elasticsearch/docs/reference/ccr/getting-started.asciidoc

[role="xpack"]
[testenv="platinum"]
[[ccr-getting-started]]
=== Tutorial: Set up {ccr}
++++
<titleabbrev>Set up {ccr}</titleabbrev>
++++

////
[source,console]
----
PUT /server-metrics
{
  "settings" : {
    "index" : {
      "number_of_shards" : 1,
      "number_of_replicas" : 0
    }
  },
  "mappings" : {
    "properties" : {
      "@timestamp" : {
        "type" : "date"
      },
      "accept" : {
        "type" : "long"
      },
      "deny" : {
        "type" : "long"
      },
      "host" : {
        "type" : "keyword"
      },
      "response" : {
        "type" : "float"
      },
      "service" : {
        "type" : "keyword"
      },
      "total" : {
        "type" : "long"
      }
    }
  }
}
----
// TESTSETUP
////

Use this guide to set up {ccr} (CCR) between clusters in two
datacenters. Replicating your data across datacenters provides several benefits:

* Brings data closer to your users or application server to reduce latency and
response time
* Provides your mission-critical applications with the tolerance to withstand datacenter or region outages

In this guide, you'll learn how to:

* Configure a <<modules-remote-clusters,remote cluster>> with a leader index
* Create a follower index on a local cluster
* Create an auto-follow pattern to automatically follow time series indices
that are periodically created in a remote cluster

You can manually create follower indices to replicate specific indices on a
remote cluster, or configure auto-follow patterns to replicate rolling time series indices.

video::https://static-www.elastic.co/v3/assets/bltefdd0b53724fa2ce/blt994089f5e841ad69/5f6265de6f40ab4648b5cf9b/ccr-setup-video-edited.mp4[width=700, height=500, options="autoplay,loop"]

[[ccr-getting-started-prerequisites]]
==== Prerequisites
To complete this tutorial, you need:

* A license on both clusters that includes {ccr}. {kibana-ref}/managing-licenses.html[Activate a free 30-day trial].
* The `read_ccr` cluster privilege and `monitor` and `read` privileges
for the leader index on the remote cluster. <<stack-management-ccr-remote,Configure remote cluster privileges>>.
* The `manage_ccr` cluster privilege and `monitor`, `read`, `write` and
`manage_follow_index` privileges to configure remote clusters and follower
indices on the local cluster. <<stack-management-ccr-local,Configure local cluster privileges>>.
* An index on the remote cluster that contains the data you want to replicate.
This tutorial uses the sample eCommerce orders data set.
{kibana-ref}/get-started.html#gs-get-data-into-kibana[Load sample data].

[[ccr-getting-started-remote-cluster]]
==== Connect to a remote cluster
To replicate an index on a remote cluster (Cluster A) to a local cluster (Cluster B), you configure Cluster A as a remote on Cluster B.

image::images/ccr-tutorial-clusters.png[ClusterA contains the leader index and ClusterB contains the follower index]

To configure a remote cluster from Stack Management in {kib}:

. Select *Remote Clusters* from the side navigation.
. Specify the IP address or host name of the remote cluster (ClusterB),
followed by the transport port of the remote cluster (defaults to `9300`). For
example, `192.168.1.1:9300`.

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/ccr-add-remote-cluster.png["The Add remote clusters page in {kib}"]

[%collapsible]
.API example
====
Use the <<cluster-update-settings,cluster update settings API>> to add a remote cluster:

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT /_cluster/settings
{
  "persistent" : {
    "cluster" : {
      "remote" : {
        "leader" : {
          "seeds" : [
            "127.0.0.1:9300" <1>
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[setup:host]
// TEST[s/127.0.0.1:9300/\${transport_host}/]
<1> Specifies the hostname and transport port of a seed node in the remote
    cluster.

You can verify that the local cluster is successfully connected to the remote
cluster.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
GET /_remote/info
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

The API will respond by showing that the local cluster is connected to the
remote cluster.

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
  "leader" : {
    "seeds" : [
      "127.0.0.1:9300"
    ],
    "connected" : true, <1>
    "num_nodes_connected" : 1, <2>
    "max_connections_per_cluster" : 3,
    "initial_connect_timeout" : "30s",
    "skip_unavailable" : false,
    "mode" : "sniff"
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE[s/127.0.0.1:9300/$body.leader.seeds.0/]
// TEST[s/"connected" : true/"connected" : $body.leader.connected/]
// TEST[s/"num_nodes_connected" : 1/"num_nodes_connected" : $body.leader.num_nodes_connected/]
<1> This shows the local cluster is connected to the remote cluster with cluster
    alias `leader`
<2> This shows the number of nodes in the remote cluster the local cluster is
    connected to.
====

[[ccr-enable-soft-deletes]]
==== Enable soft deletes on leader indices
To follow an index, it must have been created with
<<ccr-leader-requirements,soft deletes>> enabled. If the index doesn’t have
soft deletes enabled, you must reindex it and use the new index as the leader
index. Soft deletes are enabled by default on new indices
created with {es} 7.0.0 and later.

[[ccr-getting-started-follower-index]]
==== Create a follower index to replicate a specific index
When you create a follower index, you reference the remote cluster and the
leader index in your remote cluster.

To create a follower index from Stack Management in {kib}:

. Select *Cross-Cluster Replication* in the side navigation and choose the
*Follower Indices* tab.
. Choose the cluster (ClusterA) containing the leader index you want to
replicate.
. Enter the name of the leader index, which is
`kibana_sample_data_ecommerce` if you are following the tutorial.
. Enter a name for your follower index, such as `follower-kibana-sample-data`.

image::images/ccr-add-follower-index.png["Adding a follower index named server-metrics in {kib}"]

{es} initializes the follower using the
<<ccr-remote-recovery, remote recovery>>
process, which transfers the existing Lucene segment files from the leader
index to the follower index. The index status changes to *Paused*. When the
remote recovery process is complete, the index following begins and the status
changes to *Active*.

When you index documents into your leader index, {es} replicates the documents
in the follower index.

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/ccr-follower-index.png["The Cross-Cluster Replication page in {kib}"]

[%collapsible]
.API example
====
Use the <<ccr-put-follow,create follower API>> to create follower indices.
When you create a follower index, you must reference the remote cluster and the
leader index that you created in the
remote cluster.

When initiating the follower request, the response returns before the
<<ccr-remote-recovery, remote recovery>> process completes. To wait for the process
to complete, add the `wait_for_active_shards` parameter to your request.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT /server-metrics-follower/_ccr/follow?wait_for_active_shards=1
{
  "remote_cluster" : "leader",
  "leader_index" : "server-metrics"
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

//////////////////////////

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
  "follow_index_created" : true,
  "follow_index_shards_acked" : true,
  "index_following_started" : true
}
--------------------------------------------------

//////////////////////////

Use the
<<ccr-get-follow-stats,get follower stats API>> to inspect the status of
replication

//////////////////////////

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
POST /server-metrics-follower/_ccr/pause_follow

POST /server-metrics-follower/_close

POST /server-metrics-follower/_ccr/unfollow
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

//////////////////////////
====

[[ccr-getting-started-auto-follow]]
==== Create an auto-follow pattern to replicate time series indices
You use <<ccr-auto-follow,auto-follow patterns>> to automatically create new
followers for rolling time series indices. Whenever the name of a new index on
the remote cluster matches the auto-follow pattern, a corresponding follower
index is added to the local cluster.

An auto-follow pattern specifies the remote cluster you want to replicate from,
and one or more index patterns that specify the rolling time series indices you
want to replicate.

// tag::ccr-create-auto-follow-pattern-tag[]
To create an auto-follow pattern from Stack Management in {kib}:

. Select *Cross Cluster Replication* in the side navigation and choose the
*Auto-follow patterns* tab.
. Enter a name for the auto-follow pattern, such as `beats`.
. Choose the remote cluster that contains the index you want to replicate,
which in the example scenario is Cluster A.
. Enter one or more index patterns that identify the indices you want to
replicate from the remote cluster. For example, enter
`metricbeat-* packetbeat-*` to automatically create followers for {metricbeat} and {packetbeat} indices.
. Enter *follower-* as the prefix to apply to the names of the follower indices so
you can more easily identify replicated indices.

As new indices matching these patterns are
created on the remote, {es} automatically replicates them to local follower indices.

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/auto-follow-patterns.png["The Auto-follow patterns page in {kib}"]

// end::ccr-create-auto-follow-pattern-tag[]

[%collapsible]
.API example
====
Use the <<ccr-put-auto-follow-pattern,create auto-follow pattern API>> to
configure auto-follow patterns.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT /_ccr/auto_follow/beats
{
  "remote_cluster" : "leader",
  "leader_index_patterns" :
  [
    "metricbeat-*", <1>
    "packetbeat-*" <2>
  ],
  "follow_index_pattern" : "{{leader_index}}-copy" <3>
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]
<1> Automatically follow new {metricbeat} indices.
<2> Automatically follow new {packetbeat} indices.
<3> The name of the follower index is derived from the name of the leader index
    by adding the suffix `-copy` to the name of the leader index.

//////////////////////////

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
  "acknowledged" : true
}
--------------------------------------------------

//////////////////////////

//////////////////////////

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
DELETE /_ccr/auto_follow/beats
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

//////////////////////////
====