How to Implement Snapshots and Restore with Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch

Using Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch as the backdrop, this article demystifies the snapshot and restore functionality, enhancing your data management with code examples and practical insights.

Elasticsearch, a highly scalable open-source full-text search engine, allows for the quick querying of large datasets and is a favorite among developers and companies worldwide. An essential feature of Elasticsearch is its ability to create _snapshots_, which are backups of your cluster's state, including all data streams, indices, and configurations. This article will guide you on harnessing snapshot and restore capabilities within Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch ensuring robust data management and recovery processes.

What Are Snapshots?

In Elasticsearch, snapshots are backups of your cluster at a given moment. These snapshots are crucial for:

Routine cluster backups with zero downtime
Data recovery post-deletion or hardware failures
Data transfers between clusters
Optimizing storage costs via searchable snapshots in colder data tiers

The Snapshot Workflow

Snapshots are stored off-cluster in a _snapshot repository_. Before taking or restoring snapshots, you must register a repository, which could be on object store service, eg. Alibaba Cloud OSS. Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch ensures seamless integration with your existing object store service. After setting up, Snapshot Lifecycle Management (SLM) enables the automatic handling and retention of these snapshots.

Snapshot Contents

By default, a snapshot captures:

Cluster state (persistent settings, templates, policies)
Regular data streams and indices
Aliases and Feature states post-7.12.0

What's excluded are transient settings, node configurations, and security files.

How Snapshots Work

Elasticsearch's deduplication mechanism makes snapshots efficient, storing only new or unshared segments to save space and transfer costs. Despite deletion of a snapshot, shared segments remain untouched.
Consider this example for registering a snapshot repository in Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch:

PUT /_snapshot/my_backup
{
  "type": "oss",
  "settings": {
    "bucket": "my_bucket_name",
    "region": "xxxx",
    "base_path": "my_backups",
    "access_key": "my_access_key",
    "secret_key": "my_secret_key"
  }
}

_This code piece demonstrates how to define an OSS bucket as a snapshot repository._
Snapshots respect shard allocation, meaning Elasticsearch will not reallocate shards undergoing snapshot procedures until after completion.

Restoring From Snapshots

Restoring data from a snapshot can be as comprehensive or selective as needed, even supporting aliases restoration. However, it's crucial that snapshot, cluster, and index versions are compatible for successful restoration.
For those interested in more advanced utilization or troubleshooting of snapshots and restores, Elasticsearch's documentation and Alibaba Cloud's robust support resources provide in-depth guidance.

1POST /_snapshot/my_backup/snapshot_1/_restore
2{
3  "indices": "index_1",
4  "ignore_unavailable": true,
5  "include_global_state": false,
6  "rename_pattern": "index_(.+)",
7  "rename_replacement": "restored_index_$1"
8}

_This example showcases restoring a specific index from a snapshot_.

As data becomes increasingly pivotal in today's digital era, the ability to effectively manage, backup, and recover critical information is vital. Leveraging Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch enhances your Elasticsearch experience, providing not only a high-performance environment but also advanced features like effortless snapshot and restore functionalities.

Ready to start your journey with Elasticsearch on Alibaba Cloud? Explore our tailored Cloud solutions and services to take the first step towards transforming your data into a visual masterpiece. Embark on Your 30-Day Free Trial

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How to Implement Snapshots and Restore with Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch

What Are Snapshots?

The Snapshot Workflow

Snapshot Contents

How Snapshots Work

Restoring From Snapshots

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