Elasticsearch IndexShardRecoveringException: Index shard recovering - Common Causes & Fixes

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Brief Explanation Impact Common Causes Troubleshooting and Resolution Steps Best Practices Frequently Asked Questions

Brief Explanation

The "IndexShardRecoveringException: Index shard recovering" error in Elasticsearch occurs when a shard is in the process of recovery and is not yet available for read or write operations. This error indicates that the cluster is still working on making the shard fully operational.

Impact

This error can significantly impact the availability and performance of your Elasticsearch cluster:

  • Queries and indexing operations targeting the recovering shard will fail
  • Overall cluster performance may be affected during the recovery process
  • Applications relying on the affected index may experience timeouts or errors

Common Causes

  1. Node restart or failure
  2. Cluster rebalancing
  3. Index creation or restoration from a snapshot
  4. Network issues causing temporary node disconnections
  5. Insufficient disk space for shard allocation

Troubleshooting and Resolution Steps

  1. Check cluster health:

    GET _cluster/health
    
  2. Identify recovering shards:

    GET _cat/recovery?v
    
  3. Monitor recovery progress:

    GET _cat/shards?v
    
  4. Ensure adequate disk space on data nodes

  5. Verify network connectivity between nodes

  6. If recovery is slow, consider increasing recovery throttling:

    PUT _cluster/settings
    {
      "persistent": {
        "indices.recovery.max_bytes_per_sec": "50mb"
      }
    }
    
  7. If the issue persists, check Elasticsearch logs for any related errors or warnings

  8. Consider increasing the number of replicas to improve availability during recovery

Best Practices

  • Implement proper monitoring and alerting for cluster health and shard status
  • Use rolling restarts when updating nodes to minimize recovery time
  • Ensure adequate resources (CPU, memory, disk) for your cluster's workload
  • Regularly backup your indices using snapshots
  • Use index lifecycle management (ILM) to automate index management

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long does shard recovery typically take?
A: Recovery time depends on various factors such as shard size, network speed, and available resources. Small shards may recover in seconds, while large shards can take hours.

Q: Can I query an index while its shards are recovering?
A: You can query an index during recovery, but operations targeting recovering shards will fail with the IndexShardRecoveringException. Other available shards will still be queryable.

Q: How can I prevent this error from occurring?
A: While you can't completely prevent it, you can minimize occurrences by ensuring proper cluster sizing, using rolling restarts, and implementing good monitoring practices.

Q: Will increasing the number of replicas help with this error?
A: More replicas can improve availability during recovery, as queries can be routed to available replicas while primary shards recover. However, it also increases the overall recovery workload.

Q: Is it safe to restart a node if I encounter this error?
A: Restarting a node is generally safe but may prolong the recovery process. It's better to wait for recovery to complete unless you suspect an issue with the node itself.

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