# Configure OpenSearch on TurboStack

Enable OpenSearch and set its version at the host level, then optionally tune the JVM heap and plugins.

## Where to configure it

Open the host, go to the **Services** tab, select **ElasticSearch / OpenSearch**, and choose
**OpenSearch**.

![The Elasticsearch / OpenSearch panel on a host's Services tab, with the Select Type dropdown open showing Elasticsearch and OpenSearch|1000](../../assets/screenshots/platform/hosts/services_search-choice.png)

## YAML configuration

### Required

| Key | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `opensearch_version` | OpenSearch version to run (for example, `"2.x"` or `"3.x"`). |

### Optional

| Key | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `opensearch_heap_size` | JVM heap size (auto-sized to the host; override only with measured evidence). |
| `opensearch_plugins` | Search-engine plugins to enable. |
| `opensearch_dashboards` | Installs the OpenSearch Dashboards web interface. Off by default. |
| `opensearch_dashboards_usermanagement` | Turns on OpenSearch's own user accounts for the dashboards. |

```yaml
opensearch_version: "2.x"      # required: enable OpenSearch on the host
# opensearch_dashboards: true  # optional: the web interface
```

### Listening address

OpenSearch accepts connections only from the host itself, which is what a single-server setup needs.
If an application on another server has to reach the search engine, ask
[Support](../../platform/support.md) to open it up to your private network.

> [!WARNING]
> A search engine has no authentication of its own, so anything that can reach the port can read and
> change your indexes. It must never be reachable from the internet.

### Dashboards

`opensearch_dashboards: true` installs the interface, which you then reach at
**`https://<host>/dashboards`**. The web server proxies that path and asks for a user name and
password first; use one of the host's system user accounts, the same credentials you use for SSH.

That login belongs to the web server, not to OpenSearch. Turn on
`opensearch_dashboards_usermanagement` when you need per-user accounts inside the dashboards
instead of one shared door. It is available only in the
[Source (YAML) view](../../concepts/yaml-view.md).

### Plugins

**Plugins** is a multi-select on the Services tab. The list you choose from is maintained by
Hosted Power and changes as engine versions come and go, so check the dropdown for what is
available today.

Two things happen automatically on the next deployment:

- **Removing a plugin from the list uninstalls it.** TurboStack keeps track of the plugins it
  installed and removes only those, so the plugins that ship with OpenSearch itself are left alone.
- **Changing the OpenSearch version reinstalls every plugin**, so each one is installed again for
  the new engine version.

> [!TIP]
> Choose **either** OpenSearch **or** [Elasticsearch](../elasticsearch/configure.md) on a host - not
> both. OpenSearch indices are backed up via nightly snapshots.

## Related

- [What is OpenSearch?](what-is.md)
- [Elasticsearch](../elasticsearch/configure.md)
- [Services](../../platform/hosts/services.md)