rqlite/rqlite · error

invalid disco mode %s

Error message

invalid disco mode %s

What it means

The -disco-mode flag was set to a value rqlited does not recognize. createCluster's switch over DiscoMode fell through to the default case, which rejects startup. Supported modes are dns, dnssrv, consul-kv, and etcd-kv (plus empty for no discovery).

Source

Thrown at cmd/rqlited/main.go:738

				log.Printf("discovery service returned %s as join address", addr)
				if j, err := joiner.Do(ctx, []string{addr}, str.ID(), cfg.RaftAdv, clusterSuf); err != nil {
					log.Printf("failed to join cluster at %s: %s", addr, err.Error())

					time.Sleep(time.Second)
					_, addr, err = discoService.Register(str.ID(), cfg.HTTPURL(), cfg.RaftAdv)
					if err != nil {
						log.Printf("failed to get updated leader: %s", err.Error())
					}
					continue
				} else {
					log.Println("successfully joined cluster at", j)
					break
				}
			}
		}

	default:
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid disco mode %s", cfg.DiscoMode)
	}
	return nil
}

func networkCheckJoinAddrs(joinAddrs []string) error {
	if len(joinAddrs) > 0 {
		log.Println("checking that supplied join addresses don't serve HTTP(S)")
		if addr, ok := httpd.AnyServingHTTP(joinAddrs); ok {
			return fmt.Errorf("join address %s appears to be serving HTTP when it should be Raft", addr)
		}
	}
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 7586a4d1bd)

Solutions

1. Set -disco-mode to one of: dns, dnssrv, consul-kv, etcd-kv (or omit it entirely).
2. Check the exact spelling including the -kv suffix for Consul/Etcd modes.
3. Consult `rqlited -h` or docs for the list of valid discovery modes in your rqlite version.

Example fix

// before
rqlited -disco-mode consul ...
// after
rqlited -disco-mode consul-kv ...

valid := map[string]bool{"": true, "dns": true, "dnssrv": true, "consul-kv": true, "etcd-kv": true}
if !valid[discoMode] {
    return fmt.Errorf("-disco-mode %q invalid; use dns, dnssrv, consul-kv, or etcd-kv", discoMode)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Starting rqlited with -disco-mode set to any string other than "dns", "dnssrv", "consul-kv", "etcd-kv" or empty — e.g. a typo like "consul" or "etcd".

Common situations: Typo or abbreviation of a mode name; copy-pasting a mode string from another tool; using an old mode name removed in a newer rqlite version.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• data directory path is required
• msg
• -http-verify-common-name requires -http-verify-client
• -node-verify-common-name requires -node-verify-client
• HTTP and Raft addresses must differ

AI-assisted analysis of rqlite/rqlite@7586a4d1bd (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c3688660988fd838. Report an issue: GitHub.