Elasticsearch - On Cloud | Germain Documentation

👀 Overview

A managed Elasticsearch service can be used as the datastore for GermainUX.

This option provides Elasticsearch’s scalability and analytics capabilities without requiring your organization to install and operate the underlying cluster infrastructure.

The managed-service provider typically handles:

Capability
Elasticsearch infrastructure
Node provisioning
Platform maintenance
Cluster upgrades
Hardware replacement
Availability options
Integrated monitoring
Snapshot capabilities

Your organization remains responsible for sizing, access control, network connectivity, retention, GermainUX configuration, and validation.

Before You Begin

Confirm the following with Germain Software:

Item
The Elasticsearch version supported by your GermainUX release
The compatible GermainUX Elasticsearch plugin
Required index templates and lifecycle policies
Expected ingestion and storage volume
Raw and aggregated data-retention periods
Session Replay volume
Required node size and topology
Network and security requirements
Whether existing data must be migrated

The GermainUX plugin version must be compatible with the Elasticsearch version used by the managed deployment. Do not install a plugin from another release without confirming compatibility.

📋 Requirements

You need:

Requirement
An Elasticsearch Cloud account
Permission to create or manage a deployment
Permission to upload and enable custom extensions
A supported Elasticsearch deployment
The compatible GermainUX Elasticsearch plugin
Network connectivity from GermainUX Enterprise
Elasticsearch credentials or an approved authentication method
Sufficient capacity for ingestion, queries, retention, replicas, and snapshots

📦 Obtain the GermainUX Plugin

Contact Germain Software to obtain the latest plugin compatible with both:

Compatibility
Your GermainUX release
Your Elasticsearch deployment version

The package is provided as a ZIP file similar to:

germainapm-es-plugin-<version>.zip

Do not extract or modify the archive before uploading it unless instructed by Germain Software.

⬆️ Upload the Plugin to Elasticsearch Cloud

Sign in to the Elasticsearch Service Console.
Open the required hosted deployment.
Go to the deployment-management area.
Open Extensions.
Select Add extension.
Enter a descriptive name for the GermainUX extension.
Select the Elasticsearch version that exactly matches the plugin.
For the extension type, select:

An installable plugin—compiled, no source code

Upload the GermainUX plugin ZIP file.
Create the extension.

The exact interface labels may vary as Elasticsearch Cloud evolves.

⚙️ Enable the Extension

After creating the extension:

Open the target Elasticsearch deployment.
Select Edit deployment from the deployment actions.
Open Manage user settings and extensions.
Select the Extensions tab.
Select the GermainUX Elasticsearch extension.
Return to the deployment editor.
Review the proposed changes.
Save the deployment.

Elasticsearch Cloud updates the deployment and replaces or restarts nodes as necessary so the plugin is installed across the cluster.

Do not interrupt the update. Monitor deployment health until the operation completes.

🔒 Configure Security

Before connecting GermainUX Enterprise:

Action
Enable TLS.
Create a dedicated GermainUX service account.
Apply least-privilege permissions.
Restrict network access.
Store credentials securely.
Enable audit logging when required.
Protect Elasticsearch and Kibana from public access.
Define credential-rotation procedures.

Do not use a personal administrator account as the permanent GermainUX connection account.

🔗 Configure Network Connectivity

GermainUX Enterprise must be able to reach the Elasticsearch Cloud endpoint over HTTPS.

Confirm:

Network Requirement
Outbound HTTPS access
DNS resolution
Proxy configuration when required
TLS certificate validation
IP allowlists or traffic filters
Private connectivity when required
Firewall and security-group rules

Restrict access to approved GermainUX Enterprise hosts and administrator networks.

🖥️ Configure GermainUX Enterprise

Update the GermainUX datastore configuration with:

Configuration
Elasticsearch Cloud endpoint
Authentication credentials
TLS settings
Environment-specific index prefix
Connection and request timeouts
Retention settings
Any plugin-specific properties supplied by Germain Software

Use a distinct index prefix for each GermainUX environment sharing the deployment, such as development, QA, staging, and production.

🛠️ Initialize GermainUX Data Structures

Use the templates, scripts, or REST endpoint supplied with the matching GermainUX release to create:

Structure
Index templates
Mappings
Data streams
Aliases
Lifecycle policies
Aggregated-data structures
Required GermainUX metadata

Do not reuse initialization files from another GermainUX version unless compatibility has been confirmed.

✅ Validate the Deployment

After configuration:

Confirm that the Elasticsearch deployment is healthy.
Verify that the GermainUX extension is enabled.
Restart GermainUX Enterprise if required.
Confirm successful authentication.
Confirm that GermainUX can create or access the required indexes.
Start a limited monitoring workload.
Verify that raw facts are indexed.
Confirm that dashboards and searches return data.
Confirm that aggregated data is generated.
Test representative analytical queries.
Verify retention and lifecycle transitions.
Review logs for indexing failures or rejected requests.

📈 Capacity and Performance

Size the managed deployment based on:

Factor
Average and peak daily AA Unit volume
Session Replay
Technical traces
Retention
Query concurrency
Dashboard complexity
Replication
Snapshots
Expected growth

Monitor:

Metric
JVM heap
CPU
Disk utilization
Disk latency
Ingestion rate
Indexing latency
Search latency
Rejected requests
Cluster health
Node availability

Increase capacity before resource saturation affects ingestion or analysis.

🔁 Upgrades

Before upgrading Elasticsearch Cloud:

Confirm that the target Elasticsearch version is supported by GermainUX.
Obtain the matching GermainUX plugin.
Review compatibility and migration requirements.
Take or verify a current snapshot.
Test the upgrade in a non-production environment.
Upload the new plugin extension.
Update the deployment.
Validate ingestion, queries, dashboards, retention, and aggregation.
Upgrade production only after successful testing.

Do not upgrade Elasticsearch independently when the required compatible GermainUX plugin is unavailable.

📋 Production Checklist

Check
The Elasticsearch version is supported by GermainUX.
The matching GermainUX plugin has been installed.
The cluster is healthy.
TLS and authentication are enabled.
A dedicated GermainUX service account is configured.
Network access is restricted.
Index templates and mappings are installed.
The correct environment prefix is configured.
Raw and aggregated data are being stored.
Retention policies are operating correctly.
Snapshots are configured.
A restore has been tested.
Capacity monitoring and alerts are configured.
Upgrade procedures have been documented.

For the current plugin, supported Elasticsearch version, or deployment assistance, contact Germain Software

Service: Datastore

Feature Availability: 2024.1