All indices that are managed by ILM will continue to execute their policies. There may be times when this is not desired on certain indices, or maybe even all the indices in a cluster. For example, maybe there are scheduled maintenance windows when cluster topology changes are desired that may impact running ILM actions. For this reason, ILM has two ways to disable operations.
Normally, ILM will be running by default. To see the current operating status of ILM, use the Get Status API to see the current state of ILM.
GET _ilm/status
If the request does not encounter errors, you receive the following result:
{
"operation_mode": "RUNNING"
}The operating modes of ILM:
Table 68. ILM Operating Modes
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
RUNNING | Normal operation where all policies are executed as normal |
STOPPING | ILM has received a request to stop but is still processing some policies |
STOPPED | This represents a state where no policies are executed |
The ILM service can be paused such that no further steps will be executed using the Stop API.
POST _ilm/stop
When stopped, all further policy actions will be halted. This will be reflected in the Status API
{
"operation_mode": "STOPPING"
}The ILM service will then, asynchronously, run all policies to a point
where it is safe to stop. After ILM verifies that it is safe, it will
move to the STOPPED mode.
{
"operation_mode": "STOPPED"
}To start ILM and continue executing policies, use the Start API.
POST _ilm/start
The Start API will send a request to the ILM service to immediately begin normal operations.
{
"operation_mode": "RUNNING"
}