How to change Elasticsearch max memory size - elasticsearch

Question

I have an Apache server with a default configuration of Elasticsearch and everything works perfectly, except that the default configuration has a max size of 1GB.
I don't have such a large number of documents to store in Elasticsearch, so I want to reduce the memory.
I have seen that I have to change the -Xmx parameter in the Java configuration, but I don't know how.
I have seen I can execute this:
bin/ElasticSearch -Xmx=2G -Xms=2G
But when I have to restart Elasticsearch this will be lost.
Is it possible to change max memory usage when Elasticsearch is installed as a service?

Answer 1

In ElasticSearch >= 5 the documentation has changed, which means none of the above answers worked for me.
I tried changing ES_HEAP_SIZE in /etc/default/elasticsearch and in /etc/init.d/elasticsearch, but when I ran ps aux | grep elasticsearch the output still showed:
/usr/bin/java -Xms2g -Xmx2g # aka 2G min and max ram
I had to make these changes in:
/etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options
# Xms represents the initial size of total heap space
# Xmx represents the maximum size of total heap space
-Xms1g
-Xmx1g
# the settings shipped with ES 5 were: -Xms2g
# the settings shipped with ES 5 were: -Xmx2g

Answer 2

Updated on Nov 24, 2016: Elasticsearch 5 apparently has changed the way to configure the JVM. See this answer here. The answer below still applies to versions < 5.
tirdadc, thank you for pointing this out in your comment below.
I have a pastebin page that I share with others when wondering about memory and ES. It's worked OK for me: http://pastebin.com/mNUGQCLY. I'll paste the contents here as well:
References:
https://github.com/grigorescu/Brownian/wiki/ElasticSearch-Configuration
http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/setup/installation/
Edit the following files to modify memory and file number limits. These instructions assume Ubuntu 10.04, may work on later versions and other distributions/OSes. (Edit: This works for Ubuntu 14.04 as well.)
/etc/security/limits.conf:
elasticsearch - nofile 65535
elasticsearch - memlock unlimited
/etc/default/elasticsearch (on CentOS/RH: /etc/sysconfig/elasticsearch ):
ES_HEAP_SIZE=512m
MAX_OPEN_FILES=65535
MAX_LOCKED_MEMORY=unlimited
/etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml:
bootstrap.mlockall: true

Answer 3

For anyone looking to do this on Centos 7 or with another system running SystemD, you change it in
/etc/sysconfig/elasticsearch
Uncomment the ES_HEAP_SIZE line, and set a value, eg:
# Heap Size (defaults to 256m min, 1g max)
ES_HEAP_SIZE=16g
(Ignore the comment about 1g max - that's the default)

Answer 4

Create a new file with the extension .options inside /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d and put the options there. For example:
sudo nano /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d/custom.options
and put the content there:
# JVM Heap Size - see /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options
-Xms2g
-Xmx2g
It will set the maximum heap size to 2GB. Don't forget to restart elasticsearch:
sudo systemctl restart elasticsearch
Now you can check the logs:
sudo cat /var/log/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.log | grep "heap size"
You'll see something like so:
… heap size [2gb], compressed ordinary object pointers [true]
Doc

Answer 5

Instructions for ubuntu 14.04:
sudo vim /etc/init.d/elasticsearch
Set
ES_HEAP_SIZE=512m
then in:
sudo vim /etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml
Set:
bootstrap.memory_lock: true
There are comments in the files for more info

Answer 6

Previous answers were insufficient in my case, probably because I'm on Debian 8, while they were referred to some previous distribution.
On Debian 8 modify the service script normally place in /usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service, and add Environment=ES_HEAP_SIZE=8G
just below the other "Environment=*" lines.
Now reload the service script with systemctl daemon-reload and restart the service. The job should be done!

Answer 7

If you use the service wrapper provided in Elasticsearch's Github repository, found at https://github.com/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-servicewrapper, then the conf file at elasticsearch-servicewrapper / service / elasticsearch.conf controls memory settings. At the top of elasticsearch.conf is a parameter:
set.default.ES_HEAP_SIZE=1024
Just reduce this parameter, say to "set.default.ES_HEAP_SIZE=512", to reduce Elasticsearch's allotted memory.
Note that if you use the elasticsearch-wrapper, the ES_HEAP_SIZE provided in elasticsearch.conf OVERRIDES ALL OTHER SETTINGS. This took me a bit to figure out, since from the documentation, it seemed that heap memory could be set from elasticsearch.yml.
If your service wrapper settings are set somewhere else, such as at /etc/default/elasticsearch as in James's example, then set the ES_HEAP_SIZE there.

Answer 8

If you installed ES using the RPM/DEB packages as provided (as you seem to have), you can adjust this by editing the init script (/etc/init.d/elasticsearch on RHEL/CentOS). If you have a look in the file you'll see a block with the following:
export ES_HEAP_SIZE
export ES_HEAP_NEWSIZE
export ES_DIRECT_SIZE
export ES_JAVA_OPTS
export JAVA_HOME
To adjust the size, simply change the ES_HEAP_SIZE line to the following:
export ES_HEAP_SIZE=xM/xG
(where x is the number of MB/GB of RAM that you would like to allocate)
Example:
export ES_HEAP_SIZE=1G
Would allocate 1GB.
Once you have edited the script, save and exit, then restart the service. You can check if it has been correctly set by running the following:
ps aux | grep elasticsearch
And checking for the -Xms and -Xmx flags in the java process that returns:
/usr/bin/java -Xms1G -Xmx1G
Hope this helps :)

Answer 9

Elasticsearch will assign the entire heap specified in jvm.options via the Xms (minimum heap size) and Xmx (maximum heap size) settings.
-Xmx12g
-Xmx12g
Set the minimum heap size (Xms) and maximum heap size (Xmx) to be equal to each other.
Don’t set Xmx to above the cutoff that the JVM uses for compressed object pointers (compressed oops), the exact cutoff varies but is near 32 GB.
It is also possible to set the heap size via an environment variable
ES_JAVA_OPTS="-Xms2g -Xmx2g" ./bin/elasticsearch
ES_JAVA_OPTS="-Xms4000m -Xmx4000m" ./bin/elasticsearch

Answer 10

File path to change heap size /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options
If you are using nano then do sudo nano /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options and update -Xms and -Xmx accordingly.
(You can use any file editor to edit it)

Answer 11

In elasticsearch path home dir i.e. typically /usr/share/elasticsearch,
There is a config file bin/elasticsearch.in.sh.
Edit parameter ES_MIN_MEM, ES_MAX_MEM in this file to change -Xms2g, -Xmx4g respectively.
And Please make sure you have restarted the node after this config change.

Answer 12

If you are using docker-compose to run a ES cluster:
Open <your docker compose>.yml file
If you have set the volumes property, you won't lose anything. Otherwise, you must first move the indexes.
Look for this value ES_JAVA_OPTS under environment and change the value in all nodes, the result could be somethig like "ES_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms2g -Xmx2g"
rebuild all nodes docker-compose -f <your docker compose>.yml up -d

Answer 13

Oneliner for Centos 7 & Elasticsearch 7 (2g = 2GB)
$ echo $'-Xms2g\n-Xmx2g' > /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d/2gb.options
and then
$ service elasticsearch restart

Answer 14

If you use windows server, you can change Environment Variable, restart server to apply new Environment Value and start Elastic Service. More detail in Install Elastic in Windows Server

Answer 15

In elasticsearch 2.x :
vi /etc/sysconfig/elasticsearch
Go to the block of code
# Heap size defaults to 256m min, 1g max
# Set ES_HEAP_SIZE to 50% of available RAM, but no more than 31g
#ES_HEAP_SIZE=2g
Uncomment last line like
ES_HEAP_SIZE=2g

Answer 16

Update elastic configuration in path /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options
################################################################
## IMPORTANT: JVM heap size
################################################################
##
## The heap size is automatically configured by Elasticsearch
## based on the available memory in your system and the roles
## each node is configured to fulfill. If specifying heap is
## required, it should be done through a file in jvm.options.d,
## and the min and max should be set to the same value. For
## example, to set the heap to 4 GB, create a new file in the
## jvm.options.d directory containing these lines:
##
## -Xms4g
## -Xmx4g
##
## See https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/heap-size.html
## for more information
##
################################################################
-Xms1g
-Xmx1g
These configs mean you allocate 1GB RAM for elasticsearch service.

Answer 17

If you use ubuntu 15.04+ or any other distro that uses systemd, you can set the max memory size editing the elasticsearch systemd service and setting the max memory size using the ES_HEAP_SIZE environment variable, I tested it using ubuntu 20.04 and it works fine:
systemctl edit elasticsearch
Add the environement variable ES_HEAP_SIZE with the desired max memory, here 2GB as example:
[Service]
Environment=ES_HEAP_SIZE=2G
Reload systemd daemon
systemd daemon-reload
Then restart elasticsearch
systemd restart elasticsearch
To check if it worked as expected:
systemd status elasticsearch
You should see in the status -Xmx2G:
CGroup: /system.slice/elasticsearch.service
└─2868 /usr/bin/java -Xms2G -Xmx2G

Answer 18

window 7 elasticsearch
elastic search memories problem
elasticsearch-7.14.1\config\jvm.options
add this
-Xms1g
-Xmx1g
elasticsearch-7.14.1\config\elasticsearch.yml
uncomment
bootstrap.memory_lock: true
and pest
https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-servicewrapper download service file and pest
lasticsearch-7.14.1\bin
bin\elasticsearch.bat enter

Answer 19

Elastic Search 7.x and above, tested with Ubuntu 20
Create a file in /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d. The file name must ends with .options
For example heap_limit.options
Add these lines to the file
## Initial memory allocation
-Xms1g
## Maximum memory allocation
-Xmx1g
Restart elastic search service
sudo service elasticsearch restart
or
sudo systemctl restart elasticsearch