IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a version prior to 6.3 and use {xpack} then you must remove the {xpack} plugin before upgrading with `bin/elasticsearch-plugin remove x-pack`. As of 6.3, {xpack} is included in the default distribution so make sure to upgrade to that one. If you upgrade without removing the {xpack} plugin first the node will fail to start. If you did not remove the {xpack} plugin and the node fails to start then you must downgrade to your previous version, remove {xpack}, and then upgrade again. In general downgrading is not supported but in this particular case it is.