Elasticsearch 8.16
This version has reached end of life and no longer receives updates.
November 8, 2024
Ongoing
April 15, 2025
8.16.6 (March 19, 2025)
About Elasticsearch 8.16
Elasticsearch 8.16 introduced native vector search, improved security defaults (HTTPS and authentication enabled by default), and the new Elasticsearch Relevance Engine for AI/ML.
Key Changes in Elasticsearch 8.16
- ●Native vector search with kNN (k-nearest neighbor) for semantic search and AI applications
- ●Security enabled by default: TLS and basic authentication out of the box
- ●Elasticsearch Relevance Engine (ESRE) for combining BM25 with vector search
- ●Improved indexing performance (up to 20% faster)
- ●Fleet and Elastic Agent integration for simplified data collection
Breaking Changes
- ▲Security enabled by default (breaking for scripts that connected without auth)
- ▲High-level REST client deprecated in favor of new Java client
- ▲Several deprecated APIs removed
Elasticsearch 8.16 recently reached end of life on April 15, 2025. This means it no longer receives security patches or bug fixes from the maintainers. If you are still on this version, now is the time to finalize your upgrade plan before the gap between your version and the current release grows wider.
The recommended upgrade path is to Elasticsearch 9.3. Since Elasticsearch 8.16 is 6 major versions behind, consider a staged upgrade through intermediate versions to catch breaking changes incrementally rather than all at once. Review the release notes for each intervening major version to identify API changes, deprecated features, and removed functionality that may affect your codebase.
Lifecycle Progress
This version reached end of life April 15, 2025.
All Elasticsearch Versions
| Version | Released | EOL | Latest | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.3 | February 3, 2026 | TBD | 9.3.1 | Active |
| 9.2 | October 21, 2025 | TBD | 9.2.6 | Active |
| 9.1 | July 23, 2025 | TBD | 9.1.10 | Active |
| 8.19 | July 23, 2025 | July 15, 2027 | 8.19.12 | Active |
| 8.18 | April 10, 2025 | October 21, 2025 | 8.18.8 | End of Life |
| 9.0 | April 8, 2025 | TBD | 9.0.8 | Active |
| 8.17 | December 11, 2024 | TBD | 8.17.10 | Active |
| 8.16 (current page) | November 8, 2024 | April 15, 2025 | 8.16.6 | End of Life |
| 7 | April 10, 2019 | January 15, 2026 | 7.17.29 | End of Life |
| 6 | November 14, 2017 | February 10, 2022 | 6.8.23 | End of Life |
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