Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch is unable to create a snapshot of the index files. This could be due to insufficient permissions, lack of storage space, or network connectivity issues. To resolve this, ensure that the Elasticsearch process has the necessary permissions to write to the snapshot directory. Also, check if there’s enough storage space available and if the network connection to the snapshot repository is stable. If the issue persists, consider checking the Elasticsearch logs for more detailed error information.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” Failed to perform snapshot (index files) ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: repositories, snapshot, blobstore.
Overview
An Elasticsearch snapshot provides a backup mechanism that takes the current state and data in the cluster and saves it to a repository (read snapshot for more information). The backup process requires a repository to be created first. The repository needs to be registered using the _snapshot endpoint, and multiple repositories can be created per cluster. The following repository types are supported:
Repository types
| Repository type | Configuration type |
|---|---|
| Shared file system | Type: “fs” |
| S3 | Type : “s3” |
| HDFS | Type :“hdfs” |
| Azure | Type: “azure” |
| Google Cloud Storage | Type : “gcs” |
Examples
To register an “fs” repository:
PUT _snapshot/my_repo_01
{
"type": "fs",
"settings": {
"location": "/mnt/my_repo_dir"
}
}Notes and good things to know
- S3, HDFS, Azure and Google Cloud require a relevant plugin to be installed before it can be used for a snapshot.
- The setting, path.repo: /mnt/my_repo_dir needs to be added to elasticsearch.yml on all the nodes if you are planning to use the repo type of file system. Otherwise, it will fail.
- When using remote repositories, the network bandwidth and repository storage throughput should be high enough to complete the snapshot operations normally, otherwise you will end up with partial snapshots.
Log Context
Log “Failed to perform snapshot (index files)” class name is BlobStoreRepository.java. We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
throw new IllegalStateException("Store is closed already");
}
}
filesListener.onResponse(null);
} catch (IOException e) {
throw new IndexShardSnapshotFailedException(shardId; "Failed to perform snapshot (index files)"; e);
}
} @Override
public void onFailure(Exception e) {
