# How to enable Elasticsearch and OpenSearch in cPanel

> Deploy and manage Elasticsearch or OpenSearch in cPanel on Kualo Business and Magento Hosting plans.

Source: https://www.kualo.com/knowledgebase/cpanel-php/how-to-enable-elasticsearch-and-opensearch-in-cpanel
Updated: 2026-06-11

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Elasticsearch and OpenSearch are available on Kualo's Business Hosting and Magento Hosting plans as a performance feature not found on standard shared hosting.

:::info
This is not a standard cPanel feature. If you are not on a Kualo Business or Magento Hosting plan, you may not see the **ElasticSearch** tool in cPanel.
:::

## What is Elasticsearch?

Elasticsearch is a real-time, distributed, open-source full-text search and analytics engine built on Java. It lets you store, search, and analyse large volumes of data quickly, returning results in milliseconds. Rather than using the tables and schemas of traditional databases, Elasticsearch is built around documents and exposes a REST API for storing and querying data.

## What is OpenSearch?

OpenSearch is a community-driven, open-source search and analytics suite that evolved from Elasticsearch 7.10.2. Because of its active development and community support, **OpenSearch is what Kualo now provisions** - the tool's version list offers OpenSearch releases. (The cPanel tool is still labelled "ElasticSearch" for familiarity, but it deploys OpenSearch.)

Key advantages of OpenSearch include:

- **Reduced version dependency with Magento:** Elasticsearch had strict version requirements when used with Magento. OpenSearch relaxes those constraints, making version management simpler.
- **Community engagement:** OpenSearch follows an open development model with transparent decision-making.
- **Future-proofing:** Kualo will only be adding new versions of OpenSearch going forward.

## Enable a search instance

1. Log in to cPanel and, in the **Software** section, click **ElasticSearch**.
2. Choose a release from the **Version** dropdown, then click **Enable ElasticSearch**.

   ![Choosing a version and enabling a search instance](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/33/a2/33a29ab128108798737a5a2d52a09af120a583c6.png)

3. Setup takes a few minutes. Once it finishes, the tool shows as **Active**, with a live statistics dashboard (heap usage, document count, query rate, and so on) and the **Connection Details** your application needs - host, port, protocol, allocated memory, and version.

   ![The active instance, showing its statistics and connection details](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/5a/1e/5a1ef82299f3fd07cf62bcc6d26ab46f9957ac7f.png)

## Add users and authentication

Authentication is enabled by default, so your application connects using a user that you create.

1. In the **Authentication** section, click **Add User**.
2. Enter a **Username** and **Password**, choose an **Access Level** (for example, *Read Only*), then click **Create User**.

   ![Adding a user under Authentication](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/7c/1f/7c1f36b69af9c4890946cc5902010f83a85efeff.png)

3. Use those same credentials in your application's configuration so it can connect.

If you specifically need an instance with no authentication, you can click **Disable Authentication** - but that removes all users and allows unauthenticated access, so only do it on a trusted, private setup.

## Manage, change version, or remove

Further down the page you will find the management controls:

- **Change Version** - switch the instance to a different available version.
- **Disable ElasticSearch** (in the **Danger Zone**) - stops the service but **preserves** your data and configuration, so you can re-enable it later.
- **Uninstall ElasticSearch** (in the **Danger Zone**) - **permanently removes** the instance and all of its data, indices, and configuration. This cannot be undone.

![The Uninstall confirmation in the Danger Zone](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/92/be/92beac9def9fa9feb4627348534ba10ca3339d9a.png)

:::danger
A search instance consumes a significant amount of memory even when idle, which reduces the resources available to the rest of your account. If you are not actively using it, **Disable** it (to keep your data) or **Uninstall** it (to free all the resources).
:::

## Additional notes

Check Magento's documentation for the specific OpenSearch or Elasticsearch version your Magento installation requires before choosing a version.


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_Source: Kualo Knowledgebase — https://www.kualo.com/knowledgebase/cpanel-php/how-to-enable-elasticsearch-and-opensearch-in-cpanel · © Kualo Ltd._