elastic/elasticsearch

SecurityMigrationExecutor and SystemIndexMigrationExecutor should not be persistent tasks

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#146662 opened on Apr 17, 2026

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Description

Both SecurityMigrationExecutor and SystemIndexMigrationExecutor are run-to-completion one-shot migration tasks rather than continuously-running services. They do not "persist" in any meaningful sense, instead they have some external retry mechanism, so it seems that they would better fit as just regular transport actions instead.

Refactoring those task to not be persistent tasks would also get us one step closer to removing the automaticReassignmentOnShutdown() persistent task executor flag (see https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/138565) and making this feature default everywhere.

See: https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/145753 for more details

Contributor guide

Tech stack
java
Domain
backend
Issue type
refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Understanding of Elasticsearch task execution frameworkJava development experience
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
20
Research direction
Review the linked PR (https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/145753) for detailed context on why SecurityMigrationExecutor and SystemIndexMigrationExecutor are currently persistent tasks and how to refactor them to regular transport actions. Examine the `automaticReassignmentOnShutdown()` flag mentioned in issue #138565 to understand the broader goal. The refactoring should ensure that these one shot migration tasks are no longer treated as continuously running services, simplifying the task execution model.