Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Elasticsearch 9.x on cPanel & WHM servers running AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux or CloudLinux
Elasticsearch is a search and analytics engine that applications such as online shops and site search plugins use for fast full-text search. cPanel does not manage Elasticsearch, but you can install it from Elastic's own repository on the same server. This guide replaces older instructions for Elasticsearch 6 and Java 8 on CentOS: current versions bundle their own Java and turn on TLS and password login automatically. We tested it with Elasticsearch 9.5.4 on AlmaLinux 9.
Before you start
- Memory: Elasticsearch needs its own RAM on top of Apache, PHP and MySQL. Plan at least 1 to 2 GB for it on a small server.
- Version: check which search engine and version your application supports. Some applications need OpenSearch or an older Elasticsearch major version instead.
1. Add the Elastic repository
rpm --import https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch
Create /etc/yum.repos.d/elasticsearch.repo:
[elasticsearch] name=Elasticsearch repository for 9.x packages baseurl=https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/9.x/yum gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch enabled=0 type=rpm-md
enabled=0 keeps the repository off for normal updates, so a routine dnf upgrade or cPanel update never moves Elasticsearch to a new version without you. You enable it only when you install or upgrade Elasticsearch.
2. Install
dnf install --enablerepo=elasticsearch elasticsearch
The installer prints a Security autoconfiguration information block with the generated password for the elastic user. Save it. If you lose it, reset it later with /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic.
3. Keep it private and limit its memory
The automatic configuration makes Elasticsearch listen on all network addresses (http.host: 0.0.0.0 in /etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml). When only applications on the same server use it, change that line to:
http.host: 127.0.0.1
Then set a fixed heap size, for example 1 GB, in a new file /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d/heap.options:
-Xms1g -Xmx1g
Use the same value for both lines and no more than half of the server's RAM. Without this file Elasticsearch sizes its heap from the total memory, which can leave too little for your websites.
4. Start and test
systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable --now elasticsearch curl --cacert /etc/elasticsearch/certs/http_ca.crt -u elastic https://localhost:9200
curl asks for the password and prints the node name and version ("number" : "9.5.4" in our test). Check that it listens only locally: ss -ltn | grep 9200 should show 127.0.0.1:9200.
5. Connect your application
Point the application to https://localhost:9200 with a user and password. Rather than the elastic superuser, create a user with only the rights the application needs (Elastic's documentation on users and roles explains how). If your firewall is CSF or firewalld, do not open port 9200.
Updating later
dnf upgrade --enablerepo=elasticsearch elasticsearch systemctl restart elasticsearch
Read Elastic's release notes before a major version upgrade, and check that your application supports the new version first.
Need help?
Our cPanel server management team can install and tune Elasticsearch on your server, or you can hire an expert for a single task.
Official documentation: Install Elasticsearch with RPM (Elastic).
