indices. : cannot use both 'rotation' config and legacy…

Error message

indices.%s: cannot use both 'rotation' config and legacy 'date_layout'/'rollover_frequency' fields; use 'rotation.periodic' instead

What it means

Per-index, the new 'rotation' section and the legacy per-index date_layout/rollover_frequency fields are mutually exclusive. validateRotationConfig iterates each index entry and raises this error if an index has both an active rotation strategy and legacy field overrides, directing users to 'rotation.periodic'.

Solutions

Remove date_layout and rollover_frequency from the indices.<type> section
Express the desired cadence via rotation.periodic instead
Keep one mechanism per index, not both

Example fix

// before
indices:
  spans:
    date_layout: 2006.01.02
    rollover_frequency: day
    rotation:
      periodic:
        days: 1
// after
indices:
  spans:
    rotation:
      periodic:
        days: 1

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

for _, idx := range []struct{name string; r Rotation; opts IndexOptions}{
    {"spans", cfg.Indices.Spans.Rotation, cfg.Indices.Spans.Options},
} {
    if idx.r.HasRotation() && (idx.opts.DateLayout.HasValue() || idx.opts.RolloverFrequency.HasValue()) {
        return fmt.Errorf("indices.%s: drop date_layout/rollover_frequency, use rotation.periodic", idx.name)
    }
}

Prevention

One rotation mechanism per index
When adding rotation.periodic, delete legacy date fields in the same edit
Test config with a startup dry-run

When it happens

Trigger: For any of spans/services/dependencies/sampling indices: e.rotation.HasRotation() is true while e.opts.DateLayout.HasValue() or e.opts.RolloverFrequency.HasValue() during Validate.

Common situations: Migrating index templates: new rotation block added but old date_layout/rollover_frequency keys left in the same index section of the YAML.

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

AI-assisted analysis of jaegertracing/jaeger@806f444784 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b8c330e5d48e766f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/storage/elasticsearch/config/config_rotation.go:132

	}

	type rotationEntry struct {
		name     string
		opts     *IndexOptions
		rotation *RotationConfig
	}
	entries := []rotationEntry{
		{"spans", &c.Indices.Spans, &c.Indices.Spans.Rotation},
		{"services", &c.Indices.Services, &c.Indices.Services.Rotation},
		{"dependencies", &c.Indices.Dependencies, &c.Indices.Dependencies.Rotation},
		{"sampling", &c.Indices.Sampling, &c.Indices.Sampling.Rotation},
	}
	for _, e := range entries {
		if err := e.rotation.validate(e.name); err != nil {
			return err
		}
		if e.rotation.HasRotation() && (e.opts.DateLayout.HasValue() || e.opts.RolloverFrequency.HasValue()) {
			return fmt.Errorf(
				"indices.%s: cannot use both 'rotation' config and legacy "+
					"'date_layout'/'rollover_frequency' fields; use 'rotation.periodic' instead",
				e.name,
			)
		}
	}

	return nil
}

func (r *RotationConfig) validate(indexType string) error {
	count := 0
	if r.Periodic.HasValue() {
		count++
	}
	if r.ManualRollover.HasValue() {
		count++
	}

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