Installation

Elasticsearch ships as a Docker image, a tar.gz/zip archive, and native packages for Linux (Debian and RPM). All distributions bundle a compatible JDK — you do not need to install Java separately.

Elasticsearch bundles OpenJDK in every distribution. The bundled JDK is the recommended runtime. If you supply your own JDK via JAVA_HOME, make sure it meets the version requirements listed in the supported platforms matrix.

Docker
Linux
macOS
Windows

Docker

Docker is the fastest way to run a single-node Elasticsearch instance for local development or testing.

Setting discovery.type=single-node disables the production-mode bootstrap checks and is not suitable for production. A production cluster must use a multi-node configuration with proper discovery settings.

Pull the image

Replace 8.x with the target version (e.g., 8.17.0):

docker pull docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:8.x

Start a single-node container

docker run --name elasticsearch \
  -p 9200:9200 \
  -e "discovery.type=single-node" \
  -e "ELASTIC_PASSWORD=changeme" \
  -e "xpack.security.enabled=true" \
  docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:8.x

Environment variable	Description
`discovery.type=single-node`	Skips multi-node discovery; required for a standalone container.
`ELASTIC_PASSWORD`	Password for the built-in `elastic` superuser. Must be at least 6 characters.
`xpack.security.enabled`	Enables authentication and TLS. Set to `false` to disable (not recommended).

Verify the node is running

curl -u elastic:changeme http://localhost:9200

A successful response contains "tagline": "You Know, for Search".

Multi-node cluster with Docker Compose

For a three-node cluster with TLS enabled, use the example docker-compose.yml from the Elasticsearch repository. Copy both files to a working directory, fill in passwords in .env, then run:

docker compose up -d

The Compose file starts three Elasticsearch nodes (es01, es02, es03) and a Kibana instance. Each node has:

TLS certificates generated by elasticsearch-certutil
bootstrap.memory_lock=true to prevent heap from swapping
xpack.security.enabled=true with per-node certificate keypairs

Linux

tar.gz
apt (Debian/Ubuntu)
yum/dnf (RHEL/CentOS)

Install from archive (tar.gz)

Download and extract

curl -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-8.x.x-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xzf elasticsearch-8.x.x-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd elasticsearch-8.x.x/

Configure (optional)

The main configuration file is config/elasticsearch.yml. For a basic single-node setup, no changes are required. Common settings:

cluster.name: my-cluster
node.name: node-1
network.host: 0.0.0.0
http.port: 9200
discovery.type: single-node

Start Elasticsearch

./bin/elasticsearch

Run as a background daemon with:

./bin/elasticsearch -d -p pid

Verify

curl -u elastic:<password> http://localhost:9200

The initial password for the elastic user is printed to the terminal on first start. To reset it, run:

./bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic

Install with apt

Import the Elastic GPG key

wget -qO - https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/elasticsearch-keyring.gpg

Add the apt repository

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/elasticsearch-keyring.gpg] https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/8.x/apt stable main" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-8.x.list

Install Elasticsearch

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install elasticsearch

Configure and start

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable elasticsearch
sudo systemctl start elasticsearch

Verify

sudo systemctl status elasticsearch
curl -u elastic:<password> http://localhost:9200

Install with yum or dnf

Import the Elastic GPG key

sudo rpm --import https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch

Add the yum repository

Create /etc/yum.repos.d/elasticsearch.repo:

[elasticsearch]
name=Elasticsearch repository for 8.x packages
baseurl=https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/8.x/yum
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch
enabled=1
autorefresh=1
type=rpm-md

Install Elasticsearch

sudo yum install --enablerepo=elasticsearch elasticsearch
# or with dnf:
sudo dnf install elasticsearch

Configure and start

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable elasticsearch
sudo systemctl start elasticsearch

Verify

sudo systemctl status elasticsearch
curl -u elastic:<password> http://localhost:9200

macOS

Homebrew
tar.gz

Install with Homebrew

Tap the Elastic Homebrew formulae

brew tap elastic/tap

Install Elasticsearch

brew install elastic/tap/elasticsearch-full

This installs the full distribution including the bundled JDK.

Start Elasticsearch

elasticsearch

Or start it as a background service:

brew services start elastic/tap/elasticsearch-full

Verify

curl -u elastic:<password> http://localhost:9200

The initial password is printed on first start. Reset it with:

elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic

Install from archive (tar.gz)

Download and extract

curl -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-8.x.x-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xzf elasticsearch-8.x.x-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
cd elasticsearch-8.x.x/

For Apple Silicon (M-series), download the darwin-aarch64 archive instead.

Start Elasticsearch

./bin/elasticsearch

On macOS, you may need to allow the binary in System Settings → Privacy & Security the first time you run it.

Verify

curl -u elastic:<password> http://localhost:9200

Windows

Download the zip archive

Download the Windows zip from the Elasticsearch downloads page and extract it:

Expand-Archive -Path elasticsearch-8.x.x-windows-x86_64.zip -DestinationPath C:\elasticsearch

Configure (optional)

Open C:\elasticsearch\elasticsearch-8.x.x\config\elasticsearch.yml and adjust settings as needed. For a local single-node setup, the defaults are sufficient.

Start Elasticsearch

From PowerShell:

C:\elasticsearch\elasticsearch-8.x.x\bin\elasticsearch.bat

Verify

curl.exe -u elastic:<password> http://localhost:9200

The initial password for the elastic user is printed to the terminal on first start. Reset it with:

C:\elasticsearch\elasticsearch-8.x.x\bin\elasticsearch-reset-password.bat -u elastic

Running Elasticsearch as a Windows service is supported via the elasticsearch-service.bat helper. See the Elasticsearch service documentation for details.

Next steps

Quickstart

Index a document and run your first search query.

Configuration

Configure node roles, memory, network settings, and more.

Security

Set up TLS, user authentication, and role-based access control.

Core concepts

Learn about indices, shards, nodes, and cluster architecture.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Indexing & Data

Search & Analytics

Configuration & Operations

Docker

Multi-node cluster with Docker Compose

Linux

Install from archive (tar.gz)

Install with apt

Install with yum or dnf

macOS

Install with Homebrew

Install from archive (tar.gz)

Windows

Next steps

Quickstart

Configuration

Security

Core concepts

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Indexing & Data

Search & Analytics

Configuration & Operations

​Docker

​Multi-node cluster with Docker Compose

​Linux

​Install from archive (tar.gz)

​Install with apt

​Install with yum or dnf

​macOS

​Install with Homebrew

​Install from archive (tar.gz)

​Windows

​Next steps

Quickstart

Configuration

Security

Core concepts

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Docker

Multi-node cluster with Docker Compose

Linux

Install from archive (tar.gz)

Install with apt

Install with yum or dnf

macOS

Install with Homebrew

Install from archive (tar.gz)

Windows

Next steps