[7.x] Adding new `require_alias` option to indexing requests (#58917) (#59769)

* Adding new `require_alias` option to indexing requests (#58917)

This commit adds the `require_alias` flag to requests that create new documents.

This flag, when `true` prevents the request from automatically creating an index. Instead, the destination of the request MUST be an alias.

When the flag is not set, or `false`, the behavior defaults to the `action.auto_create_index` settings.

This is useful when an alias is required instead of a concrete index.

closes https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/55267

client/client-benchmark-noop-api-plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/noop/action/bulk/RestNoopBulkAction.java

@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ public class RestNoopBulkAction extends BaseRestHandler {
         String defaultType = request.param("type");
         String defaultRouting = request.param("routing");
         String defaultPipeline = request.param("pipeline");
+        Boolean defaultRequireAlias = request.paramAsBoolean("require_alias", null);
 
         String waitForActiveShards = request.param("wait_for_active_shards");
         if (waitForActiveShards != null) {
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ public class RestNoopBulkAction extends BaseRestHandler {
         bulkRequest.timeout(request.paramAsTime("timeout", BulkShardRequest.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT));
         bulkRequest.setRefreshPolicy(request.param("refresh"));
         bulkRequest.add(request.requiredContent(), defaultIndex, defaultType, defaultRouting,
-            null, defaultPipeline, true, request.getXContentType());
+            null, defaultPipeline, defaultRequireAlias, true, request.getXContentType());
 
         // short circuit the call to the transport layer
         return channel -> {

docs/reference/docs/index_.asciidoc

@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ and <<update-delete-docs-in-a-backing-index>>.
 
 `POST /<target>/_create/<_id>`
 
-IMPORTANT: You cannot add new documents to a data stream using the 
+IMPORTANT: You cannot add new documents to a data stream using the
-`PUT /<target>/_doc/<_id>` request format. To specify a document ID, use the 
+`PUT /<target>/_doc/<_id>` request format. To specify a document ID, use the
-`PUT /<target>/_create/<_id>` format instead. See 
+`PUT /<target>/_create/<_id>` format instead. See
 <<add-documents-to-a-data-stream>>.
 
 [[docs-index-api-path-params]]
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=version_type]
 
 include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=wait_for_active_shards]
 
+include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=require-alias]
+
 [[docs-index-api-request-body]]
 ==== {api-request-body-title}
 

docs/reference/docs/update.asciidoc

@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=if_primary_term]
 `lang`::
 (Optional, string) The script language. Default: `painless`.
 
+include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=require-alias]
+
 include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=refresh]
 
 `retry_on_conflict`::

docs/reference/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc

@@ -592,6 +592,12 @@ such as `1264`.
 A value of `-1` indicates {es} was unable to compute this number.
 end::memory[]
 
+tag::require-alias[]
+`require_alias`::
+(Optional, boolean) When true, this requires the destination to be an alias.
+Defaults to false.
+end::require-alias[]
+
 tag::node-filter[]
 `<node_filter>`::
 (Optional, string)

modules/ingest-common/src/yamlRestTest/resources/rest-api-spec/test/ingest/270_set_processor.yml

@@ -53,3 +53,51 @@ teardown:
         index: test
         id: 2
   - match: { _source.foo: "hello" }
+---
+"Test set processor with index change and require_alias":
+  - do:
+      ingest.put_pipeline:
+        id: "1"
+        body:  >
+          {
+            "processors": [
+              {
+                "set" : {
+                  "field" : "_index",
+                  "value" : "new_require_alias_index"
+                }
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+  - match: { acknowledged: true }
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      index:
+        index:   test_require_alias
+        pipeline: 1
+        require_alias: true
+        body:    { foo: bar }
+
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      indices.get:
+        index: test_require_alias
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      indices.get:
+        index: new_require_alias_index
+
+  - do:
+      indices.create:
+        index: backing_index
+        body:
+          mappings: {}
+          aliases:
+            new_require_alias_index: {}
+
+  - do:
+      index:
+        index:   test_require_alias
+        pipeline: 1
+        require_alias: true
+        body:    { foo: bar }

modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/ReindexValidator.java

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.apache.lucene.util.automaton.CharacterRunAutomaton;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.automaton.MinimizationOperations;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.automaton.Operations;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRequestValidationException;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.AutoCreateIndex;
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.DeprecationLogger;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.regex.Regex;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexNotFoundException;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.builder.SearchSourceBuilder;
 
 import java.util.List;
@@ -114,6 +116,14 @@ class ReindexValidator {
             return;
         }
         String target = destination.index();
+        if (destination.isRequireAlias() && (false == clusterState.getMetadata().hasAlias(target))) {
+            throw new IndexNotFoundException("["
+                + DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS
+                + "] request flag is [true] and ["
+                + target
+                + "] is not an alias",
+                target);
+        }
         if (false == autoCreateIndex.shouldAutoCreate(target, clusterState)) {
             /*
              * If we're going to autocreate the index we don't need to resolve

modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/RestReindexAction.java

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.index.reindex;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.node.NodeClient;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestRequest;
@@ -69,6 +70,10 @@ public class RestReindexAction extends AbstractBaseReindexRestHandler<ReindexReq
         if (request.hasParam("scroll")) {
             internal.setScroll(parseTimeValue(request.param("scroll"), "scroll"));
         }
+        if (request.hasParam(DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS)) {
+            internal.setRequireAlias(request.paramAsBoolean(DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS, false));
+        }
+
         return internal;
     }
 }

rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/api/bulk.json

@@ -87,6 +87,10 @@
       "pipeline":{
         "type":"string",
         "description":"The pipeline id to preprocess incoming documents with"
+      },
+      "require_alias": {
+        "type": "boolean",
+        "description": "Sets require_alias for all incoming documents. Defaults to unset (false)"
       }
     },
     "body":{

rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/api/index.json

@@ -139,6 +139,10 @@
       "pipeline":{
         "type":"string",
         "description":"The pipeline id to preprocess incoming documents with"
+      },
+      "require_alias": {
+        "type": "boolean",
+        "description": "When true, requires destination to be an alias. Default is false"
       }
     },
     "body":{

rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/api/update.json

@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@
       "if_primary_term":{
         "type":"number",
         "description":"only perform the update operation if the last operation that has changed the document has the specified primary term"
+      },
+      "require_alias": {
+        "type": "boolean",
+        "description": "When true, requires destination is an alias. Default is false"
       }
     },
     "body":{

rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/bulk/10_basic.yml

@@ -122,3 +122,86 @@
            {"index": {"_index": "test_index", "_id": "test_id"}}
            {"f1": "v1", "f2": 42}
            {}
+
+---
+"When setting require_alias flag per request":
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 7.9.99"
+      reason: "require_alias flag was added in version 7.10"
+
+  - do:
+      indices.create:
+        index: backing_index
+        body:
+          mappings: {}
+          aliases:
+            test_require_alias: {}
+  - do:
+      bulk:
+        refresh: true
+        body:
+          - index:
+              _index: new_index_not_created
+              require_alias: true
+          - f: 1
+          - index:
+              _index: new_index_created
+          - f: 2
+          - index:
+              _index: test_require_alias
+              require_alias: true
+          - f: 3
+          - create:
+              _index: test_require_alias
+          - f: 4
+  - match: { errors: true }
+  - match: { items.0.index.status: 404 }
+  - match: { items.0.index.error.type: index_not_found_exception }
+  - match: { items.0.index.error.reason: "no such index [new_index_not_created] and [require_alias] request flag is [true] and [new_index_not_created] is not an alias" }
+  - match: { items.1.index.result: created }
+  - match: { items.2.index.result: created }
+  - match: { items.3.create.result: created }
+
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      indices.get:
+        index: new_index_not_created
+---
+"When setting require_alias flag":
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 7.9.99"
+      reason: "require_alias flag was added in version 7.10"
+
+  - do:
+      indices.create:
+        index: backing_index
+        body:
+          mappings: {}
+          aliases:
+            test_require_alias: {}
+  - do:
+      bulk:
+        refresh: true
+        require_alias: true
+        body:
+          - index:
+              _index: new_index_not_created
+          - f: 1
+          - index:
+              _index: new_index_created
+              require_alias: false
+          - f: 2
+          - index:
+              _index: test_require_alias
+          - f: 3
+  - match: { errors: true }
+  - match: { items.0.index.status: 404 }
+  - match: { items.0.index.error.type: index_not_found_exception }
+  - match: { items.0.index.error.reason: "no such index [new_index_not_created] and [require_alias] request flag is [true] and [new_index_not_created] is not an alias" }
+  - match: { items.1.index.result: created }
+  - match: { items.2.index.result: created }
+
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      indices.get:
+        index: new_index_not_created

rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/index/70_require_alias.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+---
+"Set require_alias flag":
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 7.9.99"
+      reason: "require_alias flag added in 7.10"
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      index:
+        index:   test_require_alias
+        require_alias: true
+        body:    { foo: bar }
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      indices.get:
+        index: test_require_alias
+
+  - do:
+      indices.create:
+        index: backing_index
+        body:
+          mappings: {}
+          aliases:
+            test_require_alias: {}
+
+  - do:
+      index:
+        index:   test_require_alias
+        require_alias: true
+        body:    { foo: bar }

rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/update/95_require_alias.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+---
+"Set require_alias flag":
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 7.9.99"
+      reason: "require_alias flag added in 7.10"
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      update:
+        index:            test_require_alias
+        id:               1
+        require_alias:   true
+        body:
+          doc:            { foo: bar, count: 1 }
+          doc_as_upsert:  true
+  - do:
+      catch: missing
+      indices.get:
+        index: test_require_alias
+
+  - do:
+      indices.create:
+        index: backing_index
+        body:
+          mappings: {}
+          aliases:
+            test_require_alias: {}
+
+  - do:
+      update:
+        index:            test_require_alias
+        id:               1
+        require_alias:   true
+        body:
+          doc:            { foo: bar, count: 1 }
+          doc_as_upsert:  true

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/DocWriteRequest.java

@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.index.seqno.SequenceNumbers.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO;
  */
 public interface DocWriteRequest<T> extends IndicesRequest, Accountable {
 
+    // Flag set for disallowing index auto creation for an individual write request.
+    String REQUIRE_ALIAS = "require_alias";
+
     /**
      * Set the index for this request
      * @return the Request
@@ -163,6 +166,11 @@ public interface DocWriteRequest<T> extends IndicesRequest, Accountable {
      */
     OpType opType();
 
+    /**
+     * Should this request override specifically require the destination to be an alias?
+     * @return boolean flag, when true specifically requires an alias
+     */
+    boolean isRequireAlias();
     /**
      * Requested operation type to perform on the document
      */

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkProcessor.java

@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ public class BulkProcessor implements Closeable {
         lock.lock();
         try {
             ensureOpen();
-            bulkRequest.add(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, null, null, defaultPipeline,
+            bulkRequest.add(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, null, null, defaultPipeline, null,
                 true, xContentType);
             bulkRequestToExecute = newBulkRequestIfNeeded();
         } finally {

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequest.java

@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
     private String globalRouting;
     private String globalIndex;
     private String globalType;
+    private Boolean globalRequireAlias;
 
     private long sizeInBytes = 0;
 
@@ -258,7 +259,7 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
     @Deprecated
     public BulkRequest add(BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex, @Nullable String defaultType,
                            XContentType xContentType) throws IOException {
-        return add(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, null, null, null, true, xContentType);
+        return add(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, null, null, null, null, true, xContentType);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -266,7 +267,7 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
      */
     public BulkRequest add(BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex,
                            XContentType xContentType) throws IOException {
-        return add(data, defaultIndex, MapperService.SINGLE_MAPPING_NAME, null, null, null, true, xContentType);
+        return add(data, defaultIndex, MapperService.SINGLE_MAPPING_NAME, null, null, null, null, true, xContentType);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -276,7 +277,7 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
     @Deprecated
     public BulkRequest add(BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex, @Nullable String defaultType, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
                            XContentType xContentType) throws IOException {
-        return add(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, null, null, null, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType);
+        return add(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, null, null, null, null, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -284,7 +285,7 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
      */
     public BulkRequest add(BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
                            XContentType xContentType) throws IOException {
-        return add(data, defaultIndex, MapperService.SINGLE_MAPPING_NAME, null, null, null, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType);
+        return add(data, defaultIndex, MapperService.SINGLE_MAPPING_NAME, null, null, null, null, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType);
     }
 
     public BulkRequest add(BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex,
@@ -292,7 +293,7 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
             @Nullable String defaultPipeline, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
             XContentType xContentType) throws IOException {
         return add(data, defaultIndex, MapperService.SINGLE_MAPPING_NAME, defaultRouting, defaultFetchSourceContext,
-                defaultPipeline, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType);
+                defaultPipeline, null, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -301,11 +302,12 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
     @Deprecated
     public BulkRequest add(BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex, @Nullable String defaultType,
                            @Nullable String defaultRouting, @Nullable FetchSourceContext defaultFetchSourceContext,
-                           @Nullable String defaultPipeline, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
+                           @Nullable String defaultPipeline, @Nullable Boolean defaultRequireAlias, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
                            XContentType xContentType) throws IOException {
         String routing = valueOrDefault(defaultRouting, globalRouting);
         String pipeline = valueOrDefault(defaultPipeline, globalPipeline);
-        new BulkRequestParser(true).parse(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, routing, defaultFetchSourceContext, pipeline,
+        Boolean requireAlias = valueOrDefault(defaultRequireAlias, globalRequireAlias);
+        new BulkRequestParser(true).parse(data, defaultIndex, defaultType, routing, defaultFetchSourceContext, pipeline, requireAlias,
                 allowExplicitIndex, xContentType, this::internalAdd, this::internalAdd, this::add);
         return this;
     }
@@ -379,6 +381,15 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
         return globalRouting;
     }
 
+    public Boolean requireAlias() {
+        return globalRequireAlias;
+    }
+
+    public BulkRequest requireAlias(Boolean globalRequireAlias) {
+        this.globalRequireAlias = globalRequireAlias;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public ActionRequestValidationException validate() {
         ActionRequestValidationException validationException = null;
@@ -434,6 +445,13 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest implements CompositeIndicesReques
         return value;
     }
 
+    private static Boolean valueOrDefault(Boolean value, Boolean globalDefault) {
+        if (Objects.isNull(value) && !Objects.isNull(globalDefault)) {
+            return globalDefault;
+        }
+        return value;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public long ramBytesUsed() {
         return SHALLOW_SIZE + requests.stream().mapToLong(Accountable::ramBytesUsed).sum();

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequestParser.java

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.action.bulk;
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.delete.DeleteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.update.UpdateRequest;
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ public final class BulkRequestParser {
     private static final ParseField SOURCE = new ParseField("_source");
     private static final ParseField IF_SEQ_NO = new ParseField("if_seq_no");
     private static final ParseField IF_PRIMARY_TERM = new ParseField("if_primary_term");
+    private static final ParseField REQUIRE_ALIAS = new ParseField(DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS);
 
     private final boolean warnOnTypeUsage;
 
@@ -112,27 +114,27 @@ public final class BulkRequestParser {
     public void parse(
             BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex,
             @Nullable String defaultRouting, @Nullable FetchSourceContext defaultFetchSourceContext,
-            @Nullable String defaultPipeline, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
+            @Nullable String defaultPipeline, @Nullable Boolean defaultRequireAlias, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
             XContentType xContentType,
             Consumer<IndexRequest> indexRequestConsumer,
             Consumer<UpdateRequest> updateRequestConsumer,
             Consumer<DeleteRequest> deleteRequestConsumer) throws IOException {
-        parse(data, defaultIndex, null, defaultRouting, defaultFetchSourceContext, defaultPipeline, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType,
+        parse(data, defaultIndex, null, defaultRouting, defaultFetchSourceContext, defaultPipeline,
-                indexRequestConsumer, updateRequestConsumer, deleteRequestConsumer);
+            defaultRequireAlias, allowExplicitIndex, xContentType, indexRequestConsumer, updateRequestConsumer, deleteRequestConsumer);
     }
 
     /**
      * Parse the provided {@code data} assuming the provided default values. Index requests
      * will be passed to the {@code indexRequestConsumer}, update requests to the
      * {@code updateRequestConsumer} and delete requests to the {@code deleteRequestConsumer}.
-     * @deprecated Use {@link #parse(BytesReference, String, String, FetchSourceContext, String, boolean, XContentType,
+     * @deprecated Use {@link #parse(BytesReference, String, String, FetchSourceContext, String, Boolean, boolean, XContentType,
      * Consumer, Consumer, Consumer)} instead.
      */
     @Deprecated
     public void parse(
             BytesReference data, @Nullable String defaultIndex, @Nullable String defaultType,
             @Nullable String defaultRouting, @Nullable FetchSourceContext defaultFetchSourceContext,
-            @Nullable String defaultPipeline, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
+            @Nullable String defaultPipeline, @Nullable Boolean defaultRequireAlias, boolean allowExplicitIndex,
             XContentType xContentType,
             Consumer<IndexRequest> indexRequestConsumer,
             Consumer<UpdateRequest> updateRequestConsumer,
@@ -190,6 +192,7 @@ public final class BulkRequestParser {
                 long ifPrimaryTerm = UNASSIGNED_PRIMARY_TERM;
                 int retryOnConflict = 0;
                 String pipeline = defaultPipeline;
+                boolean requireAlias = defaultRequireAlias != null && defaultRequireAlias;
 
                 // at this stage, next token can either be END_OBJECT (and use default index and type, with auto generated id)
                 // or START_OBJECT which will have another set of parameters
@@ -206,7 +209,7 @@ public final class BulkRequestParser {
                                     throw new IllegalArgumentException("explicit index in bulk is not allowed");
                                 }
                                 index = stringDeduplicator.computeIfAbsent(parser.text(), Function.identity());
-                            } else if (TYPE.match(currentFieldName, parser.getDeprecationHandler())) {   
+                            } else if (TYPE.match(currentFieldName, parser.getDeprecationHandler())) {
                                 if (warnOnTypeUsage && typesDeprecationLogged == false) {
                                     deprecationLogger.deprecatedAndMaybeLog("bulk_with_types", RestBulkAction.TYPES_DEPRECATION_MESSAGE);
                                     typesDeprecationLogged = true;
@@ -232,6 +235,8 @@ public final class BulkRequestParser {
                                 pipeline = stringDeduplicator.computeIfAbsent(parser.text(), Function.identity());
                             } else if (SOURCE.match(currentFieldName, parser.getDeprecationHandler())) {
                                 fetchSourceContext = FetchSourceContext.fromXContent(parser);
+                            } else if (REQUIRE_ALIAS.match(currentFieldName, parser.getDeprecationHandler())) {
+                                requireAlias = parser.booleanValue();
                             } else {
                                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Action/metadata line [" + line + "] contains an unknown parameter ["
                                         + currentFieldName + "]");
@@ -269,19 +274,22 @@ public final class BulkRequestParser {
                             indexRequestConsumer.accept(new IndexRequest(index, type, id).routing(routing)
                                     .version(version).versionType(versionType)
                                     .setPipeline(pipeline).setIfSeqNo(ifSeqNo).setIfPrimaryTerm(ifPrimaryTerm)
-                                    .source(sliceTrimmingCarriageReturn(data, from, nextMarker,xContentType), xContentType));
+                                    .source(sliceTrimmingCarriageReturn(data, from, nextMarker,xContentType), xContentType)
+                                    .setRequireAlias(requireAlias));
                         } else {
                             indexRequestConsumer.accept(new IndexRequest(index, type, id).routing(routing)
                                     .version(version).versionType(versionType)
                                     .create("create".equals(opType)).setPipeline(pipeline)
                                     .setIfSeqNo(ifSeqNo).setIfPrimaryTerm(ifPrimaryTerm)
-                                    .source(sliceTrimmingCarriageReturn(data, from, nextMarker, xContentType), xContentType));
+                                    .source(sliceTrimmingCarriageReturn(data, from, nextMarker, xContentType), xContentType)
+                                    .setRequireAlias(requireAlias));
                         }
                     } else if ("create".equals(action)) {
                         indexRequestConsumer.accept(new IndexRequest(index, type, id).routing(routing)
                                 .version(version).versionType(versionType)
                                 .create(true).setPipeline(pipeline).setIfSeqNo(ifSeqNo).setIfPrimaryTerm(ifPrimaryTerm)
-                                .source(sliceTrimmingCarriageReturn(data, from, nextMarker, xContentType), xContentType));
+                                .source(sliceTrimmingCarriageReturn(data, from, nextMarker, xContentType), xContentType)
+                                .setRequireAlias(requireAlias));
                     } else if ("update".equals(action)) {
                         if (version != Versions.MATCH_ANY || versionType != VersionType.INTERNAL) {
                             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Update requests do not support versioning. " +
@@ -289,6 +297,7 @@ public final class BulkRequestParser {
                         }
                         UpdateRequest updateRequest = new UpdateRequest(index, type, id).routing(routing).retryOnConflict(retryOnConflict)
                                 .setIfSeqNo(ifSeqNo).setIfPrimaryTerm(ifPrimaryTerm)
+                                .setRequireAlias(requireAlias)
                                 .routing(routing);
                         // EMPTY is safe here because we never call namedObject
                         try (InputStream dataStream = sliceTrimmingCarriageReturn(data, from, nextMarker, xContentType).streamInput();

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportBulkAction.java

@@ -223,28 +223,29 @@ public class TransportBulkAction extends HandledTransportAction<BulkRequest, Bul
         if (needToCheck()) {
             // Attempt to create all the indices that we're going to need during the bulk before we start.
             // Step 1: collect all the indices in the request
-            final Set<String> indices = bulkRequest.requests.stream()
+            final Map<String, Boolean> indices = bulkRequest.requests.stream()
-                    // delete requests should not attempt to create the index (if the index does not
+                // delete requests should not attempt to create the index (if the index does not
-                    // exists), unless an external versioning is used
+                // exists), unless an external versioning is used
                 .filter(request -> request.opType() != DocWriteRequest.OpType.DELETE
-                        || request.versionType() == VersionType.EXTERNAL
+                    || request.versionType() == VersionType.EXTERNAL
-                        || request.versionType() == VersionType.EXTERNAL_GTE)
+                    || request.versionType() == VersionType.EXTERNAL_GTE)
-                .map(DocWriteRequest::index)
+                .collect(Collectors.toMap(DocWriteRequest::index, DocWriteRequest::isRequireAlias, (v1, v2) -> v1 || v2));
-                .collect(Collectors.toSet());
             /* Step 2: filter that to indices that don't exist and we can create. At the same time build a map of indices we can't create
              * that we'll use when we try to run the requests. */
             final Map<String, IndexNotFoundException> indicesThatCannotBeCreated = new HashMap<>();
             Set<String> autoCreateIndices = new HashSet<>();
             ClusterState state = clusterService.state();
-            for (String index : indices) {
+            for (Map.Entry<String, Boolean> indexAndFlag : indices.entrySet()) {
                 boolean shouldAutoCreate;
+                final String index = indexAndFlag.getKey();
                 try {
                     shouldAutoCreate = shouldAutoCreate(index, state);
                 } catch (IndexNotFoundException e) {
                     shouldAutoCreate = false;
                     indicesThatCannotBeCreated.put(index, e);
                 }
-                if (shouldAutoCreate) {
+                // We should only auto create if we are not requiring it to be an alias
+                if (shouldAutoCreate && (indexAndFlag.getValue() == false)) {
                     autoCreateIndices.add(index);
                 }
             }
@@ -415,6 +416,9 @@ public class TransportBulkAction extends HandledTransportAction<BulkRequest, Bul
                 if (docWriteRequest == null) {
                     continue;
                 }
+                if (addFailureIfRequiresAliasAndAliasIsMissing(docWriteRequest, i, metadata)) {
+                    continue;
+                }
                 if (addFailureIfIndexIsUnavailable(docWriteRequest, i, concreteIndices, metadata)) {
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -566,6 +570,20 @@ public class TransportBulkAction extends HandledTransportAction<BulkRequest, Bul
             });
         }
 
+        private boolean addFailureIfRequiresAliasAndAliasIsMissing(DocWriteRequest<?> request, int idx, final Metadata metadata) {
+            if (request.isRequireAlias() && (metadata.hasAlias(request.index()) == false)) {
+                Exception exception = new IndexNotFoundException("["
+                    + DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS
+                    + "] request flag is [true] and ["
+                    + request.index()
+                    + "] is not an alias",
+                    request.index());
+                addFailure(request, idx, exception);
+                return true;
+            }
+            return false;
+        }
+
         private boolean addFailureIfIndexIsUnavailable(DocWriteRequest<?> request, int idx, final ConcreteIndices concreteIndices,
                 final Metadata metadata) {
             IndexNotFoundException cannotCreate = indicesThatCannotBeCreated.get(request.index());

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/delete/DeleteRequest.java

@@ -305,6 +305,11 @@ public class DeleteRequest extends ReplicatedWriteRequest<DeleteRequest>
         return OpType.DELETE;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public boolean isRequireAlias() {
+        return false;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         super.writeTo(out);

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequest.java

@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ public class IndexRequest extends ReplicatedWriteRequest<IndexRequest> implement
 
     private boolean isPipelineResolved;
 
+    private boolean requireAlias;
+
     /**
      * Value for {@link #getAutoGeneratedTimestamp()} if the document has an external
      * provided ID.
@@ -162,6 +164,11 @@ public class IndexRequest extends ReplicatedWriteRequest<IndexRequest> implement
             ifSeqNo = UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO;
             ifPrimaryTerm = UNASSIGNED_PRIMARY_TERM;
         }
+        if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_10_0)) {
+            requireAlias = in.readBoolean();
+        } else {
+            requireAlias = false;
+        }
     }
 
     public IndexRequest() {
@@ -760,6 +767,9 @@ public class IndexRequest extends ReplicatedWriteRequest<IndexRequest> implement
                 "sequence number based compare and write is not supported until all nodes are on version 7.0 or higher. " +
                     "Stream version [" + out.getVersion() + "]");
         }
+        if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_10_0)) {
+            out.writeBoolean(requireAlias);
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -807,4 +817,14 @@ public class IndexRequest extends ReplicatedWriteRequest<IndexRequest> implement
     public long ramBytesUsed() {
         return SHALLOW_SIZE + RamUsageEstimator.sizeOf(id) + (source == null ? 0 : source.length());
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isRequireAlias() {
+        return requireAlias;
+    }
+
+    public IndexRequest setRequireAlias(boolean requireAlias) {
+        this.requireAlias = requireAlias;
+        return this;
+    }
 }

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequestBuilder.java

@@ -230,4 +230,12 @@ public class IndexRequestBuilder extends ReplicationRequestBuilder<IndexRequest,
         request.setPipeline(pipeline);
         return this;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the require_alias flag
+     */
+    public IndexRequestBuilder setRequireAlias(boolean requireAlias) {
+        request.setRequireAlias(requireAlias);
+        return this;
+    }
 }

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/TransportUpdateAction.java

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.action.update;
 import org.elasticsearch.ResourceAlreadyExistsException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRunnable;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.RoutingMissingException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.create.CreateIndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.create.CreateIndexResponse;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.NotSerializableExceptionWrapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentType;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexNotFoundException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.VersionConflictEngineException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.IndexShard;
@@ -71,6 +73,7 @@ public class TransportUpdateAction extends TransportInstanceSingleOperationActio
     private final UpdateHelper updateHelper;
     private final IndicesService indicesService;
     private final NodeClient client;
+    private final ClusterService clusterService;
 
     @Inject
     public TransportUpdateAction(ThreadPool threadPool, ClusterService clusterService, TransportService transportService,
@@ -83,6 +86,7 @@ public class TransportUpdateAction extends TransportInstanceSingleOperationActio
         this.indicesService = indicesService;
         this.autoCreateIndex = autoCreateIndex;
         this.client = client;
+        this.clusterService = clusterService;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -115,6 +119,13 @@ public class TransportUpdateAction extends TransportInstanceSingleOperationActio
 
     @Override
     protected void doExecute(Task task, final UpdateRequest request, final ActionListener<UpdateResponse> listener) {
+        if (request.isRequireAlias() && (clusterService.state().getMetadata().hasAlias(request.index()) == false)) {
+            throw new IndexNotFoundException("["
+                + DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS
+                + "] request flag is [true] and ["
+                + request.index()
+                + "] is not an alias", request.index());
+        }
         // if we don't have a master, we don't have metadata, that's fine, let it find a master using create index API
         if (autoCreateIndex.shouldAutoCreate(request.index(), clusterService.state())) {
             client.admin().indices().create(new CreateIndexRequest()

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java

@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ public class UpdateRequest extends InstanceShardOperationRequest<UpdateRequest>
     private boolean scriptedUpsert = false;
     private boolean docAsUpsert = false;
     private boolean detectNoop = true;
+    private boolean requireAlias = false;
 
     @Nullable
     private IndexRequest doc;
@@ -176,6 +177,11 @@ public class UpdateRequest extends InstanceShardOperationRequest<UpdateRequest>
         ifPrimaryTerm = in.readVLong();
         detectNoop = in.readBoolean();
         scriptedUpsert = in.readBoolean();
+        if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_10_0)) {
+            requireAlias = in.readBoolean();
+        } else {
+            requireAlias = false;
+        }
     }
 
     public UpdateRequest(String index, String id) {
@@ -877,6 +883,16 @@ public class UpdateRequest extends InstanceShardOperationRequest<UpdateRequest>
         return this;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public boolean isRequireAlias() {
+        return requireAlias;
+    }
+
+    public UpdateRequest setRequireAlias(boolean requireAlias) {
+        this.requireAlias = requireAlias;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         super.writeTo(out);
@@ -948,6 +964,9 @@ public class UpdateRequest extends InstanceShardOperationRequest<UpdateRequest>
         out.writeVLong(ifPrimaryTerm);
         out.writeBoolean(detectNoop);
         out.writeBoolean(scriptedUpsert);
+        if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_10_0)) {
+            out.writeBoolean(requireAlias);
+        }
     }
 
     @Override

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/ReindexRequest.java

@@ -257,6 +257,14 @@ public class ReindexRequest extends AbstractBulkIndexByScrollRequest<ReindexRequ
         return this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the require_alias request flag on the destination index
+     */
+    public ReindexRequest setRequireAlias(boolean requireAlias) {
+        this.getDestination().setRequireAlias(requireAlias);
+        return this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Gets the target for this reindex request in the for of an {@link IndexRequest}
      */

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/document/RestBulkAction.java

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.rest.action.document;
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkShardRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.ActiveShardCount;
@@ -96,10 +97,11 @@ public class RestBulkAction extends BaseRestHandler {
         if (waitForActiveShards != null) {
             bulkRequest.waitForActiveShards(ActiveShardCount.parseString(waitForActiveShards));
         }
+        Boolean defaultRequireAlias = request.paramAsBoolean(DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS, null);
         bulkRequest.timeout(request.paramAsTime("timeout", BulkShardRequest.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT));
         bulkRequest.setRefreshPolicy(request.param("refresh"));
         bulkRequest.add(request.requiredContent(), defaultIndex, defaultType, defaultRouting,
-            defaultFetchSourceContext, defaultPipeline, allowExplicitIndex, request.getXContentType());
+            defaultFetchSourceContext, defaultPipeline, defaultRequireAlias, allowExplicitIndex, request.getXContentType());
 
         return channel -> client.bulk(bulkRequest, new RestStatusToXContentListener<>(channel));
     }

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/document/RestIndexAction.java

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.rest.action.document;
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.ActiveShardCount;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.node.NodeClient;
@@ -145,6 +146,7 @@ public class RestIndexAction extends BaseRestHandler {
         indexRequest.versionType(VersionType.fromString(request.param("version_type"), indexRequest.versionType()));
         indexRequest.setIfSeqNo(request.paramAsLong("if_seq_no", indexRequest.ifSeqNo()));
         indexRequest.setIfPrimaryTerm(request.paramAsLong("if_primary_term", indexRequest.ifPrimaryTerm()));
+        indexRequest.setRequireAlias(request.paramAsBoolean(DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS, indexRequest.isRequireAlias()));
         String sOpType = request.param("op_type");
         String waitForActiveShards = request.param("wait_for_active_shards");
         if (waitForActiveShards != null) {

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/document/RestUpdateAction.java

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.rest.action.document;
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRequestValidationException;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.ActiveShardCount;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.update.UpdateRequest;
@@ -94,6 +95,7 @@ public class RestUpdateAction extends BaseRestHandler {
 
         updateRequest.setIfSeqNo(request.paramAsLong("if_seq_no", updateRequest.ifSeqNo()));
         updateRequest.setIfPrimaryTerm(request.paramAsLong("if_primary_term", updateRequest.ifPrimaryTerm()));
+        updateRequest.setRequireAlias(request.paramAsBoolean(DocWriteRequest.REQUIRE_ALIAS, updateRequest.isRequireAlias()));
 
         request.applyContentParser(parser -> {
             updateRequest.fromXContent(parser);

server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequestParserTests.java

@@ -42,10 +42,31 @@ public class BulkRequestParserTests extends ESTestCase {
                     assertFalse(parsed.get());
                     assertEquals("foo", indexRequest.index());
                     assertEquals("bar", indexRequest.id());
+                    assertFalse(indexRequest.isRequireAlias());
                     parsed.set(true);
                 },
                 req -> fail(), req -> fail());
         assertTrue(parsed.get());
+
+        parser.parse(request, "foo", null, null, null, true, false, XContentType.JSON,
+            indexRequest -> {
+                assertTrue(indexRequest.isRequireAlias());
+            },
+            req -> fail(), req -> fail());
+
+        request = new BytesArray("{ \"index\":{ \"_id\": \"bar\", \"require_alias\": true } }\n{}\n");
+        parser.parse(request, "foo", null, null, null, null, false, XContentType.JSON,
+            indexRequest -> {
+                assertTrue(indexRequest.isRequireAlias());
+            },
+            req -> fail(), req -> fail());
+
+        request = new BytesArray("{ \"index\":{ \"_id\": \"bar\", \"require_alias\": false } }\n{}\n");
+        parser.parse(request, "foo", null, null, null, true, false, XContentType.JSON,
+            indexRequest -> {
+                assertFalse(indexRequest.isRequireAlias());
+            },
+            req -> fail(), req -> fail());
     }
 
     public void testDeleteRequest() throws IOException {
@@ -73,13 +94,37 @@ public class BulkRequestParserTests extends ESTestCase {
                     assertFalse(parsed.get());
                     assertEquals("foo", updateRequest.index());
                     assertEquals("bar", updateRequest.id());
+                    assertFalse(updateRequest.isRequireAlias());
                     parsed.set(true);
                 },
                 req -> fail());
         assertTrue(parsed.get());
+
+        parser.parse(request, "foo", null, null, null, true, false, XContentType.JSON,
+            req -> fail(),
+            updateRequest -> {
+                assertTrue(updateRequest.isRequireAlias());
+            },
+            req -> fail());
+
+        request = new BytesArray("{ \"update\":{ \"_id\": \"bar\", \"require_alias\": true } }\n{}\n");
+        parser.parse(request, "foo", null, null, null, null, false, XContentType.JSON,
+            req -> fail(),
+            updateRequest -> {
+                assertTrue(updateRequest.isRequireAlias());
+            },
+            req -> fail());
+
+        request = new BytesArray("{ \"update\":{ \"_id\": \"bar\", \"require_alias\": false } }\n{}\n");
+        parser.parse(request, "foo", null, null, null, true, false, XContentType.JSON,
+            req -> fail(),
+            updateRequest -> {
+                assertFalse(updateRequest.isRequireAlias());
+            },
+            req -> fail());
     }
 
-    public void testBarfOnLackOfTrailingNewline() throws IOException {
+    public void testBarfOnLackOfTrailingNewline() {
         BytesArray request = new BytesArray("{ \"index\":{ \"_id\": \"bar\" } }\n{}");
         BulkRequestParser parser = new BulkRequestParser(randomBoolean());
         IllegalArgumentException e = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class,
@@ -88,10 +133,10 @@ public class BulkRequestParserTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertEquals("The bulk request must be terminated by a newline [\\n]", e.getMessage());
     }
 
-    public void testFailOnExplicitIndex() throws IOException {
+    public void testFailOnExplicitIndex() {
         BytesArray request = new BytesArray("{ \"index\":{ \"_index\": \"foo\", \"_id\": \"bar\" } }\n{}\n");
         BulkRequestParser parser = new BulkRequestParser(randomBoolean());
-        
+
         IllegalArgumentException ex = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class,
                 () -> parser.parse(request, null, null, null, null, null, false, XContentType.JSON,
                         req -> fail(), req -> fail(), req -> fail()));
@@ -121,7 +166,7 @@ public class BulkRequestParserTests extends ESTestCase {
                 + "{ \"index\":{ \"_index\": \"bar\", \"pipeline\": \"foo\", \"routing\": \"blub\" } }\n{}\n");
         BulkRequestParser parser = new BulkRequestParser(randomBoolean());
         final List<IndexRequest> indexRequests = new ArrayList<>();
-        parser.parse(request, null, null, null, null, true, XContentType.JSON,
+        parser.parse(request, null, null, null, null, null, true, XContentType.JSON,
                 indexRequests::add,
                 req -> fail(), req -> fail());
         assertThat(indexRequests, Matchers.hasSize(2));

server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequestTests.java

@@ -157,7 +157,9 @@ public class IndexRequestTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testIndexRequestXContentSerialization() throws IOException {
         IndexRequest indexRequest = new IndexRequest("foo").id("1");
+        boolean isRequireAlias = randomBoolean();
         indexRequest.source("{}", XContentType.JSON);
+        indexRequest.setRequireAlias(isRequireAlias);
         assertEquals(XContentType.JSON, indexRequest.getContentType());
 
         BytesStreamOutput out = new BytesStreamOutput();
@@ -166,6 +168,7 @@ public class IndexRequestTests extends ESTestCase {
         IndexRequest serialized = new IndexRequest(in);
         assertEquals(XContentType.JSON, serialized.getContentType());
         assertEquals(new BytesArray("{}"), serialized.source());
+        assertEquals(isRequireAlias, serialized.isRequireAlias());
     }
 
     // reindex makes use of index requests without a source so this needs to be handled

x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/monitoring/action/MonitoringBulkRequest.java

@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public class MonitoringBulkRequest extends ActionRequest {
                                      final long intervalMillis) throws IOException {
 
         // MonitoringBulkRequest accepts a body request that has the same format as the BulkRequest
-        new BulkRequestParser(false).parse(content, null, null, null, null, true, xContentType,
+        new BulkRequestParser(false).parse(content, null, null, null, null, null, true, xContentType,
                 indexRequest -> {
                     // we no longer accept non-timestamped indexes from Kibana, LS, or Beats because we do not use the data
                     // and it was duplicated anyway; by simply dropping it, we allow BWC for older clients that still send it