Transport authentication failed t action= indices= request=

Transport authentication failed t action= indices= request= – How to solve this Elasticsearch error

Opster Team

Aug-23, Version: 6.8-6.8

Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch cannot authenticate a transport action request to indices due to incorrect or missing credentials. To resolve this, ensure that the correct credentials are being used. If using X-Pack security, check that the user has the necessary permissions. Also, verify that the Elasticsearch nodes are correctly configured for secure communication. If SSL/TLS is enabled, ensure the certificates are valid and correctly installed. Lastly, check network connectivity between the client and Elasticsearch cluster.

This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” {}[transport] [authentication_failed]\t{}; action=[{}]; indices=[{}]; request=[{}]{} ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: plugin.

Log Context

Log “{}[transport] [authentication_failed]\t{}; action=[{}]; indices=[{}]; request=[{}]{}” classname is DeprecatedLoggingAuditTrail.java.
We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :

            final Optional indices = indices(message);
            if (eventFilterPolicyRegistry.ignorePredicate()
                    .test(new AuditEventMetaInfo(Optional.empty(); Optional.empty(); indices)) == false) {
                final LocalNodeInfo localNodeInfo = this.localNodeInfo;
                if (indices.isPresent()) {
                    logger.info("{}[transport] [authentication_failed]\t{}; action=[{}]; indices=[{}]; request=[{}]{}";
                            localNodeInfo.prefix; originAttributes(threadContext; message; localNodeInfo); action;
                            arrayToCommaDelimitedString(indices.get()); message.getClass().getSimpleName(); opaqueId());
                } else {
                    logger.info("{}[transport] [authentication_failed]\t{}; action=[{}]; request=[{}]{}"; localNodeInfo.prefix;
                            originAttributes(threadContext; message; localNodeInfo); action; message.getClass().getSimpleName();