# Persistence on ES masters
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [January 30, 2017, 9:48am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175 "2017-01-30T09:48:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Yaron\_Idan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Yaron_Idan)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2017, 9:48am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/1 "2017-01-30T09:48:53Z")
Hello,
We are running an ES cluster as docker containers running on top of a kubernetes cluster.
Recently we needed to restart the master node, and upon doing so lost the template we created for our indices.
I have launched the data nodes attached to persistent disks in order to allow data to be preserved in case of a crash, but haven't done the same for the ES master node since I was under the impression it is only used for routing requests to the data nodes, and does not require any persistence.
I realize now that my assumption was wrong, and that the masters do hold a certain amount of data that need to be persisted in order to survive a crash of the entire cluster and not lose any data.
My question is -
What is persisted within the ES masters?
Is there a way to configure storing all persistence data in the data nodes, allowing masters to crash and resurrect without losing any configuration?
Thanks,
Yaron.
---
### Author:  [@JKhondhu](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/JKhondhu)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2017, 9:51am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/2 "2017-01-30T09:51:59Z")
Master nodes must have access to the data/ directory (just like data nodes) as this is where the cluster state is persisted between node restarts. Taken from here: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/modules-node.html#master-node](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/modules-node.html#master-node)
---
### Author:  [@Yaron\_Idan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Yaron_Idan)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/3 "2017-01-30T10:22:34Z")
Thanks for the reference.
However, I did not think templates are included in the cluster state.
I expected nodes losing their connectivity when the master is down, since he is the one coordinating the nodes. However - I didn't expect templates to be included in the cluster state and losing them when the master crashes.
Is there any place where I can read more about what is included in this cluster state?
---
### Author:  [@JKhondhu](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/JKhondhu)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2017, 10:25am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/4 "2017-01-30T10:25:43Z")
I mean, all I'm doing is a google search: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/cluster-state.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/cluster-state.html)
---
### Author:  [@Yaron\_Idan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Yaron_Idan)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2017, 11:25am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/5 "2017-01-30T11:25:35Z")
Perhaps my question wan't clear.
I've read both of these references before posting the question.
What I'm trying to understand is why did I lose my index template between master shutdown and startup, if it is not included in the cluster state.
Again, thanks for all the help.
---
### Author:  [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2017, 11:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/6 "2017-01-30T11:39:15Z")
How many master eligible nodes do you have? It is recommended to have 3, so that the remaining nodes can elect a new master in case the current master fails.
---
### Author:  [@Yaron\_Idan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Yaron_Idan)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2017, 11:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/7 "2017-01-30T11:55:54Z")
I am aware of that.
When I experienced the crash I was running a single master node, a problem I've attended to - scaling them up to 3.
Still - I want to be able to recover even from a crash of all 3 masters, which is a possible scenario, unfortunately.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/persistence-on-es-masters/73175/8 "2017-02-27T11:56:42Z")
This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.