docs/reference/secure-connection.md
The Logstash {{es}} output, input, and filter plugins, as well as monitoring and central management, support authentication and encryption over HTTPS.
{{es}} clusters are secured by default (starting in 8.0). You need to configure authentication credentials for Logstash in order to establish communication. Logstash throws an exception and the processing pipeline is halted if authentication fails.
In addition to configuring authentication credentials for Logstash, you need to grant authorized users permission to access the Logstash indices.
Security is enabled by default on the {{es}} cluster (starting in 8.0). You must enable TLS/SSL in the {{es}} output section of the Logstash configuration in order to allow Logstash to communicate with the {{es}} cluster.
{{es}} generates its own default self-signed Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates at startup.
{{ls}} must establish a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection before it can transfer data to a secured {{es}} cluster. {{ls}} must have a copy of the certificate authority (CA) that signed the {{es}} cluster’s certificates. When a new {{es}} cluster is started up without dedicated certificates, it generates its own default self-signed Certificate Authority at startup. See Starting the Elastic Stack with security enabled for more info.
{{ess}} uses certificates signed by standard publicly trusted certificate authorities, and therefore setting a ssl_certificate_authorities value is not necessary.
$$$serverless$$$
::::{admonition} Security to {{serverless-full}} :class: note
{{es-serverless}} simplifies safe, secure communication between {{ls}} and {{es}}.
Configure the {{ls}} {{es}} output plugin to use cloud_id and an api_key to establish safe, secure communication between {{ls}} and {{es-serverless}}. No additional SSL configuration steps are needed.
Configuration example:
output {elasticsearch { cloud_id => "<cloud id>" api_key => "<api key>" } }For more details, check out Grant access using API keys.
::::
$$$hosted-ess$$$
::::{admonition} Security to hosted {{ess}} :class: note
Our hosted {{ess}} on Elastic Cloud simplifies safe, secure communication between {{ls}} and {{es}}. When you configure the {{ls}} {{es}} output plugin to use cloud_id with either the cloud_auth option or the api_key option, no additional SSL configuration steps are needed. {{ess-leadin-short}}
Configuration example:
output {elasticsearch { cloud_id => "<cloud id>" cloud_auth => "<cloud auth>" } }output {elasticsearch { cloud_id => "<cloud id>" api_key => "<api key>" } }For more details, check out Grant access using API keys or Sending data to {{ech}}.
::::
If you are running {{es}} on your own hardware and using the Elasticsearch cluster’s default self-signed certificates, you need to complete a few more steps to establish secure communication between {{ls}} and {{es}}.
You need to:
These steps are not necessary if your cluster is using public trusted certificates.
By default an on-premise {{es}} cluster generates a self-signed CA and creates its own SSL certificates when it starts. Therefore {{ls}} needs its own copy of the self-signed CA from the {{es}} cluster in order for {{ls}} to validate the certificate presented by {{es}}.
Copy the self-signed CA certificate from the {{es}} config/certs directory.
Save it to a location that Logstash can access, such as config/certs on the {{ls}} instance.
Use the elasticsearch output's ssl_certificate_authorities option to point to the certificate’s location.
Example
output {
elasticsearch {
hosts => ["https://...] <1>
ssl_certificate_authorities => ['/etc/logstash/config/certs/ca.crt'] <2>
}
}
hosts url must begin with httpsFor more information about establishing secure communication with {{es}}, see security is on by default.
Logstash needs to be able to manage index templates, create indices, and write and delete documents in the indices it creates.
To set up authentication credentials for Logstash:
Use the Management > Roles UI in {{kib}} or the role API to create a logstash_writer role. For cluster privileges, add manage_index_templates and monitor. For indices privileges, add write, create, and create_index.
Add manage_ilm for cluster and manage and manage_ilm for indices if you plan to use index lifecycle management.
POST _security/role/logstash_writer
{
"cluster": ["manage_index_templates", "monitor", "manage_ilm"], <1>
"indices": [
{
"names": [ "logstash-*" ], <2>
"privileges": ["write","create","create_index","manage","manage_ilm"] <3>
}
]
}
manage_ilm privilege if index lifecycle management is enabled.logstash-* pattern.manage and manage_ilm privileges to load index lifecycle policies, create rollover aliases, and create and manage rollover indices.Create a logstash_internal user and assign it the logstash_writer role. You can create users from the Management > Users UI in {{kib}} or through the user API:
POST _security/user/logstash_internal
{
"password" : "x-pack-test-password",
"roles" : [ "logstash_writer"],
"full_name" : "Internal Logstash User"
}
Configure Logstash to authenticate as the logstash_internal user you just created. You configure credentials separately for each of the {{es}} plugins in your Logstash .conf file. For example:
input {
elasticsearch {
...
user => logstash_internal
password => x-pack-test-password
}
}
filter {
elasticsearch {
...
user => logstash_internal
password => x-pack-test-password
}
}
output {
elasticsearch {
...
user => logstash_internal
password => x-pack-test-password
}
}
To access the indices Logstash creates, users need the read and view_index_metadata privileges:
Create a logstash_reader role that has the read and view_index_metadata privileges for the Logstash indices. You can create roles from the Management > Roles UI in {{kib}} or through the role API:
POST _security/role/logstash_reader
{
"cluster": ["manage_logstash_pipelines"],
"indices": [
{
"names": [ "logstash-*" ],
"privileges": ["read","view_index_metadata"]
}
]
}
Assign your Logstash users the logstash_reader role. If the Logstash user will be using centralized pipeline management, also assign the logstash_system role. You can create and manage users from the Management > Users UI in {{kib}} or through the user API:
POST _security/user/logstash_user
{
"password" : "x-pack-test-password",
"roles" : [ "logstash_reader", "logstash_system"], <1>
"full_name" : "Kibana User for Logstash"
}
logstash_system is a built-in role that provides the necessary permissions to check the availability of the supported features of {{es}} cluster.If TLS encryption is enabled on an on premise {{es}} cluster, you need to configure the ssl_enabled and ssl_certificate_authorities options in your Logstash .conf file:
output {
elasticsearch {
...
ssl_enabled => true
ssl_certificate_authorities => '/path/to/cert.pem' <1>
}
}
.pem file that contains the Certificate Authority’s certificate.::::{note} Hosted {{ess}} simplifies security. This configuration step is not necessary for hosted Elasticsearch Service on Elastic Cloud. {{ess-leadin-short}} ::::
The elasticsearch output supports PKI authentication. To use an X.509 client-certificate for authentication, you configure the keystore and keystore_password options in your Logstash .conf file:
output {
elasticsearch {
...
ssl_keystore_path => /path/to/keystore.jks
ssl_keystore_password => realpassword
ssl_truststore_path => /path/to/truststore.jks <1>
ssl_truststore_password => realpassword
}
}
If you want to monitor your Logstash instance with {{stack-monitor-features}}, and store the monitoring data in a secured {{es}} cluster, you must configure Logstash with a username and password for a user with the appropriate permissions.
The {{security-features}} come preconfigured with a logstash_system built-in user for this purpose. This user has the minimum permissions necessary for the monitoring function, and should not be used for any other purpose - it is specifically not intended for use within a Logstash pipeline.
By default, the logstash_system user does not have a password. The user will not be enabled until you set a password. See Setting built-in user passwords.
Then configure the user and password in the logstash.yml configuration file:
xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.username: logstash_system
xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.password: t0p.s3cr3t
If you initially installed an older version of {{xpack}} and then upgraded, the logstash_system user may have defaulted to disabled for security reasons. You can enable the user through the user API:
PUT _security/user/logstash_system/_enable
If you plan to use Logstash centralized pipeline management, you need to configure the username and password that Logstash uses for managing configurations.
You configure the user and password in the logstash.yml configuration file:
xpack.management.elasticsearch.username: logstash_admin_user <1>
xpack.management.elasticsearch.password: t0p.s3cr3t
logstash_admin role as well as the logstash_writer role that you created earlier.Instead of using usernames and passwords, you can use API keys to grant access to {{es}} resources. You can set API keys to expire at a certain time, and you can explicitly invalidate them. Any user with the manage_api_key or manage_own_api_key cluster privilege can create API keys.
Tips for creating API keys:
API keys are tied to the cluster they are created in. If you are sending output to different clusters, be sure to create the correct kind of API key.
{{ls}} can send both collected data and monitoring information to {{es}}. If you are sending both to the same cluster, you can use the same API key. For different clusters, you need an API key per cluster.
A single cluster can share a key for ingestion and monitoring.
A production cluster and a monitoring cluster require separate keys.
When you create an API key for {{ls}}, select Logstash from the API key format dropdown.
This option formats the API key in the correct id:api_key format required by {{ls}}.
:::{image} images/logstash_api_key_format.png :alt: API key format dropdown set to {{ls}}: :screenshot: :width: 400px :::
The UI for API keys may look different depending on the deployment type.
::::{note} For security reasons, we recommend using a unique API key per {{ls}} instance. You can create as many API keys per user as necessary. ::::
You can create API keys using either the Create API key API or the Kibana UI. This section walks you through creating an API key using the Create API key API. The privileges needed are the same for either approach.
Here is an example that shows how to create an API key for publishing to {{es}} using the Elasticsearch output plugin.
POST /_security/api_key
{
"name": "logstash_host001", <1>
"role_descriptors": {
"logstash_writer": { <2>
"cluster": ["monitor", "manage_ilm", "read_ilm"],
"index": [
{
"names": ["logstash-*"],
"privileges": ["view_index_metadata", "create_doc"]
}
]
}
}
}
The return value should look similar to this:
{
"id":"TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU", <1>
"name":"logstash_host001",
"api_key":"KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA" <2>
}
You’re in luck! The example we used in the Create an API key section creates an API key for publishing to {{es}} using the Elasticsearch output plugin.
Here’s an example using the API key in your Elasticsearch output plugin configuration.
output {
elasticsearch {
api_key => "TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU:KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA" <1>
}
}
id:api_key, where id and api_key are the values returned by the Create API key APICreating an API key to use for reading data from {{es}} is similar to creating an API key for publishing described earlier. You can use the example in the Create an API key section, granting the appropriate privileges.
Here’s an example using the API key in your Elasticsearch inputs plugin configuration.
input {
elasticsearch {
"api_key" => "TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU:KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA" <1>
}
}
id:api_key, where id and api_key are the values returned by the Create API key APICreating an API key to use for processing data from {{es}} is similar to creating an API key for publishing described earlier. You can use the example in the Create an API key section, granting the appropriate privileges.
Here’s an example using the API key in your Elasticsearch filter plugin configuration.
filter {
elasticsearch {
api_key => "TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU:KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA" <1>
}
}
id:api_key, where id and api_key are the values returned by the Create API key APITo create an API key to use for sending monitoring data to {{es}}, use the Create API key API. For example:
POST /_security/api_key
{
"name": "logstash_host001", <1>
"role_descriptors": {
"logstash_monitoring": { <2>
"cluster": ["monitor"],
"index": [
{
"names": [".monitoring-ls-*"],
"privileges": ["create_index", "create"]
}
]
}
}
}
The return value should look similar to this:
{
"id":"TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU", <1>
"name":"logstash_host001",
"api_key":"KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA" <2>
}
Now you can use this API key in your logstash.yml configuration file:
xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.api_key: TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU:KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA <1>
id:api_key, where id and api_key are the values returned by the Create API key APITo create an API key to use for central management, use the Create API key API. For example:
POST /_security/api_key
{
"name": "logstash_host001", <1>
"role_descriptors": {
"logstash_monitoring": { <2>
"cluster": ["monitor", "manage_logstash_pipelines"]
}
}
}
The return value should look similar to this:
{
"id":"TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU", <1>
"name":"logstash_host001",
"api_key":"KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA" <2>
}
Now you can use this API key in your logstash.yml configuration file:
xpack.management.elasticsearch.api_key: TiNAGG4BaaMdaH1tRfuU:KnR6yE41RrSowb0kQ0HWoA <1>
id:api_key, where id and api_key are the values returned by the Create API key APISee the {{es}} API key documentation for more information:
See API Keys for info on managing API keys through {{kib}}.