Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch is unable to execute a bulk request due to reasons like insufficient memory, incorrect data format, or a network issue. To resolve this, you can increase the JVM heap size to provide more memory, ensure the data being indexed is in the correct format, or check the network connectivity between the nodes. Also, consider breaking down the bulk request into smaller parts to reduce the load on the system.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” bulk request execution failure ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: plugin, bulk, request.
Overview
In Elasticsearch, when using the Bulk API it is possible to perform many write operations in a single API call, which increases the indexing speed. Using the Bulk API is more efficient than sending multiple separate requests. This can be done for the following four actions:
- Index
- Update
- Create
- Delete
Examples
The bulk request below will index a document, delete another document, and update an existing document.
POST _bulk
{ "index" : { "_index" : "myindex", "_id" : "1" } }
{ "field1" : "value" }
{ "delete" : { "_index" : "myindex", "_id" : "2" } }
{ "update" : {"_id" : "1", "_index" : "myindex"} }
{ "doc" : {"field2" : "value5"} }Notes
- Bulk API is useful when you need to index data streams that can be queued up and indexed in batches of hundreds or thousands, such as logs.
- There is no correct number of actions or limits to perform on a single bulk call, but you will need to figure out the optimum number by experimentation, given the cluster size, number of nodes, hardware specs etc.
Log Context
Log “bulk request execution failure” class name is ApiKeyService.java. We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
for (BulkItemResponse bulkItemResponse : bulkResponse.getItems()) {
final String apiKeyId = bulkItemResponse.getId();
if (bulkItemResponse.isFailed()) {
responseBuilder.error(
apiKeyId;
new ElasticsearchException("bulk request execution failure"; bulkItemResponse.getFailure().getCause())
);
} else {
// Since we made an index request against an existing document; we can't get a NOOP or CREATED here
assert bulkItemResponse.getResponse().getResult() == DocWriteResponse.Result.UPDATED;
responseBuilder.updated(apiKeyId);
