jaegertracing/jaeger · error

failed to create Elasticsearch client: %w

Error message

failed to create Elasticsearch client: %w

What it means

After the config loads, ExecuteAction creates an Elasticsearch client via newESClient; any failure is wrapped as "failed to create Elasticsearch client". Like error 130, the root cause is preserved via %w — typically the ES endpoint is unreachable, unauthenticated, or the client setup (TLS, version discovery) failed.

Source

Thrown at cmd/es-rollover/app/actions.go:74

type ActionExecuteOptions struct {
	Args   []string
	Viper  *viper.Viper
	Logger *zap.Logger
}

// ActionCreatorFunction type is the function type in charge of create the action to be executed
type ActionCreatorFunction func(*esclient.Client, Config) Action

// ExecuteAction execute the action returned by the createAction function
func ExecuteAction(opts ActionExecuteOptions, createAction ActionCreatorFunction) error {
	cfg := Config{}
	if err := cfg.InitFromViper(opts.Viper); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize config: %w", err)
	}

	esClient, err := newESClient(context.Background(), opts.Args[0], &cfg, opts.Logger)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create Elasticsearch client: %w", err)
	}
	action := createAction(esClient, cfg)
	return action.Do()
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 806f444784)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped underlying error and address it directly (DNS, refused, 401, x509).
2. Confirm ES_URL connectivity with curl from the same environment.
3. Supply correct TLS/auth flags for secured Elasticsearch/OpenSearch.
4. Ensure ordering: run init after ES is healthy (readiness gate, retry).

Example fix

// before
./es-rollover init http://localhost:9200   # ES not on localhost
// after
./es-rollover init http://elasticsearch.default.svc:9200

resp, err := http.Get(esURL + "/_cluster/health")
if err != nil || resp.StatusCode != 200 {
    return fmt.Errorf("ES not ready at %s", esURL)
}
resp.Body.Close()

err := ExecuteAction(opts, createAction)
for retries := 0; err != nil && errors.Is(err, errTransient) && retries < 3; retries++ {
    time.Sleep(backoff)
    err = ExecuteAction(opts, createAction)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running any es-rollover action (init, rollover, lookback) when the Elasticsearch host in the first argument cannot be connected to, TLS handshake fails, or credentials are rejected during client construction.

Common situations: ES still starting when the rollover cronjob fires; wrong ES_URL; missing ca cert or bearer token for a secured cluster; network policy blocking pod-to-ES traffic.

Related errors

• error creating Elasticsearch client: %w
• failed to resolve backend version: %w
• invalid server URL %q: %w
• failed to discover Elasticsearch nodes (sniffing): %w
• file must begin with '['

AI-assisted analysis of jaegertracing/jaeger@806f444784 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9f8341a07a4002d3. Report an issue: GitHub.