gpstate reports "Unknown -- unable to load segment status"

Products

• VMware Tanzu Data Suite
• VMware Tanzu Greenplum
• VMware Tanzu Greenplum / Gemfire

Issue/Introduction

If "gpstate -e" reports a status of "Unknown -- unable to load segment status", for example:

$ gpstate -e
20260330:09:25:09:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-Starting gpstate with args: -e
20260330:09:25:09:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-local Greenplum Version: 'postgres (Greenplum Database) 6.31.1 build commit:68956df72b0696434917e81d0eeb23f708b60708'
20260330:09:25:09:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-Master Greenplum Version: 'PostgreSQL 9.4.26 (Greenplum Database 6.31.1 build commit:68956df72b0696434917e81d0eeb23f708b60708) on x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (GCC) 8.5.0 20210514 (Red Hat 8.5.0-28), 64-bit compiled on Nov  4 2025 01:26:14'
20260330:09:25:09:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-Obtaining Segment details from master...
20260330:09:25:09:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-Gathering data from segments...
................................................................
20260330:09:29:17:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-----------------------------------------------------
20260330:09:29:17:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-Segment Mirroring Status Report
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-----------------------------------------------------
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-Downed Segments (may include segments where status could not be retrieved)
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   Segment   Port   Config status   Status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7000   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7001   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7002   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7003   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7004   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7005   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7006   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   7007   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
20260330:09:29:19:1958042 gpstate:cdw:gpadmin-[INFO]:-   sdw3   6000   Up              Unknown -- unable to load segment status
   :
   :

Cause

The message is usually reported when passwordless ssh connections from the coordinator to the segment hosts is failing.

Resolution

Verify that it is possible to connect from the coordinator to the segment hosts with passwordless ssh connections.

The password for the "gpadmin" may be expired.