# Hot and warm STS stuck and no pods created & helmfile apply or sync doesn't update STS replicas count

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/hot-and-warm-sts-stuck-and-no-pods-created-helmfile-apply-or-sync-doesnt-update-sts-replicas-count/386441>\
**Category:** Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK)\
**Tags:** docker\
**Created:** [May 21, 2026, 11:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/hot-and-warm-sts-stuck-and-no-pods-created-helmfile-apply-or-sync-doesnt-update-sts-replicas-count/386441 "2026-05-21T11:55:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![khteh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/khteh/32/147573_2.png) [@khteh](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/khteh)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 11:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/hot-and-warm-sts-stuck-and-no-pods-created-helmfile-apply-or-sync-doesnt-update-sts-replicas-count/386441/1 "2026-05-21T11:55:09Z")

</div>

> <https://github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/issues/9459>
>
> \`\`\`
> $ k get sts -n elasticsearch
> NAME READY AGE
> elastics…earch-es-cold 1/3 16m
> elasticsearch-es-hot 0/3 16m
> elasticsearch-es-masters 3/3 16m
> elasticsearch-es-warm 0/3 16m
> \`\`\`
> \`\`\`
> $ k describe sts elasticsearch-es-hot -n elasticsearch
> Name: elasticsearch-es-hot
> Namespace: elasticsearch
> CreationTimestamp: Thu, 21 May 2026 16:37:49 +0800
> Selector: common.k8s.elastic.co/type=elasticsearch,elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/cluster-name=elasticsearch,elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/statefulset-name=elasticsearch-es-hot
> Labels: common.k8s.elastic.co/template-hash=1515445537
> common.k8s.elastic.co/type=elasticsearch
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/cluster-name=elasticsearch
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/statefulset-name=elasticsearch-es-hot
> Annotations: \<none\>
> Replicas: 3 desired | 3 total
> Update Strategy: OnDelete
> Pods Status: 0 Running / 3 Waiting / 0 Succeeded / 0 Failed
> Pod Template:
> Labels: common.k8s.elastic.co/type=elasticsearch
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/cluster-name=elasticsearch
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/http-scheme=https
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-data=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-data\_cold=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-data\_content=true
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-data\_frozen=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-data\_hot=true
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-data\_warm=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-ingest=true
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-master=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-ml=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-remote\_cluster\_client=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-transform=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/node-voting\_only=false
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/statefulset-name=elasticsearch-es-hot
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/version=9.4.1
> Annotations: co.elastic.logs/module: elasticsearch
> elasticsearch.k8s.elastic.co/config-hash: 101637827
> policy.k8s.elastic.co/elasticsearch-config-mounts-hash: 
> Init Containers:
> elastic-internal-init-filesystem:
> Image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.1
> Port: \<none\>
> Host Port: \<none\>
> Command:
> bash
> -c
> /mnt/elastic-internal/scripts/prepare-fs.sh
> Limits:
> cpu: 100m
> memory: 50Mi
> Requests:
> cpu: 100m
> memory: 50Mi
> Environment:
> POD\_IP: (v1:status.podIP)
> POD\_NAME: (v1:metadata.name)
> NODE\_NAME: (v1:spec.nodeName)
> NAMESPACE: (v1:metadata.namespace)
> HEADLESS\_SERVICE\_NAME: elasticsearch-es-hot
> PROBE\_PASSWORD\_PATH: /mnt/elastic-internal/pod-mounted-users/elastic-internal-probe
> PROBE\_USERNAME: elastic-internal-probe
> READINESS\_PROBE\_PROTOCOL: https
> NSS\_SDB\_USE\_CACHE: no
> Mounts:
> /mnt/elastic-internal/downward-api from downward-api (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/elasticsearch-bin-local from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-bin-local (rw)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/elasticsearch-config from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/elasticsearch-config-local from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config-local (rw)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/elasticsearch-plugins-local from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-plugins-local (rw)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/pod-mounted-users from elastic-internal-probe-user (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/scripts from elastic-internal-scripts (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/transport-certificates from elastic-internal-transport-certificates (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/unicast-hosts from elastic-internal-unicast-hosts (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/xpack-file-realm from elastic-internal-xpack-file-realm (ro)
> /tmp from tmp-volume (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/http-certs from elastic-internal-http-certificates (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/operator from file-settings (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/transport-remote-certs/ from elastic-internal-remote-certificate-authorities (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/data from elasticsearch-data (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/logs from elasticsearch-logs (rw)
> elastic-internal-suspend:
> Image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.1
> Port: \<none\>
> Host Port: \<none\>
> Command:
> bash
> -c
> /mnt/elastic-internal/scripts/suspend.sh
> Limits:
> cpu: 4
> memory: 16Gi
> Environment:
> POD\_IP: (v1:status.podIP)
> POD\_NAME: (v1:metadata.name)
> NODE\_NAME: (v1:spec.nodeName)
> NAMESPACE: (v1:metadata.namespace)
> HEADLESS\_SERVICE\_NAME: elasticsearch-es-hot
> PROBE\_PASSWORD\_PATH: /mnt/elastic-internal/pod-mounted-users/elastic-internal-probe
> PROBE\_USERNAME: elastic-internal-probe
> READINESS\_PROBE\_PROTOCOL: https
> NSS\_SDB\_USE\_CACHE: no
> Mounts:
> /mnt/elastic-internal/downward-api from downward-api (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/elasticsearch-config from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/pod-mounted-users from elastic-internal-probe-user (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/scripts from elastic-internal-scripts (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/unicast-hosts from elastic-internal-unicast-hosts (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/xpack-file-realm from elastic-internal-xpack-file-realm (ro)
> /tmp from tmp-volume (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-bin-local (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config-local (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/http-certs from elastic-internal-http-certificates (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/operator from file-settings (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/transport-certs from elastic-internal-transport-certificates (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/transport-remote-certs/ from elastic-internal-remote-certificate-authorities (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/data from elasticsearch-data (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/logs from elasticsearch-logs (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/plugins from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-plugins-local (rw)
> Containers:
> elasticsearch:
> Image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.1
> Ports: 9200/TCP (https), 9300/TCP (transport)
> Host Ports: 0/TCP (https), 0/TCP (transport)
> Limits:
> cpu: 4
> memory: 16Gi
> Readiness: exec \[bash -c /mnt/elastic-internal/scripts/readiness-port-script.sh\] delay=10s timeout=5s period=5s #success=1 #failure=3
> Environment:
> POD\_IP: (v1:status.podIP)
> POD\_NAME: (v1:metadata.name)
> NODE\_NAME: (v1:spec.nodeName)
> NAMESPACE: (v1:metadata.namespace)
> HEADLESS\_SERVICE\_NAME: elasticsearch-es-hot
> PROBE\_PASSWORD\_PATH: /mnt/elastic-internal/pod-mounted-users/elastic-internal-probe
> PROBE\_USERNAME: elastic-internal-probe
> READINESS\_PROBE\_PROTOCOL: https
> NSS\_SDB\_USE\_CACHE: no
> Mounts:
> /mnt/elastic-internal/downward-api from downward-api (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/elasticsearch-config from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/pod-mounted-users from elastic-internal-probe-user (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/scripts from elastic-internal-scripts (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/unicast-hosts from elastic-internal-unicast-hosts (ro)
> /mnt/elastic-internal/xpack-file-realm from elastic-internal-xpack-file-realm (ro)
> /tmp from tmp-volume (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-bin-local (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config-local (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/http-certs from elastic-internal-http-certificates (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/operator from file-settings (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/transport-certs from elastic-internal-transport-certificates (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/transport-remote-certs/ from elastic-internal-remote-certificate-authorities (ro)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/data from elasticsearch-data (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/logs from elasticsearch-logs (rw)
> /usr/share/elasticsearch/plugins from elastic-internal-elasticsearch-plugins-local (rw)
> Volumes:
> downward-api:
> Type: DownwardAPI (a volume populated by information about the pod)
> Items:
> metadata.labels -\> labels
> elastic-internal-elasticsearch-bin-local:
> Type: EmptyDir (a temporary directory that shares a pod's lifetime)
> Medium:     
> SizeLimit: \<unset\>
> elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config:
> Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
> SecretName: elasticsearch-es-hot-es-config
> Optional: false
> elastic-internal-elasticsearch-config-local:
> Type: EmptyDir (a temporary directory that shares a pod's lifetime)
> Medium:     
> SizeLimit: \<unset\>
> elastic-internal-elasticsearch-plugins-local:
> Type: EmptyDir (a temporary directory that shares a pod's lifetime)
> Medium:     
> SizeLimit: \<unset\>
> elastic-internal-http-certificates:
> Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
> SecretName: elasticsearch-es-http-certs-internal
> Optional: false
> elastic-internal-probe-user:
> Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
> SecretName: elasticsearch-es-internal-users
> Optional: false
> elastic-internal-remote-certificate-authorities:
> Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
> SecretName: elasticsearch-es-remote-ca
> Optional: false
> elastic-internal-scripts:
> Type: ConfigMap (a volume populated by a ConfigMap)
> Name: elasticsearch-es-scripts
> Optional: false
> elastic-internal-transport-certificates:
> Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
> SecretName: elasticsearch-es-hot-es-transport-certs
> Optional: false
> elastic-internal-unicast-hosts:
> Type: ConfigMap (a volume populated by a ConfigMap)
> Name: elasticsearch-es-unicast-hosts
> Optional: false
> elastic-internal-xpack-file-realm:
> Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
> SecretName: elasticsearch-es-xpack-file-realm
> Optional: false
> elasticsearch-data:
> Type: PersistentVolumeClaim (a reference to a PersistentVolumeClaim in the same namespace)
> ClaimName: claim-name-placeholder
> ReadOnly: false
> elasticsearch-logs:
> Type: EmptyDir (a temporary directory that shares a pod's lifetime)
> Medium:     
> SizeLimit: \<unset\>
> file-settings:
> Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
> SecretName: elasticsearch-es-file-settings
> Optional: false
> tmp-volume:
> Type: EmptyDir (a temporary directory that shares a pod's lifetime)
> Medium:        
> SizeLimit: \<unset\>
> Node-Selectors: \<none\>
> Tolerations: \<none\>
> Volume Claims:
> Name: elasticsearch-data
> StorageClass:  
> Labels: \<none\>
> Annotations: \<none\>
> Capacity: 10Gi
> Access Modes: \[ReadWriteOnce\]
> Events: \<none\>
> \`\`\`
> \`\`\`
> $ k get pods -n elasticsearch -w
> NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
> eck-cluster-eck-apm-server-apm-server-6f94cf9969-jb4kp 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> eck-cluster-eck-apm-server-apm-server-6f94cf9969-lxffl 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> eck-cluster-eck-apm-server-apm-server-6f94cf9969-zbdv7 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-cold-0 1/1 Running 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-cold-1 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-cold-2 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-hot-0 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-hot-1 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-hot-2 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-masters-0 1/1 Running 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-masters-1 1/1 Running 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-masters-2 1/1 Running 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-warm-0 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-warm-1 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> elasticsearch-es-warm-2 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> kibana-kb-786554c95c-gqj4d 0/1 Pending 0 11m
> \`\`\`

> <https://github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/issues/9461>
>
> Initial STS count was 3, then I updated the values file to 1, run \`helmfile appl…y\`, it shows the diff on console but the STS still shows the initial \`Replicas: 3 desired | 3 total\`. \`k get sts -n elasticsearch\` also shows the old \`replicas\` count value.

```auto
$ k logs -n elastic-system -l control-plane=elastic-operator
No resources found in elastic-system namespace.
$ k get all -n elastic-system
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
pod/elastic-operator-0 1/1 Running 0 3h14m

NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP EXTERNAL-IP PORT(S) AGE
service/elastic-operator-webhook ClusterIP 10.152.183.149 <none> 443/TCP 3h14m

NAME READY AGE
statefulset.apps/elastic-operator 1/1 3h14m

```

> <https://github.com/khteh/Kubernetes/blob/master/ElasticSearchKibana/ECKAgent/values/elasticsearch_eck.yml>

```auto
$ k version -o yaml
clientVersion:
  buildDate: "2025-12-18T08:37:08Z"
  compiler: gc
  gitCommit: 66452049f3d692768c39c797b21b793dce80314e
  gitTreeState: clean
  gitVersion: v1.35.0
  goVersion: go1.25.5
  major: "1"
  minor: "35"
  platform: linux/amd64
kustomizeVersion: v5.7.1
serverVersion:
  buildDate: "2025-12-18T08:38:08Z"
  compiler: gc
  emulationMajor: "1"
  emulationMinor: "35"
  gitCommit: 66452049f3d692768c39c797b21b793dce80314e
  gitTreeState: clean
  gitVersion: v1.35.0
  goVersion: go1.25.5
  major: "1"
  minCompatibilityMajor: "1"
  minCompatibilityMinor: "34"
  minor: "35"
  platform: linux/amd64

```