A comprehensive guide to deploying a three-node Elasticsearch 8.x cluster on Ubuntu 22.04 using Ansible. Covers directory structure and role setup, inventory and group variable configuration, JVM tuning, OS-level settings (vm.max_map_count, file descriptors), TLS certificate generation with elasticsearch-certutil, certificate distribution via Ansible, cluster health validation, and Index Lifecycle Management (ILM) policy setup. Also includes production hardening tips like shard allocation awareness, S3 snapshot backups, and a comparison of self-managed vs. managed Elasticsearch services.
Table of contents
IntroductionKey TakeawaysPrerequisitesUnderstanding the Cluster TopologyStep 1: Setting Up Your Ansible Control NodeStep 2: Defining the Ansible InventoryStep 3: Writing the Elasticsearch Ansible RoleStep 4: Configuring TLS and xpack SecurityStep 5: Writing and Running the Master PlaybookStep 6: Validating the ClusterStep 7: Configuring Index Lifecycle Management (ILM)Step 8: Hardening the Cluster for ProductionTroubleshootingFAQsConclusionSort: