This is a simple script which creates index aliases for index names of the pattern: "<prefix>[.name].(sar|sosreport)-*", where the "name" is optional. We have daily indices for *.sar-* indices, and monthly indices for *.sosreport-* indices. This will create aliases for various relative groupings based on the table.

es-create-index-aliases.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
#
# es-create-index-aliases
#
# Create the index aliases, making it easier to reference groupings of the
# time series data found there-in.
#

from __future__ import print_function

import os, sys

DEBUG = False

try:
    indextype = sys.argv[1]
except IndexError:
    print("Need an index type, either sar or sosreport", file=sys.stderr)
    sys.exit(1)
else:
    if indextype not in ('sar', 'sosreport'):
        print("Invalied index type %s, specify either 'sar' or 'sosreport'" % (indextype,), file=sys.stderr)
        sys.exit(1)

try:
    indexname = sys.argv[2]
except IndexError:
    indexname = ''

indextype_alias_sets = {
    'sosreport': [
        (3, '3month'),
        (6, '6month'),
        (9, '9month'),
        (12, '1year')
        ],
    'sar': [
        (7, '1week'),
        (14, '2week'),
        (28, '4week'),
        (56, '8week'),
        (3 * 28, '3month'),
        (6 * 28, '6month'),
        (9 * 28, '9month'),
        (365, '1year')
        ]
    }

cfg_name = os.environ.get('ES_CONFIG_PATH')
if cfg_name is None:
    print("Need ES_CONFIG_PATH environment variable defined",
          file=sys.stderr)
    sys.exit(1)

import configparser

config = configparser.ConfigParser()
config.read(cfg_name)
try:
    URL = config.get('Server', 'server')
except configparser.NoSectionError:
    print("Need a [Server] section with host and port defined in %s"
          " configuration file" % cfg_name, file=sys.stderr)
    sys.exit(1)
except configparser.NoOptionError:
    host = config.get('Server', 'host')
    port = config.get('Server', 'port')
else:
    host, port = URL.rsplit(':', 1)
hosts = [dict(host=host, port=port),]
INDEX_PREFIX = config.get('Settings', 'index_prefix')

# Silence logging messages from the elasticsearch client library
import logging
try:
    from logging import NullHandler
except ImportError:
    class NullHandler(logging.Handler):
        def handle(self, record):
            pass
        def emit(self, record):
            pass
        def createLock(self):
            self.lock = None

logging.getLogger('elasticsearch').addHandler(NullHandler())

from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
es = Elasticsearch(hosts)

from datetime import datetime
now = datetime.utcnow()

def _create_alias(tname, tindex, doraise=False):
    try:
        es.indices.update_alias(index=tindex, name=tname)
    except Exception as err:
        if doraise:
            raise
        else:
            print(repr(err), file=sys.stderr)
            sys.exit(1)
    else:
        print("Created alias %s for %r" % (tname, tindex))


if indexname:
    INDEX_PREFIX += '.%s' % indexname
index_pat = '%s.%s-*' % (INDEX_PREFIX, indextype,)

try:
    res = es.indices.get_aliases(index_pat)
except Exception as err:
    print(repr(err), file=sys.stderr)
    sys.exit(1)
else:
    if not res:
        print("Nothing to do")
        sys.exit(0)
    index_list = list(res.keys())
    index_list.sort(reverse=True)

if DEBUG:
    import json
    print("Existing: ")
    print(json.dumps(res, indent=2, sort_keys=True))

proposed_removes = {}
removes = {}
adds = {}

# Deconstruct the existing set of aliases, assuming that all aliases will get
# removed and re-applied to an entirely new set of indexes. If later we find
# we are adding an alias to an index that is in the remove set, we leave it as
# is (deleting it from the remove set and not inserting it in the add set).
for index in res.keys():
    try:
        aliases = res[index]["aliases"].keys()
    except KeyError:
        continue
    for alias in aliases:
        try:
            removes[index][alias] = res[index]["aliases"][alias]
        except KeyError:
            removes[index] = { alias: res[index]["aliases"][alias] }

def conditional_add(alias, index):
    global removes
    global adds
    found = False
    for idx in removes.keys():
        if alias in removes[idx] and index == idx:
            found = True
    if found:
        # We found that this alias was already set and scheduled to be
        # removed, so just drop it from the remove set
        del removes[index][alias]
        if not removes[index]:
            del removes[index]
    else:
        try:
            adds[index][alias] = {}
        except KeyError:
            adds[index] = { alias: {} }

# Reconstruct the aliases based on what currently exists
latest_index = index_list[0]
latest_alias = '%s.%s-latest' % (INDEX_PREFIX, indextype)
conditional_add(latest_alias, latest_index)

all_alias = '%s.%s' % (INDEX_PREFIX, indextype)
for index in index_list:
    conditional_add(all_alias, index)

for number, suffix in indextype_alias_sets[indextype]:
    sub_alias = '%s.%s-%s' % (INDEX_PREFIX, indextype, suffix)
    sub_index_list = index_list[:number]
    for index in sub_index_list:
        conditional_add(sub_alias, index)

if DEBUG:
    print("Removes:")
    print(json.dumps(removes, indent=2, sort_keys=True))
    print("Adds:")
    print(json.dumps(adds, indent=2, sort_keys=True))

# Now we have a set of things to remove and those to be added, so merge them
# together in one set of actions.

actions = []
for idx in removes.keys():
    for ali in removes[idx].keys():
        actions.append({ 'remove': { 'alias': ali, 'index': idx } })

for idx in adds.keys():
    for ali in adds[idx].keys():
        actions.append({ 'add': { 'alias': ali, 'index': idx } })

if not actions:
    print("Aliases all up-to-date")
    sys.exit(0)

if DEBUG:
    print("Actions:")
    print(json.dumps(actions, indent=2, sort_keys=True))

try:
    res = es.indices.update_aliases(body = { "actions": actions })
except Exception as err:
    print(repr(err), file=sys.stderr)
    sys.exit(1)
else:
    sys.exit(0)