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Index Not Found

Severity: High
Elasticsearch Version: 8.5.0

Problem

Elasticsearch returns index_not_found_exception when queries or writes target a missing index

Root Cause

Target index does not exist or has been deleted

How to Detect

Symptoms

  • Receiving index_not_found_exception errors in logs
  • Failed search or write operations with index_not_found_exception
  • Monitoring alerts indicating missing indices

Commands

GET /_cat/indices?v
HEAD /your_index_name
GET /your_index_name

Remediation Steps

  1. Verify index existence with GET /_cat/indices?v
  2. Recreate missing index using PUT /your_index_name
  3. Restore index data from snapshot if available
  4. Update application configuration to ensure index creation before use

Prevention

  • Implement index existence checks before queries
  • Use index templates to automatically create indices
  • Automate index creation during deployment or startup scripts
  • Configure alerts for missing indices

Production Example

curl -XPUT 'http://localhost:9200/your_index_name' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d'{"settings": {"number_of_shards": 1, "number_of_replicas": 1}}'
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