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Version: v2025.5.0

OpenSearch installation

Installation procedure​

There are several ways to install OpenSearch, explained step by step in the official documentation.

Configuration​

To configure your OpenSearch instance, edit the $`OPENSEARCH_HOME`/config/opensearch.yml file as follows:

  • To define the name of the OpenSearch cluster, uncomment the cluster.name property and change its value (eg: flower-es-dev)
  • In the case of an OpenSearch cluster, uncomment the node.name property and change its value to that of your choice (e.g. node-1)
  • Add the action.auto_create_index: false property
  • If several OpenSearch nodes are deployed on the same computer, you need to change the value of the http.port property
  • To access OpenSearch from a remote server, you need to uncomment the network.host property and set one of the following values:
    • 0.0.0.0
    • DNS name
    • IP address

Security​

OpenSearch internal users are defined in the $`OPENSEARCH_HOME`/plugins/opensearch-security/securityconfig/internal_users.yml file.

Only keep the users you need, and change their passwords to avoid using default values for security reasons.

To change a user's password:

  • run command: $`OPENSEARCH_HOME`/plugins/opensearch-security/tools/hash.sh -p <new_password>
  • Replace the password hash in the $`OPENSEARCH_HOME`/plugins/opensearch-security/securityconfig/internal_users.yml file for the desired user.
  • in order for the changes to take effect, run the $`OPENSEARCH_HOME`/plugins/opensearch-security/tools/securityadmin.sh script

For more information on securing an OpenSearch instance, official documentation is available here.

Start​

Manuel​

Finally, start OpenSearch by going to the $`OPENSEARCH_HOME`/bin folder and running the opensearch script.

Service​

To install OpenSearch as a systemd service, the following file must be created in the /etc/systemd/system directory as follows:

opensearch.service
[Unit]

```properties
Description=opensearch
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]

RuntimeDirectory=opensearch
PrivateTmp=true

WorkingDirectory=$OPENSEARCH_HOME

User=${OPENSEARCH_USER}
Group=${OPENSEARCH_USER}

ExecStart=$OPENSEARCH_HOME/bin/opensearch -p $OPENSEARCH_HOME/opensearch.pid -q

StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=inherit

Specifies the maximum file descriptor number that can be opened by this process

LimitNOFILE=65536

Specifies the memory lock settings

LimitMEMLOCK=infinity

Specifies the maximum number of processes

LimitNPROC=4096

Specifies the maximum size of virtual memory

LimitAS=infinity

Specifies the maximum file size

LimitFSIZE=infinity

Disable timeout logic and wait until process is stopped

TimeoutStopSec=0

SIGTERM signal is used to stop the Java process

KillSignal=SIGTERM

Send the signal only to the JVM rather than its control group

KillMode=process

Java process is never killed

SendSIGKILL=no

When a JVM receives a SIGTERM signal it exits with code 143

SuccessExitStatus=143

[Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target

To have the service started automatically by systemd, run the following commands:

systemctl enable opensearch.service

Validation​

To check that OpenSearch is working properly, go to http://localhost:9200/.

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