# Migrating from Elasticsearch

 

This is a guide for how to move data from Elasticsearch to Vespa. By the end of this guide you will have exported documents from Elasticsearch, generated a deployable Vespa application package and tested this with documents and queries.

**Prerequisites:**

- Linux, macOS or Windows 10 Pro on x86\_64 or arm64, with [Podman Desktop](https://podman.io/) or [Docker Desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/) installed, with an engine running. 
  - Alternatively, start the Podman daemon:
```
$ podman machine init --memory 6000
$ podman machine start
```
  - See [Docker Containers](/en/operations/self-managed/docker-containers.html) for system limits and other settings.

- For CPUs older than Haswell (2013), see [CPU Support](/en/cpu-support.html).
- Memory: Minimum RAM dedicated to Docker/Podman. [Memory recommendations](/en/operations/self-managed/node-setup.html#memory-settings). 
- Disk: Avoid `NO_SPACE` - the vespaengine/vespa container image + headroom for data requires disk space. [Read more](/en/writing/feed-block.html). 
- [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) to install the [Vespa CLI](/en/clients/vespa-cli.html), or download the Vespa CLI from [Github releases](https://github.com/vespa-engine/vespa/releases). 
- Linux, macOS or Windows 10 Pro on x86\_64 or arm64, with Podman or [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/) installed. See [Docker Containers](../operations/self-managed/docker-containers.html) for system limits and other settings.

To get started, [sign up](https://vespa.ai/free-trial/) to get an endpoint to deploy to. Set the _tenant name_ from the signup:

```
$ export TENANT_NAME=vespa-team # Replace with your tenant name
```

Alternatively, [test with local deployment](#test-with-local-deployment).

## Feed a sample Elasticsearch index

This section sets up an index with 1000 sample documents using [getting-started-index](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.9/getting-started-index.html). Skip this part if you already have an index. Wait for Elasticsearch to start:

```
$ docker network create --driver bridge esnet

$ docker run -d --rm --name esnode --network esnet -p 9200:9200 -p 9300:9300 -e "discovery.type=single-node" \
  docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:7.10.2

$ while [["$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w ''%{http_code}'' localhost:9200)" != "200"]]; do sleep 1; echo 'waiting ...'; done
```

Download test data, and feed it to the Elasticsearch instance:

```
$ curl 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elastic/elasticsearch/7.10/docs/src/test/resources/accounts.json' \
  > accounts.json

$ curl -H "Content-Type:application/json" --data-binary @accounts.json 'localhost:9200/bank/_bulk?pretty&refresh'
```

Verify that the index has 1000 documents:

```
$ curl 'localhost:9200/_cat/indices?v'
```

## Export documents from Elasticsearch

This guide uses [ElasticDump](https://github.com/elasticsearch-dump/elasticsearch-dump) to export the index contents and the index mapping. Export the documents and mappings, then delete the Docker network and the Elasticsearch container:

```
$ docker run --rm --name esdump --network esnet -v "$PWD":/dump -w /dump elasticdump/elasticsearch-dump \
  --input=http://esnode:9200/bank --output=bank_data.json --type=data

$ docker run --rm --name esdump --network esnet -v "$PWD":/dump -w /dump elasticdump/elasticsearch-dump \
  --input=http://esnode:9200/bank --output=bank_mapping.json --type=mapping

$ docker rm -f esnode && docker network remove esnet
```

## Generate Vespa documents and Application Package

[ES\_Vespa\_parser.py](https://github.com/vespa-engine/vespa/tree/master/config-model/src/main/python) is provided for conversion of Elasticsearch data and index mappings to Vespa data and configuration. It is a basic script with minimal error checking - it is designed for a simple export, modify this as needed for your application's needs. Generate Vespa documents and configuration:

```
$ curl 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vespa-engine/vespa/master/config-model/src/main/python/ES_Vespa_parser.py' \
  > ES_Vespa_parser.py

$ python3 ./ES_Vespa_parser.py --application_name bank bank_data.json bank_mapping.json
```

This generates documents in _documents.json_ (see [JSON format](../reference/schemas/document-json-format.html)) where each document has IDs like this `id:bank:_doc::1`. It also generates a _bank_ folder with an [application package](../basics/applications.html):

```
/bank
      │
      ├── documents.json
      ├── hosts.xml
      ├── services.xml
      └── /schemas
            └── _doc.sd
```

Enter the application package directory:

```
$ cd bank
```

## Deploy

Install [Vespa CLI](/en/clients/vespa-cli.html). In this example we use [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/), you can also download from [GitHub](https://github.com/vespa-engine/vespa/releases):

```
$ brew install vespa-cli
```

Configure for Vespa Cloud deployment, log in and add credentials:

```
$ vespa config set target cloud
$ vespa config set application $TENANT_NAME.myapp.default
```

```
$ vespa auth login
```

```
$ export VESPA_CLI_HOME=$PWD/.vespa TMPDIR=$PWD/.tmp
$ mkdir -p $TMPDIR
$ vespa config set target cloud
$ vespa config set application vespa-team.migration
$ export VESPA_CLI_API_KEY="$(echo "$VESPA_TEAM_API_KEY" | openssl base64 -A -a -d)"
```

```
$ vespa auth cert
```

Also see [getting started](../basics/deploy-an-application.html) guide. Deploy the application package:

```
$ vespa deploy --wait 300
```

Index the documents exported from Elasticsearch:

```
$ vespa feed documents.json
```

## Interfacing with Vespa

Export all documents:

```
$ vespa visit
```

Get a document:

```
$ vespa document get id:bank:_doc::1
```

Count documents, find `"totalCount":1000` in the output:

```
$ vespa query 'select * from _doc where true'
```

Run a simple query against the _firstname_ field:

```
$ vespa query 'select firstname,lastname from _doc where firstname contains "amber"'
```

## Next steps

Review the differences in document records, Vespa to the right:

| 
```
{
    "_index": "bank",
    "_type": "_doc",
    "_id": "1",
    "_score": 1,
    "_source": {
      "account_number": 1,
      "balance": 39225,
      "firstname": "Amber",
      "lastname": "Duke",
      "age": 32,
      "gender": "M",
      "address": "880 Holmes Lane",
      "employer": "Pyrami",
      "email": "amberduke@pyrami.com",
      "city": "Brogan",
      "state": "IL"
    }
}
```
 | 
```
{

    "put": "id:bank:_doc::1",

    "fields": {
      "account_number": 1,
      "balance": 39225,
      "firstname": "Amber",
      "lastname": "Duke",
      "age": 32,
      "gender": "M",
      "address": "880 Holmes Lane",
      "employer": "Pyrami",
      "email": "amberduke@pyrami.com",
      "city": "Brogan",
      "state": "IL"
    }
}
```
 |

The [id](../schemas/documents.html#document-ids) field `id:bank:_doc::1` is composed of:

- namespace: `bank`
- schema: `_doc`
- id: `1`

Read more in [Documents](../schemas/documents.html) and [Schemas](../basics/schemas.html). The schema is the key Vespa configuration file where field types and [ranking](../basics/ranking.html) are configured. The schema (found in `schemas/_doc.sd`) also has [indexing](../basics/schemas.html#document-fields) settings, example:

```
search _doc {
    document _doc {
        field account_number type long {
            indexing: summary | attribute
        }
        field address type string {
            indexing: summary | index
        }
        ...
    }
}
```

These settings impact both performance and how fields are matched. For example, the _account\_number_ above is using the _attribute_ keyword, which makes the field available for [sorting](../reference/querying/sorting-language.html), [ranking](../basics/ranking.html), [grouping](../querying/grouping.html), but which by default does not have data structures for fast search. Read more in [attributes](../content/attributes.html) and [practical search performance guide](../performance/practical-search-performance-guide).

## Test with local deployment

To run the steps above, using a local deployment, follow the steps in the [quickstart](../basics/deploy-an-application-local.html) to start a local container running Vespa. Then, deploy the application package from the _bank_ folder.

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### On this page:

- [Migrating from Elasticsearch](#page-title)
- [Feed a sample Elasticsearch index](#feed-a-sample-elasticsearch-index)
- [Export documents from Elasticsearch](#export-documents-from-elasticsearch)
- [Generate Vespa documents and Application Package](#generate-vespa-documents-and-application-package)
- [Deploy](#deploy)
- [Interfacing with Vespa](#interfacing-with-vespa)
- [Next steps](#next-steps)
- [Test with local deployment](#test-with-local-deployment)