# Failing to Start - License issue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 8:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/failing-to-start-license-issue/384468 "2026-01-11T08:24:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aurora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@aurora](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/aurora)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 8:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/failing-to-start-license-issue/384468/1 "2026-01-11T08:24:19Z")
I’m trying to start ES 9.0.2 as a service. Every time, the service fails with an error 143. One thing of note is that in the logs its telling me my license is not valid despite just using a basic license. I can start elasticsearch just fine using `elasticsearch -d -p pid` but not from a systemd unit file. ```auto [Unit] 2 Description=Elasticsearch 3 Documentation=https://www.elastic.co 4 Wants=network-online.target 5 After=network-online.target 6 7 [Service] 8 Type=notify 9 # the elasticsearch process currently sends the notifications back to systemd 10 # and for some reason exec does not work (even though it is a child). We should change 11 # this notify access back to main (the default), see https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/86475 12 NotifyAccess=all 13 RuntimeDirectory=elasticsearch 14 PrivateTmp=true 15 Environment=ES_HOME=/opt/elasticsearch 16 Environment=ES_PATH_CONF=/opt/elasticsearch/config 17 Environment=PID_DIR=/var/run/elasticsearch 18 Environment=ES_SD_NOTIFY=true 19 EnvironmentFile=/opt/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml 20 21 WorkingDirectory=/opt/elasticsearch 22 23 User=elasticsearch 24 Group=elasticsearch 25 26 ExecStart=/opt/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -p ${PID_DIR}/elasticsearch.pid 27 ``` ```auto [2026-01-11T02:17:11,452][INFO][o.e.b.Elasticsearch] [MY_DOMAIN] version[9.0.2], pid[2566146], build[tar/0a58bc1dc7a4ae5412db66624aab968370bd44ce/2025-05-28T10:06:37.834829258Z], OS[Linux/6.8.0-60-generic/amd64], JVM[Oracle Corporation/OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM/24/24+36-3646] [2026-01-11T02:17:11,471][INFO][o.e.b.Elasticsearch] [MY_DOMAIN] JVM home [/opt/elasticsearch/jdk], using bundled JDK [true] [2026-01-11T02:17:11,472][INFO][o.e.b.Elasticsearch] [MY_DOMAIN] JVM arguments [-Des.networkaddress.cache.ttl=60, -Des.networkaddress.cache.negative.ttl=10, -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch, -Xss1m, -Djava.awt.headless=true, -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8, -Djna.nosys=true, -XX:-OmitStackTraceInFastThrow, -Dio.netty.noUnsafe=true, -Dio.netty.noKeySetOptimization=true, -Dio.netty.recycler.maxCapacityPerThread=0, -Dlog4j.shutdownHookEnabled=false, -Dlog4j2.disable.jmx=true, -Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true, -Djava.locale.providers=CLDR, -Dorg.apache.lucene.vectorization.upperJavaFeatureVersion=24, -Des.distribution.type=tar, -Des.java.type=bundled JDK, --enable-native-access=org.elasticsearch.nativeaccess,org.apache.lucene.core, --enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED, --illegal-native-access=deny, -XX:ReplayDataFile=logs/replay_pid%p.log, -Des.entitlements.enabled=true, -XX:+EnableDynamicAgentLoading, -Djdk.attach.allowAttachSelf=true, --patch-module=java.base=lib/entitlement-bridge/elasticsearch-entitlement-bridge-9.0.2.jar, --add-exports=java.base/org.elasticsearch.entitlement.bridge=org.elasticsearch.entitlement,java.logging,java.net.http,java.naming,jdk.net, -XX:+UseG1GC, -Djava.io.tmpdir=/tmp/elasticsearch-9052815450537628127, --add-modules=jdk.incubator.vector, -Dorg.apache.lucene.store.defaultReadAdvice=normal, -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError, -XX:+ExitOnOutOfMemoryError, -XX:HeapDumpPath=data, -XX:ErrorFile=logs/hs_err_pid%p.log, -Xlog:gc*,gc+age=trace,safepoint:file=logs/gc.log:utctime,level,pid,tags:filecount=32,filesize=64m, -Xms31744m, -Xmx31744m, -XX:MaxDirectMemorySize=16642998272, -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=30, -XX:G1ReservePercent=25, --module-path=/opt/elasticsearch/lib, --add-modules=jdk.net, --add-modules=jdk.management.agent, --add-modules=ALL-MODULE-PATH, -Djdk.module.main=org.elasticsearch.server] [2026-01-11T02:17:11,473][INFO][o.e.b.Elasticsearch] [MY_DOMAIN] Default Locale [en_US] [2026-01-11T02:17:11,602][INFO][o.e.n.j.JdkVectorLibrary] [MY_DOMAIN] vec_caps=1 [2026-01-11T02:17:11,606][INFO][o.e.n.NativeAccess] [MY_DOMAIN] Using native vector library; to disable start with -Dorg.elasticsearch.nativeaccess.enableVectorLibrary=false [2026-01-11T02:17:11,617][INFO][o.e.n.NativeAccess] [MY_DOMAIN] Using [jdk] native provider and native methods for [Linux] [2026-01-11T02:17:11,674][INFO][o.a.l.i.v.PanamaVectorizationProvider] [MY_DOMAIN] Java vector incubator API enabled; uses preferredBitSize=256; FMA enabled [2026-01-11T02:17:11,703][INFO][o.e.b.Elasticsearch] [MY_DOMAIN] Bootstrapping Entitlements [2026-01-11T02:17:14,541][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [repository-url] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,542][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [rest-root] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,542][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-core] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,542][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-redact] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,542][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [ingest-user-agent] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,542][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-async-search] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,542][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-monitoring] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,542][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [repository-s3] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-analytics] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-esql-core] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-ent-search] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-autoscaling] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [lang-painless] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-ml] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [legacy-geo] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,543][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [lang-mustache] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [logsdb] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-ql] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [rank-rrf] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [analysis-common] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [health-shards-availability] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [transport-netty4] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [aggregations] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [ingest-common] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,544][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-identity-provider] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [frozen-indices] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-shutdown] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-text-structure] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [snapshot-repo-test-kit] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [ml-package-loader] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [kibana] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [constant-keyword] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-logstash] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,545][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-graph] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-ccr] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [rank-vectors] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-esql] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [parent-join] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [counted-keyword] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-enrich] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [repositories-metering-api] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,546][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [transform] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [repository-azure] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [dot-prefix-validation] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [repository-gcs] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [spatial] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-otel-data] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [mapper-extras] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [apm] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [mapper-version] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-rollup] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,547][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [percolator] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-migrate] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-stack] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [data-streams] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [reindex] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [rank-eval] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-security] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [blob-cache] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [searchable-snapshots] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-slm] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-geoip-enterprise-downloader] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,548][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [snapshot-based-recoveries] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-watcher] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [old-lucene-versions] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-ilm] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-voting-only-node] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-inference] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-deprecation] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-fleet] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-aggregate-metric] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-downsample] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-profiling] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,549][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [ingest-geoip] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-write-load-forecaster] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [search-business-rules] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [wildcard] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [ingest-attachment] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-apm-data] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [unsigned-long] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-sql] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-async] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [runtime-fields-common] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [vector-tile] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-kql] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,550][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [lang-expression] [2026-01-11T02:17:14,551][INFO][o.e.p.PluginsService] [MY_DOMAIN] loaded module [x-pack-eql] [2026-01-11T02:17:15,575][INFO][o.e.e.NodeEnvironment] [MY_DOMAIN] using [1] data paths, mounts [[/ (/dev/nvme0n1p3)]], net usable_space [2.7tb], net total_space [6.9tb], types [ext4] [2026-01-11T02:17:15,575][INFO][o.e.e.NodeEnvironment] [MY_DOMAIN] heap size [31gb], compressed ordinary object pointers [true] [2026-01-11T02:17:15,614][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] node name [MY_DOMAIN], node ID [fCV3jz9DTWGeC2iveLwB6A], cluster name [MY_DOMAIN], roles [data_content, data_warm, master, remote_cluster_client, data, data_cold, ingest, data_frozen, ml, data_hot, transform] [2026-01-11T02:17:17,378][INFO][o.e.i.r.RecoverySettings] [MY_DOMAIN] using rate limit [40mb] with [default=40mb, read=0b, write=0b, max=0b] [2026-01-11T02:17:17,478][INFO][o.e.f.FeatureService] [MY_DOMAIN] Registered local node features [ES_V_8, ES_V_9, cluster.reroute.ignores_metric_param, cluster.stats.source_modes, linear_retriever_supported, lucene_10_1_upgrade, lucene_10_upgrade, security.queryable_built_in_roles, simulate.ignored.fields] [2026-01-11T02:17:17,502][INFO][o.e.c.m.DataStreamGlobalRetentionSettings] [MY_DOMAIN] Updated default factory retention to [null] [2026-01-11T02:17:17,503][INFO][o.e.c.m.DataStreamGlobalRetentionSettings] [MY_DOMAIN] Updated max factory retention to [null] [2026-01-11T02:17:17,748][INFO][o.e.x.m.p.l.CppLogMessageHandler] [MY_DOMAIN] [controller/2566265] [Main.cc@123] controller (64 bit): Version 9.0.2 (Build b88ad275a00fe7) Copyright (c) 2025 Elasticsearch BV [2026-01-11T02:17:17,988][INFO][o.e.x.o.OTelPlugin] [MY_DOMAIN] OTel ingest plugin is enabled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,008][INFO][o.e.x.c.t.YamlTemplateRegistry] [MY_DOMAIN] OpenTelemetry index template registry is enabled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,011][INFO][o.e.t.a.APM] [MY_DOMAIN] Sending apm metrics is disabled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,011][INFO][o.e.t.a.APM] [MY_DOMAIN] Sending apm tracing is disabled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,033][INFO][o.e.x.s.Security] [MY_DOMAIN] Security is enabled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,296][INFO][o.e.x.s.a.s.FileRolesStore] [MY_DOMAIN] parsed [0] roles from file [/opt/elasticsearch/config/roles.yml] [2026-01-11T02:17:18,427][INFO][o.e.x.s.InitialNodeSecurityAutoConfiguration] [MY_DOMAIN] Auto-configuration will not generate a password for the elastic built-in superuser, as we cannot determine if there is a terminal attached to the elasticsearch process. You can use the `bin/elasticsearch-reset-password` tool to set the password for the elastic user. [2026-01-11T02:17:18,605][INFO][o.e.x.w.Watcher] [MY_DOMAIN] Watcher initialized components at 2026-01-11T08:17:18.605Z [2026-01-11T02:17:18,672][INFO][o.e.x.p.ProfilingPlugin] [MY_DOMAIN] Profiling is enabled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,683][INFO][o.e.x.p.ProfilingPlugin] [MY_DOMAIN] profiling index templates will not be installed or reinstalled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,686][INFO][o.e.x.a.APMPlugin] [MY_DOMAIN] APM ingest plugin is enabled [2026-01-11T02:17:18,708][INFO][o.e.x.c.t.YamlTemplateRegistry] [MY_DOMAIN] apm index template registry is enabled [2026-01-11T02:17:19,004][INFO][o.e.t.n.NettyAllocator] [MY_DOMAIN] creating NettyAllocator with the following configs: [name=elasticsearch_configured, chunk_size=1mb, suggested_max_allocation_size=1mb, factors={es.unsafe.use_netty_default_chunk_and_page_size=false, g1gc_enabled=true, g1gc_region_size=16mb}] [2026-01-11T02:17:19,040][INFO][o.e.d.DiscoveryModule] [MY_DOMAIN] using discovery type [single-node] and seed hosts providers [settings] [2026-01-11T02:17:19,834][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] initialized [2026-01-11T02:17:19,834][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] starting ... [2026-01-11T02:17:19,844][INFO][o.e.x.s.c.f.PersistentCache] [MY_DOMAIN] persistent cache index loaded [2026-01-11T02:17:19,845][INFO][o.e.x.d.l.DeprecationIndexingComponent] [MY_DOMAIN] deprecation component started [2026-01-11T02:17:19,892][INFO][o.e.t.TransportService] [MY_DOMAIN] publish_address {INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9300}, bound_addresses {INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9300} [2026-01-11T02:17:20,074][INFO][o.e.c.c.ClusterBootstrapService] [MY_DOMAIN] this node is locked into cluster UUID [yAs67_OPR_-CRDauU8BbhQ] and will not attempt further cluster bootstrapping [2026-01-11T02:17:20,161][INFO][o.e.c.s.MasterService] [MY_DOMAIN] elected-as-master ([1] nodes joined in term 22)[_FINISH_ELECTION_, {MY_DOMAIN}{fCV3jz9DTWGeC2iveLwB6A}{ZUVSP2bGQbCrQFT-xYF_vA}{MY_DOMAIN}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9300}{cdfhilmrstw}{9.0.2}{8000099-9009000} completing election], term: 22, version: 345, delta: master node changed {previous [], current [{MY_DOMAIN}{fCV3jz9DTWGeC2iveLwB6A}{ZUVSP2bGQbCrQFT-xYF_vA}{MY_DOMAIN}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9300}{cdfhilmrstw}{9.0.2}{8000099-9009000}]} [2026-01-11T02:17:20,192][INFO][o.e.c.s.ClusterApplierService] [MY_DOMAIN] master node changed {previous [], current [{MY_DOMAIN}{fCV3jz9DTWGeC2iveLwB6A}{ZUVSP2bGQbCrQFT-xYF_vA}{MY_DOMAIN}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9300}{cdfhilmrstw}{9.0.2}{8000099-9009000}]}, term: 22, version: 345, reason: Publication{term=22, version=345} [2026-01-11T02:17:20,228][INFO][o.e.c.c.NodeJoinExecutor] [MY_DOMAIN] node-join: [{MY_DOMAIN}{fCV3jz9DTWGeC2iveLwB6A}{ZUVSP2bGQbCrQFT-xYF_vA}{MY_DOMAIN}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9300}{cdfhilmrstw}{9.0.2}{8000099-9009000}] with reason [completing election] [2026-01-11T02:17:20,229][INFO][o.e.h.AbstractHttpServerTransport] [MY_DOMAIN] publish_address {INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9200}, bound_addresses {INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9200} [2026-01-11T02:17:20,235][INFO][o.e.x.w.LicensedWriteLoadForecaster] [MY_DOMAIN] license state changed, now [valid] [2026-01-11T02:17:20,236][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] started {MY_DOMAIN}{fCV3jz9DTWGeC2iveLwB6A}{ZUVSP2bGQbCrQFT-xYF_vA}{MY_DOMAIN}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR}{INTERNAL_IP_ADDR:9300}{cdfhilmrstw}{9.0.2}{8000099-9009000}{xpack.installed=true, transform.config_version=10.0.0, ml.machine_memory=134985830400, ml.allocated_processors=24, ml.allocated_processors_double=24.0, ml.max_jvm_size=33285996544, ml.config_version=12.0.0} [2026-01-11T02:17:20,266][WARN][o.e.x.i.s.e.a.ElasticInferenceServiceAuthorizationHandler] [MY_DOMAIN] Failed to revoke access to default inference endpoint IDs: [rainbow-sprinkles], error: org.elasticsearch.cluster.block.ClusterBlockException: blocked by: [SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE/1/state not recovered / initialized]; [2026-01-11T02:17:20,492][INFO][o.e.x.m.MlIndexRollover] [MY_DOMAIN] ML legacy indices rolled over [2026-01-11T02:17:20,492][INFO][o.e.x.m.MlAnomaliesIndexUpdate] [MY_DOMAIN] legacy ml anomalies indices rolled over and aliases updated [2026-01-11T02:17:20,493][INFO][o.e.x.s.a.Realms] [MY_DOMAIN] license mode is [basic], currently licensed security realms are [reserved/reserved,file/default_file,native/default_native] [2026-01-11T02:17:20,495][INFO][o.e.l.ClusterStateLicenseService] [MY_DOMAIN] license [MY_LICENSE] mode [basic] - valid [2026-01-11T02:17:20,496][INFO][o.e.c.f.AbstractFileWatchingService] [MY_DOMAIN] starting file watcher ... [2026-01-11T02:17:20,499][INFO][o.e.c.f.AbstractFileWatchingService] [MY_DOMAIN] file settings service up and running [tid=92] [2026-01-11T02:17:20,500][INFO][o.e.r.s.FileSettingsService] [MY_DOMAIN] setting file [/opt/elasticsearch/config/operator/settings.json] not found, initializing [file_settings] as empty [2026-01-11T02:17:20,507][INFO][o.e.g.GatewayService] [MY_DOMAIN] recovered [4] indices into cluster_state [2026-01-11T02:17:20,540][INFO][o.e.x.w.LicensedWriteLoadForecaster] [MY_DOMAIN] license state changed, now [not valid] [2026-01-11T02:17:20,722][INFO][o.e.h.n.s.HealthNodeTaskExecutor] [MY_DOMAIN] Node [{MY_DOMAIN}{fCV3jz9DTWGeC2iveLwB6A}] is selected as the current health node. [2026-01-11T02:17:20,744][INFO][o.e.c.r.a.AllocationService] [MY_DOMAIN] current.health="YELLOW" message="Cluster health status changed from [RED] to [YELLOW] (reason: [shards started [[MY_INDEX][0], [.security-7][0]]])." previous.health="RED" reason="shards started [[MY_INDEX][0], [.security-7][0]]" ``` ---
**Author:** ![Tortoise](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/tortoise/32/147587_2.png) [@Tortoise](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Tortoise)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 11:18am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/failing-to-start-license-issue/384468/2 "2026-01-11T11:18:45Z")
Hello @aurora Can you please share the logs where it shows that elasticsearch did not start & or it failed? One similar post related to this issue is below if it can be helpful : > [@Systemctl failing to start elasticsearch](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/systemctl-failing-to-start-elasticsearch/277220): > > After upgrading to 7.13.2 from 7.12.1, using systemctl to start elasticsearch fails. [root@elastic elasticsearch]# systemctl status elasticsearch -l ● elasticsearch.service - Elasticsearch Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled) Active: failed (Result: timeout) since Sun 2021-06-27 12:29:09 ADT; 29s ago Docs: https://www.elastic.co Process: 13959 ExecStart=/usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/systemd-entrypoint -p ${PID\_DIR}/elastics… Thanks!! ---
**Author:** ![aurora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@aurora](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/aurora)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/failing-to-start-license-issue/384468/3 "2026-01-11T17:04:04Z")
This is all I have to work off of :\ ```auto × elasticsearch.service - Elasticsearch Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service; enabled; preset: enabled) Active: failed (Result: timeout) since Sun 2026-01-11 02:32:12 CST; 8h ago Docs: https://www.elastic.co Process: 2566030 ExecStart=/opt/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -p ${PID_DIR}/elasticsearch.pid (code=exited, status=143) Main PID: 2566030 (code=exited, status=143) CPU: 1min 37.553s Jan 11 02:32:07 MY_DOMAIN elasticsearch[2566146]: [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.m.p.l.CppLogMessageHandler] [MY_DOMAIN] [controller/2566265] [Main.cc@176] ML controller exiting Jan 11 02:32:07 MY_DOMAIN elasticsearch[2566146]: [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.w.t.s.e.TickerScheduleTriggerEngine] [MY_DOMAIN] Stopping watcher engine Jan 11 02:32:07 MY_DOMAIN elasticsearch[2566146]: [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.w.WatcherLifeCycleService] [MY_DOMAIN] watcher has stopped and shutdown Jan 11 02:32:07 MY_DOMAIN elasticsearch[2566146]: [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.m.p.NativeController] [MY_DOMAIN] Native controller process has stopped - no new native processes can be started Jan 11 02:32:07 MY_DOMAIN elasticsearch[2566146]: [2026-01-11T02:32:07,790][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] stopped Jan 11 02:32:07 MY_DOMAIN elasticsearch[2566146]: [2026-01-11T02:32:07,790][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] closing ... Jan 11 02:32:07 MY_DOMAIN elasticsearch[2566146]: [2026-01-11T02:32:07,801][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] closed Jan 11 02:32:12 MY_DOMAIN systemd[1]: elasticsearch.service: Failed with result 'timeout'. Jan 11 02:32:12 MY_DOMAIN systemd[1]: Failed to start elasticsearch.service - Elasticsearch. Jan 11 02:32:12 MY_DOMAIN systemd[1]: elasticsearch.service: Consumed 1min 37.553s CPU time. [2026-01-11T02:32:07,295][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] stopping ... 144 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,296][INFO][o.e.c.f.AbstractFileWatchingService] [MY_DOMAIN] shutting down watcher thread 145 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,297][INFO][o.e.c.f.AbstractFileWatchingService] [MY_DOMAIN] watcher service stopped 146 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,297][INFO][o.e.x.w.WatcherService] [MY_DOMAIN] stopping watch service, reason [shutdown initiated] 147 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.w.t.s.e.TickerScheduleTriggerEngine] [MY_DOMAIN] Stopping watcher engine 148 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.m.p.l.CppLogMessageHandler] [MY_DOMAIN] [controller/2566265] [Main.cc@176] ML controller exiting 149 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.w.WatcherLifeCycleService] [MY_DOMAIN] watcher has stopped and shutdown 150 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,298][INFO][o.e.x.m.p.NativeController] [MY_DOMAIN] Native controller process has stopped - no new native processes can be started 151 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,790][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] stopped 152 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,790][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] closing ... 153 [2026-01-11T02:32:07,801][INFO][o.e.n.Node] [MY_DOMAIN] closed ``` ---
**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:** [January 11, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/failing-to-start-license-issue/384468/4 "2026-01-11T21:33:00Z")
> [@aurora](#): > > Every time, the service fails with an error 143 This means that something sent it a `SIGTERM` and it shut down gracefully. > [@aurora](#): > > ```auto > Jan 11 02:32:12 MY_DOMAIN systemd[1]: elasticsearch.service: Failed with result 'timeout'. > > ``` This means that `systemd` is the thing sending it a `SIGTERM`, because Elasticsearch failed to notify it that it had started up in time. The service file you shared appears to be incomplete or modified from [the original](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/blob/d956501a806a81825a2b08e49ffd81c04c3223fd/distribution/packages/src/common/systemd/elasticsearch.service) so it’s unclear what timeout is configured. But also there’s no `loaded module [systemd]` in your log which means you’re not using a distribution of Elasticsearch which integrates with `systemd` (i.e. [either a `.rpm` or `.deb` package](https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/setting-system-settings#systemd)) so the `Type=notify` thing won’t work. Either use one of the `systemd`-compatible distributions, or adjust your service file to reflect this. ---
**Author:** ![aurora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@aurora](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/aurora)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/failing-to-start-license-issue/384468/5 "2026-01-11T21:44:27Z")
> [@DavidTurner](#): > > Type=notify Thank you much!