old_contents: import time
  import os
  try:
      # python 2.6
      from unittest2 import TestCase, SkipTest
  except ImportError:
      from unittest import TestCase, SkipTest
  
  from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
  from elasticsearch.exceptions import ConnectionError
  
  def get_test_client():
      # construct kwargs from the environment
      kw = {}
      if 'TEST_ES_CONNECTION' in os.environ:
          from elasticsearch import connection
          kw['connection_class'] = getattr(connection, os.environ['TEST_ES_CONNECTION'])
  
      client = Elasticsearch([os.environ.get('TEST_ES_SERVER', {})], **kw)
  
      # wait for yellow status
      for _ in range(100):
          time.sleep(.1)
          try:
              client.cluster.health(wait_for_status='yellow')
              return client
          except ConnectionError:
              continue
      else:
          # timeout
          raise SkipTest("Elasticsearch failed to start.")
  
  def _get_version(version_string):
      version = version_string.strip().split('.')
      return tuple(int(v) if v.isdigit() else 999 for v in version)
  
  class ElasticsearchTestCase(TestCase):
      @staticmethod
      def _get_client():
          return get_test_client()
  
      @classmethod
      def setUpClass(cls):
          super(ElasticsearchTestCase, cls).setUpClass()
          cls.client = cls._get_client()
  
      def tearDown(self):
          super(ElasticsearchTestCase, self).tearDown()
          self.client.indices.delete(index='*')
          self.client.indices.delete_template(name='*', ignore=404)
  
      @property
      def es_version(self):
          if not hasattr(self, '_es_version'):
              version_string = self.client.info()['version']['number']
              self._es_version = _get_version(version_string)
          return self._es_version
  
  
new_contents: import time
  import os
  try:
      # python 2.6
      from unittest2 import TestCase, SkipTest
  except ImportError:
      from unittest import TestCase, SkipTest
  
  from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
  from elasticsearch.exceptions import ConnectionError
  
  def get_test_client(nowait=False):
      # construct kwargs from the environment
      kw = {}
      if 'TEST_ES_CONNECTION' in os.environ:
          from elasticsearch import connection
          kw['connection_class'] = getattr(connection, os.environ['TEST_ES_CONNECTION'])
  
      client = Elasticsearch([os.environ.get('TEST_ES_SERVER', {})], **kw)
  
      # wait for yellow status
      for _ in range(1 if nowait else 100):
          try:
              client.cluster.health(wait_for_status='yellow')
              return client
          except ConnectionError:
              time.sleep(.1)
      else:
          # timeout
          raise SkipTest("Elasticsearch failed to start.")
  
  def _get_version(version_string):
      version = version_string.strip().split('.')
      return tuple(int(v) if v.isdigit() else 999 for v in version)
  
  class ElasticsearchTestCase(TestCase):
      @staticmethod
      def _get_client():
          return get_test_client()
  
      @classmethod
      def setUpClass(cls):
          super(ElasticsearchTestCase, cls).setUpClass()
          cls.client = cls._get_client()
  
      def tearDown(self):
          super(ElasticsearchTestCase, self).tearDown()
          self.client.indices.delete(index='*')
          self.client.indices.delete_template(name='*', ignore=404)
  
      @property
      def es_version(self):
          if not hasattr(self, '_es_version'):
              version_string = self.client.info()['version']['number']
              self._es_version = _get_version(version_string)
          return self._es_version
  
  
subject: Allow get_test_client to not wait for es cluster startup