How to fix: Error CREATEing SolrCore 'gettingstarted': Unable to create core

Question

I'm getting this error when I try to create a new core in solr.

root@ubuntu:/opt/solr# bin/solr create -c gettingstarted -n data_driven_schema_configs

Setup new core instance directory:
/var/solr/data/gettingstarted

Creating new core 'gettingstarted' using command:
http://localhost:8983/solr/admin/cores?action=CREATE&name=gettingstarted&instanceDir=gettingstarted

Failed to create core 'gettingstarted' due to: Error CREATEing SolrCore 'gettingstarted': Unable to create core [gettingstarted] Caused by: /var/solr/data/gettingstarted/data

Also, if I try to create alternatively, It gives me same error:

root@ubuntu:/opt/solr# bin/solr create -c mycore

Setup new core instance directory:
/var/solr/data/mycore

Creating new core 'mycore' using command:
http://localhost:8983/solr/admin/cores?action=CREATE&name=mycore&instanceDir=mycore

Failed to create core 'mycore' due to: Error CREATEing SolrCore 'mycore': Unable to create core [mycore] Caused by: /var/solr/data/mycore/data

In browser, when I try to access solr admin panel, it displays a notification like:

SolrCore Initialization Failures

opt/solr/example/exampledocs/*.xml: org.apache.solr.common.SolrException:org.apache.solr.common.SolrException: /var/solr/data/opt/solr/example/exampledocs/*.xml/data 

snapshot is attached.

Answer 1

Since it might help anybody with the same issue, it's indeed caused by permission issues when using root. The script doesn't terminate quickly when executing the command as root and instead creates a piece of the core definition before failing.

So first cleanup the broken core:

bin/solr delete -c mycore

Make sure that no folder(s) linger under /var/solr/data for your mycore core.

Next create the core as the solr user

su -u solr -c "/opt/solr/bin/solr create_core -c mycore"

This time it should succeed

Answer 2

Don't run solr script as root user (it is not recommended). You should run as solr user, e.g.:

sudo -u solr ./bin/solr create -c mycore

Answer 3

I found this as the solution:

sudo su - solr -c "/opt/solr/bin/solr create -c mycore"

More information here: https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/how-to-install-and-configure-solr-on-ubuntu-1604/