# Problem with master node

**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-master-node/253218
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [October 24, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-master-node/253218 "2020-10-24T19:22:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Aniket\_Pant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@Aniket\_Pant](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Aniket_Pant)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-master-node/253218/1 "2020-10-24T19:22:49Z")

</div>

I'd setup the 3 node master  
for node 1 the configuration was

```auto
node.name: master1
nod.data: false
node.master: true
node.voting_only: true

```

for node 2 the configuration was

```auto
node.name: master2
nod.data: false
node.master: true
node.voting_only: true

```

for node 3 the configuration was

```auto
node.name: master3
nod.data: false
node.master: true
node.voting_only: true

```

The problem i had faced during that time was none of the nodes was elect as master node to elect master node i made some changes in configuration file of each node (elasticsearch.yml)

for node 1

```auto
node.name: master1
nod.data: false
node.master: true
node.voting_only: true

```

for node 2

```auto
node.name: master2
nod.data: false
node.master: true
node.voting_only: false

```

for node 3

```auto
node.name: master3
nod.data: false
node.master: true
node.voting_only: false

```

when i did this  
`http://XXXX:9200/_cat/indices?v&pretty`  
i saw that master3 was elected as master

for testing purpose i did some changes again... i have set ` node.voting_only: false` in each node and restart all the elasticsearch nodes  
then i again hit this `http://XXXX:9200/_cat/indices?v&pretty`  
master1 was elected as master  
Now my question how to configure a node for master and do all the master nodes work parallely that is if node 1 is elected as master then what other nodes do when they are not elected as a master

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-master-node/253218/2 "2020-10-24T20:39:50Z")

</div>

Only one node will ever be elected master in a cluster at any point in time. The master eligible nodes that are not elected monitor the master node and are ready to step in if required. Voting only nodes will monitor but never step in so you should generally not have more than one in a cluster. If all nodes are equal you should not make any of them voting only.

If you are using dedicated master nodes some of them should be largely idle, but that is the price to pay for stability and high availability.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-master-node/253218/3 "2020-11-21T20:39:59Z")

</div>

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