diff --git a/useful_elasticsearch_commands.md b/useful_elasticsearch_commands.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..11de8ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/useful_elasticsearch_commands.md
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+# Useful Elasticsearch Commands
+
+Get the shards
+
+```bash
+curl -X GET "localhost:9200/_cat/shards"
+```
+
+Get the indices from Elasticsearch
+
+```bash
+curl -X GET "localhost:9200/_cat/indices"
+```
+
+Get version details of elasticsearch
+
+```bash
+curl -X GET "localhost:9200"
+```
+
+Get current health
+
+```bash
+curl -X GET "localhost:9200/_cat/health"
+```
+
+Disable shard allocation
+
+```bash
+curl -X PUT "localhost:9200/_cluster/settings" \
+    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+    -d '{ "persistent": { "cluster.routing.allocation.enable":"none" }}'
+```
+
+Stop indexing and perform a sync'd flush
+
+```bash
+curl -X POST "localhost:9200/_flush/synced"
+```
+
+Enable allocation
+
+```bash
+curl -X PUT "localhost:9200/_cluster/settings" \
+    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+    -d '{"persistent": { "cluster.routing.allocation.enable": null}}'
+```
+
+```bash
+curl -X PUT "localhost:9200/_all/_settings" \
+    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+    -d '{"index.blocks.read_only_allow_delete": false}'
+```