Minimal security setup

Self Managed

In Elasticsearch 8.0 and later, security is enabled automatically when you start Elasticsearch for the first time.

If you’re running an existing Elasticsearch cluster where security is disabled, you can manually enable the Elasticsearch security features and then create passwords for built-in users. You can add more users later, but using the built-in users simplifies the process of enabling security for your cluster.

Enabling the Elasticsearch security features provides basic authentication so that you can run a local cluster with username and password authentication.

1. On every node in your cluster, stop both Kibana and Elasticsearch if they are running.

2. On every node in your cluster, add the xpack.security.enabled setting to the $ES_PATH_CONF/elasticsearch.yml file and set the value to true:

   xpack.security.enabled: true
   

   Note

   The $ES_PATH_CONF variable is the path for the Elasticsearch configuration files. If you installed Elasticsearch using archive distributions (zip or tar.gz), the variable defaults to $ES_HOME/config. If you used package distributions (Debian or RPM), the variable defaults to /etc/elasticsearch.

3. If your cluster has a single node, add the discovery.type setting in the $ES_PATH_CONF/elasticsearch.yml file and set the value to single-node. This setting ensures that your node does not inadvertently connect to other clusters that might be running on your network.

   discovery.type: single-node
   

To communicate with your cluster, you must configure a password for the elastic and kibana_system built-in users. Unless you enable anonymous access (not recommended), all requests that don’t include credentials are rejected.

1. On every node in your cluster, start Elasticsearch. For example, if you installed Elasticsearch with a .tar.gz package, run the following command from the ES_HOME directory:

   ./bin/elasticsearch
   

   Note

   If you are following this procedure for a multi-node cluster, you will have to set up transport TLS certificates in your nodes before being able to start the nodes.

2. On any node in your cluster, open another terminal window and set the password for the elastic built-in user by running the elasticsearch-reset-password utility. This command resets the password to an auto-generated value.

   ./bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic
   

   If you want to set the password to a specific value, run the command with the interactive (-i) parameter.

   ./bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -i -u elastic
   

3. Set the password for the kibana_system built-in user.

   ./bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u kibana_system
   

4. Save the new passwords. In the next step, you’ll add the password for the kibana_system user to Kibana.

Next: Configure Kibana to connect to Elasticsearch with a password

When the Elasticsearch security features are enabled, users must log in to Kibana with a valid username and password.

You’ll configure Kibana to use the built-in kibana_system user and the password that you created earlier. Kibana performs some background tasks that require use of the kibana_system user.

This account is not meant for individual users and does not have permission to log in to Kibana from a browser. Instead, you’ll log in to Kibana as the elastic superuser.

1. Add the elasticsearch.username setting to the KBN_PATH_CONF/kibana.yml file and set the value to the kibana_system user:

   elasticsearch.username: "kibana_system"
   

   Note

   The KBN_PATH_CONF variable is the path for the Kibana configuration files. If you installed Kibana using archive distributions (zip or tar.gz), the variable defaults to KIB_HOME/config. If you used package distributions (Debian or RPM), the variable defaults to /etc/kibana.

2. From the directory where you installed Kibana, run the following commands to create the Kibana keystore and add the secure settings:

   1. Create the Kibana keystore:

      ./bin/kibana-keystore create
      

   2. Add the password for the kibana_system user to the Kibana keystore:

      ./bin/kibana-keystore add elasticsearch.password
      

      When prompted, enter the password for the kibana_system user.

3. Restart Kibana. For example, if you installed Kibana with a .tar.gz package, run the following command from the Kibana directory:

   ./bin/kibana
   

4. Log in to Kibana as the elastic user. Use this superuser account to manage spaces, create new users, and assign roles. If you’re running Kibana locally, go to http://localhost:5601 to view the login page.

Congratulations! You enabled password protection for your local cluster to prevent unauthorized access. You can log in to Kibana as the elastic user and create additional users and roles, but take in mind that your browser connections and the traffic between Kibana and Elasticsearch will still be unencrypted with plain HTTP.

If your cluster has multiple nodes, then you must configure Transport Layer Security (TLS) between nodes. Production mode clusters will not start if you do not enable TLS.

Regardless of your cluster being a single-node or a multi-node cluster, it's highly recommended to secure the HTTP layer with TLS certificates.