How to install and setup the Ruby client for Elasticsearch

Introduction

Ruby is a very popular programming language that has been enabled to function on the Elastic program suite. This makes it possible to use their client to make and modify changes when you install and set up Ruby for Elasticsearch. This one more way the service has been made friendly to users that already have experience with older tools. Follow along while we explain each step to get this tool up and running for regular use with Elastic products.

• Here’s a short, albeit incomplete, list of some Ruby libraries, wrappers, frameworks, and gems for Elasticsearch:

• Stretcher: Ruby client.

• Elastics: A tiny client with integrated ActiveRecord and zero-downtime migrations.

• Chewy: Chewy is a wrapper and ODM for the official client Elasticsearch

• Searchkick: Easy intelligent search

• Estella: Makes the Ruby models searchable

• Elastic has an official Github repository for its Ruby low-level client library with explanations and examples to help get you started.

• Elastic has two libraries. This outline will focus on the elasticsearch-API library:

• The elasticsearch library is actually a wrapper for 2 separate libraries elasticsearch-transport, which makes a low-level Ruby client available for connecting to an Elasticsearch cluster elasticsearch-api, which makes a Ruby API available for the RESTful API in Elasticsearch “—official Github repository

• The official Github repository for the Elasticsearch API: https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-ruby/tree/master/elasticsearch-api

Prerequisites

• Ensure that Elasticsearch is installed and properly working on your system.

• The Elasticsearch: API library is totally compatible with Ruby v1.9 or higher. consult the Elasticsearch: API Ruby document to ensure compatibility with the Elastic Stack version you have.

• Elastic has an official Github repository for their Ruby-client library. You can consult their compatibility version Matrix for more information.

Installation

Check Ruby Version

• To check if ruby was properly installed and its corresponding version, use the below command:

• This is the result you should see:

Update The Repository for the Ruby Gems:

• Update the gem repository before installing to get the latest version of the gem repositories:

• To update Ruby gems run the below command as a super user by appending sudo as shown below:

• You’ll get an error message if you haven’t installed ruby before trying to install the Elasticsearch gem :

• You will see a prompt with the following warning:

Install the Ruby API for Elasticsearch:

The library can be acquired through gem or git. The package in gem is named elasticsearch-ruby and the in git you use this url: Git — elastic/elasticsearch-ruby

• You can install the package using Rubygems:

• If you want to use git:

• or install it using:

• The Install by Elasticsearch::API is extracted from [Git — lasticsearch-ruby](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-ruby/tree/master/elasticsearch-api#installation

)

Install the ‘elasticsearch-ruby’ Gem

• You can install elasticsearch-ruby from Rubygems:

• Install with git:

• You may also install it using git:

• The Install by Elasticsearch-ruby package is extracted from Git — lasticsearch-ruby

Install Ruby on Windows

• If Ruby is not installed, then download an installation package from rubyinstaller.org. Follow the link and run the installer.

The exe file rubyinstaller-2.5.3.x.exe will install with one click.

This package is very small, and RubyGems come with it as well. Please check the Release Notes for more detail.

Create A Ruby Script

Create and edit a new Ruby script using nano editor:

• You can also just create an empty script to edit later using touch:

Require the Elasticsearch Library

• At the beginning of the script you can use the optional Ruby shebang line and "-w" flag to turn on warnings:

• Require the Elasticsearch library:

Create Client Instance

• In the below code you create a new client instance to use the library’s built-in methods to index, query, delete, etc.. Elasticsearch documents.

Index a Document Using Ruby

• You can index a document using the below code.

Create a Document Using Ruby Library:

• Create a new document.

• The API will create a new document, if it doesn’t exist yet – in that case, it will return a 409 error (version_conflict_engine_exception). From rubydoc.info — Method: Elasticsearch::API::Actions#create

Create a Document with an ID

• Let’s dissect the above code:

• index — The name of the index, this is required.

• id — Document ID; This is optional and will be auto-generated if missing.

• body — The “body” of the document that contains all the fields and data.

Create a Document with an auto-generated ID:

• _automatic_id_generation:

• By default when creating a document an ID will be automatically generated when it’s not passed as an argument.

• For further information you can consult Elastic’s Website.

Delete a Document Using Ruby Library:

• You can delete a single document using the below code.

Delete a Document with Specific Routing

For further information, you can consult Elastic’s Website.

Delete a Document with a Simple Query

Delete a Document Using the Query DSL

Conclusion

Using the Ruby client with the Elasticsearch service simplifies the array of capabilities available to the programmer. This also adds a whole new level of functionality to the Elastic Stack that should be quite appealing to experienced coders. Additionally, the Ruby compatibility is further enhanced by the host of available tools that can be used with it. By following the preceding instructions, you can have these new features at your fingertips in no time. To find out what else becomes possible with this setup, just click on the other How-To guides we have for you.