# Elasticsearch service on windows not starting when using path.repo

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-service-on-windows-not-starting-when-using-path-repo/200730>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [September 23, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-service-on-windows-not-starting-when-using-path-repo/200730 "2019-09-23T17:41:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![willemdh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/willemdh/32/16922_2.png) [@willemdh](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/willemdh)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-service-on-windows-not-starting-when-using-path-repo/200730/1 "2019-09-23T17:41:59Z")

</div>

Hello,

Playing around with elasticsearch on Windows, I ran into issues when trying to add path.repo configuration in elasticsearch.yml

Configuration:

`path.repo: C:\Users\myuser\Google Drive\Backups\Elastic\FIREBASE`

Error message:

```
{"type": "server", "timestamp": "2019-09-23T19:36:13,922+0200", "level": "WARN", "component": "o.e.b.ElasticsearchUncaughtExceptionHandler", "cluster.name": "elastic_base", "node.name": "FIREBASE", "message": "uncaught exception in thread [main]" , 
"stacktrace": ["org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.StartupException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Unable to access 'path.repo' (C:\\Users\\myuser\\Google Drive\\Backups\\Elastic\\FIREBASE)",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:163) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.execute(Elasticsearch.java:150) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.execute(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:86) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:124) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.main(Command.java:90) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:115) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:92) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Unable to access 'path.repo' (C:\\Users\\myuser\\Google Drive\\Backups\\Elastic\\FIREBASE)",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.FilePermissionUtils.addDirectoryPath(FilePermissionUtils.java:70) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.addFilePermissions(Security.java:313) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.createPermissions(Security.java:252) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.configure(Security.java:121) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:216) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:349) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:159) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"... 6 more",
"Caused by: java.nio.file.NotDirectoryException: C:\\Users\\myuser\\Google Drive\\Backups\\Elastic\\FIREBASE",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.ensureDirectoryExists(Security.java:392) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.FilePermissionUtils.addDirectoryPath(FilePermissionUtils.java:68) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.addFilePermissions(Security.java:313) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.createPermissions(Security.java:252) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.configure(Security.java:121) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:216) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:349) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:159) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"... 6 more",
"Suppressed: java.nio.file.FileAlreadyExistsException: C:\\Users\\myuser\\Google Drive\\Backups\\Elastic\\FIREBASE",
"\tat sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.translateToIOException(WindowsException.java:87) ~[?:?]",
"\tat sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.rethrowAsIOException(WindowsException.java:103) ~[?:?]",
"\tat sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.rethrowAsIOException(WindowsException.java:108) ~[?:?]",
"\tat sun.nio.fs.WindowsFileSystemProvider.createDirectory(WindowsFileSystemProvider.java:509) ~[?:?]",
"\tat java.nio.file.Files.createDirectory(Files.java:692) ~[?:?]",
"\tat java.nio.file.Files.createAndCheckIsDirectory(Files.java:799) ~[?:?]",
"\tat java.nio.file.Files.createDirectories(Files.java:745) ~[?:?]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.ensureDirectoryExists(Security.java:389) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.FilePermissionUtils.addDirectoryPath(FilePermissionUtils.java:68) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.addFilePermissions(Security.java:313) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.createPermissions(Security.java:252) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Security.configure(Security.java:121) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:216) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:349) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:159) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.execute(Elasticsearch.java:150) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.execute(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:86) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:124) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.main(Command.java:90) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:115) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]",
"\tat org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:92) ~[elasticsearch-7.3.2.jar:7.3.2]"] }

```

When I try to use double quotes

`path.repo: "C:\Users\myuser\Google Drive\Backups\Elastic\FIREBASE"`

elasticsearch also doesnt start and doesn't log anything.

Is there some way to use spaces in path.repo in elasticsearch?

Tx

Willem

---

<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:** [October 21, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-service-on-windows-not-starting-when-using-path-repo/200730/2 "2019-10-21T17:42:01Z")

</div>

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