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Elastic Docs ›Elasticsearch Guide [7.15] ›REST APIs ›Snapshot and restore APIs
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Create snapshot APIedit

Takes a snapshot of a cluster or specified data streams and indices.

PUT /_snapshot/my_repository/my_snapshot

Requestedit

PUT /_snapshot/<repository>/<snapshot>

POST /_snapshot/<repository>/<snapshot>

Prerequisitesedit

  • If the Elasticsearch security features are enabled, you must have the create_snapshot or manage cluster privilege to use this API.

Descriptionedit

You can use the create snapshot API to create a snapshot, which is a backup taken from a running Elasticsearch cluster.

By default, a snapshot includes all data streams and open indices in the cluster, as well as the cluster state. You can change this behavior by specifying a list of data streams and indices to back up in the body of the snapshot request.

You must register a snapshot repository before performing snapshot and restore operations. Use the create or update snapshot repository API to register new repositories and update existing ones.

The snapshot process is incremental. When creating a snapshot, Elasticsearch analyzes the list of files that are already stored in the repository and copies only files that were created or changed since the last snapshot. This process allows multiple snapshots to be preserved in the repository in a compact form.

The snapshot process is executed in non-blocking fashion, so all indexing and searching operations can run concurrently against the data stream or index that Elasticsearch is snapshotting.

A snapshot represents a point-in-time view of the moment when the snapshot was created. No records that were added to a data stream or index after the snapshot process started will be present in the snapshot.

For primary shards that have not been started and are not currently relocating, the snapshot process starts immediately. If shards are in the process of starting or relocating, Elasticsearch waits for these processes to complete before taking a snapshot.

While a snapshot of a particular shard is being created, this shard cannot be moved to another node. Relocating a shard during the snapshot process can interfere with rebalancing and allocation filtering. Elasticsearch can move a shard to another node (according to the current allocation filtering settings and rebalancing algorithm) only after the snapshot process completes.

Besides creating a copy of each data stream and index, the snapshot process can also store global cluster metadata, including persistent cluster settings and templates. The transient settings and registered snapshot repositories are not stored as part of the snapshot.

Path parametersedit

<repository>
(Required, string) Name of the snapshot repository.
<snapshot>
(Required, string) Name of the snapshot. Supports date math. Must be unique within the snapshot repository.

Query parametersedit

master_timeout
(Optional, time units) Period to wait for a connection to the master node. If no response is received before the timeout expires, the request fails and returns an error. Defaults to 30s.
wait_for_completion
(Optional, Boolean) If true, the request returns a response when the snapshot is complete. If false, the request returns a response when the snapshot initializes. Defaults to false.

Request bodyedit

expand_wildcards

(Optional, string) Determines how wildcard patterns in the indices parameter match data streams and indices. Supports comma-separated values, such as closed,hidden. Defaults to open,hidden. Valid values are:

all
Match any data stream or index, including hidden ones.
open
Match open indices and data streams.
closed
Match closed indices and data streams.
hidden
Match hidden data streams and indices. Must be combined with open, closed, or both.
none
Don’t expand wildcard patterns.
ignore_unavailable
(Optional, Boolean) If false, the snapshot fails if any data stream or index in indices is missing or closed. If true, the snapshot ignores missing or closed data streams and indices. Defaults to false.
include_global_state

(Optional, Boolean) If true, include the cluster state in the snapshot. Defaults to true. The cluster state includes:

indices

(Optional, string or array of strings) Comma-separated list of data streams and indices to include in the snapshot. Supports multi-index syntax. Defaults to an empty array ([]), which includes all data streams and indices, including system indices.

To exclude all data streams and indices, use -*.

feature_states

(Optional, array of strings) Feature states to include in the snapshot. To get a list of possible feature state values and their descriptions, use the get features API. Each feature state includes one or more system indices.

If include_global_state is true, the snapshot includes all feature states by default. If include_global_state is false, the snapshot includes no feature states by default.

To exclude all feature states, regardless of the include_global_state value, specify an empty array ([]) or none.

metadata
(Optional, object) Attaches arbitrary metadata to the snapshot, such as a record of who took the snapshot, why it was taken, or any other useful data. Metadata must be less than 1024 bytes.
partial

(Optional, Boolean) If false, the entire snapshot will fail if one or more indices included in the snapshot do not have all primary shards available. Defaults to false.

If true, allows taking a partial snapshot of indices with unavailable shards.

Examplesedit

The following request takes a snapshot of index_1 and index_2.

PUT /_snapshot/my_repository/snapshot_2?wait_for_completion=true
{
  "indices": "index_1,index_2",
  "ignore_unavailable": true,
  "include_global_state": false,
  "metadata": {
    "taken_by": "user123",
    "taken_because": "backup before upgrading"
  }
}

The API returns the following response:

{
  "snapshot": {
    "snapshot": "snapshot_2",
    "uuid": "vdRctLCxSketdKb54xw67g",
    "repository": "my_repository",
    "version_id": <version_id>,
    "version": <version>,
    "indices": [],
    "data_streams": [],
    "feature_states": [],
    "include_global_state": false,
    "metadata": {
      "taken_by": "user123",
      "taken_because": "backup before upgrading"
    },
    "state": "SUCCESS",
    "start_time": "2020-06-25T14:00:28.850Z",
    "start_time_in_millis": 1593093628850,
    "end_time": "2020-06-25T14:00:28.850Z",
    "end_time_in_millis": 1593094752018,
    "duration_in_millis": 0,
    "failures": [],
    "shards": {
      "total": 0,
      "failed": 0,
      "successful": 0
    }
  }
}
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