Laravel 'No alive nodes' Error: Causes and Solutions

The “No alive nodes. All the 1 nodes seem to be down” error in Laravel typically occurs due to network connectivity issues, incorrect configuration settings, or host resolution problems between your Laravel application and Elasticsearch server, even when Elasticsearch appears to be running and accessible via curl.

Contents

• Basic causes of the error
• Configuration check
• Network solutions
• Docker-specific problems
• Step-by-step diagnosis
• SSL and authentication setup
• Conclusion

Basic causes of the error

The “No alive nodes” error occurs when the Elasticsearch client in Laravel cannot establish a connection with the server. The main causes identified in the research are:

1. Incorrect host configuration in the .env file
2. Problems with name resolution or network connections
3. Port or IP address mismatches
4. SSL verification issues
5. Docker network issues when using containers source

Important: Even if Elasticsearch is accessible via curl, this doesn’t guarantee that Laravel will be able to connect, as there may be internal network restrictions or client configuration issues.

Configuration check

.env file

Your current configuration:

ELASTICSEARCH_ENABLED=true
ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS=127.0.0.1:9200

Problem: The configuration ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS=127.0.0.1:9200 may not work correctly, as many Elasticsearch packages expect an array format or separate variables source.

Correct options:

Option 1: Separate variables

ELASTICSEARCH_HOST=127.0.0.1
ELASTICSEARCH_PORT=9200

Option 2: Full URL

ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS=http://127.0.0.1:9200

Option 3: Array format (for some packages)

ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS=["127.0.0.1:9200"]

Laravel configuration file

Check how the .env configuration is used in your config/elasticsearch.php or config/services.php:

// Example of correct configuration
return [
    'hosts' => [
        [
            'host' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_HOST', 'localhost'),
            'port' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_PORT', 9200),
            'scheme' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_SCHEME', 'http'),
            'user' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_USER', ''),
            'pass' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_PASS', ''),
        ],
    ],
    'sslVerification' => null, // Disable SSL for testing
];

Network solutions

Checking network access from Laravel

Execute the following commands for diagnosis:

1. Check access from Laravel container (if using Docker):

docker exec -it <laravel-container-name> curl http://127.0.0.1:9200

2. Check access using telnet:

telnet 127.0.0.1 9200

3. Check using netcat:

nc -zv 127.0.0.1 9200

Changing the host in configuration

If the application is running in a Docker container, try using the Elasticsearch hostname:

ELASTICSEARCH_HOST=elasticsearch # container name in Docker Compose
ELASTICSEARCH_PORT=9200

Or the Docker network IP address:

ELASTICSEARCH_HOST=172.17.0.2 # actual IP of the Elasticsearch container

Docker-specific problems

Docker network issues

When using Docker, network interaction problems often occur source.

Solution:

1. Use a shared Docker Compose network:

version: '3.8'
services:
  laravel:
    build: .
    networks:
      - app-network
    environment:
      - ELASTICSEARCH_HOST=elasticsearch
    
  elasticsearch:
    image: elasticsearch:7.17.0
    networks:
      - app-network
    ports:
      - "9200:9200"

networks:
  app-network:
    driver: bridge

2. Check name resolution:

docker exec -it <laravel-container-name> nslookup elasticsearch

Step-by-step diagnosis

Step 1: Check if Elasticsearch is running

curl -X GET "localhost:9200/_cluster/health?pretty"

Step 2: Test connection from Laravel

Create a test controller to check the connection:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Elasticsearch\ClientBuilder;

class ElasticsearchTestController extends Controller
{
    public function testConnection()
    {
        try {
            $client = ClientBuilder::create()
                ->setHosts(['http://127.0.0.1:9200'])
                ->build();
            
            $response = $client->info();
            
            return response()->json([
                'status' => 'success',
                'cluster_name' => $response['cluster_name'],
                'version' => $response['version']
            ]);
        } catch (\Exception $e) {
            return response()->json([
                'status' => 'error',
                'message' => $e->getMessage(),
                'trace' => $e->getTraceAsString()
            ], 500);
        }
    }
}

Step 3: Check package configuration

If you’re using the babenkoivan/scout-elasticsearch-driver package, check its configuration source:

// config/scout.php
'scout_elasticsearch' => [
    'index' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_INDEX', 'default'),
    'hosts' => [
        env('ELASTICSEARCH_HOST', '127.0.0.1:9200')
    ],
],

SSL and authentication setup

Disabling SSL for testing

If the issue is related to SSL, temporarily disable verification:

$client = ClientBuilder::create()
    ->setHosts(['http://127.0.0.1:9200'])
    ->setSSLVerification(false) // Temporarily for testing
    ->build();

Setting up authentication

If basic authentication is used:

// .env
ELASTICSEARCH_USER=elastic
ELASTICSEARCH_PASS=your_password

// config/elasticsearch.php
'hosts' => [
    [
        'host' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_HOST', 'localhost'),
        'port' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_PORT', 9200),
        'user' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_USER'),
        'pass' => env('ELASTICSEARCH_PASS'),
    ],
],

Conclusion

1. The main problem is incorrect host configuration in the .env file. Try using separate ELASTICSEARCH_HOST and ELASTICSEARCH_PORT variables instead of ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS.

2. Check network interaction between Laravel and Elasticsearch, especially when using Docker. Make sure containers are on the same network.

3. Temporarily disable SSL verification for testing connection, then configure proper SSL certificates for production.

4. Use debug code to check specific connection errors and Elasticsearch versions.

5. Update the configuration according to the documentation of the Elasticsearch package you’re using for Laravel.

For most cases, changing the configuration format in the .env file and checking network interaction between system components helps.

Sources

1. Elasticsearch no alive nodes found in cluster - Resolved
2. ‘No Alive Nodes Found in Your Cluster’ Elasticsearch Error
3. No alive nodes. All the 1 nodes seem to be down - Stack Overflow
4. No alive nodes found in your cluster using laravel with homestead · GitHub
5. How To Integrate Elasticsearch In Laravel - Easy Setup Guide
6. A Developer’s Guide to Elasticsearch with Laravel
7. Integrating Elasticsearch in Laravel - Part 1
8. Why am I getting “No alive nodes found in your cluster” using Laravel and Docker?