Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Elastic Cloud Serverless projects

The following FAQ addresses common questions about using Elastic Cloud Serverless projects.

For information about upcoming features, refer to our roadmap.

Q: Where can I learn about pricing for Serverless?
A: See pricing information for Elasticsearch Serverless, Elasticsearch Vector Database, Observability, and Elastic Security Serverless.

Q: What Cloud regions does Elastic Cloud Serverless support?
A: Elastic Cloud Serverless is available in select AWS, GCP, and Azure regions, with plans to expand to more regions. For more information, refer to Serverless regions.

Q: How can I move data to or from Serverless projects?
A: You can use Reindex from remote as the preferred option. You can also use Logstash with Elasticsearch input and output plugins to move data to and from Serverless projects.

Q: Can I request backups or restores for my serverless projects?
A: On-demand project backups or restores are currently unavailable. User-initiated data recovery is anticipated in a future release. You can follow its progress by referring to the public roadmap.

Q: How can I create Elastic Cloud Serverless service accounts?
A: Create API keys for service accounts in your Serverless projects. You can create them in Kibana, with the Elasticsearch API, or as code with Terraform. Refer to Serverless project API keys for details.

Q: Can I configure Elasticsearch authentication realms (for example, native realm) in Serverless projects?
A: No. Serverless uses a different authentication model and does not support Elasticsearch authentication realms. Project-level access is handled through Serverless project API keys, and user authentication is managed at the Elastic Cloud organization level (including SAML SSO).

Q: What compliance and privacy standards does Elastic Cloud Serverless adhere to?
A: Alongside the entire Elastic platform, Elastic Cloud Serverless is independently audited and certified to meet industry-leading compliance and privacy standards. Refer to the Elastic Trust Center for more information. Further details about specific standards are available on our roadmap.

Q: What domains do I need to allow for browser access to Kibana in Serverless projects?
A: In addition to the standard Elastic Cloud endpoints, ensure users can access kibana.estccdn.com, which is required to load Kibana. If this domain is blocked, Kibana might appear as a blank page. Refer to Browser access requirements for more information.

Q: How does Elastic Cloud Serverless ensure compatibility between software versions?
A: Connections and configurations are unaffected by upgrades. To ensure compatibility between software versions, quality testing and API versioning are used.

Q: Can I convert a Elastic Cloud Serverless project into an Elastic Cloud Hosted deployment, or a hosted deployment into a Serverless project?
A: No, you cannot convert, because projects and deployments are based on different architectures.

Q: Can I convert a Serverless project into a project of a different type?
A: No, you cannot convert your project to a different project type, but you can create as many projects as you’d like.

Q: How do I raise a support case for Elastic Cloud Serverless?
A: Raise a case for your subscription as you do today. In the body of the case, mention you are working with a Serverless project to ensure appropriate support.

Q: Why does the GET / root API return a version number that differs from the current Elasticsearch release?

Serverless is versionless and continuously updated. The GET / root API always reports the next target Elasticsearch release version at the time of the request. This value exists for client compatibility only and does not indicate which features are available in your project. Use build_flavor: serverless to confirm you are working with a Serverless project rather than relying on the version number.