Snapshot and restore in Elasticsearch - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output of this snapshot creation request?

Given the following Elasticsearch snapshot creation request, what will be the response status if the repository exists and is accessible?

Elasticsearch

{
  "repository": "my_backup",
  "snapshot": "snapshot_1",
  "body": {
    "indices": "index1,index2",
    "ignore_unavailable": true,
    "include_global_state": false
  }
}

A Acknowledged: true, Snapshot created successfully

B Error: Repository not found

C Snapshot creation failed due to missing indices

D Timeout error during snapshot creation

💡 Hint

Check if the repository exists and the indices are available.

If the repository exists and indices are available or ignored if unavailable, the snapshot creation will be acknowledged successfully.

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What does this restore request do?

Consider this Elasticsearch restore request. What will be the effect on the cluster?

Elasticsearch

{
  "repository": "my_backup",
  "snapshot": "snapshot_1",
  "body": {
    "indices": "index1",
    "rename_pattern": "index(\\d+)",
    "rename_replacement": "restored_index$1",
    "include_global_state": false
  }
}

A Restores index1 as restored_index1 without changing cluster settings

B Restores all indices and overwrites cluster settings

C Fails because rename_pattern is invalid

D Restores index1 but keeps the original name

💡 Hint

Look at the rename_pattern and rename_replacement fields.

The restore request renames index1 to restored_index1 and does not include global cluster state, so cluster settings remain unchanged.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this snapshot creation fail with a repository error?

Analyze the following snapshot creation request and identify the cause of the failure.

Elasticsearch

{
  "repository": "backup_repo",
  "snapshot": "snap_2024",
  "body": {
    "indices": "*",
    "ignore_unavailable": false
  }
}

A ignore_unavailable must be true when using '*' wildcard

B The repository 'backup_repo' is not registered or accessible

C The wildcard '*' is invalid for indices

D Snapshot name 'snap_2024' is invalid

💡 Hint

Check repository registration and accessibility.

If the repository is not registered or accessible, snapshot creation fails regardless of indices or options.

❓ Predict Output

advanced

What is the output of this snapshot status request?

Given this request to check snapshot status, what will be the output if the snapshot is currently in progress?

Elasticsearch

GET /_snapshot/my_backup/snapshot_1/_status

A {"snapshots":[{"snapshot":"snapshot_1","state":"SUCCESS"}]}

B {"error":"Snapshot not found"}

C {"snapshots":[{"snapshot":"snapshot_1","state":"IN_PROGRESS"}]}

D {"snapshots":[]}

💡 Hint

Consider the snapshot lifecycle states.

The snapshot status API returns the current state of the snapshot. If it is running, the state is IN_PROGRESS.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Which option correctly describes the behavior of restoring snapshots with include_global_state set to true?

When restoring a snapshot with include_global_state set to true, what happens?

A Global state is ignored and only indices are restored

B Only index data is restored; cluster settings remain unchanged

C Restoring fails if global state is included

D Cluster settings, templates, and persistent metadata from the snapshot are restored, potentially overwriting current cluster state

💡 Hint

Think about what global state means in Elasticsearch snapshots.

Setting include_global_state to true restores cluster-wide settings and metadata from the snapshot, which can overwrite current cluster state.