Elasticsearch is a great tool for providing speedy searches for your users. With such a tool, you want to be sure it is always up and available for people to use when they come to your web site or application. If the server does go down or experiences performance problems, it is good to get a notification so that you can identify and fix any issues quickly. Happy Apps is an application that allows you to monitor your Elasticsearch server, and you can be easily set up in minutes.

To begin, you will need to make sure make sure Elasticsearch is accessible to Happy Apps for monitoring. You will first need to open the Elasticsearch configuration file with a text editor, which should be named elasticsearch.yml. It's location may vary by operating system (for example, on Ubuntu 14.04 it is located in /etc/elasticsearch/).

In the configuration file you will need to uncomment the following line:

network.bind_host

Next, add a colon, followed by your virtual host's IP address, as shown below (in this case, the virtual host IP is 192.168.2.9):

network.bind_host:192.168.2.9

With this set up on your system, you can start an Elasticsearch check in Happy Apps. From your Happy Apps dashboard, choose the Checks tab at the top of the screen. This will display the checks screen:

The Happy Apps Checks Tab. Source: Happy Apps.

Click the Add Check button on the right. The New Check window will open with the Check Info tab already selected for you:

The New Check window. Source: Happy Apps.

Here, you will see the fields that need to be completed to add the check:

Type - Select Elastic Search Check from this drop-down menu.

Name - Enter a unique and memorable name for the Elasticsearch check.

Interval - If you want to change the time interval of the check from the default of 5 minutes, select one of the other options (from 10 minutes to 3 hours).

Max Severity -Choose Critical, Warning, or Info (the default is Critical).

Affects Availability - Uncheck this box if you want to exclude the check from alerts.

Host - Enter the host name of the Elasticsearch server.

Port - Enter the port number of the Elasticsearch server (default is 9200).

Click the Save changes button to add the check.

Use SSH tunneling

Happy Apps supports SSH tunneling to encrypt the data traveling over the connection. To set up encryption, select the SSH Tunneling tab in the New Check window.

The Add Check SSH Tunneling tab. Source: Happy Apps.

This will present you with some additional fields:

Enable SSH Tunnel - Check this to enable SSH tunneling.

SSH Host - Enter the SSH host name.

SSH Port - Enter the SSH port number.

Username - Enter the username.

Password - Enter the password.

The keys generated by Happy Apps are RSA 2048 bit, and each account includes a single key pair that can be used for any check.

View Your Uptime

From the Checks tab, click the name of your Elasticsearch check. This will open a page that displays further details about the uptime and performance of your Elasticsearch server. At the top of the page you will see the status icon, availability percentage, response time, and number of open incidents. Below this, you can view the check details, chart stats, and the check history, and any groups to which the check belongs.

The Check Details screen. Source: Happy Apps.

Give Happy Apps a Try

Happy Apps is a helpful and easy-to-use app management service that supports agent-based and SSH connectivity to your apps on private, public, and hybrid clouds. To get started, visit the Happy Apps site for pricing details or to sign up for a free trial!