FAQ about OpenSearch

With OpenSearch 1.2, another search engine based on open source will be available in our Managed Center from 08.03.2022. In this article you will learn everything you need to know about OpenSearch as a maxcluster customer.

What is OpenSearch?

The search engine OpenSearch is based on Apache Lucene just like Solr and Elasticsearch and is currently available in version 1.2. OpenSearch is a fork that evolved from Elasticsearch version 7.10 and is available under the Apache License 2.0 open source license.

Who is developing OpenSearch?

OpenSearch was initiated as an open source project by Amazon AWS in 2021 and is now actively (further) developed by over 80 contributors. In July 2021, OpenSearch 1.0 was released for product use. The background to this development is that Elastic NV, the company behind Elasticsearch and Kibana, announced in January 2021 that it would only release newer versions of the software under proprietary license.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using OpenSearch?

Since OpenSearch is a fork of Elasticsearch 7.10, there are technically neither advantages nor disadvantages compared to Elasticsearch. Also, the resource consumption between Elasticsearch 7.10 and OpenSearch 1.2 is absolutely the same. Since both applications will be developed independently from now on, this circumstance may possibly change in the future.

However, as an open source project, OpenSearch has the advantage that it is actively and regularly provided with feature and security updates due to its large developer community.

What needs to be considered when making the switch?

Switching from Elasticsearch to OpenSearch requires a configuration change within the software. In addition, you should verify that your software officially supports OpenSearch before installing it. After the conversion, the reindexing of the search index must be started. Also, there should be enough RAM and CPU available to run Elasticsearch and OpenSearch in parallel for some time.

Are there any compatibility issues or dependencies with other applications?

As a fork of Elasticsearch 7.10, OpenSearch has backward REST APIs for ingest, search and management. The query syntax and responses are also identical. In addition, OpenSearch 1.2 can use indexes from Elasticsearch versions 6.0 to 7.10.

In principle, the OpenSearch API is backward compatible with the Elasticsearch API. However, some clients or tools may contain code (for example, version checks) that may interfere with the functionality of the client or tool in combination with OpenSearch. Therefore, check in advance if the software you are using is officially compatible with OpenSearch.

OpenSearch at maxcluster

At maxcluster OpenSearch 1.2 can be integrated and managed via the Managed Center from 08.03.2022. It is possible to install and operate OpenSearch and Elasticsearch independently of each other.

Setup of OpenSearch in the Managed Center

Step 1: OpenSearch via the navigation and click on the button "Create new server"

Step 2: Name the new OpenSearch instance and then activate it by clicking on the button

Step 3: OpenSearch instance is now active