# After new install "Can not run elasticsearch as root" **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [August 26, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796 "2019-08-26T14:41:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hortiks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hortiks](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Hortiks)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/1 "2019-08-26T14:41:16Z")
Hello, after the installation of elasticsearch\_7.3.1, i've got the message "can not run elasticsearch as root". I had a functionnal 1.7.3 with some changes : -/etc/default/elasticsearch =\> uncommented lines START\_DAEMON=true, ES\_USER=elasticsearch, ES\_GROUP=elasticsearch -/etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml =\> host 0.0.0.0, port :9200 My variable JAVA\_HOME = /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64 I've Ubuntu 16.04 and direclty run elasticsearch from ./bin/elasticsearch from the folder on the desktop Thanks ---
**Author:** ![elasticforme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f05b48/32.png) [@elasticforme](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elasticforme)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/2 "2019-08-26T21:25:26Z")
check file/dir permission on /etc/elasticsearch, /usr/share/elasticsearch and log dir. it should be elasticsearch:elasticsearch ---
**Author:** ![Hortiks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hortiks](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Hortiks)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 9:48am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/3 "2019-08-27T09:48:25Z")
Hello, thanks for the answer; i checked, and i've not elasticsearch in /etc/ so i can't find the file /dir permission. /usr/share/elastocsearch apparently references to my old version : [2019-08-23 14:57:25,722][INFO][node] [My First Node] version[1.7.3], pid[29564], build[NA/NA] [2019-08-23 14:57:34,975][INFO][cluster.service] [My First Node] new\_master [My First Node][JliEcoAeSH-65EC\_bMl8Pg][dejancourt-VirtualBox][inet[/10.0.2.15:9301]], reason: zen-disco-join (elected\_as\_master) [2019-08-23 14:57:35,111][ERROR][bootstrap] [My First Node] Exception$ org.elasticsearch.http.BindHttpException: Failed to bind to [9200]$ and in the logs of the app i can find this : pwd /home/dejancourt/Bureau/elasticsearch-7.3.1/logs cat -A logs/elasticsearch.log [2019-08-26T16:09:01,670][ERROR][o.e.b.Bootstrap] [dejancourt-VirtualBox] Exception$ java.lang.RuntimeException: can not run elasticsearch as root$ ---
**Author:** ![elasticforme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f05b48/32.png) [@elasticforme](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elasticforme)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/4 "2019-08-27T12:53:11Z")
I didn't mean literlly /etc/dir I means to say /etc/elasticsearch /usr/share/elasticsearch it should look like this I have following permission/ownership # ls -la /usr/share/elasticsearch/ total 536 drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 128 Aug 16 22:47 . drwxr-xr-x. 91 root root 4096 Aug 20 00:26 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Aug 16 22:47 bin drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 96 Aug 16 22:47 jdk drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Aug 16 22:47 lib -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 13675 Jun 20 23:50 LICENSE.txt drwxr-xr-x 30 root root 4096 Aug 16 22:47 modules -rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 502598 Jun 20 23:56 NOTICE.txt drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 6 Jun 21 00:04 plugins # ls -la /etc/elasticsearch/ total 60 drwxr-s--- 3 root elasticsearch 4096 Aug 20 23:17 . drwxr-xr-x. 83 root root 8192 Aug 20 00:34 .. drwxr-sr-x 2 elasticsearch elasticsearch 38 Aug 16 23:06 config -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 199 Aug 16 22:47 elasticsearch.keystore -rw-r--r-- 1 root elasticsearch 76 Aug 16 22:47 .elasticsearch.keystore.initial\_md5sum -rw-r----- 1 root elasticsearch 4015 Aug 19 22:31 elasticsearch.yml -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 3017 Aug 20 22:23 jvm.options -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 17170 Jun 21 00:04 log4j2.properties -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 473 Jun 21 00:04 role\_mapping.yml -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 197 Jun 21 00:04 roles.yml -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 0 Jun 21 00:04 users -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 0 Jun 21 00:04 users\_roles ---
**Author:** ![Hortiks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hortiks](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Hortiks)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/5 "2019-08-27T17:40:31Z")
With the following lines, i'm a little confused : apt-get update done apt-get install elasticsearch elasticsearch is already the most recent version ls -la /usr/share/elasticsearch/ total 24 drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 août 19 19:06 . drwxr-xr-x 309 root root 12288 août 19 19:06 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 août 19 19:06 bin lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 déc. 24 2015 config -\> /etc/elasticsearch lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 déc. 24 2015 data -\> /var/lib/elasticsearch lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 déc. 24 2015 logs -\> /var/log/elasticsearch drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 déc. 24 2015 plugins ls -la /etc/elasticsearch/ ls: impossible to reach '/etc/elasticsearch/': No such file or directory ---
**Author:** ![elasticforme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f05b48/32.png) [@elasticforme](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elasticforme)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/6 "2019-08-27T19:10:59Z")
here is what I will do. download new .deb packages for your debian. [https://www.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch](https://www.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch) [https://www.elastic.co/downloads/kibana](https://www.elastic.co/downloads/kibana) [https://www.elastic.co/downloads/logstash](https://www.elastic.co/downloads/logstash) there are DEB package remove your old elasticsearch/kibana/logstash and reinstall again dpkg -remove elkpackagename kibanapackagename logstashpackagename' dpkg -install \*.deb and you should have everything back to normal. ---
**Author:** ![Hortiks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hortiks](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Hortiks)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/7 "2019-08-28T16:02:45Z")
thanks for the links, it helped me a lot for the /etc now it's the 7.3.1 and not the 1.7.3 apt-get install elasticsearch elasticsearch is already the most recent version(7.3.1) with the JAVA\_HOME corresponding echo $JAVA\_HOME /usr/lib/jvm/openjdk-11-manual-installation unfortunately, i still have the problem of root, and permission denied if i try as a "user" ls -la /usr/share/elasticsearch/ total 540 drwxrwxrwx 7 root root 4096 août 28 11:03 . drwxr-xr-x 306 root root 12288 août 28 11:06 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 août 28 11:03 bin drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 août 28 11:03 jdk drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 août 28 11:03 lib drwxr-xr-x 33 root root 4096 août 28 11:03 modules -rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 502598 août 19 22:30 NOTICE.txt drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 déc. 24 2015 plugins -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8500 août 19 22:29 README.textile ls -la /etc/elasticsearch/ total 60 drwxrwsrwx 2 root elasticsearch 4096 août 28 11:05 . drwxr-xr-x 142 root root 12288 août 28 16:16 .. -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 199 août 28 11:05 elasticsearch.keystore -rw-r--r-- 1 root elasticsearch 76 août 28 11:05 .elasticsearch.keystore.initial\_md5sum -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 2847 août 19 22:30 elasticsearch.yml -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 3596 août 19 22:30 jvm.options -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 17222 août 19 22:30 log4j2.properties -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 473 août 19 22:30 role\_mapping.yml -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 197 août 19 22:30 roles.yml -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 0 août 19 22:30 users -rw-rw---- 1 root elasticsearch 0 août 19 22:30 users\_roles ---
**Author:** ![elasticforme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f05b48/32.png) [@elasticforme](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elasticforme)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/8 "2019-08-28T16:56:40Z")
which version of debian you running? what are the log messages? ---
**Author:** ![Hortiks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hortiks](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Hortiks)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 9:48am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/9 "2019-08-29T09:48:34Z")
I'm on a VM with Ubuntu 16.04 and this is what logs look like all the time : ./bin/elasticsearch OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM warning: Option UseConcMarkSweepGC was deprecated in version 9.0 and will likely be removed in a future release. [2019-08-29T11:43:27,917][WARN][o.e.b.ElasticsearchUncaughtExceptionHandler] [dejancourt-VirtualBox] uncaught exception in thread [main] org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.StartupException: java.lang.RuntimeException: can not run elasticsearch as root at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:163) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.execute(Elasticsearch.java:150) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.execute(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:86) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:124) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.main(Command.java:90) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:115) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:92) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: can not run elasticsearch as root at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.initializeNatives(Bootstrap.java:105) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:172) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:349) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:159) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.1.jar:7.3.1] ... 6 more and this, even after i've added ES\_USER=elasticsearch and ES\_GROUP=elasticsearch in /etc/default/elasticsearch ---
**Author:** ![elasticforme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f05b48/32.png) [@elasticforme](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elasticforme)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/10 "2019-08-29T16:25:11Z")
I do not have /etc/default/elasticsearch file. lets remove it make sure everything under /usr/share/elasticsearch is own by root:root make sure dir persmission for /etc/elasticsearch is root:elasticsearch make sure /usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service is own by root:root on above file execstart should look like this ExecStart=/usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -p ${PID\_DIR}/elasticsearch.pid --quiet ---
**Author:** ![Hortiks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hortiks](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Hortiks)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/11 "2019-08-29T17:18:56Z")
Thanks for the answer, you can see accesses and owner with the stat command and the usefull parameters on elasticsearch.service stat /usr/share/elasticsearch/ File : '/usr/share/elasticsearch/' Size : 4096 - Blocks : 8 - IO Block : 4096 - directory Device : 801h/2049d Inode : 2498173 Links : 7 Access : (0777/drwxrwxrwx) UID : ( 0/ root) GID : ( 0/ root) stat /etc/elasticsearch/ File : '/etc/elasticsearch/' Size : 4096 - Blocks : 8 - IO Block : 4096 - directory Device : 801h/2049d Inode : 524301 Links : 2 Access : (2777/drwxrwsrwx) UID : ( 0/ root) GID : ( 130/elasticsearch) stat /usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service File : '/usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service' Size : 1679 - Blocks : 8 - IO Block : 4096 - regular file Device : 801h/2049d Inode : 2361390 Links : 1 Access : (0644/-rw-r--r--) UID : ( 0/ root) GID : ( 0/ root) cat /usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service [...]User=elasticsearch Group=elasticsearch ExecStart=/usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -p ${PID\_DIR}/elasticsearch.pid --quiet[...] ---
**Author:** ![elasticforme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f05b48/32.png) [@elasticforme](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elasticforme)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/12 "2019-08-30T16:13:54Z")
I do not know what is going on here. I had this issue on early part when I was testing. that time I had issue with username/group and permission. and deleting everything and reinstalling was working. I had issue twice in past. ---
**Author:** ![Hortiks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Hortiks](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Hortiks)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/13 "2019-09-05T15:02:43Z")
I don't know what was wrong, but i did like you recommended (fresh reinstall) and now, all is ok PS : #deleted files / folders to do a fresh install of Elasticsearch rm -r /home/xxxx/Bureau/elasticsearch-7.3.1 rm -r /var/log/elasticsearch/ rm -r /var/lib/elasticsearch/ rm /usr/lib/sysctl.d/elasticsearch.conf rm /usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service rm /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/elasticsearch.conf rm /usr/share/doc/elasticsearch rm -r /usr/share/doc/elasticsearch rm /usr/share/doc/elasticsearch/copyright rm /usr/share/lintian/overrides/elasticsearch rm /var/crash/elasticsearch.0.crash rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.conffiles rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.list rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.md5sums rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.postinst rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.postrm rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.preinst rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.prerm ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/after-new-install-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/196796/14 "2019-10-03T15:14:10Z")
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