SonarSource/sonarqube · error · MessageException

Properties [ ] are not allowed when running SonarQube in…

Error message

Properties [%s] are not allowed when running SonarQube in cluster mode.

What it means

When SonarQube runs in cluster mode, standalone/Elasticsearch-node settings listed in FORBIDDEN_SEARCH_NODE_SETTINGS are no longer allowed. checkForSearchNode -> ensureNoSearchNodeForbiddenSettings collects every forbidden key that is still set and reports them all in one MessageException, preventing conflicting legacy configuration from silently changing behavior.

Solutions

1. Delete every key listed in the error message from conf/sonar.properties on the search node.
2. Replace legacy search settings with their cluster equivalents (sonar.cluster.search.* properties) where applicable.
3. Review old provisioning/Ansible/Helm templates that write sonar.search.* keys and strip them for cluster deployments.

Example fix

// before (search node sonar.properties)
sonar.cluster.enabled=true
sonar.search.initialHeapSize=2g

// after (use cluster-appropriate settings only)
sonar.cluster.enabled=true

// shell: strip legacy search settings before cluster startup
for key in sonar.search.bootstrapChecks sonar.search.javaOpts sonar.search.port sonar.search.host; do
  grep -q "^${key}=" conf/sonar.properties && echo "Remove $key for cluster mode"
done

When it happens

Trigger: checkForSearchNode (for node type 'search') is executed during accept(); it throws when any property in FORBIDDEN_SEARCH_NODE_SETTINGS (legacy local-ES/standalone search settings such as sonar.search.* overrides relevant to clustered search) has a non-null value in props.

Common situations: Migrating a standalone SonarQube installation to a cluster while keeping old sonar.search.* settings in sonar.properties; copying a standalone sonar.properties to a search node; automation templates that still inject removed search-node settings.

Understand the failure class

Background: Conflicting config options: "cannot be used together" — configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 162 libraries.

Related errors

• Entries in property must not mix 'host:port' and 'host'…
• Address in property is not a valid address
• At least one Elasticsearch host is required
• Can not resolve host [
• Can not resolve host [. Please check network settings and…

AI-assisted analysis of SonarSource/sonarqube@184c821202 (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4517bb033070eb3c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at server/sonar-main/src/main/java/org/sonar/application/config/ClusterSettings.java:191

  private static String requireValue(Props props, Property property) {
    String key = property.getKey();
    String value = props.value(key);
    String trimmedValue = value == null ? null : value.trim();
    if (trimmedValue == null || trimmedValue.isEmpty()) {
      throw new MessageException(format("Property %s is mandatory", key));
    }
    return trimmedValue;
  }

  private static void ensureNoSearchNodeForbiddenSettings(Props props) {
    List<String> violations = FORBIDDEN_SEARCH_NODE_SETTINGS.stream()
      .filter(setting -> props.value(setting.getKey()) != null)
      .map(Property::getKey)
      .toList();

    if (!violations.isEmpty()) {
      throw new MessageException(format("Properties [%s] are not allowed when running SonarQube in cluster mode.", String.join(", ", violations)));
    }
  }

  private static void ensureNotH2(Props props) {
    String jdbcUrl = props.value(JDBC_URL.getKey());
    String trimmedJdbcUrl = jdbcUrl == null ? null : jdbcUrl.trim();
    if (trimmedJdbcUrl == null || trimmedJdbcUrl.isEmpty() || trimmedJdbcUrl.startsWith("jdbc:h2:")) {
      throw new MessageException("Embedded database is not supported in cluster mode");
    }
  }

  private void ensureNotLoopbackAddresses(Property property, Set<AddressAndPort> hostAndPorts) {
    Set<AddressAndPort> loopbackAddresses = hostAndPorts.stream()
      .filter(t -> network.isLoopback(t.getHost()))
      .collect(toSet());
    if (!loopbackAddresses.isEmpty()) {
      throw new MessageException(format("Property %s must not contain a loopback address: %s", property.getKey(),
        loopbackAddresses.stream().map(AddressAndPort::getHost).sorted().collect(Collectors.joining(", "))));

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