[[network.host]]
[discrete]
=== Network host setting

By default, {es} binds to loopback addresses only such as `127.0.0.1`
and `[::1]`. This binding is sufficient to run a single development node on a
server.

TIP: more than one node can be started from the same `$ES_HOME`
location on a single node. This setup can be useful for testing {es}'s
ability to form clusters, but it is not a configuration recommended for
production.

To form a cluster with nodes on other servers, your
node will need to bind to a non-loopback address. While there are many
<<modules-network,network settings>>, usually all you need to configure is
`network.host`:

[source,yaml]
--------------------------------------------------
network.host: 192.168.1.10
--------------------------------------------------

The `network.host` setting also understands some special values such as
`_local_`, `_site_`, `_global_` and modifiers like `:ip4` and `:ip6`. See
<<network-interface-values>>.

IMPORTANT: When you provide a custom setting for `network.host`,
{es} assumes that you are moving from development mode to production
mode, and upgrades a number of system startup checks from warnings to
exceptions. See the differences between <<dev-vs-prod,development and production modes>>.
