Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch is unable to recognize the path specified for a certain operation because it doesn’t start with any known aliases, indices, or types. This could be due to a typo, incorrect syntax, or a non-existent location. To resolve this issue, you can: 1) Double-check the path for any typos or syntax errors. 2) Verify that the specified location exists. 3) Ensure that the location starts with a known alias, index, or type. 4) If you’re using a wildcard, make sure it’s used correctly.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” The specified location [{}] doesn’t start with any ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: repositories.
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 “The specified location [{}] doesn’t start with any ” classname is FsRepository.java.
We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
throw new RepositoryException(metadata.name(); "missing location");
}
Path locationFile = environment.resolveRepoFile(location);
if (locationFile == null) {
if (environment.repoFiles().length > 0) {
logger.warn("The specified location [{}] doesn't start with any "
+ "repository paths specified by the path.repo setting: [{}] "; location; environment.repoFiles());
throw new RepositoryException(metadata.name(); "location [" + location
+ "] doesn't match any of the locations specified by path.repo");
} else {
logger.warn("The specified location [{}] should start with a repository path specified by"
