Open / Close Index API

The open and close index APIs allow to close an index, and later on opening it. A closed index has almost no overhead on the cluster (except for maintaining its metadata), and is blocked for read/write operations. A closed index can be opened which will then go through the normal recovery process.

The REST endpoint is /{index}/_close and /{index}/_open. For example:

POST /my_index/_close

POST /my_index/_open

It is possible to open and close multiple indices. An error will be thrown if the request explicitly refers to a missing index. This behaviour can be disabled using the ignore_unavailable=true parameter.

All indices can be opened or closed at once using _all as the index name or specifying patterns that identify them all (e.g. *).

Identifying indices via wildcards or _all can be disabled by setting the action.destructive_requires_name flag in the config file to true. This setting can also be changed via the cluster update settings api.

Closed indices consume a significant amount of disk-space which can cause problems in managed environments. Closing indices can be disabled via the cluster settings API by setting cluster.indices.close.enable to false. The default is true.