# Elasticsearch : Unable to start elasticsearch

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-unable-to-start-elasticsearch/48446>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [April 26, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-unable-to-start-elasticsearch/48446 "2016-04-26T15:14:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dilip\_Dwivedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@Dilip\_Dwivedi](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Dilip_Dwivedi)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-unable-to-start-elasticsearch/48446/1 "2016-04-26T15:14:08Z")

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./elasticsearch  
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.RuntimeException: don't run elasticsearch as root.  
at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.initializeNatives(Bootstrap.java:93)  
at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:144)  
at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:270)  
at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:35)  
Refer to the log for complete error details.

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**Author:** ![abdon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abdon/32/9195_2.png) [@abdon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/abdon)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-unable-to-start-elasticsearch/48446/2 "2016-04-26T15:58:14Z")

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Like the exception says:

> [@Dilip\_Dwivedi](#):
>
> don't run elasticsearch as root.

Please run Elasticsearch as a non-root user.

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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, 10:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-unable-to-start-elasticsearch/48446/3 "2017-07-05T22:56:13Z")

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