DavyLin · August 27, 2015 03:51 · Aug 29, 2013 · Aug 29, 2013 · Aug 23, 2013
diff --git a/elasticsearch.md b/elasticsearch.md
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ $ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/_open'
 To **update the mappings** of this existing index, you need to do it for each type (here we only have the `weapons` type):
 
 ```bash
-$ curl -X PUT 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping' -d \
+$ curl -X PUT 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping?ignore_conflicts=true' -d \
 '{
   "weapons": {
     "properties": {

diff --git a/elasticsearch.md b/elasticsearch.md
@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@ $ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/_open'
 To **update the mappings** of this existing index, you need to do it for each type (here we only have the `weapons` type):
 
 ```bash
-$ curl -X DELETE 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping'
-$ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping' -d \
+$ curl -X PUT 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping' -d \
 '{
   "weapons": {
     "properties": {
@@ -69,9 +68,7 @@ $ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping' -d \
 }'
 ```
 
-**Note**: Instead of using `PUT`, I like to use `DELETE` and `POST` to avoid any "merge conflict" errors.
-
-You can do all of this at once if you delete then re-create your index, but you will **loose all stored documents**:
+You can do all of this at once if you delete then re-create your index, but you will **loose all stored documents**, so you will have to reload them. But sometimes for big changes to mapping/settings, this makes more sense:
 
 ```bash
 $ curl -X DELETE 'http://localhost:9200/thegame'

diff --git a/elasticsearch.md b/elasticsearch.md
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+# Elasticsearch: updating the mappings and settings of an existing index
+
+*Note: This was written using elasticsearch 0.9.*
+
+[Elasticsearch](http://www.elasticsearch.org/) will automatically create an index (with basic settings and mappings) for you if you post a first document:
+
+```bash
+$ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/1' -d \
+'{
+  "_id": 1,
+  "name": "Longsword",
+  "description": "The Longsword can be wielded in one or two hands and is also known as a Bastard Sword. It combines power, speed and reach to become one of the most well rounded weapons.",
+  "category": "Sharp"
+}'
+```
+
+You can see the settings (for the index) and mapping (for the `weapons` type) with:
+
+```bash
+$ curl -X GET 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/_settings'
+$ curl -X GET 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping'
+```
+
+To **update the settings**, if you're defining new analyzers or filters, you first need to `_close` the index, then `_open` it when done updating:
+
+```bash
+$ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/_close'
+
+$ curl -X PUT 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/_settings' -d \
+'{
+  "analysis": {
+    "analyzer": {
+      "full_name": {
+        "filter": [
+          "standard",
+          "lowercase",
+          "asciifolding"
+        ],
+          "type": "custom",
+          "tokenizer": "standard"
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}'
+
+$ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/_open'
+```
+
+To **update the mappings** of this existing index, you need to do it for each type (here we only have the `weapons` type):
+
+```bash
+$ curl -X DELETE 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping'
+$ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame/weapons/_mapping' -d \
+'{
+  "weapons": {
+    "properties": {
+      "name": {
+        "type": "string",
+        "analyzer": "full_name"
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "category": {
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}'
+```
+
+**Note**: Instead of using `PUT`, I like to use `DELETE` and `POST` to avoid any "merge conflict" errors.
+
+You can do all of this at once if you delete then re-create your index, but you will **loose all stored documents**:
+
+```bash
+$ curl -X DELETE 'http://localhost:9200/thegame'
+$ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:9200/thegame' -d \
+'{
+  "mappings": {
+    "weapons": {
+      "properties": {
+        "name": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "analyzer": "full_name"
+        },
+        "description": {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "category": {
+          "type": "string"
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "settings": {
+    "analysis": {
+      "analyzer": {
+        "full_name": {
+          "filter": [
+            "standard",
+            "lowercase",
+            "asciifolding"
+          ],
+            "type": "custom",
+            "tokenizer": "standard"
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}'
+```