open-consul/website/source/docs/commands/force-leave.html.markdown

---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Commands: Force Leave"
sidebar_current: "docs-commands-forceleave"
description: |-
  The `force-leave` command forces a member of a Consul cluster to enter the left state. If the member is still actually alive, it will eventually rejoin the cluster. The true purpose of this method is to force remove failed nodes.
---

# Consul Force Leave

Command: `consul force-leave`

The `force-leave` command forces a member of a Consul cluster to enter the
"left" state. If the member is still actually alive, it will
eventually rejoin the cluster. The true purpose of this method is to force
remove "failed" nodes.

Consul periodically tries to reconnect to "failed" nodes in case it is a
network partition. After some configured amount of time (by default 72 hours),
Consul will reap "failed" nodes and stop trying to reconnect. The `force-leave`
command can be used to transition the "failed" nodes to "left" nodes more
quickly.

This can be particularly useful for a node that was running as a server,
as it will be removed from the Raft quorum.

## Usage

Usage: `consul force-leave [options] node`

The following command-line options are available for this command.
Every option is optional:

* `-rpc-addr` - Address to the RPC server of the agent you want to contact
  to send this command. If this isn't specified, the command checks the
  `CONSUL_RPC_ADDR` env variable. If this isn't set, the default RPC
  address will be set to `127.0.0.1:8400`.
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00			`---`
			`layout: "docs"`
			`page_title: "Commands: Force Leave"`
			`sidebar_current: "docs-commands-forceleave"`
Use new Markdown syntaxes and add SEO descriptions 2014-10-19 23:40:10 +00:00			`description: \|-`
Documentation pass I was reviewing some docs and found a few issues. 1. Fixed some spelling mistakes. 2. Re-formatted some paragraphs. 3. Changed some potentially loaded language. 4. Fixed some grammar issues. 5. Tried to consistently use syntax-highlighting. 6. Fixed post-period spacing. 7. Fixed some formatting issues and inconsistency. 8. All "notes" are either proper notes or re-written. 2016-11-25 16:00:02 +00:00			The `force-leave` command forces a member of a Consul cluster to enter the left state. If the member is still actually alive, it will eventually rejoin the cluster. The true purpose of this method is to force remove failed nodes.
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00			`---`

website: updating documentation on commands 2014-02-19 01:32:13 +00:00			`# Consul Force Leave`
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00
website: updating documentation on commands 2014-02-19 01:32:13 +00:00			Command: `consul force-leave`
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00
website: updating documentation on commands 2014-02-19 01:32:13 +00:00			The `force-leave` command forces a member of a Consul cluster to enter the
Documentation pass I was reviewing some docs and found a few issues. 1. Fixed some spelling mistakes. 2. Re-formatted some paragraphs. 3. Changed some potentially loaded language. 4. Fixed some grammar issues. 5. Tried to consistently use syntax-highlighting. 6. Fixed post-period spacing. 7. Fixed some formatting issues and inconsistency. 8. All "notes" are either proper notes or re-written. 2016-11-25 16:00:02 +00:00			`"left" state. If the member is still actually alive, it will`
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00			`eventually rejoin the cluster. The true purpose of this method is to force`
			`remove "failed" nodes.`

website: updating documentation on commands 2014-02-19 01:32:13 +00:00			`Consul periodically tries to reconnect to "failed" nodes in case it is a`
website: Documentation cleanup 2014-04-09 18:06:27 +00:00			`network partition. After some configured amount of time (by default 72 hours),`
website: updating documentation on commands 2014-02-19 01:32:13 +00:00			Consul will reap "failed" nodes and stop trying to reconnect. The `force-leave`
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00			`command can be used to transition the "failed" nodes to "left" nodes more`
			`quickly.`

website: updating documentation on commands 2014-02-19 01:32:13 +00:00			`This can be particularly useful for a node that was running as a server,`
			`as it will be removed from the Raft quorum.`

website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00			`## Usage`

website: updating documentation on commands 2014-02-19 01:32:13 +00:00			Usage: `consul force-leave [options] node`
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00
			`The following command-line options are available for this command.`
			`Every option is optional:`

			* `-rpc-addr` - Address to the RPC server of the agent you want to contact
Add default rpc address configuration option as CONSUL_RPC_ADDR env variable Similar as in serf: https://github.com/hashicorp/serf/pull/210 2014-12-15 18:16:43 +00:00			`to send this command. If this isn't specified, the command checks the`
Documentation pass I was reviewing some docs and found a few issues. 1. Fixed some spelling mistakes. 2. Re-formatted some paragraphs. 3. Changed some potentially loaded language. 4. Fixed some grammar issues. 5. Tried to consistently use syntax-highlighting. 6. Fixed post-period spacing. 7. Fixed some formatting issues and inconsistency. 8. All "notes" are either proper notes or re-written. 2016-11-25 16:00:02 +00:00			`CONSUL_RPC_ADDR` env variable. If this isn't set, the default RPC
			address will be set to `127.0.0.1:8400`.
website: bulk copy from serf 2014-02-08 00:41:03 +00:00