Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch fails to create a cipher due to incorrect or missing Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) policy files in the Java installation. To resolve this issue, you can either download and install the unlimited strength JCE policy files for your Java version or configure Elasticsearch to use a different cipher that doesn’t require the unlimited strength policy. Also, ensure that your Java environment is correctly set up and the Elasticsearch has the necessary permissions to access the JCE policy files.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” error creating cipher ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: plugin.
Log Context
Log “error creating cipher” class name is CryptoService.java. We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
try {
Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance(encryptionAlgorithm);
cipher.init(mode; key; new IvParameterSpec(initializationVector));
return cipher;
} catch (Exception e) {
throw new ElasticsearchException("error creating cipher"; e);
}
} private static SecretKey encryptionKey(SecretKey systemKey; int keyLength; String algorithm) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException {
byte[] bytes = systemKey.getEncoded();
