[[sql-getting-started]]
== Getting Started with SQL

To start using Elasticsearch SQL, create
an index with some data to experiment with:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT /library/book/_bulk?refresh
{"index":{"_id": "Leviathan Wakes"}}
{"name": "Leviathan Wakes", "author": "James S.A. Corey", "release_date": "2011-06-02", "page_count": 561}
{"index":{"_id": "Hyperion"}}
{"name": "Hyperion", "author": "Dan Simmons", "release_date": "1989-05-26", "page_count": 482}
{"index":{"_id": "Dune"}}
{"name": "Dune", "author": "Frank Herbert", "release_date": "1965-06-01", "page_count": 604}
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE

And now you can execute SQL using the <<sql-rest>> right away:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
POST /_xpack/sql
{
    "query": "SELECT * FROM library WHERE release_date < '2000-01-01'"
}
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE
// TEST[continued]

Which should return something along the lines of:

[source,text]
--------------------------------------------------
    author     |     name      |  page_count   | release_date
---------------+---------------+---------------+------------------------
Dan Simmons    |Hyperion       |482            |1989-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
Frank Herbert  |Dune           |604            |1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE[s/\|/\\|/ s/\+/\\+/]
// TESTRESPONSE[_cat]

You can also use the <<sql-cli>>. There is a script to start it
shipped in x-pack's bin directory:

[source,bash]
--------------------------------------------------
$ ./bin/x-pack/sql-cli
--------------------------------------------------

From there you can run the same query:

[source,sqlcli]
--------------------------------------------------
sql> SELECT * FROM library WHERE release_date < '2000-01-01';
    author     |     name      |  page_count   | release_date
---------------+---------------+---------------+------------------------
Dan Simmons    |Hyperion       |482            |1989-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
Frank Herbert  |Dune           |604            |1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z
--------------------------------------------------