# Specifying default replicas and shards for an index
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [June 1, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515 "2011-06-01T07:17:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@paranoiabla](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/paranoiabla)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515/1 "2011-06-01T07:17:23Z")
Hi guys,
Initially if you just start an elastic search server and try to create
an index you will get 5 shards and 2 replicas (I hope I am not wrong).
How can I configure this? I know that I can send a JSON / Text
initially when I am creating a new index but I don't want every time
when a new index is created to specify the shards/replicas I want
initially to use different values than 5 shards and 2 replicas.
Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@Weiwei\_Wang](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Weiwei_Wang)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515/2 "2011-06-01T08:07:28Z")
{
"cluster":{
"name":"elasticsearch"
},
"gateway":{
"recover\_after\_nodes": 1,
"recover\_after\_time": "5m",
"expected\_nodes": 2
},
"index" : {
"number\_of\_shards":3,
"number\_of\_replicas":2,
}
}
On Jun 1, 3:17 pm, paranoiabla [paranoia...@gmail.com](mailto:paranoia...@gmail.com) wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> Initially if you just start an Elasticsearch server and try to create
> an index you will get 5 shards and 2 replicas (I hope I am not wrong).
> How can I configure this? I know that I can send a JSON / Text
> initially when I am creating a new index but I don't want every time
> when a new index is created to specify the shards/replicas I want
> initially to use different values than 5 shards and 2 replicas.
>
> Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@paranoiabla](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/paranoiabla)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2011, 8:27am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515/3 "2011-06-01T08:27:50Z")
Ok,
I saw that there is a config folder when you download the standalone
Elasticsearch. And inside this config folder there is a file :
elasticsearch.yml where I can specify these values. This all is great
BUT in my case I am using a standalone server started from a Java
class, like below:
======
public static void main(String args) {
System.out.println("Starting Elastic Search Server");
```
Builder settings = ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder();
// here you can set the node and index settings via API
settings.build();
NodeBuilder nBuilder = nodeBuilder().settings(settings);
nBuilder.local(true);
// start it!
Node node = nBuilder.build().start();
System.out.println("Started Elastic Search Server");
```
=====
How can I pass these configuration options, when using the Java API
directly?
Thanks.
On Jun 1, 11:07 am, Weiwei Wang [ww.wang...@gmail.com](mailto:ww.wang...@gmail.com) wrote:
> {
> "cluster":{
> "name":"elasticsearch"
> },
> "gateway":{
> "recover\_after\_nodes": 1,
> "recover\_after\_time": "5m",
> "expected\_nodes": 2
> },
> "index" : {
> "number\_of\_shards":3,
> "number\_of\_replicas":2,
> }
>
> }
>
> On Jun 1, 3:17 pm, paranoiabla [paranoia...@gmail.com](mailto:paranoia...@gmail.com) wrote:
>
> > Hi guys,
>
> > Initially if you just start an Elasticsearch server and try to create
> > an index you will get 5 shards and 2 replicas (I hope I am not wrong).
> > How can I configure this? I know that I can send a JSON / Text
> > initially when I am creating a new index but I don't want every time
> > when a new index is created to specify the shards/replicas I want
> > initially to use different values than 5 shards and 2 replicas.
>
> > Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@kimchy](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kimchy)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515/4 "2011-06-01T10:56:22Z")
Put in the the settings for the node.
On Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 11:27 AM, paranoiabla wrote:
> Ok,
>
> I saw that there is a config folder when you download the standalone
> Elasticsearch. And inside this config folder there is a file :
> elasticsearch.yml where I can specify these values. This all is great
> BUT in my case I am using a standalone server started from a Java
> class, like below:
>
> ======
> public static void main(String args) {
> System.out.println("Starting Elastic Search Server");
>
> Builder settings = ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder();
> // here you can set the node and index settings via API
> settings.build();
>
> NodeBuilder nBuilder = nodeBuilder().settings(settings);
> nBuilder.local(true);
>
> // start it!
> Node node = nBuilder.build().start();
>
> # System.out.println("Started Elastic Search Server");
>
> How can I pass these configuration options, when using the Java API
> directly?
>
> Thanks.
>
> On Jun 1, 11:07 am, Weiwei Wang \<[ww.wang...@gmail.com](mailto:ww.wang...@gmail.com) ([http://gmail.com](http://gmail.com))\> wrote:
>
> > {
> > "cluster":{
> > "name":"elasticsearch"
> > },
> > "gateway":{
> > "recover\_after\_nodes": 1,
> > "recover\_after\_time": "5m",
> > "expected\_nodes": 2
> > },
> > "index" : {
> > "number\_of\_shards":3,
> > "number\_of\_replicas":2,
> > }
> >
> > }
> >
> > On Jun 1, 3:17 pm, paranoiabla \<[paranoia...@gmail.com](mailto:paranoia...@gmail.com) ([http://gmail.com](http://gmail.com))\> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi guys,
> >
> > > Initially if you just start an Elasticsearch server and try to create
> > > an index you will get 5 shards and 2 replicas (I hope I am not wrong).
> > > How can I configure this? I know that I can send a JSON / Text
> > > initially when I am creating a new index but I don't want every time
> > > when a new index is created to specify the shards/replicas I want
> > > initially to use different values than 5 shards and 2 replicas.
> >
> > > Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@paranoiabla](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/paranoiabla)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515/5 "2011-06-01T13:56:57Z")
Hi Shay,
From node.settings() I can only read the settings values but I cannot
change them - there are only getter methods. Can you show a snippet -
maybe I don't understanding correctly.
Cheers, Petar.
On Jun 1, 1:56 pm, Shay Banon [shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) wrote:
> Put in the the settings for the node.
>
> On Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 11:27 AM, paranoiabla wrote:
>
> > Ok,
>
> > I saw that there is a config folder when you download the standalone
> > Elasticsearch. And inside this config folder there is a file :
> > elasticsearch.yml where I can specify these values. This all is great
> > BUT in my case I am using a standalone server started from a Java
> > class, like below:
>
> > ======
> > public static void main(String args) {
> > System.out.println("Starting Elastic Search Server");
>
> > Builder settings = ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder();
> > // here you can set the node and index settings via API
> > settings.build();
>
> > NodeBuilder nBuilder = nodeBuilder().settings(settings);
> > nBuilder.local(true);
>
> > // start it!
> > Node node = nBuilder.build().start();
>
> > # System.out.println("Started Elastic Search Server");
>
> > How can I pass these configuration options, when using the Java API
> > directly?
>
> > Thanks.
>
> > On Jun 1, 11:07 am, Weiwei Wang \<[ww.wang...@gmail.com](mailto:ww.wang...@gmail.com) ([http://gmail.com](http://gmail.com))\> wrote:
> >
> > > {
> > > "cluster":{
> > > "name":"elasticsearch"
> > > },
> > > "gateway":{
> > > "recover\_after\_nodes": 1,
> > > "recover\_after\_time": "5m",
> > > "expected\_nodes": 2
> > > },
> > > "index" : {
> > > "number\_of\_shards":3,
> > > "number\_of\_replicas":2,
> > > }
>
> > > }
>
> > > On Jun 1, 3:17 pm, paranoiabla \<[paranoia...@gmail.com](mailto:paranoia...@gmail.com) ([http://gmail.com](http://gmail.com))\> wrote:
>
> > > > Hi guys,
>
> > > > Initially if you just start an Elasticsearch server and try to create
> > > > an index you will get 5 shards and 2 replicas (I hope I am not wrong).
> > > > How can I configure this? I know that I can send a JSON / Text
> > > > initially when I am creating a new index but I don't want every time
> > > > when a new index is created to specify the shards/replicas I want
> > > > initially to use different values than 5 shards and 2 replicas.
>
> > > > Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@kimchy](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kimchy)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515/6 "2011-06-01T14:27:29Z")
Its already in your code (the comment you have), I added a sample:
Builder settings = ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder();
// here you can set the node and index settings via API
settings.put("index.number\_of\_shards", 1);
settings.build();
NodeBuilder nBuilder = nodeBuilder().settings(settings);
On Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 4:56 PM, paranoiabla wrote:
> Hi Shay,
>
> From node.settings() I can only read the settings values but I cannot
> change them - there are only getter methods. Can you show a snippet -
> maybe I don't understanding correctly.
>
> Cheers, Petar.
>
> On Jun 1, 1:56 pm, Shay Banon \<[shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) ([http://elasticsearch.com](http://elasticsearch.com))\> wrote:
>
> > Put in the the settings for the node.
> >
> > On Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 11:27 AM, paranoiabla wrote:
> >
> > > Ok,
> >
> > > I saw that there is a config folder when you download the standalone
> > > Elasticsearch. And inside this config folder there is a file :
> > > elasticsearch.yml where I can specify these values. This all is great
> > > BUT in my case I am using a standalone server started from a Java
> > > class, like below:
> >
> > > ======
> > > public static void main(String args) {
> > > System.out.println("Starting Elastic Search Server");
> >
> > > Builder settings = ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder();
> > > // here you can set the node and index settings via API
> > > settings.build();
> >
> > > NodeBuilder nBuilder = nodeBuilder().settings(settings);
> > > nBuilder.local(true);
> >
> > > // start it!
> > > Node node = nBuilder.build().start();
> >
> > > # System.out.println("Started Elastic Search Server");
> >
> > > How can I pass these configuration options, when using the Java API
> > > directly?
> >
> > > Thanks.
> >
> > > On Jun 1, 11:07 am, Weiwei Wang \<[ww.wang...@gmail.com](mailto:ww.wang...@gmail.com) ([http://gmail.com](http://gmail.com))\> wrote:
> > >
> > > > {
> > > > "cluster":{
> > > > "name":"elasticsearch"
> > > > },
> > > > "gateway":{
> > > > "recover\_after\_nodes": 1,
> > > > "recover\_after\_time": "5m",
> > > > "expected\_nodes": 2
> > > > },
> > > > "index" : {
> > > > "number\_of\_shards":3,
> > > > "number\_of\_replicas":2,
> > > > }
> >
> > > > }
> >
> > > > On Jun 1, 3:17 pm, paranoiabla \<[paranoia...@gmail.com](mailto:paranoia...@gmail.com) ([http://gmail.com](http://gmail.com))\> wrote:
> >
> > > > > Hi guys,
> >
> > > > > Initially if you just start an Elasticsearch server and try to create
> > > > > an index you will get 5 shards and 2 replicas (I hope I am not wrong).
> > > > > How can I configure this? I know that I can send a JSON / Text
> > > > > initially when I am creating a new index but I don't want every time
> > > > > when a new index is created to specify the shards/replicas I want
> > > > > initially to use different values than 5 shards and 2 replicas.
> >
> > > > > Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/specifying-default-replicas-and-shards-for-an-index/4515/7 "2017-07-06T04:05:01Z")