how to rename an index in a cluster?

Question

I need to rename several indexes in a cluster (their name must be changed, I cannot use aliases).

I saw that there are no supported ways to do that,

Answer 1

As such there is no direct method to copy or rename index in ES (I did search extensively for my own project)

However a very easy option is to use a popular migration tool [Elastic-Exporter].

http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/eng/posts/2014/12/02/elasticsearch-cluster-migration/

[PS: this is not my blog, just stumbled upon and found it good]

Thereby you can copy index/type and then delete the old one.