# Joining a New ES search Node to a Bootstrapped Cluster

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/joining-a-new-es-search-node-to-a-bootstrapped-cluster/323378>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [January 18, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/joining-a-new-es-search-node-to-a-bootstrapped-cluster/323378 "2023-01-18T05:51:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![A.Hani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@A.Hani](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/A.Hani)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/joining-a-new-es-search-node-to-a-bootstrapped-cluster/323378/1 "2023-01-18T05:51:01Z")

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Hello,

Is there a way to join a new ES node to an already existing bootstrapped **single node cluster** that already contains data? I read on some other blog posts that for this to happen, I'll have to remove the data from my existing cluster and reconfigure it to define the master eligible nodes so the new node can discover the existing one.

If yes, is there a way to do this without losing the data in my existing one-node cluster?

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![dadiasish](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadiasish/32/114221_2.png) [@dadiasish](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadiasish)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 7:00am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/joining-a-new-es-search-node-to-a-bootstrapped-cluster/323378/2 "2023-01-18T07:00:52Z")

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I think this should give you an idea of it.

> **[Add and remove nodes in your cluster | Elasticsearch Guide \[7.17\] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.17/add-elasticsearch-nodes.html)**

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![A.Hani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@A.Hani](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/A.Hani)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 10:09am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/joining-a-new-es-search-node-to-a-bootstrapped-cluster/323378/3 "2023-01-18T10:09:40Z")

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I went through this yet, still not able to get a definitive answer.

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**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 18, 2023, 10:27am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/joining-a-new-es-search-node-to-a-bootstrapped-cluster/323378/4 "2023-01-18T10:27:12Z")

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The definitive answer is yes, you can add nodes to an existing cluster without removing any data. The docs linked above tell you how to do this.

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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:** [February 15, 2023, 10:27am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/joining-a-new-es-search-node-to-a-bootstrapped-cluster/323378/5 "2023-02-15T10:27:14Z")

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