# Aliasing a real index pattern **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [December 2, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115 "2015-12-02T03:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![treehouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@treehouse](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/treehouse)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/1 "2015-12-02T03:20:12Z")
lets say I have an actual, real index pattern `foo-*`. then i create another real index pattern `v2-foo-*`. now i create an alias that looks something like this: `{ "actions": [{ "add": { "index": "v2-foo-*", "alias": "foo-*" } }] }` Lets just say that the pattern invoked by `-*` is simply a pattern for the date (eg, 2015.12.04). So say I have these two sets of indexes: `foo-2015.12.01` `foo-2015.12.02` `foo-2015.12.03` `foo-2015.12.04` `v2-foo-2015.12.01` `v2-foo-2015.12.02` `v2-foo-2015.12.03` `v2-foo-2015.12.04` Now, I want to be able to delete all of the old `foo-*` indices. Is there anyway of doing this, other than having to reference each one of them individually? ---
**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/2 "2015-12-02T06:09:44Z")
Is the alias creation request accepted by elasticsearch ? ---
**Author:** ![treehouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@treehouse](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/treehouse)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/3 "2015-12-04T01:42:54Z")
Sorry, I didn't write the question out properly. I have since edited. thanks ---
**Author:** ![nik9000](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/nik9000/32/44947_2.png) [@nik9000](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nik9000)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/4 "2015-12-04T14:57:51Z")
> [@treehouse](#): > > Now, I want to be able to delete all of the old foo-\* indices. Is there anyway of doing this, other than having to reference each one of them individually? `curl -XDELETE 'localhost:9200/foo-*'` should do it though I tend to not use wildcards in deletes because I fear mistyping things. I suggest full paranoia: test it locally before you run it on real stuff. Make sure it only deletes what you want and then copy the command where you want to run it. ---
**Author:** ![nik9000](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/nik9000/32/44947_2.png) [@nik9000](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nik9000)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/5 "2015-12-04T14:58:36Z")
[https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/master/indices-delete-index.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/master/indices-delete-index.html) ---
**Author:** ![treehouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@treehouse](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/treehouse)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/6 "2015-12-06T21:07:16Z")
think there might be confusion here. as I have pointed out, `foo-*` is aliased to `v2-foo-*`.. so running `DELETE foo-*` deletes all `v2-foo-*` indices. I just tested it. ---
**Author:** ![nik9000](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/nik9000/32/44947_2.png) [@nik9000](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nik9000)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/7 "2015-12-07T18:27:19Z")
> [@treehouse](#): > > think there might be confusion here. as I have pointed out, foo-\* is aliased to v2-foo-_.. so running DELETE foo-_ deletes all v2-foo-\* indices. I just tested it. @dadoonet, I dunno if its ok that we resolve the DELETEs through the aliases. That seems a bit too much. @treehouse, I'd just delete each index individually. I'd pretty much do that all the time anyway, but I'd certainly do that given when you've mentioned here. ---
**Author:** ![treehouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@treehouse](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/treehouse)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/8 "2015-12-07T22:04:42Z")
yep makes sense, thanks for the tip. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/aliasing-a-real-index-pattern/36115/9 "2017-07-05T23:32:57Z")