exception: hosts cannot switch between localhost and hostname - mongodb

Question

I created a replication set.
I added localhost in the set in the beginning, but when I try to edit the member with the actual hostname. I get error "exception: hosts cannot switch between localhost and hostname"
I need to get rid of localhost:27017 because, otherwise, it doesn't let me enter any other member as hostname (i.e. non-localhost address)
my-rs0:PRIMARY> cfg=rs.conf();
{
"_id" : "my-rs0",
"version" : 1,
"members" : [
{
"_id" : 0,
"host" : "localhost:27017"
}
]
}
my-rs0:PRIMARY> cfg.members[0].host="my-server04:27017"
my-rs0:PRIMARY> cfg
{
"_id" : "my-rs0",
"version" : 1,
"members" : [
{
"_id" : 0,
"host" : "my-server04:27017"
}
]
}
using rs.reconfig(cfg);
my-rs0:PRIMARY> rs.reconfig(cfg);
{
"errmsg" : "exception: hosts cannot switch between localhost and hostname",
"code" : 13645,
"ok" : 0
}
no luck with rs.add("my-server04:27017") or rs.remove("localhost:27017") as well.
my-rs0:PRIMARY> rs.add("my-server04:27017");
{
"errmsg" : "exception: can't use localhost in repl set member names except when using it for all members",
"code" : 13393,
"ok" : 0
}
I have tried all the reconfiguration methods mentioned here Replica Set Reconfig steps
But, none fixing above issue. Already spent hours, I am really frustrated.

Answer 1

I had the same problem and I fixed it without dropping any database. Just edited the host field of the member in the local.system.replset collection to match the local ip and then restarted mongod. Everything worked perfect.

Answer 2

It looks like you'll need to scrap your replicaset and start over.
I believe that when you initiated your Replica Set, you explicitly passed it a config document that references your MongoDB instance using localhost.
As I was investigating this, I brought up a replica set. When I initiated the replica set using rs.initiate() (without passing a config document) it used host name by default.
rs.initiate()
rs.conf()
{
"_id" : "stack1",
"version" : 1,
"members" : [
{
"_id" : 0,
"host" : "MY-HOSTNAME:28001"
}
]
}
This post describes the need to complete clear out your database files to create a fresh replica set.
Once I did this, I initiated a new replica set in the by passing a configuration document:
cfg = {
"_id" : "stack1",
"version" : 1,
"members" : [
{
"_id" : 0,
"host" : "localhost:28001"
}
]
}
rs.initiate(cfg)
rs.conf()
{
"_id" : "stack1",
"version" : 1,
"members" : [
{
"_id" : 0,
"host" : "localhost:28001"
}
]
}
Long story short, you'll need to delete all of the files in your --dbpath directory and re-create the replica set, without explicitly specifying "localhost" as your hostname.

Answer 3

I did according to the docs:
Restarted MongDB on another port (e.g. 37107) to prevent user connections to it.
Then started a shell on it:
$ mongo --port 37017
Then updated the configuration:
use local
cfg = db.system.replset.findOne( { "_id": "my-rs0" } )
cfg.members[0].host = "my-server04:27017"
db.system.replset.update( { "_id": "my-rs0" } , cfg )
Then restarted MongoDB on the original port.