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Published Jun. 30, 2025

ElasticsearchException java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused during the upgrade process and it fails, but Elasticsearch is not necessary during it

Written By

Jorge Diaz

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Issue

The following ElasticsearchException is thrown during the upgrade process, causing the upgrade to fail, but the Elasticsearch server is not necessary during it

How can avoid this error?

2023-02-07 11:21:22.931 ERROR [main][ElasticsearchSearchEngine:56] bundle com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.impl:6.0.63 (687)[com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.ElasticsearchSearchEngine(3560)] : The activate method has thrown an exception
java.lang.RuntimeException: org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException: ElasticsearchException[java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused]; nested: ExecutionException[java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused]; nested: ConnectException[Connection refused];
     at org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient.performClientRequest(RestHighLevelClient.java:2695) ~[?:?]
     at org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient.internalPerformRequest(RestHighLevelClient.java:2171) ~[?:?]
     at org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient.performRequest(RestHighLevelClient.java:2137) ~[?:?]
     at org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient.performRequestAndParseEntity(RestHighLevelClient.java:2105) ~[?:?]
     at org.elasticsearch.client.ClusterClient.health(ClusterClient.java:151) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.search.engine.adapter.cluster.HealthClusterRequestExecutorImpl._getClusterHealthResponse(HealthClusterRequestExecutorImpl.java:98) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.search.engine.adapter.cluster.HealthClusterRequestExecutorImpl.execute(HealthClusterRequestExecutorImpl.java:49) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.search.engine.adapter.cluster.ElasticsearchClusterRequestExecutor.executeClusterRequest(ElasticsearchClusterRequestExecutor.java:53) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.engine.adapter.cluster.HealthClusterRequest.accept(HealthClusterRequest.java:40) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.engine.adapter.cluster.HealthClusterRequest.accept(HealthClusterRequest.java:22) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.search.engine.adapter.cluster.ElasticsearchClusterRequestExecutor.execute(ElasticsearchClusterRequestExecutor.java:46) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.search.engine.adapter.ElasticsearchSearchEngineAdapterImpl.execute(ElasticsearchSearchEngineAdapterImpl.java:69) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.ElasticsearchSearchEngine._waitForYellowStatus(ElasticsearchSearchEngine.java:396) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.ElasticsearchSearchEngine.initialize(ElasticsearchSearchEngine.java:134) ~[?:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.search.elasticsearch7.internal.ElasticsearchSearchEngine.activate(ElasticsearchSearchEngine.java:234) ~[?:?]
     at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
     at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
     at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
[...omitted...]
     at com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.ModuleFrameworkImpl._registerService(ModuleFrameworkImpl.java:1271) ~[com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.jar:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.ModuleFrameworkImpl.lambda$_registerApplicationContext$4(ModuleFrameworkImpl.java:1223) ~[com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.jar:?]
     at java.util.Iterator.forEachRemaining(Iterator.java:116) [?:1.8.0_171]
     at com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.ModuleFrameworkImpl._registerApplicationContext(ModuleFrameworkImpl.java:1210) [com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.jar:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.ModuleFrameworkImpl.registerContext(ModuleFrameworkImpl.java:256) [com.liferay.portal.bootstrap.jar:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.module.framework.ModuleFrameworkUtil.registerContext(ModuleFrameworkUtil.java:41) [portal-impl.jar:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.util.InitUtil.registerContext(InitUtil.java:301) [portal-impl.jar:?]
     at com.liferay.portal.tools.DBUpgrader.main(DBUpgrader.java:138) [portal-impl.jar:?]
     at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
     at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
     at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) ~[?:1.8.0_171]
     at com.liferay.portal.tools.db.upgrade.client.DBUpgraderLauncher.main(DBUpgraderLauncher.java:54) [com.liferay.portal.tools.db.upgrade.client.jar:?]

Environment

  • Any Liferay DXP version

Resolution

The reported error java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused is caused because Liferay cannot connect with the Elasticsearch server:

  • Indeed, during the upgrade process, Liferay index functionality is switched to read-only, so there are no index operations in the Elasticsearch server and a full reindex is necessary once the upgrade process ends.
  • Nevertheless, if the remote Elasticsearch server is not available, the Elasticsearch client module is not able to initialize correctly, causing the reported exception.

To avoid the issue you have two options:

Option 1: As a workaround, enable the Embedded Elasticsearch server during the upgrade process. This will eliminate the need to set up a separate Elasticsearch server during the upgrade testing. Follow the steps below:

  1. Before executing the upgrade, change the Elasticsearch client configuration in Liferay from remote to embedded mode.
  2. You can do it using configuration files following this article
  3. Execute the upgrade process
  4. Once the upgrade is finished, go to the system settings and configure the new remote Elasticsearch server for the new Liferay version
  5. Execute a full reindex

Option 2: Ensure that your Liferay server always has a remote Elasticsearch server configured and running, even if the upgrade process won't use it. However, consider the following important notes:

  • When upgrading to a new Liferay version with a different Elasticsearch version requirement, always install the new Elasticsearch server and configure Liferay to use it before starting the upgrade.
  • If you have cloned your Liferay environment for upgrade testing purposes, reconfigure Liferay to point to a different Elasticsearch server before executing the upgrade.

To modify the Liferay Elasticsearch configuration using config files before launching the server, refer to the official documentation: Liferay Elasticsearch Configuration.

 

Additional Information

 

 

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