# Help forming a cluster

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/help-forming-a-cluster/235172>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [June 1, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/help-forming-a-cluster/235172 "2020-06-01T13:11:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 9

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kevin\_M](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/kevin_m/32/69498_2.png) [@Kevin\_M](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Kevin_M)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/help-forming-a-cluster/235172/9 "2020-06-01T15:06:24Z")

</div>

also found this thread from you also 🙂

> [@Change ES cluster\_uuid](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/change-es-cluster-uuid/193092/2):
>
> That would explain it slight_smile It's best not to clone nodes, it can cause all sorts of strange issues. Yes, [the elasticsearch-node unsafe-bootstrap tool](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/node-tool.html) will generate a new cluster UUID.

I did initially only have host#1 - then VM cloned it twice.

Deleting the data file for #1 fixed the issue - hoping i dont have any more issues down the road due to cloning

---

_[View the full topic](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/help-forming-a-cluster/235172)._