[[setup]]
= Setup

[partintro]
--
This section includes information on how to setup *elasticsearch* and
get it running. If you haven't already, http://www.elasticsearch.org/download[download] it, and
then check the <<setup-installation,installation>> docs.

NOTE: Elasticsearch can also be installed from our repositories using `apt` or `yum`.
See <<setup-repositories>>.

[[setup-installation]]
[float]
== Installation

After link:/download[downloading] the latest release and extracting it,
*elasticsearch* can be started using:

[source,sh]
--------------------------------------------------
$ bin/elasticsearch
--------------------------------------------------

Under *nix system, the command will start the process in the foreground.
To run it in the background, add the `-d` switch to it:

[source,sh]
--------------------------------------------------
$ bin/elasticsearch -d
--------------------------------------------------

.*NIX
*************************************************************************
There are added features when using the `elasticsearch` shell script.
The first, which was explained earlier, is the ability to easily run the
process either in the foreground or the background.

Another feature is the ability to pass `-X` and `-D` or getopt long style
configuration parameters directly to the script. When set, all override
anything set using either `JAVA_OPTS` or `ES_JAVA_OPTS`. For example:

[source,sh]
--------------------------------------------------
$ bin/elasticsearch -Xmx2g -Xms2g -Des.index.store.type=memory --node.name=my-node
--------------------------------------------------
*************************************************************************

[float]
[[jvm-version]]
== Java (JVM) version

Elasticsearch is built using Java, and requires at least
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html[Java 7] in
order to run. Only Oracle's Java and the OpenJDK are supported. The same JVM
version should be used on all Elasticsearch nodes and clients.

We recommend installing the *Java 8 update 20 or later*, or *Java 7 update 55
or later*.  Previous versions of Java 7 are known to have bugs that can cause
index corruption and data loss.  Elasticsearch will refuse to start if a
known-bad version of Java is used.

The version of Java to use can be configured by setting the `JAVA_HOME`
environment variable.

--

include::setup/configuration.asciidoc[]

include::setup/as-a-service.asciidoc[]

include::setup/as-a-service-win.asciidoc[]

include::setup/dir-layout.asciidoc[]

include::setup/repositories.asciidoc[]

include::setup/upgrade.asciidoc[]