[[logstash]]
=== Logstash and Security

The Logstash Elasticsearch plugins (
{logstash-ref}/plugins-outputs-elasticsearch.html[output],
{logstash-ref}/plugins-inputs-elasticsearch.html[input],
{logstash-ref}/plugins-filters-elasticsearch.html[filter]
and <<monitoring-logstash-settings, monitoring>>)
support authentication and encryption over HTTP.

To use Logstash with a secured cluster, you need to configure authentication 
credentials for Logstash. Logstash throws an exception and the processing 
pipeline is halted if authentication fails. 

If encryption is enabled on the cluster, you also need to enable SSL in the 
Logstash configuration. 

If you wish to monitor your logstash instance with x-pack monitoring, and store
the monitoring data in a secured elasticsearch cluster, you must configure Logstash
with a username and password for a user with the appropriate permissions.

In addition to configuring authentication credentials for Logstash, you need
to grant authorized users permission to access the Logstash indices.

[float]
[[ls-http-auth-basic]]
==== Configuring Logstash to use Basic Authentication

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:

. Create a `logstash_writer` role that has the `manage_index_templates` cluster 
privilege, and the `write`, `delete`, and `create_index` privileges  for the 
Logstash indices. You can create roles from the **Management > Roles** UI in 
Kibana or through the `role` API:
+
[source, sh]
---------------------------------------------------------------
POST _xpack/security/role/logstash_writer
{
  "cluster": ["manage_index_templates", "monitor"],
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": [ "logstash-*" ], <1>
      "privileges": ["write","delete","create_index"]
    }
  ]
}
---------------------------------------------------------------

<1> If you use a custom Logstash index pattern, specify that pattern
instead of the default `logstash-*` pattern.

. Create a `logstash_internal` user and assign it the `logstash_writer` role.
You can create users from the **Management > Users** UI in Kibana or through 
the `user` API:
+
[source, sh]
---------------------------------------------------------------
POST _xpack/security/user/logstash_internal
{
  "password" : "changeme", 
  "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 Elasticsearch
plugins in your Logstash `.conf` file. For example:
+
[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
input { 
    ...
    user => logstash_internal 
    password => changeme
  }
filter { 
    ...
    user => logstash_internal 
    password => changeme
  }
output {
  elasticsearch {
    ...
    user => logstash_internal 
    password => changeme
  }
--------------------------------------------------

[float]
[[ls-user-access]]
==== Granting Users Access to the Logstash Indices

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 Kibana or through the `role` API:
+
[source, sh]
---------------------------------------------------------------
POST _xpack/security/role/logstash_reader
{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": [ "logstash-*" ], <1>
      "privileges": ["read","view_index_metadata"]
    }
  ]
}
---------------------------------------------------------------

<1> If you use a custom Logstash index pattern, specify that pattern
instead of the default `logstash-*` pattern.

. Assign your Logstash users the `logstash_reader` role. You can create 
and manage users from the **Management > Users** UI in Kibana or through 
the `user` API:
+
[source, sh]
---------------------------------------------------------------
POST _xpack/security/user/logstash_user
{
  "password" : "changeme", 
  "roles" : [ "logstash_reader"], 
  "full_name" : "Kibana User"
}
---------------------------------------------------------------

[float]
[[ls-http-auth-pki]]
===== Configuring the elasticsearch Output to use PKI Authentication 

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:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
output {
  elasticsearch {
    ...
    keystore => /path/to/keystore.jks 
    keystore_password => realpassword
    truststore =>  /path/to/truststore.jks <1>
    truststore_password =>  realpassword 
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
<1> If you use a separate truststore, the truststore path and password are 
also required.

[float]
[[ls-http-ssl]]
===== Configuring Logstash to use TLS Encryption

If TLS encryption is enabled on the Elasticsearch cluster, you need to 
configure the `ssl` and `cacert` options in your Logstash `.conf` file:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
output {
  elasticsearch {
    ...
    ssl => true
    cacert => '/path/to/cert.pem' <1>
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
<1> The path to the local `.pem` file that contains the Certificate
    Authority's certificate.

[float]
[[ls-monitoring-user]]
===== Configuring Logstash Monitoring

If you wish to ship Logstash <<monitoring-logstash-settings, monitoring>>
data to a secure cluster, Logstash must be configured with a username and password.

X-Pack security comes preconfigured with a `logstash_system` 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 password is set to `changeme`.
Change this password through the reset password API:

[source,js]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PUT _xpack/security/user/logstash_system/_password
{
  "password": "t0p.s3cr3t"
}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE

Then configure the user and password in your `logstash.yml` configuration file:

[source,yaml]
----------------------------------------------------------
xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.username: logstash_system
xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.password: t0p.s3cr3t
----------------------------------------------------------

If you initially installed an older version of X-Pack, and then upgraded, then
the `logstash_system` user may have defaulted to disabled for security reasons.
You can enable the user with the following API call:

[source,js]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PUT _xpack/security/user/logstash_system/_enable
---------------------------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE

