Deploy Elasticsearch on Azure Cobalt 100 Arm virtual machines
Introduction
Understand Azure Cobalt 100 VMs and Elasticsearch benchmarking with ESRally
Create an Azure Cobalt 100 Arm virtual machine for Elasticsearch deployment
Install Elasticsearch and ESRally on the Cobalt 100 virtual machine instance
Benchmark Elasticsearch using ESRally on the Cobalt 100 virtual machine instance
Next Steps

  Log an issue

  Fork and edit

  Discuss on Discord

About this Learning Path

Skill level:  Introductory
Reading time:  2 hrs
Last updated:  12 Aug 2026
Skill level:
  Introductory
Reading time:
  2 hrs
Last updated:
  12 Aug 2026
Author:Doug Anson, Arm
Arm IP:Neoverse
Tags: Performance and Architecture Microsoft Azure Linux Elasticsearch ESRally Bash
Author:
  • Doug Anson, Arm
Arm IP:
Neoverse
Tags:
Performance and Architecture Microsoft Azure Linux Elasticsearch ESRally Bash

Who is this for?

This Learning Path is for developers who want to deploy and benchmark Elasticsearch on Azure Cobalt 100 Arm virtual machines (VMs).

What will you learn?

Upon completion of this Learning Path, you will be able to:

  • Provision an Arm-based Azure Cobalt 100 VM using Azure
  • Install and validate Elasticsearch on the Cobalt 100 VM
  • Run a baseline ESRally benchmark and interpret key performance metrics

Prerequisites

Before starting, you will need the following:

  • A Microsoft Azure account with access to Cobalt 100 instances (Epdsv6 series)
  • Basic familiarity with SSH
  • Familiarity with Elasticsearch and ESRally

Summary

AI-assisted

This summary was drafted with an approved AI-assisted workflow and reviewed by Arm contributors before publication. Human technical review remains part of the process so the final page reflects engineering rigor, accuracy, and Arm editorial standards.

Close
?
You’ll deploy and benchmark Elasticsearch on an Arm-based Azure Cobalt 100 VM. First, you’ll provision an Epdsv6 VM, install OpenJDK 21, Elasticsearch, and ESRally, and validate the service. Then, you’ll run ESRally’s geonames workload, interpret indexing throughput, and query latency to establish a repeatable performance baseline for future benchmark runs.

Frequently asked questions

AI-assisted

These FAQs were drafted with an approved AI-assisted workflow and reviewed by Arm contributors before publication. Human technical review remains part of the process so the final page reflects engineering rigor, accuracy, and Arm editorial standards.

Close
?
Which Azure VM size should I choose for this deployment?
Use a memory-optimized VM in the Epdsv6 series with the Arm-based Cobalt 100 processor. You configure this instance through the Azure portal.
Do I need Java, and which version should I install?
Yes. Install OpenJDK 21 (openjdk-21-jdk) because Elasticsearch needs it.
Should I run ESRally on the same VM as Elasticsearch?
Yes. Install both Elasticsearch and ESRally on the same Cobalt 100 VM.
What should I check to confirm Elasticsearch is ready before benchmarking?
Ensure the service starts without errors and is ready to accept connections. Proceed to ESRally only after the service is running and healthy.
Which ESRally track should I run, and what results should I focus on?
Run the geonames track. Focus on key metrics reported by ESRally, including indexing throughput and query latency under mixed ingest and search conditions.
Next