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Fielddata Disabled

Severity: High
Elasticsearch Version: 8.5.0

Problem

Aggregations fail due to disabled fielddata on text fields

Root Cause

Fielddata is disabled on text fields, preventing aggregations on analyzed fields

How to Detect

Symptoms

  • Aggregation queries return errors related to fielddata being disabled
  • Elasticsearch logs show 'fielddata is disabled on text fields' messages
  • Monitoring dashboards indicate failed aggregation metrics

Commands

GET /<index>/_mapping
GET /<index>/_search with 'explain' parameter
GET /_cluster/health

Remediation Steps

  1. Identify the text fields used in aggregations from the mapping
  2. Update the index mapping to enable fielddata on specific text fields: PUT /<index>/_mapping
  3. Add 'fielddata': true to the relevant text fields
  4. Reindex data if necessary to apply mapping changes
  5. Verify aggregation functionality after reindexing

Prevention

  • Configure mappings with 'fielddata': true' on text fields intended for aggregations
  • Use keyword sub-fields for aggregations to avoid enabling fielddata on text fields
  • Implement index templates with predefined mappings for consistent field configurations

Production Example

curl -X PUT "localhost:9200/<index>/_mapping" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"properties": {"your_text_field": {"type": "text", "fielddata": true}}}'
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