# ElasticSearch failing to start - The directory is not a subdirectory of the root directory

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [June 29, 2015, 7:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523 "2015-06-29T07:39:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![whgibbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ba0ec/32.png) [@whgibbo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/whgibbo)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 7:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523/1 "2015-06-29T07:39:40Z")

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Hi,  
I'm new to Elasticsearch.. I download it on a windows 8.1 system and I'm getting the following error:

> [2015-06-26 13:21:17,407][INFO][node] [Honcho] version[1.6.0], pid[22412], build[cdd3ac4/2015-06-09T13:36:34Z]  
> [2015-06-26 13:21:17,407][INFO][node] [Honcho] initializing ...  
> [2015-06-26 13:21:17,410][INFO][plugins] [Honcho] loaded , sites   
> {1.6.0}: Initialization Failed ...
> 
> - ElasticsearchIllegalStateException[Failed to obtain node lock, is the following location writable?: [D:\elasticsearch-1.6.0\data\elasticsearch]]  
> IOException[failed to obtain lock on D:\elasticsearch-1.6.0\data\elasticsearch\nodes\49]  
> FileSystemException[D:\elasticsearch-1.6.0\data\elasticsearch\nodes\49: The directory is not a subdirectory of the root directory.  
> ]

Tried on a Windows 7 system and no issues.  
The save version of java is run on by systems and the command prompt was an admin command prompt.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 5:32am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523/2 "2015-06-30T05:32:52Z")

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Are you linking your data directory anywhere else?

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**Author:** ![whgibbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ba0ec/32.png) [@whgibbo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/whgibbo)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 9:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523/3 "2015-06-30T09:21:20Z")

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I made no changes, simply unzipped it and ensured that the java\_home environment variable was correct.

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**Author:** ![rpochet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@rpochet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rpochet)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 7:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523/4 "2015-10-28T07:37:35Z")

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Hi,

I got the same error. I temporarily"solve" it by setting index data on share drive or even a USB stick.

R.

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**Author:** ![yon.most](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/yon.most/32/13016_2.png) [@yon.most](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/yon.most)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523/5 "2016-11-07T09:53:50Z")

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I'm having the same issue with ElasticSearch 1.7.5 on Windows 10.  
Does anyone have any advice on this?

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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:** [July 5, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-failing-to-start-the-directory-is-not-a-subdirectory-of-the-root-directory/24523/6 "2017-07-05T22:06:17Z")

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