Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch tries to automatically create an index that matches a composable template, but the template settings forbid auto-creation. This could be due to a misconfiguration in the template settings. To resolve this issue, you can either modify the template settings to allow auto-creation of indices or manually create the index before indexing the data. Alternatively, you can disable the auto-creation of indices in Elasticsearch settings if it’s not necessary for your use case.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” composable template ” + template.indexPatterns() + ” forbids index auto creation ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: template.
If you want to learn more about Elasticsearch templates, check out this guide.
Overview
A template in Elasticsearch falls into one of the two following categories and is indexed inside Elasticsearch using its dedicated endpoint:
- Index templates, which are a way to define a set of rules including index settings, mappings and an index pattern. The template is applied automatically whenever a new index is created with the matching pattern. Templates are also used to dynamically apply custom mapping for the fields which are not predefined inside existing mapping.
- Search templates, which help in defining templates for search queries using mustache scripting language. These templates act as a placeholder for variables defined inside the search queries.
Examples
Create a dynamic index template
PUT /_template/template_1?pretty
{
"index_patterns": [
"logs*",
"api*"
],
"settings": {
"number_of_shards": 2
},
"mappings": {
"dynamic_templates": [
{
"strings": {
"match_mapping_type": "string",
"mapping": {
"type": "keyword"
}
}
}
],
"properties": {
"host_name": {
"type": "keyword"
},
"created_at": {
"type": "date"
}
}
}
}Create a search template
POST /_scripts/search_template_1?pretty
{
"script": {
"lang": "mustache",
"source": {
"query": {
"match": {
"description": "{{query_string}}"
}
}
}
}
}Executing a search query using search template
GET /_search/template?pretty
{
"id": "search_template_1",
"params": {
"query_string": "hello world"
}
}The search request will be executed by default on all the indices available in the cluster and can be limited to particular indices using an index parameter.
Notes
- A dynamic index template is always useful when you do not know the field names in advance and want to control their mapping as per the business use case.
Log Context
Log “composable template ” + template.indexPatterns() + ” forbids index auto creation” class name is AutoCreateIndex.java. We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
if (template != null && template.getAllowAutoCreate() != null) {
if (template.getAllowAutoCreate()) {
return true;
} else {
// An explicit false value overrides AUTO_CREATE_INDEX_SETTING
throw new IndexNotFoundException("composable template " + template.indexPatterns() + " forbids index auto creation");
}
} // One volatile read; so that all checks are done against the same instance:
final AutoCreate autoCreate = this.autoCreate;
