You can install Elasticsearch to greatly improve the search features of your helpdesk. This is optional, but strongly recommended.

::: info Note

Without Elasticsearch, Deskpro search will still function, but searching will only match certain helpdesk content (e.g ticket titles instead of the full text of a ticket) and it will be slower. :::

For best performance, you should run Elasticsearch on a local server (the same server where you installed Deskpro, or one on the same network). You can also use a third-party hosted Elasticsearch service - see  Using hosted Elasticsearch with Deskpro for an example of how to set this up.

To install Elasticsearch locally and connect it to your helpdesk:

1. For best performance, you should install Java Server JRE.

2. Accept the license agreement and download the Server jdk-17_windows-x64_bin.zip package.

3. Extract the package to a folder in Program Files, inside it's own Java folder

4. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable.

   Go to Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings and find the Environment variablessettings. The exact location may vary depending on  the version of Windows.

   Click Environment variables and set JAVA_HOME to be the full path to /jre folder you extracted in step 3, e.g.

C :\Program Files (x86)\Java\server-jre-117u20-windows-x64\jdk1.8.0_20\jre

1. Download the ZIP version of Elasticsearch 2.x from the Download section of elastic.co and extract the files to a directory.

2. In the resulting /config subdirectory, edit elasticsearch.yml to restrict access to your Elasticsearch node. Search for the line that mentions “network.bind_host”, delete the leading # and change it to:

   network.bind_host: 127.0.0.1

   (This assumes you are running Elasticsearch on the same server as DeskPRO. If not, consult the Elasticsearch documentation about network settings).

3. From the command prompt, go to the resulting folder and run:

   service install then service start

4. You should see confirmation that the service has been installed and started.

5. To check that Elasticsearch is running correctly, go to http://localhost:9200/ in your browser. Depending on the browser you’re using you will either see output like this, or be prompted to download a JSON file with similar content:

{
     "status" : 200,
     "name" : "Agon",
         "version" : {
            "number" : "1.3.2",
            "build_hash" : "dee17544e2f254f3f269435345d7591939aaefd12f",
           "build_timestamp" : "2014-08-13T14:29:30Z",
           "build_snapshot" : false,
            "lucene_version" : "4.9"
           },
     "tagline" : "You Know, for Search"
     }
 copy

1. In the Deskpro admin interface, go to Server > Elasticsearch, check Enable Elasticsearch and enter the URL of the service (e.g. http://localhost if it is running on the same server).

::: info Note

If the Elasticsearch section of the admin interface doesn’t load, see  Elasticsearch configuration page not loading in admin on our Knowledgebase. :::

1. Click Test Settings to check that your Deskpro installation can connect to Elasticsearch, then Save Settings.

Elasticsearch will take some time to index your helpdesk fully, but it can index thousands of records per second, so on most helpdesks the process will take a matter of minutes.

Ensure that the Elasticsearch service is configured to run on startup in case your server needs to reboot.

::: info Note

If Elasticsearch ever crashes or stops working, DeskPRO will switch back to the default search mechanism. :::

For production use, we recommend that you consult the Elasticsearch documentation for more information about configuration and running Elasticsearch as a service on Windows.