elasticsearch/docs/reference/modules/node.asciidoc

[[modules-node]]
== Node

Any time that you start an instance of Elasticsearch, you are starting a
_node_. A collection of connected nodes is called a
<<modules-cluster,cluster>>. If you are running a single node of Elasticsearch,
then you have a cluster of one node.

Every node in the cluster can handle <<modules-http,HTTP>> and
<<modules-transport,Transport>> traffic by default. The transport layer
is used exclusively for communication between nodes; the HTTP layer is
used by REST clients.

All nodes know about all the other nodes in the cluster and can forward client
requests to the appropriate node. 

By default, a node is all of the following types: master-eligible, data, ingest,
and machine learning (if available).

TIP: As the cluster grows and in particular if you have large {ml} jobs,
consider separating dedicated master-eligible nodes from dedicated data nodes
and dedicated {ml} nodes.

<<master-node,Master-eligible node>>::

A node that has `node.master` set to `true` (default), which makes it eligible
to be <<modules-discovery,elected as the _master_ node>>, which controls
the cluster.

<<data-node,Data node>>::

A node that has `node.data` set to `true` (default). Data nodes hold data and
perform data related operations such as CRUD, search, and aggregations.

<<ingest,Ingest node>>::

A node that has `node.ingest` set to `true` (default). Ingest nodes are able
to apply an <<pipeline,ingest pipeline>> to a document in order to transform
and enrich the document before indexing. With a heavy ingest load, it makes
sense to use dedicated ingest nodes and to mark the master and data nodes as
`node.ingest: false`.

<<ml-node,Machine learning node>>::

A node that has `xpack.ml.enabled` and `node.ml` set to `true`, which is the
default behavior in the {es} {default-dist}. If you want to use {ml-features},
there must be at least one {ml} node in your cluster. For more information about
{ml-features}, see
{stack-ov}/xpack-ml.html[Machine learning in the {stack}].
+
IMPORTANT: If you use the {oss-dist}, do not set `node.ml`. Otherwise, the node
fails to start.

[NOTE]
[[coordinating-node]]
.Coordinating node
===============================================

Requests like search requests or bulk-indexing requests may involve data held
on different data nodes. A search request, for example, is executed in two
phases which are coordinated by the node which receives the client request --
the _coordinating node_.

In the _scatter_ phase, the coordinating node forwards the request to the data
nodes which hold the data.  Each data node executes the request locally and
returns its results to the coordinating node. In the _gather_  phase, the
coordinating node reduces each data node's results into a single global
resultset.

Every node is implicitly a coordinating node. This means that a node that has
all three `node.master`, `node.data` and `node.ingest` set to `false` will
only act as a coordinating node, which cannot be disabled. As a result, such
a node needs to have enough memory and CPU in order to deal with the gather
phase.

===============================================

[float]
[[master-node]]
=== Master Eligible Node

The master node is responsible for lightweight cluster-wide actions such as
creating or deleting an index, tracking which nodes are part of the cluster,
and deciding which shards to allocate to which nodes. It is important for
cluster health to have a stable master node.

Any master-eligible node that is not a <<voting-only-node,voting-only node>> may
be elected to become the master node by the <<modules-discovery,master election
process>>.

IMPORTANT: Master nodes must have access to the `data/` directory (just like
`data` nodes) as this is where the cluster state is persisted between node restarts.

Indexing and searching your data is CPU-, memory-, and I/O-intensive work
which can put pressure on a node's resources. To ensure that your master
node is stable and not under pressure, it is a good idea in a bigger
cluster to split the roles between dedicated master-eligible nodes and
dedicated data nodes.

While master nodes can also behave as <<coordinating-node,coordinating nodes>>
and route search and indexing requests from clients to data nodes, it is
better _not_ to use dedicated master nodes for this purpose. It is important
for the stability of the cluster that master-eligible nodes do as little work
as possible.

To create a dedicated master-eligible node in the {default-dist}, set:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: true <1>
node.data: false <2>
node.ingest: false <3>
node.ml: false <4>
xpack.ml.enabled: true <5>
cluster.remote.connect: false <6>
-------------------
<1> The `node.master` role is enabled by default.
<2> Disable the `node.data` role (enabled by default).
<3> Disable the `node.ingest` role (enabled by default).
<4> Disable the `node.ml` role (enabled by default).
<5> The `xpack.ml.enabled` setting is enabled by default.
<6> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

To create a dedicated master-eligible node in the {oss-dist}, set:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: true <1>
node.data: false <2>
node.ingest: false <3>
cluster.remote.connect: false <4>
-------------------
<1> The `node.master` role is enabled by default.
<2> Disable the `node.data` role (enabled by default).
<3> Disable the `node.ingest` role (enabled by default).
<4> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

[float]
[[voting-only-node]]
==== Voting-only master-eligible node

A voting-only master-eligible node is a node that participates in
<<modules-discovery,master elections>> but which will not act as the cluster's
elected master node. In particular, a voting-only node can serve as a tiebreaker
in elections.

It may seem confusing to use the term "master-eligible" to describe a
voting-only node since such a node is not actually eligible to become the master
at all. This terminology is an unfortunate consequence of history:
master-eligible nodes are those nodes that participate in elections and perform
certain tasks during cluster state publications, and voting-only nodes have the
same responsibilities even if they can never become the elected master.

To configure a master-eligible node as a voting-only node, set the following
setting:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.voting_only: true <1>
-------------------
<1> The default for `node.voting_only` is `false`.

IMPORTANT: The `voting_only` role requires the {default-dist} of Elasticsearch
and is not supported in the {oss-dist}. If you use the {oss-dist} and set
`node.voting_only` then the node will fail to start.  Also note that only
master-eligible nodes can be marked as voting-only.

High availability (HA) clusters require at least three master-eligible nodes, at
least two of which are not voting-only nodes. Such a cluster will be able to
elect a master node even if one of the nodes fails.

Since voting-only nodes never act as the cluster's elected master, they may
require require less heap and a less powerful CPU than the true master nodes.
However all master-eligible nodes, including voting-only nodes, require
reasonably fast persistent storage and a reliable and low-latency network
connection to the rest of the cluster, since they are on the critical path for
<<cluster-state-publishing,publishing cluster state updates>>.

[float]
[[data-node]]
=== Data Node

Data nodes hold the shards that contain the documents you have indexed. Data
nodes handle data related operations like CRUD, search, and aggregations.
These operations are I/O-, memory-, and CPU-intensive. It is important to
monitor these resources and to add more data nodes if they are overloaded.

The main benefit of having dedicated data nodes is the separation of the
master and data roles.

To create a dedicated data node in the {default-dist}, set:
[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: false <1>
node.data: true <2>
node.ingest: false <3>
node.ml: false <4>
cluster.remote.connect: false <5>
-------------------
<1> Disable the `node.master` role (enabled by default).
<2> The `node.data` role is enabled by default.
<3> Disable the `node.ingest` role (enabled by default).
<4> Disable the `node.ml` role (enabled by default).
<5> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

To create a dedicated data node in the {oss-dist}, set:
[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: false <1>
node.data: true <2>
node.ingest: false <3>
cluster.remote.connect: false <4>
-------------------
<1> Disable the `node.master` role (enabled by default).
<2> The `node.data` role is enabled by default.
<3> Disable the `node.ingest` role (enabled by default).
<4> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

[float]
[[node-ingest-node]]
=== Ingest Node

Ingest nodes can execute pre-processing pipelines, composed of one or more
ingest processors. Depending on the type of operations performed by the ingest
processors and the required resources, it may make sense to have dedicated
ingest nodes, that will only perform this specific task.

To create a dedicated ingest node in the {default-dist}, set:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: false <1>
node.data: false <2>
node.ingest: true <3>
node.ml: false <4>
cluster.remote.connect: false <5>
-------------------
<1> Disable the `node.master` role (enabled by default).
<2> Disable the `node.data` role (enabled by default).
<3> The `node.ingest` role is enabled by default.
<4> Disable the `node.ml` role (enabled by default).
<5> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

To create a dedicated ingest node in the {oss-dist}, set:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: false <1>
node.data: false <2>
node.ingest: true <3>
cluster.remote.connect: false <4>
-------------------
<1> Disable the `node.master` role (enabled by default).
<2> Disable the `node.data` role (enabled by default).
<3> The `node.ingest` role is enabled by default.
<4> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

[float]
[[coordinating-only-node]]
=== Coordinating only node

If you take away the ability to be able to handle master duties, to hold data,
and pre-process documents, then you are left with a _coordinating_ node that
can only route requests, handle the search reduce phase, and distribute bulk
indexing. Essentially, coordinating only nodes behave as smart load balancers.

Coordinating only nodes can benefit large clusters by offloading the
coordinating node role from data and master-eligible nodes.  They join the
cluster and receive the full <<cluster-state,cluster state>>, like every other
node, and they use the cluster state to route requests directly to the
appropriate place(s).

WARNING: Adding too many coordinating only nodes to a cluster can increase the
burden on the entire cluster because the elected master node must await
acknowledgement of cluster state updates from every node! The benefit of
coordinating only nodes should not be overstated -- data nodes can happily
serve the same purpose.

To create a dedicated coordinating node in the {default-dist}, set:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: false <1>
node.data: false <2>
node.ingest: false <3>
node.ml: false <4>
cluster.remote.connect: false <5>
-------------------
<1> Disable the `node.master` role (enabled by default).
<2> Disable the `node.data` role (enabled by default).
<3> Disable the `node.ingest` role (enabled by default).
<4> Disable the `node.ml` role (enabled by default).
<5> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

To create a dedicated coordinating node in the {oss-dist}, set:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: false <1>
node.data: false <2>
node.ingest: false <3>
cluster.remote.connect: false <4>
-------------------
<1> Disable the `node.master` role (enabled by default).
<2> Disable the `node.data` role (enabled by default).
<3> Disable the `node.ingest` role (enabled by default).
<4> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

[float]
[[ml-node]]
=== [xpack]#Machine learning node#

The {ml-features} provide {ml} nodes, which run jobs and handle {ml} API
requests. If `xpack.ml.enabled` is set to true and `node.ml` is set to `false`,
the node can service API requests but it cannot run jobs.

If you want to use {ml-features} in your cluster, you must enable {ml}
(set `xpack.ml.enabled` to `true`) on all master-eligible nodes. If you have the
{oss-dist}, do not use these settings.

For more information about these settings, see <<ml-settings>>.

To create a dedicated {ml} node in the {default-dist}, set:

[source,yaml]
-------------------
node.master: false <1>
node.data: false <2>
node.ingest: false <3>
node.ml: true <4>
xpack.ml.enabled: true <5>
cluster.remote.connect: false <6>
-------------------
<1> Disable the `node.master` role (enabled by default).
<2> Disable the `node.data` role (enabled by default).
<3> Disable the `node.ingest` role (enabled by default).
<4> The `node.ml` role is enabled by default.
<5> The `xpack.ml.enabled` setting is enabled by default.
<6> Disable {ccs} (enabled by default).

[float]
[[change-node-role]]
=== Changing the role of a node

Each data node maintains the following data on disk:

* the shard data for every shard allocated to that node,
* the index metadata corresponding with every shard allocated to that node, and
* the cluster-wide metadata, such as settings and index templates.

Similarly, each master-eligible node maintains the following data on disk:

* the index metadata for every index in the cluster, and
* the cluster-wide metadata, such as settings and index templates.

Each node checks the contents of its data path at startup. If it discovers
unexpected data then it will refuse to start. This is to avoid importing
unwanted <<modules-gateway-dangling-indices,dangling indices>> which can lead
to a red cluster health. To be more precise, nodes with `node.data: false` will
refuse to start if they find any shard data on disk at startup, and nodes with
both `node.master: false` and `node.data: false` will refuse to start if they
have any index metadata on disk at startup.

It is possible to change the roles of a node by adjusting its
`elasticsearch.yml` file and restarting it. This is known as _repurposing_ a
node. In order to satisfy the checks for unexpected data described above, you
must perform some extra steps to prepare a node for repurposing when setting
its `node.data` or `node.master` roles to `false`:

* If you want to repurpose a data node by changing `node.data` to `false` then
  you should first use an <<allocation-filtering,allocation filter>> to safely
  migrate all the shard data onto other nodes in the cluster.

* If you want to repurpose a node to have both `node.master: false` and
  `node.data: false` then it is simplest to start a brand-new node with an
  empty data path and the desired roles. You may find it safest to use an
  <<allocation-filtering,allocation filter>> to migrate the shard data
  elsewhere in the cluster first.

If it is not possible to follow these extra steps then you may be able to use
the <<node-tool-repurpose,`elasticsearch-node repurpose`>> tool to delete any
excess data that prevents a node from starting.

[float]
== Node data path settings

[float]
[[data-path]]
=== `path.data`

Every data and master-eligible node requires access to a data directory where
shards and index and cluster metadata will be stored. The `path.data` defaults
to `$ES_HOME/data` but can be configured in the `elasticsearch.yml` config
file an absolute path or a path relative to `$ES_HOME` as follows:

[source,yaml]
-----------------------
path.data:  /var/elasticsearch/data
-----------------------

Like all node settings, it can also be specified on the command line as:

[source,sh]
-----------------------
./bin/elasticsearch -Epath.data=/var/elasticsearch/data
-----------------------

TIP: When using the `.zip` or `.tar.gz` distributions, the `path.data` setting
should be configured to locate the data directory outside the Elasticsearch
home directory, so that the home directory can be deleted without deleting
your data! The RPM and Debian distributions do this for you already.


[float]
== Other node settings

More node settings can be found in <<modules,Modules>>.  Of particular note are
the <<cluster.name,`cluster.name`>>, the <<node.name,`node.name`>> and the
<<modules-network,network settings>>.