# Updating default ttl value in elasticsearch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [July 20, 2016, 10:59am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971 "2016-07-20T10:59:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/rajind_ruparathna/32/10545_2.png) [@Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Rajind_Ruparathna)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 10:59am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/1 "2016-07-20T10:59:28Z")
I know that when creating the mapping we can give something like, ``` "_ttl" : { "enabled" : true, "default" : 900000 } ``` to enable \_ttl with a default value. I would like to know whether can be update this default \_ttl value by updating the mapping ? Thanks. Any help is highly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![danielmitterdorfer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/danielmitterdorfer/32/110510_2.png) [@danielmitterdorfer](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/danielmitterdorfer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/2 "2016-07-20T12:10:16Z")
Hi @Rajind_Ruparathna, let me start by pointing out that [\_ttl is deprecated in Elasticsearch 2.x](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/2.3/breaking_20_mapping_changes.html#_literal __timestamp_literal_and_literal__ ttl_literal_deprecated). Did you try to update the mapping? Here is a complete example that worked fine for me (tested with Elasticsearch 2.3.4): ```auto DELETE /my_index PUT /my_index { "mappings": { "my_type": { "_ttl": { "enabled": true, "default": "1m" } } } } PUT /my_index/my_type/1 { "text": "Will expire in 1 minute" } GET /my_index/my_type/1 PUT /my_index/_mapping/my_type { "_ttl": { "enabled": true, "default": "24h" } } PUT /my_index/my_type/2 { "text": "Will expire in a day" } GET /my_index/my_type/2 ``` Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/rajind_ruparathna/32/10545_2.png) [@Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Rajind_Ruparathna)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:26pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/3 "2016-07-20T12:26:34Z")
Thanks. I will try that. I did try to update the mapping but got indexAlreadyExistsException. I was doing something wrong back then. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/4 "2016-07-20T12:38:32Z")
If you get that it is usually because you are using the create index API to update the mapping. They look fairly similar and I've mixed them up a few times so I know the error message well. ---
**Author:** ![Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/rajind_ruparathna/32/10545_2.png) [@Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Rajind_Ruparathna)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/5 "2016-07-20T12:54:51Z")
yes. that was the issue. thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/rajind_ruparathna/32/10545_2.png) [@Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Rajind_Ruparathna)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/6 "2016-07-20T12:58:31Z")
@nik9000, @danielmitterdorfer One small question, say I have set a default \_ttl value and now i want to update the mapping so that there is no such default ttl value. I've tried with, { "\_ttl": { "enabled": true, } } but doesn't seem to remove the default \_ttl value. ---
**Author:** ![danielmitterdorfer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/danielmitterdorfer/32/110510_2.png) [@danielmitterdorfer](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/danielmitterdorfer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/7 "2016-07-20T13:06:37Z")
Hi @Rajind_Ruparathna, that's correct. This is not possible. Issuing: ```auto PUT /my_index/_mapping/my_type { "_ttl": { "enabled": false } } ``` throws an error: ```auto { "error": { "root_cause": [ { "type": "illegal_argument_exception", "reason": "_ttl cannot be disabled once it was enabled." } ], "type": "illegal_argument_exception", "reason": "_ttl cannot be disabled once it was enabled." }, "status": 400 } ``` You have to create a new index if you need to disable it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/rajind_ruparathna/32/10545_2.png) [@Rajind\_Ruparathna](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Rajind_Ruparathna)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/8 "2016-07-20T16:53:28Z")
Yes. I tried and got the same result. Thanks. cheers. ---
**Author:** ![danielmitterdorfer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/danielmitterdorfer/32/110510_2.png) [@danielmitterdorfer](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/danielmitterdorfer)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/9 "2016-07-21T05:28:18Z")
You're welcome. Glad that I could help you. ---
**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, 10:33pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/updating-default-ttl-value-in-elasticsearch/55971/10 "2017-07-05T22:33:51Z")