[role="xpack"]
[[setup-passwords]]
== setup-passwords

The `setup-passwords` command sets the passwords for the built-in `elastic`,
`kibana`, and `logstash_system` users.

[float]
=== Synopsis

[source,shell]
--------------------------------------------------
bin/x-pack/setup-passwords auto|interactive [-u "<URL>"]
--------------------------------------------------

[float]
=== Description

This command is intended for use only during the initial configuration of
{xpack}. It uses the
{xpack-ref}/setting-up-authentication.html#bootstrap-elastic-passwords[`elastic` bootstrap password]
to run user management API requests. After you set a password for the `elastic`
user, the bootstrap password is no longer active and you cannot use this command.
Instead, you can change passwords by using the *Management > Users* UI in {kib}
or the <<security-api-change-password,Change Password API>>.

[float]
=== Parameters

`auto`::  Outputs randomly-generated passwords to the console.

`interactive`:: Prompts you to manually enter passwords.

`-u "<URL>"`:: Specifies the URL that the tool uses to submit the user management API
requests. The default value is determined from the settings in your
`elasticsearch.yml` file.

[float]
=== Examples

The following example uses the `-u` parameter to tell the tool where to submit
its user management API requests:

[source,shell]
--------------------------------------------------
bin/x-pack/setup-passwords auto -u "http://localhost:9201"
--------------------------------------------------