# How to Migrate Elasticsearch Databases to DigitalOcean OpenSearch

OpenSearch is an open-source search and analytics suite which serves as a centralized location to manage logs forwarded from other resources, such as databases and Droplets.

While DigitalOcean OpenSearch does not currently support online migration, you can reindex data from a remote Elasticsearch cluster to migrate it to an OpenSearch cluster.

## Allowlist Elasticsearch

Add the Elasticsearch cluster to your OpenSearch cluster’s allowlist by [adding the `reindex.remote.whitelist` parameter](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/opensearch/how-to/reconfigure/index.html.md), pointing to your Elasticsearch cluster in `host:port` format.

### Export Index Mapping

From your Elasticsearch cluster, [stop writes to each index you want to migrate](https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/elasticsearch/index-settings/index-block).

Then, use the following `curl` command to export the index mapping from the source Elasticsearch instance into a file named `mapping.json`, which the migration process uses as a reference:

```bash
curl https://username:password@tutorial-opensearch-do-user-10312437-0.i.db.ondigitalocean.com:25060/logs-2026-01-27/_mapping > mapping.json
```

Update `mapping.json` to the format necessary for migration by running the following `jq` command:

```bash
jq .[].mappings mapping.json > src_mapping.json
```

Alternatively, you can update `mapping.json` manually by editing it using the text editor of your choice and changing the following:

- Remove the wrapping `{"logs-2026-01-27":{"mappings": ... }}`
- Keep `{"properties":...}}`

### Reindex

Then, create an empty index on your destination OpenSearch cluster, such as by using the following `curl` command:

```bash
curl -XPUT https://username:password@tutorial-opensearch-do-user-10312437-0.i.db.ondigitalocean.com:25060/logs-2026-01-27
```

Import the mapping to the destination OpenSearch index:

```bash
curl -XPUT https://username:password@tutorial-opensearch-do-user-10312437-0.i.db.ondigitalocean.com:25060/logs-2026-01-27/_mapping \
-H 'Content-type: application/json' -T src_mapping.json
```

And submit the reindexing request to finalize the migration:

```bash
curl -XPOST https://username:password@tutorial-opensearch-do-user-10312437-0.i.db.ondigitalocean.com:25060/_reindex \
  -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"source":
          {"index": "logs-2026-01-27",
           "remote":
               {"username": "your-remote-username",
                "password": "your-remote-password",
                "host": "https://tutorial-opensearch-do-user-10312437-0.i.db.ondigitalocean.com:25060:25070"
               }
          },
       "dest":
          {"index": "logs-2026-01-27"}
      }'
```

Once the reindexing process is complete, update your clients to use the new index on your DigitalOcean OpenSearch cluster and resume any paused writing activity.