replSetStepDown
On this page
Description
replSetStepDownInstructs the primary of the replica set to become a secondary. After the primary steps down, eligible secondaries will hold an election for primary.
The command does not immediately step down the primary. If no
electablesecondaries are up to date with the primary, the primary waits up tosecondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs(by default 10 seconds) for a secondary to catch up. Once an electable secondary is available, the command steps down the primary.Once stepped down, the original primary becomes a secondary and is ineligible from becoming primary again for the remainder of time specified by
replSetStepDown: <seconds>.For a detailed explanation of the command 's execution, see Behavior.
Note
The command is only valid against the primary and throws an error if run on a non-primary member.
Tip
In the
mongoShell, this command can also be run through thers.stepDown()helper method.Helper methods are convenient for
mongousers, but they may not return the same level of information as database commands. In cases where the convenience is not needed or the additional return fields are required, use the database command.The
replSetStepDowncan only run on theadmindatabase and has the following prototype form:db.adminCommand( { replSetStepDown: <seconds>, secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs: <seconds>, force: <true|false> } ) replSetStepDowntakes the following fields as arguments:FieldTypeDescriptionreplSetStepDownnumberThe number of seconds to step down the primary, during which time the stepdown member is ineligible for becoming primary. If you specify a non-numeric value, the command uses
60seconds.The stepdown period starts from the time that the
mongodreceives the command. The stepdown period must be greater than thesecondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs.secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecsnumberOptional. The number of seconds that the
mongodwill wait for an electable secondary to catch up to the primary.When specified,
secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecsoverrides the default wait time of either10seconds or ifforce: true,0seconds.forcebooleanOptional. A boolean that determines whether the primary steps down if no electable and up-to-date secondary exists within the wait period.
If
true, the primary steps down even if no suitable secondary member exists; this could lead to rollbacks if a secondary with replication lag becomes the new primary.If
false, the primary does not step down if no suitable secondary member exists and the command returns an error.Defaults to
false.
Behavior
Concurrent Operations
The replSetStepDown command attempts to
terminate long running user operations that block the primary
from stepping down, such as an index build, a write operation or a
map-reduce job.
Availability of Eligible Secondaries
The command then initiates a catchup period where it waits up to
secondaryCatchUpPeriodSeconds, by default 10 seconds, for a
secondary to become up-to-date with the primary. The primary only steps
down if a secondary is up-to-date with the primary during the
catchup period to prevent rollbacks.
If no electable secondary meets this criterion by the end of the waiting
period, the primary does not step down and the command errors.
You can override this behavior and issue with command with the force: true option to immediately step down the primary.
Once the primary steps down successfully, that node cannot become the
primary for the remainder of the replSetStepDown: <seconds> period,
which began when the node received the command.
Client Connections
Starting in MongoDB 4.2, replSetStepDown command no
longer closes all client connections.
In MongoDB 4.0 and earlier, replSetStepDown command
closes all client connections during the step down. Because the
disconnect includes the connection used to run the command,
you cannot retrieve the return status of the command if the
command completes successfully. You can only retrieve the
return status of the command if it errors. When running the
4.0 and earlier command in a script, the script should
account for this behavior.
Writes During Stepdown
Note
All writes to the primary fail during the period starting when the
replSetStepDown command is received until either a new
primary is elected, or if there are no electable secondaries, the
original primary resumes normal operation.
Writes that were in progress when replSetStepDown is run
are killed. In-progress transactions
also fail with "TransientTransactionError" and can be
retried as a whole.
The time period where writes fail is at maximum:
secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs (10s by default) +
electionTimeoutMillis (10s by default).
Election Handoff
When you step down a primary using rs.stepDown() or
replSetStepDown without setting the force field to
true, the stepped-down primary nominates an eligible secondary
to call an election immediately.
Examples
Step Down with Default Options
The following example, run on the current primary, attempts to step
down the member for 120 seconds.
The operation waits up to the default 10 seconds for a
secondary to catch up. If no suitable secondary exists, the primary
does not step down and the command errors.
Note
All writes to the primary fail during the period starting when the
replSetStepDown command is received until either a new
primary is elected, or if there are no electable secondaries, the
original primary resumes normal operation.
Writes that were in progress when replSetStepDown is run
are killed. In-progress transactions
also fail with "TransientTransactionError" and can be
retried as a whole.
The time period where writes fail is at maximum:
secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs (10s by default) +
electionTimeoutMillis (10s by default).
db.adminCommand( { replSetStepDown: 120 } )
Specify Wait Time for Secondary Catch Up
The following example, run on the current primary, attempts to step
down the member for 120 seconds, waiting up to 15 seconds for
an electable secondary to catch up. If no suitable secondary exists,
the primary does not step down and the command errors.
Note
All writes to the primary fail during the period starting when the
replSetStepDown command is received until either a new
primary is elected, or if there are no electable secondaries, the
original primary resumes normal operation.
Writes that were in progress when replSetStepDown is run
are killed. In-progress transactions
also fail with "TransientTransactionError" and can be
retried as a whole.
The time period where writes fail is at maximum:
secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs (10s by default) +
electionTimeoutMillis (10s by default).
db.adminCommand( { replSetStepDown: 120, secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs: 15 } )
Specify Secondary Catch Up with Force Step Down
The following example, run on the current primary, attempts to step
down the member for 120 seconds, waiting up to 15 seconds for
an electable secondary to catch up. Because of the force: true
option, the primary steps down even if no suitable secondary exists.
Note
All writes to the primary fail during the period starting when the
replSetStepDown command is received until either a new
primary is elected, or if there are no electable secondaries, the
original primary resumes normal operation.
Writes that were in progress when replSetStepDown is run
are killed. In-progress transactions
also fail with "TransientTransactionError" and can be
retried as a whole.
The time period where writes fail is at maximum:
secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs (10s by default) +
electionTimeoutMillis (10s by default).
db.adminCommand( { replSetStepDown: 120, secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs: 15, force: true } )