# LDAPSearchException: referral limit exceeded **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Tags:** elastic-stack-security\ **Created:** [June 23, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834 "2016-06-23T21:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sabad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7c8e57/32.png) [@sabad](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sabad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/1 "2016-06-23T21:26:02Z")
I have this issue causing the kibana work sporadically. This issue is happening when the ES is throwing the error. cause: com.unboundid.ldap.sdk.LDAPSearchException: referral limit exceeded It recovers after sometime. ---
**Author:** ![jaymode](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jaymode/32/50103_2.png) [@jaymode](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jaymode)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/2 "2016-06-23T21:41:25Z")
Are you using the ldap realm or the active directory realm? Can you provide the full exception and your configuration (minus any sensitive data)? ---
**Author:** ![sabad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7c8e57/32.png) [@sabad](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sabad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/3 "2016-06-23T21:55:48Z")
I moved the realm from local(file) to AD. It was working fine with file based. elasticsearch.yml shield: authc: realms: active\_directory: type: active\_directory order: 0 domain\_name: ops.saba url: ldap://ops.xaba:389 unmapped\_groups\_as\_roles: true role\_mapping.yml monitoring: - 'cn=logstash,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=kibana4-server,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=dala,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' admin: - 'cn=logstash,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=kibana4-server,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=dala,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' power\_user: - 'cn=logstash,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=kibana4-server,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=dala,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' user: - 'cn=logstash,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=kibana4-server,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=dala,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' kibana4: - 'cn=logstash,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=kibana4-server,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=dala,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' kibana4\_server: - 'cn=logstash,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=kibana4-server,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' - 'cn=dala,cn=Users,dc=ops,dc=saba' Currently, only kibana4-server is working fine cause: com.unboundid.ldap.sdk.LDAPSearchException: referral limit exceeded [2016-06-23 17:52:44,384][WARN][shield.authc.activedirectory] [n3pv01inflsh01] authentication failed for user [kibana4-server]: unable to authenticate user [kibana4-server] to active directory domain [ops.saba] cause: com.unboundid.ldap.sdk.LDAPSearchException: referral limit exceeded [2016-06-23 17:52:48,387][WARN][shield.authc.activedirectory] [n3pv01inflsh01] authentication failed for user [kibana4-server]: unable to authenticate user [kibana4-server] to active directory domain [ops.saba] cause: com.unboundid.ldap.sdk.LDAPSearchException: referral limit exceeded ---
**Author:** ![sabad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7c8e57/32.png) [@sabad](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sabad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/4 "2016-06-23T21:57:59Z")
It is very sporadic. ---
**Author:** ![sabad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7c8e57/32.png) [@sabad](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sabad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/5 "2016-06-23T21:58:38Z")
It works when the status change to green log [17:46:29.695] [error][status][plugin:elasticsearch] Status changed from red to red - Request Timeout after 1500ms log [17:46:32.491] [error][status][plugin:elasticsearch] Status changed from red to red - Elasticsearch is still initializing the kibana index. log [17:46:43.673] [info][status][plugin:elasticsearch] Status changed from red to green - Kibana index ready log [17:51:13.904] [error][status][plugin:elasticsearch] Status changed from green to red - Request Timeout after 1500ms log [17:52:56.858] [info][status][plugin:elasticsearch] Status changed from red to green - Kibana index ready ---
**Author:** ![jaymode](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jaymode/32/50103_2.png) [@jaymode](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jaymode)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/6 "2016-06-23T22:10:53Z")
Are you in a single domain or a forest with the potential for a lot of referrals? You may want to try setting `follow_referrals: false` in your realm settings if you do not need to follow referrals. ---
**Author:** ![sabad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7c8e57/32.png) [@sabad](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sabad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/7 "2016-06-23T22:42:27Z")
Thank You Jay, it worked like a charm. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/ldapsearchexception-referral-limit-exceeded/53834/8 "2017-07-06T13:43:34Z")