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

[role="xpack"]
[testenv="basic"]
[[getting-started-snapshot-lifecycle-management]]
=== Configure snapshot lifecycle policies

Let's get started with {slm} ({slm-init}) by working through a
hands-on scenario. The goal of this example is to automatically back up {es}
indices using the <<snapshot-restore,snapshots>> every day at a particular
time. Once these snapshots have been created, they are kept for a configured
amount of time and then deleted per a configured retention policy.

[float]
[[slm-gs-register-repository]]
==== Register a repository

Before we can set up an SLM policy, we'll need to set up a
snapshot repository where the snapshots will be
stored. Repositories can use {plugins}/repository.html[many different backends],
including cloud storage providers. You'll probably want to use one of these in
production, but for this example we'll use a shared file system repository:

[source,console]
-----------------------------------
PUT /_snapshot/my_repository
{
  "type": "fs",
  "settings": {
    "location": "my_backup_location"
  }
}
-----------------------------------

[float]
[[slm-gs-create-policy]]
==== Setting up a snapshot policy

Now that we have a repository in place, we can create a policy to automatically
take snapshots. Policies are written in JSON and will define when to take
snapshots, what the snapshots should be named, and which indices should be
included, among other things.  We'll use the <<slm-api-put-policy>> API
to create the policy.

When configurating a policy, retention can also optionally be configured. See
the <<slm-retention,SLM retention>> documentation for the full documentation of
how retention works.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT /_slm/policy/nightly-snapshots
{
  "schedule": "0 30 2 * * ?", <1>
  "name": "<nightly-snap-{now/d}>", <2>
  "repository": "my_repository", <3>
  "config": { <4>
    "indices": ["*"] <5>
  },
  "retention": { <6>
    "expire_after": "30d", <7>
    "min_count": 5, <8>
    "max_count": 50 <9>
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]
<1> when the snapshot should be taken, using 
    <<schedule-cron,Cron syntax>>, in this 
    case at 1:30AM each day
<2> whe name each snapshot should be given, using 
    <<date-math-index-names,date math>> to include the current date in the name
    of the snapshot
<3> the repository the snapshot should be stored in
<4> the configuration to be used for the snapshot requests (see below)
<5> which indices should be included in the snapshot, in this case, every index
<6> Optional retention configuration
<7> Keep snapshots for 30 days
<8> Always keep at least 5 successful snapshots
<9> Keep no more than 50 successful snapshots, even if they're less than 30 days old

This policy will take a snapshot of every index each day at 1:30AM UTC.
Snapshots are incremental, allowing frequent snapshots to be stored efficiently,
so don't be afraid to configure a policy to take frequent snapshots.

In addition to specifying the indices that should be included in the snapshot,
the `config` field can be used to customize other aspects of the snapshot. You
can use any option allowed in <<snapshots-take-snapshot,a regular snapshot 
request>>, so you can specify, for example, whether the snapshot should fail in
special cases, such as if one of the specified indices cannot be found.

[float]
[[slm-gs-test-policy]]
==== Test the snapshot policy

While snapshots taken by SLM policies can be viewed through the standard snapshot
API, SLM also keeps track of policy successes and failures in ways that are a bit
easier to use to make sure the policy is working.  Once a policy has executed at
least once, when you view the policy using the <<slm-api-get-policy>>, 
some metadata will be returned indicating whether the snapshot was sucessfully 
initiated or not.

Instead of waiting for our policy to run, let's tell SLM to take a snapshot
as using the configuration from our policy right now instead of waiting for
1:30AM.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
POST /_slm/policy/nightly-snapshots/_execute
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[skip:we can't easily handle snapshots from docs tests]

This request will kick off a snapshot for our policy right now, regardless of
the schedule in the policy. This is useful for taking snapshots before making 
a configuration change, upgrading, or for our purposes, making sure our policy
is going to work successfully. The policy will continue to run on its configured
schedule after this execution of the policy.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
GET /_slm/policy/nightly-snapshots?human
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

This request will return a response that includes the policy, as well as
information about the last time the policy succeeded and failed, as well as the
next time the policy will be executed.

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
  "nightly-snapshots" : {
    "version": 1,
    "modified_date": "2019-04-23T01:30:00.000Z",
    "modified_date_millis": 1556048137314,
    "policy" : {
      "schedule": "0 30 1 * * ?",
      "name": "<nightly-snap-{now/d}>",
      "repository": "my_repository",
      "config": {
        "indices": ["*"],
      },
      "retention": {
        "expire_after": "30d",
        "min_count": 5,
        "max_count": 50
      }
    },
    "last_success": { <1>
      "snapshot_name": "nightly-snap-2019.04.24-tmtnyjtrsxkhbrrdcgg18a", <2>
      "time_string": "2019-04-24T16:43:49.316Z",
      "time": 1556124229316
    } ,
    "last_failure": { <3>
      "snapshot_name": "nightly-snap-2019.04.02-lohisb5ith2n8hxacaq3mw",
      "time_string": "2019-04-02T01:30:00.000Z",
      "time": 1556042030000,
      "details": "{\"type\":\"index_not_found_exception\",\"reason\":\"no such index [important]\",\"resource.type\":\"index_or_alias\",\"resource.id\":\"important\",\"index_uuid\":\"_na_\",\"index\":\"important\",\"stack_trace\":\"[important] IndexNotFoundException[no such index [important]]\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexNameExpressionResolver$WildcardExpressionResolver.indexNotFoundException(IndexNameExpressionResolver.java:762)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexNameExpressionResolver$WildcardExpressionResolver.innerResolve(IndexNameExpressionResolver.java:714)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexNameExpressionResolver$WildcardExpressionResolver.resolve(IndexNameExpressionResolver.java:670)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexNameExpressionResolver.concreteIndices(IndexNameExpressionResolver.java:163)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexNameExpressionResolver.concreteIndexNames(IndexNameExpressionResolver.java:142)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexNameExpressionResolver.concreteIndexNames(IndexNameExpressionResolver.java:102)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.snapshots.SnapshotsService$1.execute(SnapshotsService.java:280)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterStateUpdateTask.execute(ClusterStateUpdateTask.java:47)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.MasterService.executeTasks(MasterService.java:687)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.MasterService.calculateTaskOutputs(MasterService.java:310)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.MasterService.runTasks(MasterService.java:210)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.MasterService$Batcher.run(MasterService.java:142)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.TaskBatcher.runIfNotProcessed(TaskBatcher.java:150)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.TaskBatcher$BatchedTask.run(TaskBatcher.java:188)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext$ContextPreservingRunnable.run(ThreadContext.java:688)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.PrioritizedEsThreadPoolExecutor$TieBreakingPrioritizedRunnable.runAndClean(PrioritizedEsThreadPoolExecutor.java:252)\\n\\tat org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.PrioritizedEsThreadPoolExecutor$TieBreakingPrioritizedRunnable.run(PrioritizedEsThreadPoolExecutor.java:215)\\n\\tat java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1128)\\n\\tat java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:628)\\n\\tat java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:834)\\n\"}"
    } ,
    "next_execution": "2019-04-24T01:30:00.000Z", <4>
    "next_execution_millis": 1556048160000
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE[skip:the presence of last_failure and last_success is asynchronous and will be present for users, but is untestable]

<1> information about the last time the policy successfully initated a snapshot
<2> the name of the snapshot that was successfully initiated
<3> information about the last time the policy failed to initiate a snapshot
<4> the is the next time the policy will execute

NOTE: This metadata only indicates whether the request to initiate the snapshot was
made successfully or not - after the snapshot has been successfully started, it
is possible for the snapshot to fail if, for example, the connection to a remote
repository is lost while copying files.

If you're following along, the returned SLM policy shouldn't have a `last_failure`
field - it's included above only as an example. You should, however, see a 
`last_success` field and a snapshot name. If you do, you've successfully taken
your first snapshot using SLM!

While only the most recent sucess and failure are available through the Get Policy 
API, all policy executions are recorded to a history index, which may be queried
by searching the index pattern `.slm-history*`.

That's it! We have our first SLM policy set up to periodically take snapshots
so that our backups are always up to date. You can read more details in the 
<<snapshot-lifecycle-management-api,SLM API documentation>> and the
<<modules-snapshots,general snapshot documentation.>>