Elasticsearch 5.x Cookbook - Third Edition

Checking if an index or type exists

A common pitfall error is to query for indices and types that don't exist. To prevent this issue, Elasticsearch gives the user the ability to check the index and type existence.

This check is often used during an application startup to create indices and types that are required for correct working.

Getting ready

You need an up-and-running Elasticsearch installation, as used in the Downloading and installing Elasticsearch recipe in Chapter 2, Downloading and Setup.

To execute curl via the command line, you need to install curl for your operative system.

To correctly execute the following commands, use the index created in the Creating an index recipe.

How to do it...

The HTTP method to check existence is HEAD. The URL ...