Changes the default of the `node.name` setting to the hostname of the
machine on which Elasticsearch is running. Previously it was the first 8
characters of the node id. This had the advantage of producing a unique
name even when the node name isn't configured but the disadvantage of
being unrecognizable and not being available until fairly late in the
startup process. Of particular interest is that it isn't available until
after logging is configured. This forces us to use a volatile read
whenever we add the node name to the log.
Using the hostname is available immediately on startup and is generally
recognizable but has the disadvantage of not being unique when run on
machines that don't set their hostname or when multiple elasticsearch
processes are run on the same host. I believe that, taken together, it
is better to default to the hostname.
1. Running multiple copies of Elasticsearch on the same node is a fairly
advanced feature. We do it all the as part of the elasticsearch build
for testing but we make sure to set the node name then.
2. That the node.name defaults to some flavor of "localhost" on an
unconfigured box feels like it isn't going to come up too much in
production. I expect most production deployments to at least set the
hostname.
As a bonus, production deployments need no longer set the node name in
most cases. At least in my experience most folks set it to the hostname
anyway.