/var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db/store_lock Please ensure no other process is using this database, and that the directory is writable

[bala17murugan]

Hi Team,

We are trying to start the database but we get the log.Please can you suggest what went wrong.

Below log file:
bash-4.4# neo4j start
Active database: graph.db
Directories in use:
home: /var/lib/neo4j
config: /var/lib/neo4j/conf
logs: /var/lib/neo4j/logs
plugins: /var/lib/neo4j/plugins
import: /var/lib/neo4j/import
data: /var/lib/neo4j/data
certificates: /var/lib/neo4j/certificates
run: /var/lib/neo4j/run
Starting Neo4j.
Started neo4j (pid 530). It is available at http://0.0.0.0:7474/
There may be a short delay until the server is ready.
See /var/lib/neo4j/logs/neo4j.log for current status.
bash-4.4# cat /var/lib/neo4j/logs/neo4j.log
2020-04-09 07:47:54.620+0000 INFO ======== Neo4j 3.4.4 ========
2020-04-09 07:47:54.658+0000 INFO Starting...
2020-04-09 07:47:56.095+0000 INFO Initiating metrics...
2020-04-09 07:47:56.336+0000 ERROR Failed to start Neo4j: Starting Neo4j failed: Component 'org.neo4j.server.database.LifecycleManagingDatabase@275fe372' was successfully initialized, but failed to start. Please see the attached cause exception "Store and its lock file has been locked by another process: /var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db/store_lock. Please ensure no other process is using this database, and that the directory is writable (required even for read-only access)". Starting Neo4j failed: Component 'org.neo4j.server.database.LifecycleManagingDatabase@275fe372' was successfully initialized, but failed to start. Please see the attached cause exception "Store and its lock file has been locked by another process: /var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db/store_lock. Please ensure no other process is using this database, and that the directory is writable (required even for read-only access)".
org.neo4j.server.ServerStartupException: Starting Neo4j failed: Component 'org.neo4j.server.database.LifecycleManagingDatabase@275fe372' was successfully initialized, but failed to start. Please see the attached cause exception "Store and its lock file has been locked by another process: /var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db/store_lock. Please ensure no other process is using this database, and that the directory is writable (required even for read-only access)".
at org.neo4j.server.exception.ServerStartupErrors.translateToServerStartupError(ServerStartupErrors.java:68)
at org.neo4j.server.AbstractNeoServer.start(AbstractNeoServer.java:220)
at org.neo4j.server.ServerBootstrapper.start(ServerBootstrapper.java:111)
at org.neo4j.server.ServerBootstrapper.start(ServerBootstrapper.java:79)
at com.neo4j.server.enterprise.CommercialEntryPoint.main(CommercialEntryPoint.java:22)
Caused by: org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifecycleException: Component 'org.neo4j.server.database.LifecycleManagingDatabase@275fe372' was successfully initialized, but failed to start. Please see the attached cause exception "Store and its lock file has been locked by another process: /var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db/store_lock. Please ensure no other process is using this database, and that the directory is writable (required even for read-only access)".
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport$LifecycleInstance.start(LifeSupport.java:466)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport.start(LifeSupport.java:107)
at org.neo4j.server.AbstractNeoServer.start(AbstractNeoServer.java:212)
... 3 more
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Error starting org.neo4j.kernel.impl.factory.GraphDatabaseFacadeFactory, /var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db
at org.neo4j.kernel.impl.factory.GraphDatabaseFacadeFactory.initFacade(GraphDatabaseFacadeFactory.java:212)
at org.neo4j.kernel.enterprise.EnterpriseGraphDatabase.(EnterpriseGraphDatabase.java:39)
at org.neo4j.server.enterprise.OpenEnterpriseNeoServer.lambda$static$1(OpenEnterpriseNeoServer.java:78)
at org.neo4j.server.database.LifecycleManagingDatabase.start(LifecycleManagingDatabase.java:88)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport$LifecycleInstance.start(LifeSupport.java:445)
... 5 more
Caused by: org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifecycleException: Component 'org.neo4j.kernel.internal.locker.StoreLockerLifecycleAdapter@44828f6b' was successfully initialized, but failed to start. Please see the attached cause exception "Store and its lock file has been locked by another process: /var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db/store_lock. Please ensure no other process is using this database, and that the directory is writable (required even for read-only access)".
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport$LifecycleInstance.start(LifeSupport.java:466)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport.start(LifeSupport.java:107)
at org.neo4j.kernel.impl.factory.GraphDatabaseFacadeFactory.initFacade(GraphDatabaseFacadeFactory.java:208)
... 9 more
Caused by: org.neo4j.kernel.StoreLockException: Store and its lock file has been locked by another process: /var/lib/neo4j/data/databases/graph.db/store_lock. Please ensure no other process is using this database, and that the directory is writable (required even for read-only access)
at org.neo4j.kernel.internal.locker.StoreLocker.storeLockException(StoreLocker.java:117)
at org.neo4j.kernel.internal.locker.StoreLocker.checkLock(StoreLocker.java:93)
at org.neo4j.kernel.internal.locker.GlobalStoreLocker.checkLock(GlobalStoreLocker.java:60)
at org.neo4j.kernel.internal.locker.StoreLockerLifecycleAdapter.start(StoreLockerLifecycleAdapter.java:36)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport$LifecycleInstance.start(LifeSupport.java:445)
... 11 more
2020-04-09 07:47:56.337+0000 INFO Neo4j Server shutdown initiated by request

[ssmcdonald]

I recently had a similar error when starting neo4j as a service. It turns out that the /var/lib/neo4j folder did not have the correct permissions set

Use this command to check the directory permissions:

 ls -l /var/lib/neo4j

You should see the following permissions for all 4 directories:

 drwxr-xr-x.  neo4j neo4j 

In my case, the directory was owned by root and not neo4j. Use the following to fix:

chown -R neo4j:neo4j /var/lib/neo4j   

[yifan_li_1112]

I met the same problem today and the reason is unintended interruption of ssh connection between my local computer to remote servers (Neo4j on remote servers). Basically what I did is to remove the store_lock file inside of the <neo4j_home_folder>/data/databases/ folder, and it did the trick.