Add remote clusters using TLS certificate authentication
editAdd remote clusters using TLS certificate authentication
editTo add a remote cluster using TLS certificate authentication:
If you run into any issues, refer to Troubleshooting.
Prerequisites
edit-
The Elasticsearch security features need to be enabled on both clusters, on every node.
Security is enabled by default. If it’s disabled, set
xpack.security.enabled
totrue
inelasticsearch.yml
. Refer to General security settings. -
The local and remote clusters versions must be compatible.
- Any node can communicate with another node on the same major version. For example, 7.0 can talk to any 7.x node.
- Only nodes on the last minor version of a certain major version can communicate with nodes on the following major version. In the 6.x series, 6.8 can communicate with any 7.x node, while 6.7 can only communicate with 7.0.
-
Version compatibility is symmetric, meaning that if 6.7 can communicate with 7.0, 7.0 can also communicate with 6.7. The following table depicts version compatibility between local and remote nodes.
Version compatibility table
Local cluster
Remote cluster
5.0–5.5
5.6
6.0–6.6
6.7
6.8
7.0
7.1–7.16
7.17
8.0–8.17
5.0–5.5
5.6
6.0–6.6
6.7
6.8
7.0
7.1–7.16
7.17
8.0–8.17
This documentation is for Elasticsearch version 8.17.0, which is not yet released. The above compatibility table applies if both clusters are running a released version of Elasticsearch, or if one of the clusters is running a released version and the other is running a pre-release build with a later build date. A cluster running a pre-release build of Elasticsearch can also communicate with remote clusters running the same pre-release build. Running a mix of pre-release builds is unsupported and typically will not work, even if the builds have the same version number.
Elastic only supports cross-cluster search on a subset of these configurations. See Supported cross-cluster search configurations.
Establish trust with a remote cluster
editTo use cross-cluster replication or cross-cluster search safely with remote clusters, enable security on all connected clusters and configure Transport Layer Security (TLS) on every node. Configuring TLS security on the transport interface is minimally required for remote clusters. For additional security, configure TLS on the HTTP interface as well.
All connected clusters must trust one another and be mutually authenticated with TLS on the transport interface. This means that the local cluster trusts the certificate authority (CA) of the remote cluster, and the remote cluster trusts the CA of the local cluster. When establishing a connection, all nodes will verify certificates from nodes on the other side. This mutual trust is required to securely connect a remote cluster, because all connected nodes effectively form a single security domain.
User authentication is performed on the local cluster and the user and user’s roles names are passed to the remote clusters. A remote cluster checks the user’s role names against its local role definitions to determine which indices the user is allowed to access.
Before using cross-cluster replication or cross-cluster search with secured Elasticsearch clusters, complete the following configuration task:
-
Configure Transport Layer Security (TLS) on every node to encrypt internode traffic and authenticate nodes in the local cluster with nodes in all remote clusters. Refer to set up basic security for the Elastic Stack for the required steps to configure security.
This procedure uses the same CA to generate certificates for all nodes. Alternatively, you can add the certificates from the local cluster as a trusted CA in each remote cluster. You must also add the certificates from remote clusters as a trusted CA on the local cluster. Using the same CA to generate certificates for all nodes simplifies this task.
Connect to a remote cluster
editYou must have the manage
cluster privilege to connect remote clusters.
The local cluster uses the transport interface to establish communication with remote clusters. The coordinating nodes in the local cluster establish long-lived TCP connections with specific nodes in the remote cluster. Elasticsearch requires these connections to remain open, even if the connections are idle for an extended period.
To add a remote cluster from Stack Management in Kibana:
- Select Remote Clusters from the side navigation.
- Enter a name (cluster alias) for the remote cluster.
-
Specify the Elasticsearch endpoint URL, or the IP address or host name of the remote
cluster followed by the transport port (defaults to
9300
). For example,cluster.es.eastus2.staging.azure.foundit.no:9300
or192.168.1.1:9300
.
Alternatively, use the cluster update settings API
to add a remote cluster. You can also use this API to dynamically configure
remote clusters for every node in the local cluster. To configure remote
clusters on individual nodes in the local cluster, define static settings in
elasticsearch.yml
for each node.
The following request adds a remote cluster with an alias of cluster_one
. This
cluster alias is a unique identifier that represents the connection to the
remote cluster and is used to distinguish between local and remote indices.
resp = client.cluster.put_settings( persistent={ "cluster": { "remote": { "cluster_one": { "seeds": [ "127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port}" ] } } } }, ) print(resp)
const response = await client.cluster.putSettings({ persistent: { cluster: { remote: { cluster_one: { seeds: ["127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port}"], }, }, }, }, }); console.log(response);
PUT /_cluster/settings { "persistent" : { "cluster" : { "remote" : { "cluster_one" : { "seeds" : [ "127.0.0.1:9300" ] } } } } }
The cluster alias of this remote cluster is |
|
Specifies the hostname and transport port of a seed node in the remote cluster. |
You can use the remote cluster info API to verify that the local cluster is successfully connected to the remote cluster:
resp = client.cluster.remote_info() print(resp)
response = client.cluster.remote_info puts response
const response = await client.cluster.remoteInfo(); console.log(response);
GET /_remote/info
The API response indicates that the local cluster is connected to the remote
cluster with the cluster alias cluster_one
:
{ "cluster_one" : { "seeds" : [ "127.0.0.1:9300" ], "connected" : true, "num_nodes_connected" : 1, "max_connections_per_cluster" : 3, "initial_connect_timeout" : "30s", "skip_unavailable" : true, "mode" : "sniff" } }
The number of nodes in the remote cluster the local cluster is connected to. |
|
Indicates whether to skip the remote cluster if searched through cross-cluster search but no nodes are available. |
Dynamically configure remote clusters
editUse the cluster update settings API to dynamically
configure remote settings on every node in the cluster. The following request
adds three remote clusters: cluster_one
, cluster_two
, and cluster_three
.
The seeds
parameter specifies the hostname and
transport port (default
9300
) of a seed node in the remote cluster.
The mode
parameter determines the configured connection mode, which defaults
to sniff
. Because cluster_one
doesn’t specify a mode
, it
uses the default. Both cluster_two
and cluster_three
explicitly use
different modes.
resp = client.cluster.put_settings( persistent={ "cluster": { "remote": { "cluster_one": { "seeds": [ "127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port}" ] }, "cluster_two": { "mode": "sniff", "seeds": [ "127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port-plus1}" ], "transport.compress": True, "skip_unavailable": True }, "cluster_three": { "mode": "proxy", "proxy_address": "127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port-plus2}" } } } }, ) print(resp)
const response = await client.cluster.putSettings({ persistent: { cluster: { remote: { cluster_one: { seeds: ["127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port}"], }, cluster_two: { mode: "sniff", seeds: ["127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port-plus1}"], "transport.compress": true, skip_unavailable: true, }, cluster_three: { mode: "proxy", proxy_address: "127.0.0.1:{remote-interface-default-port-plus2}", }, }, }, }, }); console.log(response);
PUT _cluster/settings { "persistent": { "cluster": { "remote": { "cluster_one": { "seeds": [ "127.0.0.1:9300" ] }, "cluster_two": { "mode": "sniff", "seeds": [ "127.0.0.1:9301" ], "transport.compress": true, "skip_unavailable": true }, "cluster_three": { "mode": "proxy", "proxy_address": "127.0.0.1:9302" } } } } }
You can dynamically update settings for a remote cluster after the initial
configuration. The following request updates the compression settings for
cluster_two
, and the compression and ping schedule settings for
cluster_three
.
When the compression or ping schedule settings change, all existing node connections must close and re-open, which can cause in-flight requests to fail.
resp = client.cluster.put_settings( persistent={ "cluster": { "remote": { "cluster_two": { "transport.compress": False }, "cluster_three": { "transport.compress": True, "transport.ping_schedule": "60s" } } } }, ) print(resp)
response = client.cluster.put_settings( body: { persistent: { cluster: { remote: { cluster_two: { 'transport.compress' => false }, cluster_three: { 'transport.compress' => true, 'transport.ping_schedule' => '60s' } } } } } ) puts response
const response = await client.cluster.putSettings({ persistent: { cluster: { remote: { cluster_two: { "transport.compress": false, }, cluster_three: { "transport.compress": true, "transport.ping_schedule": "60s", }, }, }, }, }); console.log(response);
PUT _cluster/settings { "persistent": { "cluster": { "remote": { "cluster_two": { "transport.compress": false }, "cluster_three": { "transport.compress": true, "transport.ping_schedule": "60s" } } } } }
You can delete a remote cluster from the cluster settings by passing null
values for each remote cluster setting. The following request removes
cluster_two
from the cluster settings, leaving cluster_one
and
cluster_three
intact:
resp = client.cluster.put_settings( persistent={ "cluster": { "remote": { "cluster_two": { "mode": None, "seeds": None, "skip_unavailable": None, "transport.compress": None } } } }, ) print(resp)
response = client.cluster.put_settings( body: { persistent: { cluster: { remote: { cluster_two: { mode: nil, seeds: nil, skip_unavailable: nil, 'transport.compress' => nil } } } } } ) puts response
const response = await client.cluster.putSettings({ persistent: { cluster: { remote: { cluster_two: { mode: null, seeds: null, skip_unavailable: null, "transport.compress": null, }, }, }, }, }); console.log(response);
PUT _cluster/settings { "persistent": { "cluster": { "remote": { "cluster_two": { "mode": null, "seeds": null, "skip_unavailable": null, "transport.compress": null } } } } }
Statically configure remote clusters
editIf you specify settings in elasticsearch.yml
, only the nodes with
those settings can connect to the remote cluster and serve remote cluster
requests.
Remote cluster settings that are specified using the
cluster update settings API take precedence over
settings that you specify in elasticsearch.yml
for individual nodes.
In the following example, cluster_one
, cluster_two
, and cluster_three
are
arbitrary cluster aliases representing the connection to each cluster. These
names are subsequently used to distinguish between local and remote indices.
Configure roles and users for remote clusters
editAfter connecting remote clusters, you create a user role on both the local and remote clusters and assign necessary privileges. These roles are required to use cross-cluster replication and cross-cluster search.
You must use the same role names on both the local
and remote clusters. For example, the following configuration for cross-cluster replication uses the
remote-replication
role name on both the local and remote clusters. However,
you can specify different role definitions on each cluster.
You can manage users and roles from Stack Management in Kibana by selecting
Security > Roles from the side navigation. You can also use the
role management APIs to add, update, remove, and
retrieve roles dynamically. When you use the APIs to manage roles in the
native
realm, the roles are stored in an internal Elasticsearch index.
The following requests use the
create or update roles API. You must have at least the
manage_security
cluster privilege to use this API.
Configure privileges for cross-cluster replication
editThe cross-cluster replication user requires different cluster and index privileges on the remote cluster and local cluster. Use the following requests to create separate roles on the local and remote clusters, and then create a user with the required roles.
Remote cluster
editOn the remote cluster that contains the leader index, the cross-cluster replication role requires
the read_ccr
cluster privilege, and monitor
and read
privileges on the
leader index.
If requests are authenticated with an API key, the API key requires the above privileges on the local cluster, instead of the remote.
If requests are issued on behalf of other users,
then the authenticating user must have the run_as
privilege on the remote
cluster.
The following request creates a remote-replication
role on the remote cluster:
resp = client.security.put_role( name="remote-replication", cluster=[ "read_ccr" ], indices=[ { "names": [ "leader-index-name" ], "privileges": [ "monitor", "read" ] } ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putRole({ name: "remote-replication", cluster: ["read_ccr"], indices: [ { names: ["leader-index-name"], privileges: ["monitor", "read"], }, ], }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/role/remote-replication { "cluster": [ "read_ccr" ], "indices": [ { "names": [ "leader-index-name" ], "privileges": [ "monitor", "read" ] } ] }
Local cluster
editOn the local cluster that contains the follower index, the remote-replication
role requires the manage_ccr
cluster privilege, and monitor
, read
, write
,
and manage_follow_index
privileges on the follower index.
The following request creates a remote-replication
role on the local cluster:
resp = client.security.put_role( name="remote-replication", cluster=[ "manage_ccr" ], indices=[ { "names": [ "follower-index-name" ], "privileges": [ "monitor", "read", "write", "manage_follow_index" ] } ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putRole({ name: "remote-replication", cluster: ["manage_ccr"], indices: [ { names: ["follower-index-name"], privileges: ["monitor", "read", "write", "manage_follow_index"], }, ], }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/role/remote-replication { "cluster": [ "manage_ccr" ], "indices": [ { "names": [ "follower-index-name" ], "privileges": [ "monitor", "read", "write", "manage_follow_index" ] } ] }
After creating the remote-replication
role on each cluster, use the
create or update users API to create a user on
the local cluster cluster and assign the remote-replication
role. For
example, the following request assigns the remote-replication
role to a user
named cross-cluster-user
:
resp = client.security.put_user( username="cross-cluster-user", password="l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", roles=[ "remote-replication" ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putUser({ username: "cross-cluster-user", password: "l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", roles: ["remote-replication"], }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/user/cross-cluster-user { "password" : "l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", "roles" : [ "remote-replication" ] }
You only need to create this user on the local cluster.
You can then configure cross-cluster replication to replicate your data across datacenters.
Configure privileges for cross-cluster search
editThe cross-cluster search user requires different cluster and index privileges on the remote cluster and local cluster. The following requests create separate roles on the local and remote clusters, and then create a user with the required roles.
Remote cluster
editOn the remote cluster, the cross-cluster search role requires the read
and
read_cross_cluster
privileges for the target indices.
If requests are authenticated with an API key, the API key requires the above privileges on the local cluster, instead of the remote.
If requests are issued on behalf of other users,
then the authenticating user must have the run_as
privilege on the remote
cluster.
The following request creates a remote-search
role on the remote cluster:
resp = client.security.put_role( name="remote-search", indices=[ { "names": [ "target-indices" ], "privileges": [ "read", "read_cross_cluster" ] } ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putRole({ name: "remote-search", indices: [ { names: ["target-indices"], privileges: ["read", "read_cross_cluster"], }, ], }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/role/remote-search { "indices": [ { "names": [ "target-indices" ], "privileges": [ "read", "read_cross_cluster" ] } ] }
Local cluster
editOn the local cluster, which is the cluster used to initiate cross cluster
search, a user only needs the remote-search
role. The role privileges can be
empty.
The following request creates a remote-search
role on the local cluster:
resp = client.security.put_role( name="remote-search", ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putRole({ name: "remote-search", }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/role/remote-search {}
After creating the remote-search
role on each cluster, use the
create or update users API to create a user on the
local cluster and assign the remote-search
role. For example, the following
request assigns the remote-search
role to a user named cross-search-user
:
resp = client.security.put_user( username="cross-search-user", password="l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", roles=[ "remote-search" ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putUser({ username: "cross-search-user", password: "l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", roles: ["remote-search"], }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/user/cross-search-user { "password" : "l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", "roles" : [ "remote-search" ] }
You only need to create this user on the local cluster.
Users with the remote-search
role can then
search across clusters.
Configure privileges for cross-cluster search and Kibana
editWhen using Kibana to search across multiple clusters, a two-step authorization process determines whether or not the user can access data streams and indices on a remote cluster:
- First, the local cluster determines if the user is authorized to access remote clusters. The local cluster is the cluster that Kibana is connected to.
- If the user is authorized, the remote cluster then determines if the user has access to the specified data streams and indices.
To grant Kibana users access to remote clusters, assign them a local role
with read privileges to indices on the remote clusters. You specify data streams
and indices in a remote cluster as <remote_cluster_name>:<target>
.
To grant users read access on the remote data streams and indices, you must
create a matching role on the remote clusters that grants the
read_cross_cluster
privilege with access to the appropriate data streams and
indices.
For example, you might be actively indexing Logstash data on a local cluster and and periodically offload older time-based indices to an archive on your remote cluster. You want to search across both clusters, so you must enable Kibana users on both clusters.
Local cluster
editOn the local cluster, create a logstash-reader
role that grants
read
and view_index_metadata
privileges on the local logstash-*
indices.
If you configure the local cluster as another remote in Elasticsearch, the
logstash-reader
role on your local cluster also needs to grant the
read_cross_cluster
privilege.
resp = client.security.put_role( name="logstash-reader", indices=[ { "names": [ "logstash-*" ], "privileges": [ "read", "view_index_metadata" ] } ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putRole({ name: "logstash-reader", indices: [ { names: ["logstash-*"], privileges: ["read", "view_index_metadata"], }, ], }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/role/logstash-reader { "indices": [ { "names": [ "logstash-*" ], "privileges": [ "read", "view_index_metadata" ] } ] }
Assign your Kibana users a role that grants
access to Kibana, as well as your
logstash_reader
role. For example, the following request creates the
cross-cluster-kibana
user and assigns the kibana-access
and
logstash-reader
roles.
resp = client.security.put_user( username="cross-cluster-kibana", password="l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", roles=[ "logstash-reader", "kibana-access" ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putUser({ username: "cross-cluster-kibana", password: "l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", roles: ["logstash-reader", "kibana-access"], }); console.log(response);
PUT /_security/user/cross-cluster-kibana { "password" : "l0ng-r4nd0m-p@ssw0rd", "roles" : [ "logstash-reader", "kibana-access" ] }
Remote cluster
editOn the remote cluster, create a logstash-reader
role that grants the
read_cross_cluster
privilege and read
and view_index_metadata
privileges
for the logstash-*
indices.
resp = client.security.put_role( name="logstash-reader", indices=[ { "names": [ "logstash-*" ], "privileges": [ "read_cross_cluster", "read", "view_index_metadata" ] } ], ) print(resp)
const response = await client.security.putRole({ name: "logstash-reader", indices: [ { names: ["logstash-*"], privileges: ["read_cross_cluster", "read", "view_index_metadata"], }, ], }); console.log(response);
POST /_security/role/logstash-reader { "indices": [ { "names": [ "logstash-*" ], "privileges": [ "read_cross_cluster", "read", "view_index_metadata" ] } ] }