influxdata/influxdb

[2.x] BoltDB corruption causes InfluxDB to not startup

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#27361 opened on Apr 17, 2026

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 (0 comments) (0 reactions) (1 assignee)Rust (31,498 stars) (3,707 forks)batch import
area/2.xarea/metadatahelp wantedkind/bugneeds repro

Description

We have seen a few instances where BoltDB metadata becomes corrupt, causing InfluxDB to not start up.

Example log where we have Missing metadata:

ts=2026-04-16T17:20:36.292376Z lvl=info msg="Initializing meta Client subscriber." log_id=12HpmwdW000
ts=2026-04-16T17:20:36.292446Z lvl=debug msg="buckets find" log_id=12HpmwdW000 store=new took=0.064ms
ts=2026-04-16T17:20:36.292451Z lvl=info msg="Checking InfluxDB metadata for prior version." log_id=12HpmwdW000 bolt_path=/Users/devan/.influxdbrrfoo/influxd.bolt
ts=2026-04-16T17:20:36.292453Z lvl=error msg="Missing metadata for bucket." log_id=12HpmwdW000 bucket=test-foo-bar bucket_id=620639ca7822c92b
ts=2026-04-16T17:20:36.292456Z lvl=error msg="Incompatible InfluxDB 2.0 metadata found. File must be moved before influxd will start." log_id=12HpmwdW000 path=/Users/devan/.influxdbrrfoo/influxd.bolt
ts=2026-04-16T17:20:36.292464Z lvl=error msg="Incompatible InfluxDB 2.0 version found. Move all files outside of engine_path before influxd will start." log_id=12HpmwdW000 engine_path=/Users/devan/.influxdbrrfoo/engine

Example log where _tasks bucket is missing causing a restart loop:

 lvl=error msg="err finding runs:" service=task-executor error="bucket \"_tasks\" not found"
 lvl=fatal msg="could not load existing scheduled runs" error="bucket \"_tasks\" not found"

On inspecting the BoltDB file, two organization IDs were found to have entries in the tasksv1 bucket but were missing from the corresponding organizationsv1 and bucketsv1 buckets:

  • tasksv1 contains: orgID1, orgID2
  • organizationsv1 and bucketsv1 are missing entries for orgID1 and orgID2

We have not yet been able to reliably reproduce the issue.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rustgo
Domain
backenddatabase
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
5
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
needs maintainer response
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
needs investigation
Prerequisites
Knowledge of BoltDBUnderstanding of InfluxDB metadataDatabase internals
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
10
Research direction
Investigate possible causes for BoltDB metadata corruption, focusing on the missing entries for orgID1 and orgID2. Attempt to reproduce the issue by stress testing concurrent writes or crashes. Examine the code paths in the 'store' and 'meta' packages that interact with BoltDB buckets. Consider adding validation checks to detect inconsistencies early.