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Update version of Elasticsearch
This guide will show you how to use KubeDB Ops-manager operator to update the version of Elasticsearch Combined or Topology cluster.
Before You Begin
At first, you need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the
kubectlcommand-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. If you do not already have a cluster, you can create one by using kind.Install
KubeDBProvisioner and Ops-manager operator in your cluster following the steps here.You should be familiar with the following
KubeDBconcepts:
To keep everything isolated, we are going to use a separate namespace called demo throughout this tutorial.
$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created
Note: YAML files used in this tutorial are stored in docs/examples/elasticsearch directory of kubedb/docs repository.
Prepare Elasticsearch
Now, we are going to deploy a Elasticsearch replicaset database with version xpack-9.1.3.
Deploy Elasticsearch
In this section, we are going to deploy a Elasticsearch topology cluster. Then, in the next section we will update the version using ElasticsearchOpsRequest CRD. Below is the YAML of the Elasticsearch CR that we are going to create,
apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1
kind: Elasticsearch
metadata:
name: es-demo
namespace: demo
spec:
deletionPolicy: Delete
enableSSL: true
replicas: 3
storage:
accessModes:
- ReadWriteOnce
resources:
requests:
storage: 1Gi
storageClassName: standard
storageType: Durable
version: xpack-9.1.3
Let’s create the Elasticsearch CR we have shown above,
$ kubectl create -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2026.2.21-rc.1/docs/examples/elasticsearch/update-version/Elasticsearch.yaml
Elasticsearch.kubedb.com/es-demo created
Now, wait until es-demo created has status Ready. i.e,
$ kubectl get es -n demo
NAME VERSION STATUS AGE
es-demo xpack-9.1.3 Ready 9m10s
We are now ready to apply the ElasticsearchOpsRequest CR to update.
update Elasticsearch Version
Here, we are going to update Elasticsearch from xpack-9.1.3 to xpack-9.1.4.
Create ElasticsearchOpsRequest:
In order to update the version, we have to create a ElasticsearchOpsRequest CR with your desired version that is supported by KubeDB. Below is the YAML of the ElasticsearchOpsRequest CR that we are going to create,
apiVersion: ops.kubedb.com/v1alpha1
kind: ElasticsearchOpsRequest
metadata:
name: es-demo-update
namespace: demo
spec:
type: UpdateVersion
databaseRef:
name: es-demo
updateVersion:
targetVersion: xpack-9.1.4
Here,
spec.databaseRef.namespecifies that we are performing operation ones-demoElasticsearch.spec.typespecifies that we are going to performUpdateVersionon our database.spec.updateVersion.targetVersionspecifies the expected version of the databasexpack-9.1.4.
Note: If you want to update combined Elasticsearch, you just refer to the
Elasticsearchcombined object name inspec.databaseRef.name. To create a combined Elasticsearch, you can refer to the Elasticsearch Combined guide.
Let’s create the ElasticsearchOpsRequest CR we have shown above,
$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2026.2.21-rc.1/docs/examples/elasticsearch/update-version/update-version.yaml
Elasticsearchopsrequest.ops.kubedb.com/Elasticsearch-update-version created
Verify Elasticsearch version updated successfully
If everything goes well, KubeDB Ops-manager operator will update the image of Elasticsearch object and related PetSets and Pods.
Let’s wait for ElasticsearchOpsRequest to be Successful. Run the following command to watch ElasticsearchOpsRequest CR,
$ kubectl get Elasticsearchopsrequest -n demo
NAME TYPE STATUS AGE
Elasticsearch-update-version UpdateVersion Successful 2m6s
We can see from the above output that the ElasticsearchOpsRequest has succeeded. If we describe the ElasticsearchOpsRequest we will get an overview of the steps that were followed to update the database version.
$ kubectl describe Elasticsearchopsrequest -n demo es-demo-update
Name: es-demo-update
Namespace: demo
Labels: <none>
Annotations: <none>
API Version: ops.kubedb.com/v1alpha1
Kind: ElasticsearchOpsRequest
Metadata:
Creation Timestamp: 2025-11-06T05:19:15Z
Generation: 1
Resource Version: 609353
UID: 722d8557-a6c6-4412-87d4-61faee8a3be2
Spec:
Apply: IfReady
Database Ref:
Name: es-demo
Type: UpdateVersion
Update Version:
Target Version: xpack-9.1.4
Status:
Conditions:
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:19:15Z
Message: Elasticsearch ops request is updating database version
Observed Generation: 1
Reason: UpdateVersion
Status: True
Type: UpdateVersion
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:19:18Z
Message: Successfully updated PetSets
Observed Generation: 1
Reason: UpdatePetSets
Status: True
Type: UpdatePetSets
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:19:23Z
Message: pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: PodExists--es-demo-0
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:19:23Z
Message: create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: CreateEsClient--es-demo-0
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:19:23Z
Message: disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: DisableShardAllocation--es-demo-0
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:19:23Z
Message: evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: EvictPod--es-demo-0
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:21:03Z
Message: create es client; ConditionStatus:True
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: CreateEsClient
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:19:58Z
Message: re enable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: ReEnableShardAllocation
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:03Z
Message: pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: PodExists--es-demo-1
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:03Z
Message: create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: CreateEsClient--es-demo-1
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:03Z
Message: disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: DisableShardAllocation--es-demo-1
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:03Z
Message: evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: EvictPod--es-demo-1
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:33Z
Message: pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: PodExists--es-demo-2
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:33Z
Message: create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: CreateEsClient--es-demo-2
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:33Z
Message: disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: DisableShardAllocation--es-demo-2
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:20:33Z
Message: evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Observed Generation: 1
Status: True
Type: EvictPod--es-demo-2
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:21:08Z
Message: Successfully updated all nodes
Observed Generation: 1
Reason: RestartPods
Status: True
Type: RestartPods
Last Transition Time: 2025-11-06T05:21:08Z
Message: Successfully completed the modification process.
Observed Generation: 1
Reason: Successful
Status: True
Type: Successful
Observed Generation: 1
Phase: Successful
Events:
Type Reason Age From Message
---- ------ ---- ---- -------
Normal PauseDatabase 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator Pausing Elasticsearch demo/es-demo
Warning pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Warning disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Warning evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-0
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:False 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:False
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:True 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:True
Warning re enable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator re enable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True
Warning pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Warning disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Warning evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-1
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:False 29m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:False
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:True 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:True
Warning re enable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator re enable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True
Warning pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator pod exists; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Warning disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator disable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Warning evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator evict pod; ConditionStatus:True; PodName:es-demo-2
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:False 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:False
Warning create es client; ConditionStatus:True 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator create es client; ConditionStatus:True
Warning re enable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator re enable shard allocation; ConditionStatus:True
Normal RestartPods 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator Successfully updated all nodes
Normal ResumeDatabase 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator Resuming Elasticsearch
Normal ResumeDatabase 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator Resuming Elasticsearch demo/es-demo
Normal ResumeDatabase 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator Successfully resumed Elasticsearch demo/es-demo
Normal Successful 28m KubeDB Ops-manager Operator Successfully Updated Database
Now, we are going to verify whether the Elasticsearch and the related PetSets and their Pods have the new version image. Let’s check,
$ kubectl get es -n demo es-demo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.version}{"\n"}'
xpack-9.1.4
$ kubectl get petset -n demo es-demo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}{"\n"}'
ghcr.io/appscode-images/elastic:9.1.4@sha256:e0b89e3ace47308fa5fa842823bc622add3733e47c1067cd1e6afed2cfd317ca
$ kubectl get pods -n demo es-demo-0 -o=jsonpath='{.spec.containers[0].image}{"\n"}'
ghcr.io/appscode-images/elastic:9.1.4
You can see from above, our Elasticsearch has been updated with the new version. So, the updateVersion process is successfully completed.
NOTE: If you want to update Opensearch, you can follow the same steps as above but using
ElasticsearchOpsRequestCRD. You can visit OpenSearch guide for more details.
Cleaning Up
To clean up the Kubernetes resources created by this tutorial, run:
kubectl delete Elasticsearchopsrequest -n demo es-demo-update
kubectl delete es -n demo es-demo
kubectl delete ns demo
Next Steps
- Detail concepts of Elasticsearch object.
- Detail concepts of ElasticsearchOpsRequest object.
- Detailed concept of Elasticesearch Version.
- Want to hack on KubeDB? Check our contribution guidelines.