Use the CCR feature to migrate data

Background information

To use CCR, you must prepare two types of clusters: local clusters and remote clusters. Remote clusters provide source data, which is stored in leader indexes. Local clusters replicate the data and store it in follower indexes. You can also use CCR to migrate large volumes of data at a time in real time. For more information, see Cross-cluster replication.

Limits

• You cannot reindex, search for, or replicate data between an Elasticsearch cluster deployed in the original network architecture and an Elasticsearch cluster deployed in the new network architecture. If you want to reindex, search for, or replicate data between clusters, make sure that the clusters are deployed in the same network architecture.
  Note

  • The network architecture of Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch was adjusted in October 2020. Elasticsearch clusters that are created before October 2020 are deployed in the original network architecture. Elasticsearch clusters that are created in October 2020 or later are deployed in the new network architecture.
  • The time when the network architecture in the China (Zhangjiakou) region and the regions outside China was adjusted is uncertain. If you want to perform the preceding operations between a cluster created before October 2020 and a cluster created in October 2020 or later in such a region, submit a ticket to contact Alibaba Cloud technical support to check whether the clusters are deployed in the same network architecture.
• For Elasticsearch clusters that are deployed in the original network architecture, only single-zone Elasticsearch clusters of V6.7.0 or later support the CCR feature. For Elasticsearch clusters that are deployed in the new network architecture, both single-zone and multi-zone Elasticsearch clusters of V6.7.0 or later support the CCR feature.

Procedure

1. Preparations
   Prepare a local cluster, a remote cluster, and a leader index.
2. Step 1: Connect clusters
   Connect the remote cluster to the local cluster.
3. Step 2: Add the remote cluster
   In the Kibana console of the local cluster, add the remote cluster.
4. Step 3: Configure CCR
   In the Kibana console of the local cluster, configure the leader index and a follower index.
5. Step 4: View migration results
   Insert data into the remote cluster. Then, verify the data migration on the local cluster.

Preparations

1. Create a local cluster and a remote cluster.
   For more information, see Create an Alibaba Cloud Elasticsearch cluster. The two clusters must be of the same version (V6.7.0 or later) and belong to the same virtual private cloud (VPC) and vSwitch.
2. Log on to the Kibana console of the remote cluster. In the left-side navigation pane, click Dev Tools.
   For more information about how to log on to the Kibana console, see Log on to the Kibana console.

   Note In this example, an Elasticsearch V6.7.0 cluster is used as the remote cluster. Operations on clusters of other versions may differ. The actual operations in the console prevail.
3. On the Console tab of the page that appears, run the following command to create a leader index.
   Notice

   • If you create an index in an Elasticsearch cluster of V7.0 or earlier, you must enable the soft_deletes attribute for the index. Otherwise, an error is reported. You can run the GET /<yourIndexName>/_settings?pretty command to check whether the soft_deletes attribute is enabled. If the soft_deletes attribute is enabled, you can view the configuration of the soft_deletes attribute in the command output.
   • If you want to migrate data in an existing index, you can call the reindex API to enable the soft_deletes attribute.

   PUT myindex
   {
     "settings": {
       "index.soft_deletes.retention.operations": 1024,
       "index.soft_deletes.enabled": true
     }
   }

4. Disable the physical replication feature for the leader index.
   The physical replication feature is automatically enabled for indexes in Elasticsearch V6.7.0 clusters. Before you use CCR, you must disable the physical replication feature.
   1. Disable the index.

      POST myindex/_close

   2. Update the settings configuration of the index to disable the physical replication feature.

      PUT myindex/_settings
      {
      "index.replication.type" : null
      }

   3. Enable the index.

      POST myindex/_open

Step 1: Connect clusters

Configure the remote cluster to connect it to the local cluster. For more information, see Connect two Elasticsearch clusters. If the two clusters are connected, the information shown in the following figure appears.

Step 2: Add the remote cluster

1. Log on to the Kibana console of the local cluster.
2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Management.
3. In the Elasticsearch section, click Remote Clusters.
4. Click Add a remote cluster.
5. In the Add remote cluster section, configure the parameters.
   

   • Name: the name of the remote cluster. The name must be unique.
   • Seed nodes: the nodes in the remote cluster. Specify each node in the format of Node IP address:9300. To obtain the IP addresses of nodes, log on to the Kibana console of the remote cluster and run the GET /_cat/nodes?v command on the Console tab of the Dev Tools page. The nodes you specify must include a dedicated master node of the remote cluster. We recommend that you specify multiple nodes. This ensures that you can still use CCR if the specified dedicated master node fails.
     Notice During CCR, Kibana uses the IP addresses of data nodes to access clusters over TCP port 9300. HTTP port 9200 is not supported.
6. Click Save.
   Then, the system connects the remote cluster to the local cluster. If the remote cluster is connected to the local cluster, Connected appears.

Step 3: Configure CCR

1. Log on to the Kibana console of the local cluster. In the left-side navigation pane, click Management. In the Elasticsearch section of the page that appears, click Cross Cluster Replication.
2. On the Follower indices tab, click Create a follower index.
3. In the Add follower index section, configure the parameters.
   

   Parameter	Description
   Remote cluster	Select the cluster you added in Step 2: Add the remote cluster.
   Leader index	The index whose data you want to migrate. In this example, the myindex index that is created in Preparations is used.
   Follower index	The index to which you want to migrate data. You must specify a unique index name.

4. Click Create.
   After the follower index is created, the index is in the Active state.

Step 4: View migration results

1. In the Kibana console of the remote cluster, run the following command to insert data into the remote cluster:

   POST myindex/_doc/
   {
     "name":"Jack",
     "age":40
   }

2. In the Kibana console of the local cluster, run the following command to check whether the inserted data is migrated to the local cluster:

   GET myindex_follow/_search

   If the command is successfully run, the result shown in the following figure is returned.

   The preceding figure shows that data in the leader index myindex of the remote cluster is migrated to the follower index myindex_follow of the local cluster.

   Notice The follower index myindex_follow is read-only. If you want to write data to the follower index, convert the follower index into a common index first. For more information, see Use Elasticsearch CCR to migrate data across data centers.
3. Insert a document into the remote cluster and check whether the document is migrated to the local cluster in real time.

   POST myindex/_doc/
   {
     "name":"Pony",
     "age":50
   }

   Query the inserted document in the local cluster. The following figure shows the document.

   The preceding figure shows that the CCR feature can implement real-time migration of incremental data.

   Note You can also call the APIs for the CCR feature to perform cross-cluster replication operations. For more information, see Cross-cluster replication APIs.

FAQ

Q: I can use port 9300 to add a remote cluster. Why is only port 9200 accessible when I use a domain name to access an Elasticsearch cluster?

A: Port 9300 is an open port. However, when you access a cluster over the Internet, Server Load Balancer (SLB) enables only port 9200 during port verification for security purposes.