What is the default user and password for elasticsearch?

Question

docker run -p 9200:9200 \
           -p 9300:9300 \
           -e "discovery.type=single-node" \ 
           docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:5.6.2

But curl localhost:9200 fails with an authentication error:

{
  "error": {
    "root_cause": [
      {
        "type": "security_exception",
        "reason": "missing authentication token for REST request [/]",
        "header": {
          "WWW-Authenticate": "Basic realm=\"security\" charset=\"UTF-8\""
        }
      }
    ],
    "type": "security_exception",
    "reason": "missing authentication token for REST request [/]",
    "header": {
      "WWW-Authenticate": "Basic realm=\"security\" charset=\"UTF-8\""
    }
  },
  "status": 401
}

What is the default username/password combo for Elasticsearch?

score 94 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 05 '20 at 16:54

94

Defaults are:

user: elastic
password: changeme

So:

$ curl -u elastic:changeme localhost:9200
{
  "name" : "5aEHJ-Y",
  "cluster_name" : "docker-cluster",
  "cluster_uuid" : "3FmaYN7rS56oBTqWOyxmKA",
  "version" : {
    "number" : "5.6.2",
    "build_hash" : "57e20f3",
    "build_date" : "2017-09-23T13:16:45.703Z",
    "build_snapshot" : false,
    "lucene_version" : "6.6.1"
  },
  "tagline" : "You Know, for Search"
}

Setting up username and password for Elastic Search: (ES version:7.5.2) (Ubuntu 18.04)

Step 1: First enable xpackmonitoring in elasticsearch.yml file

root@flax:/etc/elasticsearch# vim elasticsearch.yml

Add the following line to the end of file:
    xpack.security.enabled: true

File Contents:
# ======================== Elasticsearch Configuration =========================
#
# NOTE: Elasticsearch comes with reasonable defaults for most settings.
#       Before you set out to tweak and tune the configuration, make sure you
#       understand what are you trying to accomplish and the consequences.
#
# The primary way of configuring a node is via this file. This template lists
# the most important settings you may want to configure for a production cluster.
#
# Please consult the documentation for further information on configuration options:
# https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/index.html
#
# ---------------------------------- Cluster -----------------------------------
#
# Use a descriptive name for your cluster:
#
#cluster.name: my-application
#
# ------------------------------------ Node ------------------------------------
#
# Use a descriptive name for the node:
#
#node.name: node-1
#
# Add custom attributes to the node:
#
#node.attr.rack: r1
#
# ----------------------------------- Paths ------------------------------------
#
# Path to directory where to store the data (separate multiple locations by comma):
#
path.data: /var/lib/elasticsearch
#
# Path to log files:
#
path.logs: /var/log/elasticsearch
#
# ----------------------------------- Memory -----------------------------------
#
# Lock the memory on startup:
#
#bootstrap.memory_lock: true
#
# Make sure that the heap size is set to about half the memory available
# on the system and that the owner of the process is allowed to use this
# limit.
#
# Elasticsearch performs poorly when the system is swapping the memory.
#
# ---------------------------------- Network -----------------------------------
#
# Set the bind address to a specific IP (IPv4 or IPv6):
#
#network.host: 192.168.0.1
network.host: 127.0.0.1
http.host: 0.0.0.0
#
# Set a custom port for HTTP:
#
http.port: 9200
#
# For more information, consult the network module documentation.
#
# --------------------------------- Discovery ----------------------------------
#
# Pass an initial list of hosts to perform discovery when this node is started:
# The default list of hosts is ["127.0.0.1", "[::1]"]
#
#discovery.seed_hosts: ["host1", "host2"]
#
# Bootstrap the cluster using an initial set of master-eligible nodes:
#
#cluster.initial_master_nodes: ["node-1", "node-2"]
#
# For more information, consult the discovery and cluster formation module documentation.
#
# ---------------------------------- Gateway -----------------------------------
#
# Block initial recovery after a full cluster restart until N nodes are started:
#
#gateway.recover_after_nodes: 3
#
# For more information, consult the gateway module documentation.
#
# ---------------------------------- Various -----------------------------------
#
# Require explicit names when deleting indices:
#
#action.destructive_requires_name: true
xpack.security.enabled: true

Step 2: Go to /usr/share/elasticsearch folder:

root@flax:/usr/share/elasticsearch# systemctl start elasticsearch

root@flax:/usr/share/elasticsearch# ./bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords interactive

Initiating the setup of passwords for reserved users elastic,apm_system,kibana,logstash_system,beats_system,remote_monitoring_user.
You will be prompted to enter passwords as the process progresses.
Please confirm that you would like to continue [y/N]y


Enter password for [elastic]: 
Reenter password for [elastic]: 
Enter password for [apm_system]: 
Reenter password for [apm_system]: 
Enter password for [kibana]: 
Reenter password for [kibana]: 
Enter password for [logstash_system]: 
Reenter password for [logstash_system]: 
Enter password for [beats_system]: 
Reenter password for [beats_system]: 
Passwords do not match.
Try again.
Enter password for [beats_system]: 
Reenter password for [beats_system]: 
Enter password for [remote_monitoring_user]: 
Reenter password for [remote_monitoring_user]: 
Changed password for user [apm_system]
Changed password for user [kibana]
Changed password for user [logstash_system]
Changed password for user [beats_system]
Changed password for user [remote_monitoring_user]
Changed password for user [elastic]

root@flax:/usr/share/elasticsearch# systemctl restart elasticsearch

root@flax:/usr/share/elasticsearch# systemctl restart elasticsearch.service

```./bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords: No such file or directory``` — Oliver Dixon, Jun 23 '20 at 08:56
@OliverDixon You need to install the "default" version of ES, not the OSS version in package managers. — ospider, Sep 28 '20 at 11:46

score 14 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 15 '23 at 13:39

14

Please be careful about the version of ElasticSearch. In 7.2 parameter ELASTIC_PASSWORD works.

docker run -p 9200:9200 \
           -p 9300:9300 \
           -e "discovery.type=single-node" \ 
           -e "ELASTIC_PASSWORD=my_own_password" \

But also this line should be added in elasticsearch.yml:

xpack.security.enabled: true

By default, it is not there.

Security settings list

edited Jan 15 '23 at 13:39

Scofield

4,195
2
27
31

answered Jul 24 '19 at 16:31

Ihor

184
1
3

only thing that would make the answer more complete is some kind of link to a list of other options like this – Dave Ankin Jul 14 '22 at 07:14

score 12 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 17 '20 at 05:28

If you enabled basic x-pack security using xpack.security.enabled: true in your elasticsearch version 7.7(at the time of writing this answer), it will not have a default password(changeme) as it used to be in the old version of x-pack.

As mentioned in the getting started with security official doc

X-Pack security provides a built-in elastic superuser you can use to start setting things up. This elastic user has full access to the cluster, including all indices and data, so the elastic user does not have a password set by default.

So you need to change the password of elastic, if you want to do it after the installation then follow setting password for built-in users in interactive mode guide

which requires you to run below command from elasticsearch bin folder.

bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords interactive

score 7 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 18 '21 at 14:46

To Set up username and password

ssh to the system, stop elasticsearch and kibana service, then run the following command

sudo nano /etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml

update this file, enable security by adding the following line

xpack.security.enabled: true

Change the password

Execute the following step to change the password

step 1:

 cd /usr/share/elasticsearch/

step 2:

sudo bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords auto

auto - Uses randomly generated passwords interactive - Uses passwords entered by a user

or

sudo bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords interactive

you can run the command in an "interactive" mode, which prompts you to enter new passwords for the elastic, kibana_system, logstash_system, beats_system, apm_system, and remote_monitoring_user users:

The above commands can help you to setup a password

Start Elasticsearch

Start the Elasticsearch service by running a systemctl command:

sudo systemctl start elasticsearch.service

It may take some time for the system to start the service. There will be no output if successful.

Enable Elasticsearch to start on boot:

sudo systemctl enable elasticsearch.service

Start and Enable Kibana

Start the Kibana service:

sudo systemctl start kibana

There is no output if the service starts successfully.

Next, configure Kibana to launch at boot:

sudo systemctl enable kibana

Where is the process to add or change username? – Kshitij Agarwal Apr 12 '22 at 13:33 — Kshitij Agarwal, Apr 12 '22 at 13:33

score 5 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 08 '22 at 11:01

5

Adding below two lines in \elasticsearch-8.2.2\config\elasticsearch.yml

# Enable security features
xpack.security.enabled: true
xpack.security.enrollment.enabled: true

and restart the server works for me, it prints password onto console with -u as username

answered Jun 08 '22 at 11:01

Dnyaneshwar Jadhav

277
5
19

How do you restart the server when it is inside the supported Docker container? It does not seem to be run by systemctl, for example. – dixon1e Jul 10 '22 at 06:53
1

So, @dixon1e this is I ran over CMD the .bat file, no docker container in this case, But It would be great if such option available, I will need to dig into more about this docker case. but here its a simple app executing on Windows OS. – Dnyaneshwar Jadhav Jul 10 '22 at 07:14

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 24 '19 at 16:50

2

In Elasticsearch version 6.x - you can specify initial password for elastic user using ELASTIC_PASSWORD env variable.

docker run -p 9200:9200 \
           -p 9300:9300 \
           -e "discovery.type=single-node" \ 
           -e "ELASTIC_PASSWORD=my_own_password" \
           docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:6.5.4

Source: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.x/configuring-tls-docker.html

answered Jan 24 '19 at 16:50

Alex

1,986
22
23

1

this will only work if you buy a paid licence as this feature needs the commercial "x-pack security" addon – Sliq Jun 14 '19 at 18:37
5

Since ELK Stack 6.8 and 7.X xpack became default feature of basic license. – user1435184 Dec 17 '19 at 07:53

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 05 '22 at 20:03

0

I had a similar issue with the latest version of elasticsearch. When I installed elasticsearch 7.14.0 it worked! If your interested,I have a youtube video on it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqgYebLacYI.

answered Aug 05 '22 at 20:03

Pranav Sai

41
4

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 15 '22 at 11:31

For version 8.4.3, you need to do these steps:

Update config\elasticsearch.yml to add xpack.security.enabled: true
Run this to create a keystore if got this kind of error message:

"ERROR: Elasticsearch keystore file is missing"

Run bin/elasticsearch-keystore create -p
Start Elastic search: bin/elasticsearch
Update password bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords interactive

Note: The 'elasticsearch-setup-passwords' tool has been deprecated. This command will be removed in a future release.
******************************************************************************

Initiating the setup of passwords for reserved users elastic,apm_system,kibana,kibana_system,logstash_system,beats_system,remote_monitoring_user.
You will be prompted to enter passwords as the process progresses.
Please confirm that you would like to continue [y/N]

score 0 · Answer 10 · edited Mar 23 '23 at 19:37

0

For ES 8.4.3 we can reset elastic search password like below

sudo docker exec -it es01 /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic

edited Mar 23 '23 at 19:37

Mike Szyndel

10,461
10
47
63

answered Mar 17 '23 at 12:51

Pandurang Babar

181
6

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered May 31 '23 at 08:40

I run the version of 8.8.0 I used , when you try running for the first time, it shows the password and username in logs, when you run it , search for the data like below in cmd it is almost latest line (I run it in windows):

 Password for the elastic user (reset with `bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic`):

if you don't seen in the first time, just remove the elastic folder and extract again, I do this. it is simplest way for .

What is the default user and password for elasticsearch?

11 Answers11

Setting up username and password for Elastic Search: (ES version:7.5.2) (Ubuntu 18.04)

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