# Elasticsearch error after upgrade "can not run elasticsearch as root"

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-after-upgrade-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/312632>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [August 22, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-after-upgrade-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/312632 "2022-08-22T14:29:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mangeshmj1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@mangeshmj1992](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mangeshmj1992)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-after-upgrade-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/312632/1 "2022-08-22T14:29:53Z")

</div>

Hello team,  
I have update my elasticsearch data node from 7,16,3 to 7.17.5.  
But it is through below error. Can you please help on same..

All files running as root.elasticsearch

```auto
[2022-08-22T18:26:40,213][ERROR][o.e.b.ElasticsearchUncaughtExceptionHandler] [es-data-1] 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:173) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.execute(Elasticsearch.java:160) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.execute(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:77) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:112) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.main(Command.java:77) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:125) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:80) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: can not run elasticsearch as root
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.initializeNatives(Bootstrap.java:107) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:183) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:434) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:169) ~[elasticsearch-7.17.5.jar:7.17.5]
        ... 6 more
uncaught exception in thread [main]
java.lang.RuntimeException: can not run elasticsearch as root
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.initializeNatives(Bootstrap.java:107)
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:183)
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:434)
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:169)
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.execute(Elasticsearch.java:160)
        at org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.execute(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:77)
        at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:112)
        at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.main(Command.java:77)
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:125)
        at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:80)
For complete error details, refer to the log at /data/log/elasticsearch/enterprise-logging-uat.log

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-after-upgrade-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/312632/2 "2022-08-22T14:49:36Z")

</div>

It was not possible to run elasticsearch as root in 7.16 either.  
How do you start it? On which OS did you install it?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mangeshmj1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@mangeshmj1992](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mangeshmj1992)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-after-upgrade-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/312632/3 "2022-08-22T15:21:54Z")

</div>

Hello @dadoonet  
I am using below OS details:

```auto
NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server"
VERSION="7.9 (Maipo)"
ID="rhel"
ID_LIKE="fedora"
VARIANT="Server"
VARIANT_ID="server"

```

Loged in as oprroot user and than sudo su -  
after that normat command like systemctl restart elasticsearch

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2022, 7:48am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-after-upgrade-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/312632/4 "2022-09-01T07:48:43Z")

</div>

I believe you should just run something like:

```auto
sudo systemctl restart elasticsearch

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-after-upgrade-can-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/312632/5 "2022-09-29T07:49:07Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.