Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch fails to execute a scroll request, which is typically used for retrieving large numbers of results from a search query. This could be due to insufficient memory, incorrect query syntax, or an overloaded server. To resolve this issue, you can try increasing the memory allocation for Elasticsearch, checking your query for errors, or reducing the load on your server by optimizing your queries or increasing your server capacity.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” unable to execute scroll request [{}] ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: delete, delete-by-query, deletebyquery, plugins and request.
Overview
DELETE is an Elasticsearch API which removes a document from a specific index. This API requires an index name and _id document to delete the document.
Delete a document
DELETE /my_index/_doc/1
Notes
- A delete request throws 404 error code if the document does not already exist in the index.
- If you want to delete a set of documents that matches a query, you need to use delete by query API.
Overview
Delete-by-query is an Elasticsearch API, which was introduced in version 5.0 and provides functionality to delete all documents that match the provided query. In lower versions, users had to install the Delete-By-Query plugin and use the DELETE /_query endpoint for this same use case.
What it is used for
This API is used for deleting all the documents from indices based on a query. Once the query is executed, Elasticsearch runs the process in the background to delete all the matching documents so you don’t have to wait for the process to be completed.
Examples
Delete all the documents of an index without deleting the mapping and settings:
POST /my_index/_delete_by_query?conflicts=proceed&pretty
{
"query": {
"match_all": {}
}
}The conflict parameter in the request is used to proceed with the request even in the case of version conflicts for some documents. The default conflict behavior is to abort the request altogether.
Notes
- A long-running delete_by_query can be terminated using _task API.
- Inside the query body, you can use the same syntax for queries that are available under the _search API.
Common problems
Elasticsearch takes a snapshot of the index when you hit delete by query request and uses the _version of the documents to process the request. If a document gets updated in the meantime, it will result in a version conflict error and the delete operation will fail.
Log Context
Log “unable to execute scroll request [{}]” classname is TransportDeleteByQueryAction.java.
We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
logger.error("scroll request [{}] failed; scrolling document(s) is stopped"; e; scrollId);
finishHim(scrollId; hasTimedOut(); e);
}
});
} catch (Throwable t) {
logger.error("unable to execute scroll request [{}]"; t; scrollId);
finishHim(scrollId; false; t);
}
}
void deleteHits(String scrollId; SearchResponse scrollResponse) {
