Delete multiple indices in one Elasticsearch HTTP request (cURL)

Short answer

Delete all indices my_index-* except indices my_index-*-*

curl -X DELETE http://es.example.com/my_index-*,-my_index-*-*

No regex

Elasticsearch 5.x does not accept regex or filename patterns ?[a-z] to select multiple indices.

However, the multiple indices documentation allows + and - to include and exclude indices.

Script to prevent accidental deletion of indices my_index-*-*:

#!/bin/bash -xepattern="${1:-*}"curl -X DELETE https://es.example.com/my_index-"$pattern",-my_index-*-*?pretty

Explanation

• The parameter index can contain a comma separated list of index patterns, for example my_index_1,my_index_2,my_index_3.
• Index pattern is based on wildcards, for example my_index*.
• To include and exclude indices, use + and - as index prefix, for example my_index_*,-my_index_2017*,+my_index_2017-01*,-my_index_2017-01-31.
• Do not need to use + on first index

Described example

This DELETE request deletes all indices my_index_* before my_index_2017-01-31

index_list='my_index_*,-my_index_2017*,+my_index_2017-01*,-my_index_2017-01-31'curl -X DELETE http://es.example.com/"$index_list"

• Delete all my_index_*
• Except my_index_2017*
• Delete my_index_2017-01*
• Except my_index_2017-01-31