Deleting and closing indexes in Elasticsearch - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Deleting and closing indexes

Start

↓

Choose index

↓

Decide action

↓

Close index

↓

Send close

↓

Index closed

↓

End

You pick an index, decide to close or delete it, send the command, and the index is closed or deleted.

Execution Sample

Elasticsearch

POST /my-index/_close

DELETE /my-index

Close an index named 'my-index' or delete it completely.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Index	Command Sent	Result
1	Choose index	my-index	None	Ready to act
2	Decide to close	my-index	POST /my-index/_close	Index closing started
3	Index closed	my-index	None	Index is now closed
4	Choose index	my-index	None	Ready to act
5	Decide to delete	my-index	DELETE /my-index	Index deletion started
6	Index deleted	my-index	None	Index is now deleted

💡 Index is closed or deleted, no further action needed.

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Close	After Delete
index_status	open	closed	deleted

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does closing an index not delete its data?

Closing an index just makes it unavailable for search but keeps data on disk, as shown in step 3 where the index status changes to closed but not deleted.

What happens if you try to delete an index that is already closed?

Deleting a closed index works fine; the index is removed completely as in step 6, regardless of its closed state.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the index status after step 3?

A open

B deleted

C closed

D unknown

💡 Hint

Check the 'Result' column at step 3 in the execution_table.

At which step is the delete command sent?

A Step 5

B Step 3

C Step 2

D Step 6

💡 Hint

Look for 'DELETE /my-index' in the 'Command Sent' column.

If you skip closing and directly delete, which steps are skipped?

A Steps 4 and 5

B Steps 2 and 3

C Steps 1 and 6

D No steps skipped

💡 Hint

Closing happens at steps 2 and 3; deleting starts at step 5.

Concept Snapshot

Deleting and closing indexes:
- Closing an index makes it unavailable but keeps data.
- Deleting removes the index and data completely.
- Use POST /index/_close to close.
- Use DELETE /index to delete.
- Closed indexes can be reopened later.

Full Transcript

This visual trace shows how to delete or close an Elasticsearch index. First, you pick the index to act on. Then you decide whether to close or delete it. Closing sends a POST request to /index/_close, making the index unavailable but keeping its data. Deleting sends a DELETE request to /index, removing the index and its data completely. The variable 'index_status' changes from open to closed or deleted accordingly. Closing does not delete data, so you can reopen the index later. Deleting is permanent. The execution table tracks each step, command sent, and result, helping beginners see the process clearly.