# ES Upgrade: v2.3 to v5.6 - why were my indexes renamed like this?

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-upgrade-v2-3-to-v5-6-why-were-my-indexes-renamed-like-this/199711>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [September 16, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-upgrade-v2-3-to-v5-6-why-were-my-indexes-renamed-like-this/199711 "2019-09-16T18:27:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tryptych](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@tryptych](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/tryptych)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-upgrade-v2-3-to-v5-6-why-were-my-indexes-renamed-like-this/199711/1 "2019-09-16T18:27:31Z")

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I recently upgraded us from v2.3 to v5.6 (I'm extremely new to ES so go easy on me). Previously my indexes were each in their own directory like so:

> ls /mnt/store1/elasticsearch/data/graylog/nodes/0/indices/  
> graylog2\_1040 graylog2\_1073 graylog2\_1106 graylog2\_1139 graylog2\_1172 graylog2\_1205 graylog2\_1238 graylog2\_1271

After upgrading it has renamed all the directories and files within like so:

> ls /mnt/store1/elasticsearch/data/graylog/nodes/0/indices/  
> akLcyuXvSNOVFRWbilfppA h0Z7taXWSNydzKl\_w0\_kDg mFc63z4\_ReyQ0ONzuRwimw tCsrTBT\_Skq0zAQFd6saqw Zwk9yx0BTMC\_cGLp3MpxDw  
> AnwGoarRR7K2bzA88Gd5ew H7UtruDPRGCQYGAGpFkGwQ MHfyQr-MT72nt-JJrtA3Iw

So instead of the nice friendly “graylog2\_1040” I see folders and files coded like “MHfyQr-MT72nt-JJrtA3Iw” which are really hard on the eyes and only makes my life more difficult.

The Question: was this renaming mandatory or could I have avoided it somehow?

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**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-upgrade-v2-3-to-v5-6-why-were-my-indexes-renamed-like-this/199711/2 "2019-09-16T18:43:40Z")

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You should never do anything directly with the file structures on disk, so this change should not make your life more difficult. This renaming is mandatory.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-upgrade-v2-3-to-v5-6-why-were-my-indexes-renamed-like-this/199711/3 "2019-10-14T18:43:50Z")

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