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Jul 15, 2025
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Fix up 'phase actions' section #2076

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2a08dca
Fix up 'phase actions' section
kilfoyle Jul 8, 2025
d67cbcc
Clarify phase descriptions
kilfoyle Jul 9, 2025
b4c2eb8
Merge branch 'main' into 1559/phase-actions
kilfoyle Jul 9, 2025
d61160e
Update manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/index-lifecyc…
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
6ddc8c9
Update manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/index-lifecyc…
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
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Update manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/index-lifecyc…
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
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Update manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/index-lifecyc…
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
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Update manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/index-lifecyc…
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
11602da
Update manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/index-lifecyc…
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
e103664
Use sentence-style action names
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
e4bcbdb
Merge branch 'main' into 1559/phase-actions
kilfoyle Jul 15, 2025
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115 changes: 77 additions & 38 deletions manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/index-lifecycle.md
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Expand Up @@ -8,16 +8,14 @@ products:
- id: elasticsearch
---



# Index lifecycle [ilm-index-lifecycle]


[{{ilm-init}}](../index-lifecycle-management.md) defines five index lifecycle *phases*:
[{{ilm-cap}}](../index-lifecycle-management.md) ({{ilm-init}}) defines five index lifecycle *phases*:

* **Hot**: The index is actively being updated and queried.
* **Warm**: The index is no longer being updated but is still being queried.
* **Cold**: The index is no longer being updated and is queried infrequently. The information still needs to be searchable, but it’s okay if those queries are slower.
* **Warm**: The index is updated infrequently or not at all, but is still being queried.
* **Cold**: The index is updated infrequently or not at all, and is also queried infrequently. The information still needs to be searchable, but it’s okay if those queries are slower.
* **Frozen**: The index is no longer being updated and is queried rarely. The information still needs to be searchable, but it’s okay if those queries are extremely slow.
* **Delete**: The index is no longer needed and can safely be removed.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -56,46 +54,87 @@ When an index enters a phase, {{ilm-init}} caches the phase definition in the in

## Phase actions [ilm-phase-actions]

{{ilm-init}} supports the following actions in each phase. {{ilm-init}} executes the actions in the order listed.
{{ilm-init}} supports the following actions in each phase. The order that actions are performed varies for different lifecycle phase. Refer to the [Phases and available actions](#phases-availability) table for a summary of the phases for which each action is available.

### Hot phase

The following actions are available in the `hot` lifecycle phase. Actions are performed in the order listed.

| Action | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [Set Priority](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-set-priority.md) | Sets the priority level of the index, which determines the order in which indices are recovered following a node restart. |
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A more general comment about action capitalization. The linked references all use sentence case, like Set priority instead of Set Priority. Should we be using the same in the tables here?

There's another discrepancy with hyphenation in Read-Only and [Read only](https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly) -- the latter should probably be Read-only.

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For sure! Thanks a lot for catching that.

| [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md) | Converts a [{{ccr-init}}](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/group/endpoint-ccr) follower index into a regular index, enabling the shrink, rollover, and searchable snapshot actions to be performed safely on follower indices. |
| [Rollover](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-rollover.md) | Rolls over a target to a new index when the existing index satisfies the specified rollover conditions. |
| [Read-Only](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly.md) | Makes the index data read-only, disabling data write operations against it. |
| [Downsample](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-downsample.md) | Aggregates a time series (TSDS) index and stores pre-computed statistical summaries (min, max, sum, value_count and avg) for each metric field grouped by a configured time interval. |
| [Shrink](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-shrink.md) | Blocks writes on a source index and shrinks it into a new index with fewer primary shards. |
| [Force Merge](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-forcemerge.md) | Reduce the number of segments in each shard by merging some of them together. |
| [Searchable Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-searchable-snapshot.md) | Takes a snapshot of the managed index in the configured repository and mounts it as a [searchable snapshot](/deploy-manage/tools/snapshot-and-restore/searchable-snapshots.md). |

### Warm phase

The following actions are available in the `warm` lifecycle phase. Actions are performed in the order listed.

| Action | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [Set Priority](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-set-priority.md) | Sets the priority level of the index, which determines the order in which indices are recovered following a node restart. |
| [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md) | Converts a [{{ccr-init}}](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/group/endpoint-ccr) follower index into a regular index, enabling the shrink, rollover, and searchable snapshot actions to be performed safely on follower indices. |
| [Read-Only](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly.md) | Makes the index data read-only, disabling data write operations against it. |
| [Downsample](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-downsample.md) | Aggregates a time series (TSDS) index and stores pre-computed statistical summaries (min, max, sum, value_count and avg) for each metric field grouped by a configured time interval. |
| [Allocate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-allocate.md) | Updates the index settings to change which nodes are allowed to host the index shards and change the number of replicas. |
| [Migrate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-migrate.md) | Moves the index to the [data tier](/manage-data/lifecycle/data-tiers.md) that corresponds to the current phase by updating the `index.routing.allocation.include._tier_preference` index setting. |
| [Shrink](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-shrink.md) | Blocks writes on a source index and shrinks it into a new index with fewer primary shards. |
| [Force Merge](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-forcemerge.md) | Reduce the number of segments in each shard by merging some of them together. |

### Cold phase

The following actions are available in the `cold` lifecycle phase. Actions are performed in the order listed.

| Action | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [Set Priority](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-set-priority.md) | Sets the priority level of the index, which determines the order in which indices are recovered following a node restart. |
| [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md) | Converts a [{{ccr-init}}](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/group/endpoint-ccr) follower index into a regular index, enabling the shrink, rollover, and searchable snapshot actions to be performed safely on follower indices. |
| [Read-Only](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly.md) | Makes the index data read-only, disabling data write operations against it. |
| [Downsample](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-downsample.md) | Aggregates a time series (TSDS) index and stores pre-computed statistical summaries (min, max, sum, value_count and avg) for each metric field grouped by a configured time interval. |
| [Searchable Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-searchable-snapshot.md) | Takes a snapshot of the managed index in the configured repository and mounts it as a [searchable snapshot](/deploy-manage/tools/snapshot-and-restore/searchable-snapshots.md). |
| [Allocate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-allocate.md) | Updates the index settings to change which nodes are allowed to host the index shards and change the number of replicas. |
| [Migrate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-migrate.md) | Moves the index to the [data tier](/manage-data/lifecycle/data-tiers.md) that corresponds to the current phase by updating the `index.routing.allocation.include._tier_preference` index setting. |

### Frozen phase

* Hot
The following actions are available in the `frozen` lifecycle phase. Actions are performed in the order listed.

* [Set Priority](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-set-priority.md)
* [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md)
* [Rollover](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-rollover.md)
* [Read-Only](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly.md)
* [Downsample](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-downsample.md)
* [Shrink](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-shrink.md)
* [Force Merge](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-forcemerge.md)
* [Searchable Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-searchable-snapshot.md)
| Action | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md) | Converts a [{{ccr-init}}](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/group/endpoint-ccr) follower index into a regular index, enabling the shrink, rollover, and searchable snapshot actions to be performed safely on follower indices. |
| [Searchable Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-searchable-snapshot.md) | Takes a snapshot of the managed index in the configured repository and mounts it as a [searchable snapshot](/deploy-manage/tools/snapshot-and-restore/searchable-snapshots.md). |

* Warm
### Delete phase

* [Set Priority](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-set-priority.md)
* [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md)
* [Read-Only](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly.md)
* [Downsample](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-downsample.md)
* [Allocate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-allocate.md)
* [Migrate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-migrate.md)
* [Shrink](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-shrink.md)
* [Force Merge](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-forcemerge.md)
The following actions are available in the `delete` lifecycle phase. Actions are performed in the order listed.

* Cold
| Action | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [Wait For Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-wait-for-snapshot.md) | Waits for the specified SLM policy to be executed before removing the index, ensuring that a snapshot of the deleted index is available. |
| [Delete](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-delete.md) | Permanently removes the index. |

* [Set Priority](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-set-priority.md)
* [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md)
* [Read-Only](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly.md)
* [Downsample](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-downsample.md)
* [Searchable Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-searchable-snapshot.md)
* [Allocate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-allocate.md)
* [Migrate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-migrate.md)
### Phases and available actions [phases-availability]

* Frozen
The following table summarizes the actions available in each phase.

* [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md)
* [Searchable Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-searchable-snapshot.md)
| Action | `Hot` | `Warm` | `Cold` | `Frozen` | `Delete` |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Allocate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-allocate.md) | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Delete](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-delete.md) | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| [Downsample](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-downsample.md) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Force Merge](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-forcemerge.md) | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Migrate](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-migrate.md) | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Read-Only](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-readonly.md) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Rollover](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-rollover.md) | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Searchable Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-searchable-snapshot.md) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| [Set Priority](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-set-priority.md) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Shrink](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-shrink.md) | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| [Unfollow](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-unfollow.md) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| [Wait For Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-wait-for-snapshot.md) | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |

* Delete

* [Wait For Snapshot](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-wait-for-snapshot.md)
* [Delete](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/index-lifecycle-actions/ilm-delete.md)
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