WARNING: Version 6.0 of Elasticsearch has passed its EOL date.

This documentation is no longer being maintained and may be removed. If you are running this version, we strongly advise you to upgrade. For the latest information, see the current release documentation.

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Install Elasticsearch with .zip on Windows

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Install Elasticsearch with `.zip` on Windows

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Elasticsearch can be installed on Windows using the .zip package. This comes with a elasticsearch-service.bat command which will setup Elasticsearch to run as a service.

Elasticsearch has historically been installed on Windows using the .zip archive. An MSI installer package is available that provides the easiest getting started experience for Windows. You can continue using the .zip approach if you prefer.

The latest stable version of Elasticsearch can be found on the Download Elasticsearch page. Other versions can be found on the Past Releases page.

Elasticsearch requires Java 8. Use the official Oracle distribution or an open-source distribution such as OpenJDK.

Download and install the `.zip` package

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Download the .zip archive for Elasticsearch v6.0.1 from: https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-6.0.1.zip

Unzip it with your favourite unzip tool. This will create a folder called elasticsearch-6.0.1, which we will refer to as %ES_HOME%. In a terminal window, cd to the %ES_HOME% directory, for instance:

cd c:\elasticsearch-6.0.1

Running Elasticsearch from the command line

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Elasticsearch can be started from the command line as follows:

.\bin\elasticsearch.bat

By default, Elasticsearch runs in the foreground, prints its logs to STDOUT, and can be stopped by pressing Ctrl-C.

Configuring Elasticsearch on the command line

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Elasticsearch loads its configuration from the %ES_HOME%\config\elasticsearch.yml file by default. The format of this config file is explained in Configuring Elasticsearch.

Any settings that can be specified in the config file can also be specified on the command line, using the -E syntax as follows:

.\bin\elasticsearch.bat -Ecluster.name=my_cluster -Enode.name=node_1

Values that contain spaces must be surrounded with quotes. For instance -Epath.logs="C:\My Logs\logs".

Typically, any cluster-wide settings (like cluster.name) should be added to the elasticsearch.yml config file, while any node-specific settings such as node.name could be specified on the command line.

Checking that Elasticsearch is running

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You can test that your Elasticsearch node is running by sending an HTTP request to port 9200 on localhost:

GET /

which should give you a response something like this:

{
  "name" : "Cp8oag6",
  "cluster_name" : "elasticsearch",
  "cluster_uuid" : "AT69_T_DTp-1qgIJlatQqA",
  "version" : {
    "number" : "6.0.1",
    "build_hash" : "f27399d",
    "build_date" : "2016-03-30T09:51:41.449Z",
    "build_snapshot" : false,
    "lucene_version" : "7.0.1",
    "minimum_wire_compatibility_version" : "1.2.3",
    "minimum_index_compatibility_version" : "1.2.3"
  },
  "tagline" : "You Know, for Search"
}

Installing Elasticsearch as a Service on Windows

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Elasticsearch can be installed as a service to run in the background or start automatically at boot time without any user interaction. This can be achieved through the elasticsearch-service.bat script in the bin\ folder which allows one to install, remove, manage or configure the service and potentially start and stop the service, all from the command-line.

c:\elasticsearch-6.0.1\bin>elasticsearch-service.bat

Usage: elasticsearch-service.bat install|remove|start|stop|manager [SERVICE_ID]

The script requires one parameter (the command to execute) followed by an optional one indicating the service id (useful when installing multiple Elasticsearch services).

The commands available are:

`install`	Install Elasticsearch as a service
`remove`	Remove the installed Elasticsearch service (and stop the service if started)
`start`	Start the Elasticsearch service (if installed)
`stop`	Stop the Elasticsearch service (if started)
`manager`	Start a GUI for managing the installed service

The name of the service and the value of JAVA_HOME will be made available during install:

c:\elasticsearch-6.0.1\bin>elasticsearch-service.bat install
Installing service      :  "elasticsearch-service-x64"
Using JAVA_HOME (64-bit):  "c:\jvm\jdk1.8"
The service 'elasticsearch-service-x64' has been installed.

While a JRE can be used for the Elasticsearch service, due to its use of a client VM (as opposed to a server JVM which offers better performance for long-running applications) its usage is discouraged and a warning will be issued.

The system environment variable JAVA_HOME should be set to the path to the JDK installation that you want the service to use. If you upgrade the JDK, you are not required to the reinstall the service but you must set the value of the system environment variable JAVA_HOME to the path to the new JDK installation. However, upgrading across JVM types (e.g. JRE versus SE) is not supported, and does require the service to be reinstalled.

Customizing service settings

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The Elasticsearch service can be configured prior to installation by setting the following environment variables (either using the set command from the command line, or through the System Properties->Environment Variables GUI).

`SERVICE_ID`	A unique identifier for the service. Useful if installing multiple instances on the same machine. Defaults to `elasticsearch-service-x64`.
`SERVICE_USERNAME`	The user to run as, defaults to the local system account.
`SERVICE_PASSWORD`	The password for the user specified in `%SERVICE_USERNAME%`.
`SERVICE_DISPLAY_NAME`	The name of the service. Defaults to `Elasticsearch <version> %SERVICE_ID%`.
`SERVICE_DESCRIPTION`	The description of the service. Defaults to `Elasticsearch <version> Windows Service - https://elastic.co`.
`JAVA_HOME`	The installation directory of the desired JVM to run the service under.
`SERVICE_LOG_DIR`	Service log directory, defaults to `%ES_HOME%\logs`. Note that this does not control the path for the Elasticsearch logs; the path for these is set via the setting `path.logs` in the `elasticsearch.yml` configuration file, or on the command line.
`ES_PATH_CONF`	Configuration file directory (which needs to include `elasticsearch.yml`, `jvm.options`, and `log4j2.properties` files), defaults to `%ES_HOME%\config`.
`ES_JAVA_OPTS`	Any additional JVM system properties you may want to apply.
`ES_START_TYPE`	Startup mode for the service. Can be either `auto` or `manual` (default).
`ES_STOP_TIMEOUT`	The timeout in seconds that procrun waits for service to exit gracefully. Defaults to `0`.

At its core, elasticsearch-service.bat relies on Apache Commons Daemon project to install the service. Environment variables set prior to the service installation are copied and will be used during the service lifecycle. This means any changes made to them after the installation will not be picked up unless the service is reinstalled.

On Windows, the heap size can be configured as for any other Elasticsearch installation when running Elasticsearch from the command line, or when installing Elasticsearch as a service for the first time. To adjust the heap size for an already installed service, use the service manager: bin\elasticsearch-service.bat manager.

Using the Manager GUI: It is also possible to configure the service after it’s been installed using the manager GUI (elasticsearch-service-mgr.exe), which offers insight into the installed service, including its status, startup type, JVM, start and stop settings amongst other things. Simply invoking elasticsearch-service.bat manager from the command-line will open up the manager window:

Most changes (like JVM settings) made through the manager GUI will require a restart of the service in order to take affect.

Directory layout of `.zip` archive

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The .zip package is entirely self-contained. All files and directories are, by default, contained within %ES_HOME% — the directory created when unpacking the archive.

This is very convenient because you don’t have to create any directories to start using Elasticsearch, and uninstalling Elasticsearch is as easy as removing the %ES_HOME% directory. However, it is advisable to change the default locations of the config directory, the data directory, and the logs directory so that you do not delete important data later on.

Type	Description	Default Location	Setting
home	Elasticsearch home directory or `%ES_HOME%`	Directory created by unpacking the archive
bin	Binary scripts including `elasticsearch` to start a node and `elasticsearch-plugin` to install plugins	`%ES_HOME%\bin`
conf	Configuration files including `elasticsearch.yml`	`%ES_HOME%\config`	`ES_PATH_CONF`
data	The location of the data files of each index / shard allocated on the node. Can hold multiple locations.	`%ES_HOME%\data`	`path.data`
logs	Log files location.	`%ES_HOME%\logs`	`path.logs`
plugins	Plugin files location. Each plugin will be contained in a subdirectory.	`%ES_HOME%\plugins`
repo	Shared file system repository locations. Can hold multiple locations. A file system repository can be placed in to any subdirectory of any directory specified here.	Not configured	`path.repo`
script	Location of script files.	`%ES_HOME%\scripts`	`path.scripts`

Next steps

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You now have a test Elasticsearch environment set up. Before you start serious development or go into production with Elasticsearch, you will need to do some additional setup:

Learn how to configure Elasticsearch.
Configure important Elasticsearch settings.
Configure important system settings.

« Install Elasticsearch with .zip or .tar.gz Install Elasticsearch with Debian Package »

Install Elasticsearch with .zip on Windows

Install Elasticsearch with .zip on Windows

Download and install the .zip package

Running Elasticsearch from the command line

Configuring Elasticsearch on the command line

Checking that Elasticsearch is running

Installing Elasticsearch as a Service on Windows

Customizing service settings

Directory layout of .zip archive

Next steps

Install Elasticsearch with `.zip` on Windows

Download and install the `.zip` package

Directory layout of `.zip` archive