# Elasticsearch Error {type:cluster\_block\_exception,reason:"blocked by: \[FORBIDDEN/12/index read-only / allow delete (api)\];}

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [October 24, 2019, 6:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006 "2019-10-24T06:42:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ahmadtamimi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@ahmadtamimi](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ahmadtamimi)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 6:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006/1 "2019-10-24T06:42:30Z")

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Hello  
before three days i got below error on production enviroment:  
{"type":"cluster\_block\_exception","reason":"blocked by: [FORBIDDEN/12/index read-only / allow delete (api)];"}  
i applied below command, then it it worked well:

curl -XPUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" [http://HOSTNAME:9200/\_all/\_settings](http://HOSTNAME:9200/_all/_settings) -d '{"index.blocks.read\_only\_allow\_delete": null}'

now i am getting same error again

Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on  
49G 30G 19G 61%  
any help please

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**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006/2 "2019-10-24T06:48:23Z")

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It typically means that you at some point, e.g. during a large merge, have exceeded the [flood stage watermark](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.4/disk-allocator.html) and had very little disk space left. Do you have any indices with very large shards in the cluster that could drive up disk usage when merging? Do you perform a lot of updates on your indices?

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**Author:** ![ahmadtamimi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@ahmadtamimi](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ahmadtamimi)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006/3 "2019-10-24T07:05:27Z")

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i think available disk space is enough  
Please check attached screenshots

 ![index1](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/c/4/c4bf21bd2365b5467d155393f97c0275973dd2e0.png) ![index2](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/2/2/226765380286869512bc199f5c6ed65cc939b603.png)

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**Author:** ![DavidTurner](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/davidturner/32/22453_2.png) [@DavidTurner](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/DavidTurner)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006/4 "2019-10-24T07:06:06Z")

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The only reason this block is added is when you ran low on disk space, possibly temporarily. Check your logs for messages from the `DiskThresholdMonitor` explaining why this block was added.

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**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:29am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006/5 "2019-10-24T07:29:58Z")

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Can you provide the output of the ‘\_cat/indices’ API?

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 7:30am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-error-type-cluster-block-exception-reason-blocked-by-forbidden-12-index-read-only-allow-delete-api/205006/6 "2019-11-21T07:30:02Z")

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