# Change creation\_date after migration

**URL:** https://forum.opensearch.org/t/change-creation-date-after-migration/15482
**Category:** OpenSearch
**Created:** [August 9, 2023, 8:27am UTC](https://forum.opensearch.org/t/change-creation-date-after-migration/15482 "2023-08-09T08:27:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![dbgtmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dbgtmaster](https://forum.opensearch.org/u/dbgtmaster)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2023, 8:27am UTC](https://forum.opensearch.org/t/change-creation-date-after-migration/15482/1 "2023-08-09T08:27:25Z")

</div>

Hi,

i migrated from elasticsearch 7.12.X to Opensearch 2.9 with the reindex API.  
Now all migrated indices have the creation\_date of the migration and not the origin date from elasticsearch.

```auto
{
    "settings": {
        "index": {
            "creation_date": "1691568102890",
        }
    }
}

```

Is there a way to change the creation\_date?  
I must apply the migrated indices to ISM, but with the wrong creation\_date, it’s not possible ☹ …

Updating the creation\_date is not possible:

```auto
PUT test123/_settings
{
  "index": {
      "creation_date": "1691567422333"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "root_cause": [
      {
        "type": "illegal_argument_exception",
        "reason": "unknown setting [index.creation_date] please check that any required plugins are installed, or check the breaking changes documentation for removed settings"
      }
    ],
    "type": "illegal_argument_exception",
    "reason": "unknown setting [index.creation_date] please check that any required plugins are installed, or check the breaking changes documentation for removed settings"
  },
  "status": 400
}

```

Thanks for help!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![pablo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.opensearch.org/pablo/32/9946_2.png) [@pablo](https://forum.opensearch.org/u/pablo)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2023, 9:29am UTC](https://forum.opensearch.org/t/change-creation-date-after-migration/15482/2 "2023-08-09T09:29:10Z")

</div>

@dbgtmaster Have you tried painless scripting with reindex API?

> **[Reindex data](https://opensearch.org/docs/2.4/opensearch/reindex-data/#transform-documents-during-reindexing)**
>
> Reindex data

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![dbgtmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dbgtmaster](https://forum.opensearch.org/u/dbgtmaster)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2023, 9:40am UTC](https://forum.opensearch.org/t/change-creation-date-after-migration/15482/3 "2023-08-09T09:40:39Z")

</div>

With painless, i only can change documents, but not index settings.  
Or is there another way?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![pablo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.opensearch.org/pablo/32/9946_2.png) [@pablo](https://forum.opensearch.org/u/pablo)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2023, 10:04am UTC](https://forum.opensearch.org/t/change-creation-date-after-migration/15482/4 "2023-08-09T10:04:39Z")

</div>

@dbgtmaster Sorry, I’ve just noticed you’re referring to an index setting and not a field.  
In that case, I don’t think it is possible to force a specific value in the creation\_date setting.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![faxmodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@faxmodem](https://forum.opensearch.org/u/faxmodem)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2025, 9:50am UTC](https://forum.opensearch.org/t/change-creation-date-after-migration/15482/5 "2025-11-06T09:50:29Z")

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I have the same issue and this poses a problem with index management. Before we were using curator, and now we want to use ISM. However ISM policy conditions act on index age, not document age (@timestamp).