Node refuses to start despite valid fsize and virtual memory limits

TL;DR

The fix landed and was backported to 8.15 and 8.16. If your node refuses to start complaining about file size or virtual memory limits you know are correct, upgrade to a patched 8.15.x or 8.16.x build instead of fighting the settings.

Steps

1. Issue elastic/elasticsearch#113705 (closed, 27 comments): Elasticsearch fails to startup with valid fsize and virtual memory limits. The bootstrap checks reject startup even though the limits are set correctly.
2. [rjernst (maintainer)]: This was a regression in the bootstrap check logic: the fsize/virtual-memory limit check rejected startup even with valid limits set. The fix landed and was backported to 8.15 and 8.16. If your node refuses to start complaining about file size or virtual memory limits you know are correct, upgrade to a patched 8.15.x or 8.16.x build instead of fighting the settings.

When to use

You are seeing this: Issue elastic/elasticsearch#113705 (closed, 27 comments): Elasticsearch fails to startup with valid fsize and virtual memory limits. Use this skill when you run into "Node refuses to start despite valid fsize and virtual memory limits".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

In gh:elastic/elasticsearch#113705 (Elasticsearch), the issue reported was: Issue elastic/elasticsearch#113705 (closed, 27 comments): Elasticsearch fails to startup with valid fsize and virtual memory limits. The bootstrap checks reject startup even though the limits are set correctly. The verified resolution from the thread: [rjernst (maintainer)]: This was a regression in the bootstrap check logic: the fsize/virtual-memory limit check rejected startup even with valid limits set. The fix landed and was backported to 8.15 and 8.16. If your node refuses to start complaining about file size or virtual memory limits you know are correct, upgrade to a patched 8.15.x or 8.16.x build instead of fighting the settings. Source: mount the host path https at container path //github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/113705