Installing Workplace Search

The Workplace Search offering is currently available as beta software, in the form of a self-managed deployable binary. It can be downloaded free for experimentation and evaluation.

First, you’ll need to get Elasticsearch up and running with security features:

Step 1. Download Elasticsearch 7.6.x and navigate to the newly unpacked directory.

Step 2. Locate the config/elasticsearch.yml configuration file and edit the following setting to enable Elasticsearch’s Security features:

xpack.security.enabled: true

Step 3. Start Elasticsearch:

$ bin/elasticsearch

Step 4. Open a new terminal window, and navigate to the Elasticsearch directory. From here, we must generate a random password for the elastic user, which will be used by Workplace Search to securely communicate with the underlying Elasticsearch cluster:

$ bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords auto

Locate the password for the elastic user as output in the console and keep it handy: we will need it in a few moments.

We must now configure Workplace Search:

Step 5. Download Workplace Search 7.6.x and navigate to the newly unpacked directory.

Step 6. Locate the config/enterprise-search.yml file and edit the following settings using the recently generated password:

ent_search.auth.source: standard
elasticsearch.username: elastic
elasticsearch.password: [ELASTIC_USER_PASSWORD]

Step 7. Add the following configuration to the`config/enterprise-search.yml` file. It allows Enterprise Search to create to appropriate indices for the target Elasticsearch cluster:

allow_es_settings_modification: true

Step 8. You must also set at least one encryption key in the same config/enterprise-search.yml configuration file (256-bit key recommended), as an array:

secret_management.encryption_keys: [{encryption_key1}, {encryption_key2}, {...}]

Step 9. Run the boot command and provide a default user password to start Workplace Search. The default password will also be used to log in to the Workplace Search administrative experience:

$ ENT_SEARCH_DEFAULT_PASSWORD=passwordexample bin/enterprise-search

Step 10. Head to http://localhost:3002. You will be presented with a one-time deployment status report. If the Elasticsearch cluster is not already running with a Platinum license applied, a trial license is automatically applied for you and will be valid for 30 days.

With the enterprise_search user in hand and the password provided at boot time, proceed to the next step to log in.

Voilà! You’re up and running, and ready to take on your Workplace Search project. Read the Getting started guide for more information on setting up Elastic Workplace Search as an administrator.

Workplace Search makes alterations to the auto_create_index persistent and transient settings within Elasticsearch when using allow_es_settings_modification: true. Avoid making changes to those settings as it may result in unintended consequences.

An alternative approach involves setting the auto_create_index configuration in elasticsearch.yml for the target Elasticsearch cluster:

action.auto_create_index: ".ent-search-*-logs-*,-.ent-search-*,-test-.ent-search-*,+*"

Using this alternative approach allows you to maintain all Elasticsearch-specific settings at the cluster level.

Run the binary with an attached --reset-auth command: