# Wh not run elasticsearch as root

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/wh-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/180211>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [May 8, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/wh-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/180211 "2019-05-08T15:23:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Why1214](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Why1214](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Why1214)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/wh-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/180211/1 "2019-05-08T15:23:40Z")

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org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.StartupException: java.lang.RuntimeException: can not run elasticsearch as root

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:163) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.execute(Elasticsearch.java:150) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.execute(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:86) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:124) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.main(Command.java:90) ~[elasticsearch-cli-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:115) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.main(Elasticsearch.java:92) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: can not run elasticsearch as root

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.initializeNatives(Bootstrap.java:102) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.setup(Bootstrap.java:169) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Bootstrap.init(Bootstrap.java:325) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

at org.elasticsearch.bootstrap.Elasticsearch.init(Elasticsearch.java:159) ~[elasticsearch-7.0.1.jar:7.0.1]

... 6 more

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/wh-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/180211/2 "2019-05-08T18:04:55Z")

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I guess your question is "why you can't run this as root?"

Answer is here: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.0/modules-scripting-security.html#\_do\_not\_run\_as\_root](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.0/modules-scripting-security.html#_do_not_run_as_root)

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<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:** [June 5, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/wh-not-run-elasticsearch-as-root/180211/3 "2019-06-05T18:05:12Z")

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