diff --git a/distribution/build.gradle b/distribution/build.gradle
index 3522becc53ec2..454f49173c34c 100644
--- a/distribution/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/build.gradle
@@ -422,6 +422,11 @@ configure(distributions.findAll { ['deb', 'rpm'].contains(it.name) }) {
       fileType CONFIG | NOREPLACE
       from "${packagingFiles}/systemd/elasticsearch.service"
     }
+    configurationFile '/usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch@.service'
+    into('/usr/lib/systemd/system') {
+      fileType CONFIG | NOREPLACE
+      from "${packagingFiles}/systemd/elasticsearch@.service"
+    }
     into('/usr/lib/sysctl.d') {
       fileType CONFIG | NOREPLACE
       from "${packagingFiles}/systemd/sysctl/elasticsearch.conf"
diff --git a/distribution/src/main/packaging/systemd/elasticsearch@.service b/distribution/src/main/packaging/systemd/elasticsearch@.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..bda2f05897732
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distribution/src/main/packaging/systemd/elasticsearch@.service
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Elasticsearch Instance %I
+Documentation=http://www.elastic.co
+Wants=network-online.target
+After=network-online.target
+
+[Service]
+RuntimeDirectory=elasticsearch
+Environment=ES_HOME=/usr/share/elasticsearch
+Environment=ES_PATH_CONF=${path.conf}/%i
+Environment=PID_DIR=/var/run/elasticsearch
+EnvironmentFile=-${path.env}-%i
+
+WorkingDirectory=/usr/share/elasticsearch
+
+User=elasticsearch
+Group=elasticsearch
+
+ExecStart=/usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -p ${PID_DIR}/elasticsearch-%i.pid --quiet
+
+# StandardOutput is configured to redirect to journalctl since
+# some error messages may be logged in standard output before
+# elasticsearch logging system is initialized. Elasticsearch
+# stores its logs in /var/log/elasticsearch and does not use
+# journalctl by default. If you also want to enable journalctl
+# logging, you can simply remove the "quiet" option from ExecStart.
+StandardOutput=journal
+StandardError=inherit
+
+# Specifies the maximum file descriptor number that can be opened by this process
+LimitNOFILE=65536
+
+# Specifies the maximum number of processes
+LimitNPROC=4096
+
+# Specifies the maximum size of virtual memory
+LimitAS=infinity
+
+# Specifies the maximum file size
+LimitFSIZE=infinity
+
+# Disable timeout logic and wait until process is stopped
+TimeoutStopSec=0
+
+# SIGTERM signal is used to stop the Java process
+KillSignal=SIGTERM
+
+# Send the signal only to the JVM rather than its control group
+KillMode=process
+
+# Java process is never killed
+SendSIGKILL=no
+
+# When a JVM receives a SIGTERM signal it exits with code 143
+SuccessExitStatus=143
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
+
+# Built for ${project.name}-${project.version} (${project.name})
diff --git a/docs/reference/setup/install/systemd.asciidoc b/docs/reference/setup/install/systemd.asciidoc
index bf94e95fb63df..90e782ff0dc52 100644
--- a/docs/reference/setup/install/systemd.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/setup/install/systemd.asciidoc
@@ -51,3 +51,25 @@ sudo journalctl --unit elasticsearch --since  "2016-10-30 18:17:16"
 
 Check `man journalctl` or https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/journalctl.html for
 more command line options.
+
+===== Managing Multiple Instances
+
+Optional systemd service templates are included to better aid in running more
+than one instance on a host.
+This is an non-standard configuration scenario intended for advanced users.
+
+In order to do so, necessary directories and configuration files must be
+created to manage separate instances of Elasticsearch.
+The following bash commands will start three local instances sharing a data
+directory:
+
+[source,sh]
+--------------------------------------------
+sudo echo node.max_local_storage_nodes: 3 >> /etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml
+sudo echo discovery.zen.minimum_master_nodes: 2 >> /etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml
+for instance in 1 2 3 ; do
+  sudo mkdir /etc/elasticsearch/$instance
+  sudo cp -p /etc/elasticsearch/*.* /etc/elasticsearch/$instance
+  sudo systemctl start elasticsearch@$instance.service
+done
+--------------------------------------------