series data. Data streams replace this functionality, require less maintenance, and automatically integrate with data tiers.

If an index alias points to multiple indices, one of the indices must be a write index. The rollover API creates a new write index for the alias with is_write_index set to true. The API also sets is_write_index to false for the previous write index.

Roll over an index alias with one index

If you roll over an index alias that points to only one index, the API creates a new index for the alias and removes the original index from the alias.

NOTE: A rollover creates a new index and is subject to the wait_for_active_shards setting.

Increment index names for an alias

When you roll over an index alias, you can specify a name for the new index. If you don't specify a name and the current index ends with - and a number, such as my-index-000001 or my-index-3, the new index name increments that number. For example, if you roll over an alias with a current index of my-index-000001, the rollover creates a new index named my-index-000002. This number is always six characters and zero-padded, regardless of the previous index's name.

If you use an index alias for time series data, you can use date math in the index name to track the rollover date. For example, you can create an alias that points to an index named <my-index-{now/d}-000001>. If you create the index on May 6, 2099, the index's name is my-index-2099.05.06-000001. If you roll over the alias on May 7, 2099, the new index's name is my-index-2099.05.07-000002.

• Index privileges: manage