Elasticsearch: Max virtual memory areas vm.max_map_count [65530] is too low, increase to at least [262144]

Question

I have an issue with a systemd config for ElasticSearch.

[Unit]
Description=platform-elasticsearch
After=syslog.target network.target remote-fs.target nss-lookup.target

[Service]
User={{ app_user }}
Group={{ app_group }}
Environment=ES_PATH_CONF=/platform/opt/elasticsearch-{{ elasticsearch.version }}/config
Environment=JAVA_HOME=/platform/opt/jdk{{ jdk.major_version }}_{{ jdk.minor_version }}
LimitAS=infinity
LimitRSS=infinity
LimitCORE=infinity
LimitNOFILE=100000
LimitMEMLOCK=100000
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
WorkingDirectory=/platform/var/app/elasticsearch
ExecStart=/platform/opt/elasticsearch-{{ elasticsearch.version }}/bin/elasticsearch
ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
ExecStop=/bin/kill -s -TERM $MAINPID
TimeoutStopSec=60
# When a JVM receives a SIGTERM signal it exits with code 143
SuccessExitStatus=143 0
Type=simple
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
PIDFile=/platform/var/run/elasticsearch.pid

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

This does not seem to let me configure the vm.max_map_count setting.

Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: [2018-07-20T14:53:46,359][INFO ][o.e.b.BootstrapChecks    ] [1oQJNUK] bound or publishing to a non-loopback     address, enforcing bootstrap checks
Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: ERROR: [1] bootstrap checks failed
Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: [1]: max virtual memory areas vm.max_map_count [65530] is too low, increase to at least [262144]
Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: [2018-07-20T14:53:46,376][INFO ][o.e.n.Node               ] [1oQJNUK] stopping ...
Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: [2018-07-20T14:53:46,414][INFO ][o.e.n.Node               ] [1oQJNUK] stopped
Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: [2018-07-20T14:53:46,414][INFO ][o.e.n.Node               ] [1oQJNUK] closing ...
Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: [2018-07-20T14:53:46,445][INFO ][o.e.n.Node               ] [1oQJNUK] closed
Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad systemd: platform-elasticsearch.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=78/n/a

The specific issue is the following:

Jul 20 14:53:46 scratchpad elasticsearch: [1]: max virtual memory areas vm.max_map_count [65530] is too low, increase to at least [262144]

I have been able to start elastic search on the commandline with the following:

sudo su -c 'echo 262144 > "/proc/sys/vm/max_map_count"' && \ 
export JAVA_HOME=/platform/opt/jdk1.8.0_181 && \
export ES_PATH_CONF=/platform/opt/elasticsearch-6.3.1/config && \
/platform/opt/elasticsearch-6.3.1/bin/elasticsearch 

can anyone tell me why LimitMEMLOCK=100000 does not work, and how I can effectively set max_map_count from within systemd.

I have also tried to set the following:

cat /etc/security/limits.d/30_elastic_limits.conf

vagrant       hard    nofile     500000
vagrant       hard    memlock     262144

but this seems to be totally ignored by systemd.

Solution 1

Vivek's answer

sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

is correct, however, the setting will only last for the duration of the session. If the host reboots, the setting will be reset to the original value.

If you want to set this permanently, you need to edit /etc/sysctl.conf and set vm.max_map_count to 262144.

When the host reboots, you can verify that the setting is still correct by running sysctl vm.max_map_count

Solution 2

For MS Windows users, using wsl subsystem

Open powershell, run

wsl -d docker-desktop

then

sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

Solution 3

Insert the new entry into the /etc/sysctl.conf file with the required parameter:

vm.max_map_count = 262144

it make changes permanent.

Also run:

sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

change current state of kernel.

If you use docker to take effect you should restart it:

systemctl restart docker

Solution 4

See the Elasticsearch documentation about virtual memory. On Centos you can do with following command:

sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

Solution 5

This is not an answer per se but a clarification/shortcut for anyone having the op's problem from a docker container perspective. I had this problem from an application running in a docker container. And as explained here by nishant

You don’t need to increase the virtual memory for Elasticsearch at the container level, you can do it for the host machine by running this command:

sudo sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

and then restart your docker-containers.

As explained by val above setting this max_map_count this way won't persist upon the restart of the machine on which is running the docker container. and so you will need to save it in a more persistent manner as explained by him above.

View more solutions

Comments

[hybaken]

Do not forget to reboot or: sysctl --system

[xiaojueguan]

if you are not root user you should make sure you have sudo right and use sudo before execute above.

[xiaojueguan]

if you use docker-compose to run containers on host, you can also run this command sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144 with root privilege to solve this problem.

[Mustafa Salih ASLIM]

note that if you restart the machine that configuration will be gone, so this method is not permanent.

[dexter2305]

Use sysctl vm.max_map_count=262144 (iwithout -w) and this way the change is available only till shutdown of OS. It is a dev machine. So, i did not want to change permanently.

[user1653042]

This worked for me on Windows 10 machine. Last step would be to enter exit in order to kick out of wsl.

[Yunnosch]

What is the additional insight which your post provides in addition to existing answer? Especially compared to the most upvoted answer and the one it refers to. Try to avoid the impression that you create answers by using info from other answers to the same question, especially when even the summary is already there...

[Admin]

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

[thevoyager]

worked just fine, thank you very much! pitty I had to copy the command to power shell

[Mr. T]

This doesn't seem to be a "sticky" change in Docker Desktop -- you have to run the command every time you restart Docker, which is really obnoxious.

[Ytzvan Mastino]

Thanks! Worked as expected

[MonkeyDreamzzz]

To persist the change, you can add vm.max_map_count = 262144 to /etc/sysctl.conf

[Gravity API]

This solution works. It is also the official solution from Elastic. Thank you!