:_mod-docs-content-type: CONCEPT

// Module included in the following assemblies:
//
// con-scaling-kafka-clusters.adoc

[id='con-skipping-scale-down-checks-{context}']
= Skipping checks on scale-down operations

[role="_abstract"]
By default, Strimzi performs a check to ensure that there are no partition replicas on brokers before initiating a scale-down operation on a Kafka cluster.
The check applies to nodes in node pools that perform the role of broker only or a dual role of broker and controller.

If replicas are found, the scale-down is not done in order to prevent potential data loss.
To scale-down the cluster, no replicas must be left on the broker before trying to scale it down again.

However, there may be scenarios where you want to bypass this mechanism.
Disabling the check might be necessary on busy clusters, for example, because new topics keep generating replicas for the broker.
This situation can indefinitely block the scale-down, even when brokers are nearly empty.
Overriding the blocking mechanism in this way has an impact:
the presence of topics on the broker being scaled down will likely cause a reconciliation failure for the Kafka cluster. 

You can bypass the blocking mechanism by annotating the `Kafka` resource for the Kafka cluster.
Annotate the resource by setting the `strimzi.io/skip-broker-scaledown-check` annotation to `true`:

.Adding the annotation to skip checks on scale-down operations  
[source,shell,subs="+quotes,attributes+"]
----
kubectl annotate Kafka my-kafka-cluster strimzi.io/skip-broker-scaledown-check="true"
----

This annotation instructs Strimzi to skip the scale-down check.
Replace `my-kafka-cluster` with the name of your specific `Kafka` resource.

To restore the check for scale-down operations, remove the annotation:

.Removing the annotation to skip checks on scale-down operations  
[source,shell,subs="+quotes,attributes+"]
----
kubectl annotate Kafka my-kafka-cluster strimzi.io/skip-broker-scaledown-check-
----