Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch is configured to use a local filesystem for its gateway, which is not recommended for a multi-node setup. The gateway should be a shared location across all nodes to ensure data consistency and availability. To resolve this issue, you can configure Elasticsearch to use a shared filesystem like NFS or a cloud-based storage service. Alternatively, you can use a plugin like the Repository-S3 plugin for Amazon S3, or the Repository-GCS plugin for Google Cloud Storage. Remember to update the path in the Elasticsearch configuration file.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” using local fs location for gateway; should be changed to be a shared location across nodes ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: repositories and repository-azure.
Overview
An Elasticsearch snapshot provides a backup mechanism that takes the current state and data in the cluster and saves it to a repository (read snapshot for more information). The backup process requires a repository to be created first. The repository needs to be registered using the _snapshot endpoint, and multiple repositories can be created per cluster. The following repository types are supported:
Repository types
| Repository type | Configuration type |
|---|---|
| Shared file system | Type: “fs” |
| S3 | Type : “s3” |
| HDFS | Type :“hdfs” |
| Azure | Type: “azure” |
| Google Cloud Storage | Type : “gcs” |
Examples
To register an “fs” repository:
PUT _snapshot/my_repo_01
{
"type": "fs",
"settings": {
"location": "/mnt/my_repo_dir"
}
}Notes and good things to know
- S3, HDFS, Azure and Google Cloud require a relevant plugin to be installed before it can be used for a snapshot.
- The setting, path.repo: /mnt/my_repo_dir needs to be added to elasticsearch.yml on all the nodes if you are planning to use the repo type of file system. Otherwise, it will fail.
- When using remote repositories, the network bandwidth and repository storage throughput should be high enough to complete the snapshot operations normally, otherwise you will end up with partial snapshots.
Log Context
Log “using local fs location for gateway; should be changed to be a shared location across nodes” classname is FsRepository.java.
We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
public FsRepository(RepositoryName name; RepositorySettings repositorySettings; ThreadPool threadPool; IndexShardRepository indexShardRepository) throws IOException {
super(name.getName(); repositorySettings; indexShardRepository);
File locationFile;
String location = repositorySettings.settings().get("location"; componentSettings.get("location"));
if (location == null) {
logger.warn("using local fs location for gateway; should be changed to be a shared location across nodes");
throw new RepositoryException(name.name(); "missing location");
} else {
locationFile = new File(location);
}
blobStore = new FsBlobStore(componentSettings; threadPool; locationFile);
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