[[java-rest-low-usage]]
== Getting started
This section describes how to get started with the low-level REST client from
getting the artifact to using it in an application.
[[java-rest-low-javadoc]]
=== Javadoc
The javadoc for the low level REST client can be found at {rest-client-javadoc}/index.html.
[[java-rest-low-usage-maven]]
=== Maven Repository
The low-level Java REST client is hosted on
http://search.maven.org/#search%7Cga%7C1%7Cg%3A%22org.elasticsearch.client%22[Maven
Central]. The minimum Java version required is `1.8`.
The low-level REST client is subject to the same release cycle as
Elasticsearch. Replace the version with the desired client version, first
released with `5.0.0-alpha4`. There is no relation between the client version
and the Elasticsearch version that the client can communicate with. The
low-level REST client is compatible with all Elasticsearch versions.
If you are looking for a SNAPSHOT version, the Elastic Maven Snapshot repository is available
at https://snapshots.elastic.co/maven/.
[[java-rest-low-usage-maven-maven]]
==== Maven configuration
Here is how you can configure the dependency using maven as a dependency manager.
Add the following to your `pom.xml` file:
["source","xml",subs="attributes"]
--------------------------------------------------
org.elasticsearch.client
elasticsearch-rest-client
{version}
--------------------------------------------------
[[java-rest-low-usage-maven-gradle]]
==== Gradle configuration
Here is how you can configure the dependency using gradle as a dependency manager.
Add the following to your `build.gradle` file:
["source","groovy",subs="attributes"]
--------------------------------------------------
dependencies {
compile 'org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-client:{version}'
}
--------------------------------------------------
[[java-rest-low-usage-dependencies]]
=== Dependencies
The low-level Java REST client internally uses the
http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-asyncclient-dev/[Apache Http Async Client]
to send http requests. It depends on the following artifacts, namely the async
http client and its own transitive dependencies:
- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpasyncclient
- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpcore-nio
- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpclient
- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpcore
- commons-codec:commons-codec
- commons-logging:commons-logging
[[java-rest-low-usage-shading]]
=== Shading
In order to avoid version conflicts, the dependencies can be shaded and packaged
within the client in a single JAR file (sometimes called an "uber JAR" or "fat
JAR"). Shading a dependency consists of taking its content (resources files and
Java class files) and renaming some of its packages before putting them in the
same JAR file as the low-level Java REST client. Shading a JAR can be
accomplished by 3rd-party plugins for Gradle and Maven.
Be advised that shading a JAR also has implications. Shading the Commons Logging
layer, for instance, means that 3rd-party logging backends need to be shaded as
well.
[[java-rest-low-usage-shading-maven]]
==== Maven configuration
Here is a configuration using the Maven
https://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-shade-plugin/index.html[Shade]
plugin. Add the following to your `pom.xml` file:
["source","xml",subs="attributes"]
--------------------------------------------------
org.apache.maven.plugins
maven-shade-plugin
3.1.0
package
shade
org.apache.http
hidden.org.apache.http
org.apache.logging
hidden.org.apache.logging
org.apache.commons.codec
hidden.org.apache.commons.codec
org.apache.commons.logging
hidden.org.apache.commons.logging
--------------------------------------------------
[[java-rest-low-usage-shading-gradle]]
==== Gradle configuration
Here is a configuration using the Gradle
https://github.com/johnrengelman/shadow[ShadowJar] plugin. Add the following to
your `build.gradle` file:
["source","groovy",subs="attributes"]
--------------------------------------------------
shadowJar {
relocate 'org.apache.http', 'hidden.org.apache.http'
relocate 'org.apache.logging', 'hidden.org.apache.logging'
relocate 'org.apache.commons.codec', 'hidden.org.apache.commons.codec'
relocate 'org.apache.commons.logging', 'hidden.org.apache.commons.logging'
}
--------------------------------------------------
[[java-rest-low-usage-initialization]]
=== Initialization
A `RestClient` instance can be built through the corresponding
`RestClientBuilder` class, created via `RestClient#builder(HttpHost...)`
static method. The only required argument is one or more hosts that the
client will communicate with, provided as instances of
https://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-core-ga/httpcore/apidocs/org/apache/http/HttpHost.html[HttpHost]
as follows:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-init]
--------------------------------------------------
The `RestClient` class is thread-safe and ideally has the same lifecycle as
the application that uses it. It is important that it gets closed when no
longer needed so that all the resources used by it get properly released,
as well as the underlying http client instance and its threads:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-close]
--------------------------------------------------
`RestClientBuilder` also allows to optionally set the following configuration
parameters while building the `RestClient` instance:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-init-default-headers]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Set the default headers that need to be sent with each request, to
prevent having to specify them with each single request
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-init-failure-listener]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Set a listener that gets notified every time a node fails, in case actions
need to be taken. Used internally when sniffing on failure is enabled.
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-init-node-selector]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Set the node selector to be used to filter the nodes the client will send
requests to among the ones that are set to the client itself. This is useful
for instance to prevent sending requests to dedicated master nodes when
sniffing is enabled. By default the client sends requests to every configured
node.
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-init-request-config-callback]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Set a callback that allows to modify the default request configuration
(e.g. request timeouts, authentication, or anything that the
https://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/httpclient/apidocs/org/apache/http/client/config/RequestConfig.Builder.html[`org.apache.http.client.config.RequestConfig.Builder`]
allows to set)
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-init-client-config-callback]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Set a callback that allows to modify the http client configuration
(e.g. encrypted communication over ssl, or anything that the
http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-asyncclient-dev/httpasyncclient/apidocs/org/apache/http/impl/nio/client/HttpAsyncClientBuilder.html[`org.apache.http.impl.nio.client.HttpAsyncClientBuilder`]
allows to set)
[[java-rest-low-usage-requests]]
=== Performing requests
Once the `RestClient` has been created, requests can be sent by calling either
`performRequest` or `performRequestAsync`. `performRequest` is synchronous and
will block the calling thread and return the `Response` when the request is
successful or throw an exception if it fails. `performRequestAsync` is
asynchronous and accepts a `ResponseListener` argument that it calls with a
`Response` when the request is successful or with an `Exception` if it fails.
This is synchronous:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-sync]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> The HTTP method (`GET`, `POST`, `HEAD`, etc)
<2> The endpoint on the server
And this is asynchronous:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-async]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> The HTTP method (`GET`, `POST`, `HEAD`, etc)
<2> The endpoint on the server
<3> Handle the response
<4> Handle the failure
You can add request parameters to the request object:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-parameters]
--------------------------------------------------
You can set the body of the request to any `HttpEntity`:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-body]
--------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: The `ContentType` specified for the `HttpEntity` is important
because it will be used to set the `Content-Type` header so that Elasticsearch
can properly parse the content.
You can also set it to a `String` which will default to
a `ContentType` of `application/json`.
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-body-shorter]
--------------------------------------------------
[[java-rest-low-usage-request-options]]
==== RequestOptions
The `RequestOptions` class holds parts of the request that should be shared
between many requests in the same application. You can make a singleton
instance and share it between all requests:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-options-singleton]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Add any headers needed by all requests.
<2> Customize the response consumer.
`addHeader` is for headers that are required for authorization or to work with
a proxy in front of Elasticsearch. There is no need to set the `Content-Type`
header because the client will automatically set that from the `HttpEntity`
attached to the request.
You can set the `NodeSelector` which controls which nodes will receive
requests. `NodeSelector.NOT_MASTER_ONLY` is a good choice.
You can also customize the response consumer used to buffer the asynchronous
responses. The default consumer will buffer up to 100MB of response on the
JVM heap. If the response is larger then the request will fail. You could,
for example, lower the maximum size which might be useful if you are running
in a heap constrained environment like the example above.
Once you've created the singleton you can use it when making requests:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-options-set-singleton]
--------------------------------------------------
You can also customize these options on a per request basis. For example, this
adds an extra header:
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-options-customize-header]
--------------------------------------------------
==== Multiple parallel asynchronous actions
The client is quite happy to execute many actions in parallel. The following
example indexes many documents in parallel. In a real world scenario you'd
probably want to use the `_bulk` API instead, but the example is illustrative.
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-async-example]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Process the returned response
<2> Handle the returned exception, due to communication error or a response
with status code that indicates an error
==== Cancelling asynchronous requests
The `performRequestAsync` method returns a `Cancellable` that exposes a single
public method called `cancel`. Such method can be called to cancel the on-going
request. Cancelling a request will result in aborting the http request through
the underlying http client. On the server side, this does not automatically
translate to the execution of that request being cancelled, which needs to be
specifically implemented in the API itself.
The use of the `Cancellable` instance is optional and you can safely ignore this
if you don't need it. A typical usecase for this would be using this together with
frameworks like Rx Java or the Kotlin's `suspendCancellableCoRoutine`. Cancelling
no longer needed requests is a good way to avoid putting unnecessary
load on Elasticsearch.
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-async-cancel]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Process the returned response, in case it was ready before the request got cancelled
<2> Handle the returned exception, which will most likely be a `CancellationException` as the request got cancelled
[[java-rest-low-usage-responses]]
=== Reading responses
The `Response` object, either returned by the synchronous `performRequest` methods or
received as an argument in `ResponseListener#onSuccess(Response)`, wraps the
response object returned by the http client and exposes some additional information.
["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
--------------------------------------------------
include-tagged::{doc-tests}/RestClientDocumentation.java[rest-client-response2]
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Information about the performed request
<2> The host that returned the response
<3> The response status line, from which you can for instance retrieve the status code
<4> The response headers, which can also be retrieved by name though `getHeader(String)`
<5> The response body enclosed in an https://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-core-ga/httpcore/apidocs/org/apache/http/HttpEntity.html[`org.apache.http.HttpEntity`]
object
When performing a request, an exception is thrown (or received as an argument
in `ResponseListener#onFailure(Exception)` in the following scenarios:
`IOException`:: communication problem (e.g. SocketTimeoutException)
`ResponseException`:: a response was returned, but its status code indicated
an error (not `2xx`). A `ResponseException` originates from a valid
http response, hence it exposes its corresponding `Response` object which gives
access to the returned response.
NOTE: A `ResponseException` is **not** thrown for `HEAD` requests that return
a `404` status code because it is an expected `HEAD` response that simply
denotes that the resource is not found. All other HTTP methods (e.g., `GET`)
throw a `ResponseException` for `404` responses unless the `ignore` parameter
contains `404`. `ignore` is a special client parameter that doesn't get sent
to Elasticsearch and contains a comma separated list of error status codes.
It allows to control whether some error status code should be treated as an
expected response rather than as an exception. This is useful for instance
with the get api as it can return `404` when the document is missing, in which
case the response body will not contain an error but rather the usual get api
response, just without the document as it was not found.
Note that the low-level client doesn't expose any helper for json marshalling
and un-marshalling. Users are free to use the library that they prefer for that
purpose.
The underlying Apache Async Http Client ships with different
https://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-core-ga/httpcore/apidocs/org/apache/http/HttpEntity.html[`org.apache.http.HttpEntity`]
implementations that allow to provide the request body in different formats
(stream, byte array, string etc.). As for reading the response body, the
`HttpEntity#getContent` method comes handy which returns an `InputStream`
reading from the previously buffered response body. As an alternative, it is
possible to provide a custom
http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-core-ga/httpcore-nio/apidocs/org/apache/http/nio/protocol/HttpAsyncResponseConsumer.html[`org.apache.http.nio.protocol.HttpAsyncResponseConsumer`]
that controls how bytes are read and buffered.
[[java-rest-low-usage-logging]]
=== Logging
The Java REST client uses the same logging library that the Apache Async Http
Client uses: https://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-logging/[Apache Commons Logging],
which comes with support for a number of popular logging implementations. The
java packages to enable logging for are `org.elasticsearch.client` for the
client itself and `org.elasticsearch.client.sniffer` for the sniffer.
The request tracer logging can also be enabled to log every request and
corresponding response in curl format. That comes handy when debugging, for
instance in case a request needs to be manually executed to check whether it
still yields the same response as it did. Enable trace logging for the `tracer`
package to have such log lines printed out. Do note that this type of logging is
expensive and should not be enabled at all times in production environments,
but rather temporarily used only when needed.