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SQL CLI

Elasticsearch ships with a script to run the SQL CLI in its bin directory:

$ ./bin/elasticsearch-sql-cli

You can pass the URL of the Elasticsearch instance to connect to as the first parameter:

$ ./bin/elasticsearch-sql-cli https://some.server:9200

If security is enabled on your cluster, you can pass the username and password in the form username:password@host_name:port to the SQL CLI:

$ ./bin/elasticsearch-sql-cli https://sql_user:strongpassword@some.server:9200

Once the CLI is running you can use any query that Elasticsearch supports:

sql> SELECT * FROM library WHERE page_count > 500 ORDER BY page_count DESC;
     author      |        name        |  page_count   | release_date
-----------------+--------------------+---------------+---------------
Peter F. Hamilton|Pandora's Star      |768            |1078185600000
Vernor Vinge     |A Fire Upon the Deep|613            |707356800000
Frank Herbert    |Dune                |604            |-144720000000
Alastair Reynolds|Revelation Space    |585            |953078400000
James S.A. Corey |Leviathan Wakes     |561            |1306972800000

The jar containing the SQL CLI is a stand alone Java application and the scripts just launch it. You can move it around to other machines without having to install Elasticsearch on them. Without the already provided script files, you can use a command similar to the following to start the SQL CLI:

$ ./java -jar [PATH_TO_CLI_JAR]/elasticsearch-sql-cli-[VERSION].jar https://some.server:9200

$ ./java -cp [PATH_TO_CLI_JAR]/elasticsearch-sql-cli-[VERSION].jar org.elasticsearch.xpack.sql.cli.Cli https://some.server:9200

The jar name will be different for each Elasticsearch version (for example elasticsearch-sql-cli-7.3.2.jar), thus the generic VERSION specified in the example above. Furthermore, if not running the command from the folder where the SQL CLI jar resides, you’d have to provide the full path, as well.

CLI commands

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Apart from SQL queries, CLI can also execute some specific commands:

allow_partial_search_results = <boolean> (default false): If true, returns partial results if there are shard request timeouts or shard failures. If false, returns an error with no partial results.

sql> allow_partial_search_results = true;
allow_partial_search_results set to true

fetch_size = <number> (default 1000): Allows to change the size of fetches for query execution. Each fetch is delimited by fetch separator (if explicitly set).

sql> fetch_size = 2000;
fetch size set to 2000

fetch_separator = <string> (empty string by default): Allows to change the separator string between fetches.

sql> fetch_separator = "---------------------";
fetch separator set to "---------------------"

lenient = <boolean> (default false): If false, Elasticsearch SQL returns an error for fields containing array values. If true, Elasticsearch SQL returns the first value from the array with no guarantee of consistent results.

sql> lenient = true;
lenient set to true

info: Returns server information.

sql> info;
Node:mynode Cluster:elasticsearch Version:8.3

exit: Closes the CLI.

sql> exit;
Bye!

cls: Clears the screen.

sql> cls;

logo: Prints Elastic logo.

sql> logo;

                       asticElasticE
                     ElasticE  sticEla
          sticEl  ticEl            Elast
        lasti Elasti                   tic
      cEl       ast                     icE
     icE        as                       cEl
     icE        as                       cEl
     icEla     las                        El
   sticElasticElast                     icElas
 las           last                    ticElast
El              asti                 asti    stic
El              asticEla           Elas        icE
El            Elas  cElasticE   ticEl           cE
Ela        ticEl         ticElasti              cE
 las     astic               last              icE
   sticElas                   asti           stic
     icEl                      sticElasticElast
     icE                       sticE   ticEla
     icE                       sti       cEla
     icEl                      sti        Ela
      cEl                      sti       cEl
       Ela                    astic    ticE
         asti               ElasticElasti
           ticElasti  lasticElas
              ElasticElast

                       SQL
                      8.3.0

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