# Node with zero shards fails to start with error "Node is started with node.data=false, but has shard data" **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [October 28, 2019, 11:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/node-with-zero-shards-fails-to-start-with-error-node-is-started-with-node-data-false-but-has-shard-data/205450 "2019-10-28T11:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tomhe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/tomhe/32/120065_2.png) [@tomhe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/tomhe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 11:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/node-with-zero-shards-fails-to-start-with-error-node-is-started-with-node-data-false-but-has-shard-data/205450/1 "2019-10-28T11:37:08Z")
I'm trying to remove the data role from one node by first excluding the node from shard allocation with: ``` PUT _cluster/settings { "transient" : { "cluster.routing.allocation.exclude._name" : "node-001" } } ``` When the node showed 0 shards I changed "node.data" to false and restarted it, but the node failed to start with this error: ``` org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.StartupException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Node is started with node.data=false, but has shard data: [/usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/4, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/7, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/2, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/9, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/3, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/1, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/8, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/KdyBcBhwQhmrcvW9mPy5eQ/6, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/4, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/2, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/0, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/9, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/3, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/1, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/5, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/YJXzvwdRR1qU6I23pr0SXQ/6, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/bagM1fomTDm_dwV3mymIpg/4, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/bagM1fomTDm_dwV3mymIpg/2, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/bagM1fomTDm_dwV3mymIpg/0, /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/bagM1fomTDm_dwV3mymIpg/3]. Use 'elasticsearch-node repurpose' tool to clean up ``` There are no shards allocated to his node, so why am I getting this error? ---
**Author:** ![tomhe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/tomhe/32/120065_2.png) [@tomhe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/tomhe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 12:21pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/node-with-zero-shards-fails-to-start-with-error-node-is-started-with-node-data-false-but-has-shard-data/205450/2 "2019-10-28T12:21:31Z")
I found the cause: There were shards from three closed indices on that node. ---
**Author:** ![tomhe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/tomhe/32/120065_2.png) [@tomhe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/tomhe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/node-with-zero-shards-fails-to-start-with-error-node-is-started-with-node-data-false-but-has-shard-data/205450/3 "2019-10-28T14:07:00Z")
Ran into the same situation again on the next node that I no longer wanted to use as a data node. The node has zero shards allocated. ``` sh-4.2# bin/elasticsearch-node repurpose -v ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WARNING: Elasticsearch MUST be stopped before running this tool. Obtaining lock for node Collecting shard data paths Paths to clean up: /usr/share/elasticsearch/data/nodes/0/indices/myrWs3pnSmuZwTplN3XKdw/3 Indices affected: important_index_in_use Found 1 shards in 1 indices to clean up Node is being re-purposed as master and no-data. Clean-up of shard data will be performed. Do you want to proceed? Confirm [y/N] ``` (Index is not named "important\_index\_in\_use", but I changed it here in the post.) This index is in use. Why am I seeing shard data here even though the node has zero allocated shards? ---
**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:** [October 28, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/node-with-zero-shards-fails-to-start-with-error-node-is-started-with-node-data-false-but-has-shard-data/205450/4 "2019-10-28T14:35:10Z")
Elasticsearch cleans up unused shard data from a data node when the shard is fully allocated (i.e. `green` health) none of its shards are relocating. If that wasn't the case when this node was shut down then the data might not have been cleaned up. If this index reports `green` health then you can safely remove the shard data on this node. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/node-with-zero-shards-fails-to-start-with-error-node-is-started-with-node-data-false-but-has-shard-data/205450/5 "2019-11-25T14:35:11Z")
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