# Sensu backend members rejoining etcd cluster after failure

**URL:** <https://discourse.sensu.io/t/sensu-backend-members-rejoining-etcd-cluster-after-failure/1235>\
**Category:** Sensu Go\
**Created:** [July 8, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/sensu-backend-members-rejoining-etcd-cluster-after-failure/1235 "2019-07-08T19:29:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KendallChenoweth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@KendallChenoweth](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/KendallChenoweth)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/sensu-backend-members-rejoining-etcd-cluster-after-failure/1235/1 "2019-07-08T19:29:49Z")

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I have a Sensu Backend cluster in Kubernetes. The command line arguments for the backend specify “new” as the initial etcd cluster state. This sets up the initial cluster. However, if I fail the pod containing that sensu backend cluster member, the replacement doesn’t rejoin the existing cluster. If I start with “existing”, a new cluster is never built.

What is the correct argument to the initial etcd cluster state that should defined in the pod?

Thanks!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KendallChenoweth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@KendallChenoweth](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/KendallChenoweth)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/sensu-backend-members-rejoining-etcd-cluster-after-failure/1235/2 "2019-07-09T23:36:49Z")

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My problem was resolved with the excellent assistance from Jef. The trick is to use a statefulset definition. You also have to use persistent storage. If anyone’s interested, here’s the config.

```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: sensu-backend-agent
spec:
  selector:
    app: sensu
  ports:
  - name: sensu-transport
    protocol: TCP
    port: 8081
    targetPort: 8081
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: sensu-backend-etcd
spec:
  selector:
    app: sensu
  clusterIP: None
  ports:
  - name: sensu-etcd-client
    port: 2379
  - name: sensu-etcd-server
    port: 2380
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata: 
  name: sensu-backend-lb
spec:
  ports:
    - name: web
      port: 80
      protocol: TCP
      targetPort: 3000
    - name: agent
      port: 8081
      protocol: TCP
      targetPort: 8081
    - name: api
      port: 8080
      protocol: TCP
      targetPort: 8080
  selector:
    app: sensu
  loadBalancerIP: 10.244.0.210
  type: LoadBalancer

---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
  name: sensu-backend
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: sensu
  serviceName: sensu-backend-etcd
  replicas: 3
  updateStrategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: sensu
    spec:
      volumes:
      - name: sensu-backend-etcd
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: sensu-backend-etcd
      - name: sensu-backend-agent-config
        configMap:
          name: sensu-backend-agent-config
      containers:
      - name: sensu-backend
        image: sensu/sensu:5.10.2
        command: [
          "/opt/sensu/bin/sensu-backend", "start",
          "--log-level=debug",
          "--etcd-name", "$(POD_NAME)",
          "--etcd-initial-advertise-peer-urls", "http://$(POD_NAME).sensu-backend-etcd.default.svc.cluster.local:2380",
          "--etcd-advertise-client-urls", "http://$(POD_NAME).sensu-backend-etcd.default.svc.cluster.local:2379",
          "--etcd-listen-peer-urls", "http://0.0.0.0:2380",
          "--etcd-listen-client-urls", "http://0.0.0.0:2379",
          "--etcd-initial-cluster-token", "",
          "--etcd-initial-cluster-state", "new",
          "--etcd-initial-cluster", "sensu-backend-0=http://sensu-backend-0.sensu-backend-etcd.default.svc.cluster.local:2380,sensu-backend-1=http://sensu-backend-1.sensu-backend-etcd.default.svc.cluster.local:2380,sensu-backend-2=http://sensu-backend-2.sensu-backend-etcd.default.svc.cluster.local:2380"
        ]
        env:
        - name: POD_NAME
          valueFrom:
            fieldRef:
              fieldPath: metadata.name
        ports:
        - protocol: TCP
          containerPort: 8080
        - protocol: TCP
          containerPort: 8081
        - protocol: TCP
          containerPort: 3000
        volumeMounts:
        - name: sensu-backend-etcd
          mountPath: /var/lib/sensu/etcd
      - name: sensu-agent
        image: sensu/sensu:5.10.2
        command: ["/opt/sensu/bin/sensu-agent", "start"]
        volumeMounts:
        - name: sensu-backend-agent-config
          mountPath: /etc/sensu
kind: StorageClass
apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  name: local-storage
provisioner: kubernetes.io/no-provisioner
volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: sensu-backend-etcd
spec:
  storageClassName: local-storage
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi

kind: PersistentVolume
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: sensu-backend-etcd
  labels:
    type: local
spec:
  storageClassName: local-storage
  capacity:
    storage: 10Gi
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
  storageClassName: local-storage
  local:
    path: /usr/local/kubernetes/sensu/etcd
  nodeAffinity:
    required:
      nodeSelectorTerms:
      - matchExpressions:
        - key: kubernetes.io/hostname
          operator: In
          values:
          - my-node
```

I still have to work out the persistent volume settings for the bare kuberenetes system I’m on, otherwise it all works.