Encrypt Cluster and Client Elasticsearch Networks

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Encrypt Cluster and Client Elasticsearch Networks

No matter what technology we are working with, we always need to be mindful of security. Big data platforms are certainly no exception, as they can contain massive amounts of sensitive data that must be protected. Elasticsearch provides multiple security mechanisms through X-Pack Security. In this hands-on lab, you will complete the following tasks on a 3-node Elasticsearch cluster: * Generate a certificate authority * Generate node certificates * Add certificate passwords to Elasticsearch's keystore * Enable cluster (transport) network encryption * Enable client (HTTP) network encryption * Set built-in user passwords

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Lab Info

Level

Advanced

Last updated

Sep 04, 2025

Duration

1h 45m

Challenge

Generate a Certificate Authority (CA).
1. Using the Secure Shell (SSH), log in to each node as cloud_user via the public IP address.
2. Become the elastic user with:
```
sudo su - elastic
```
1. Create a certs directory on each node:
```
mkdir /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs
```
1. On the master-1 node, create a CA certificate with password elastic_ca in the new certs directory:
```
/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-certutil ca --out config/certs/ca --pass elastic_ca
```

Challenge

Generate and deploy a certificate for each node per instructions.

Using the Secure Shell (SSH), log in to the master-1 node as cloud_user via the public IP address.
Become the elastic user with:

sudo su - elastic

On the master-1 node, generate each node's certificate with the CA per instructions:

/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --ca config/certs/ca --ca-pass elastic_ca --name master-1 --dns ip-10-1-101.ec2.internal --ip 10.0.1.101 --out config/certs/master-1 --pass elastic_master_1
/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --ca config/certs/ca --ca-pass elastic_ca --name master-2 --dns ip-10-1-102.ec2.internal --ip 10.0.1.102 --out config/certs/master-2 --pass elastic_master_2
/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --ca config/certs/ca --ca-pass elastic_ca --name master-3 --dns ip-10-1-103.ec2.internal --ip 10.0.1.103 --out config/certs/master-3 --pass elastic_master_3
/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --ca config/certs/ca --ca-pass elastic_ca --name data-1 --dns ip-10-1-104.ec2.internal --ip 10.0.1.104 --out config/certs/data-1 --pass elastic_data_1
/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --ca config/certs/ca --ca-pass elastic_ca --name data-2 --dns ip-10-1-105.ec2.internal --ip 10.0.1.105 --out config/certs/data-2 --pass elastic_data_2
/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --ca config/certs/ca --ca-pass elastic_ca --name data-3 --dns ip-10-1-106.ec2.internal --ip 10.0.1.106 --out config/certs/data-3 --pass elastic_data_3

On the master-1 node, remote copy each certificate to the certs directory created on each node:

scp /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs/master-2 10.0.1.102:/home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs
scp /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs/master-3 10.0.1.103:/home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs
scp /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs/data-1 10.0.1.104:/home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs
scp /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs/data-2 10.0.1.105:/home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs
scp /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs/data-3 10.0.1.106:/home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/certs

Add the transport keystore password on each node:

echo "CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD_HERE" | /home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-keystore add --stdin xpack.security.transport.ssl.keystore.secure_password

Add the transport truststore password on each node:

echo "CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD_HERE" | /home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-keystore add --stdin xpack.security.transport.ssl.truststore.secure_password

Add the HTTP keystore password on each node:

echo "CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD_HERE" | /home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-keystore add --stdin xpack.security.http.ssl.keystore.secure_password

Add the HTTP truststore password on each node:

echo "CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD_HERE" | /home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-keystore add --stdin xpack.security.http.ssl.truststore.secure_password

Challenge

Configure transport network encryption and restart Elasticsearch.

Using the Secure Shell (SSH), log in to each node as cloud_user via the public IP address.
Become the elastic user with:

sudo su - elastic

Add the following to /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml on each node:

#
# ---------------------------------- X-Pack ------------------------------------
#
xpack.security.enabled: true
xpack.security.transport.ssl.enabled: true
xpack.security.transport.ssl.verification_mode: full
xpack.security.transport.ssl.keystore.path: certs/CERTIFICATE_FILE_NAME_HERE
xpack.security.transport.ssl.truststore.path: certs/CERTIFICATE_FILE_NAME_HERE

Stop Elasticsearch:

pkill -F /home/elastic/elasticsearch/pid

Start Elasticsearch as a background daemon and record the PID to a file:

/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -d -p pid

Challenge

Use the elasticsearch-setup-passwords tool to set the password for each built-in user.

Using the Secure Shell (SSH), log in to the master-1 node as cloud_user via the public IP address.
Become the elastic user with:

sudo su - elastic

Set the built-in user passwords using the elasticsearch-setup-passwords utility on the master-1 node:

/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords interactive

Use the following passwords:

User: elastic
Password: la_elastic_409

User: apm_system
Password: la_apm_system_409

User: kibana
Password: la_kibana_409

User: logstash_system
Password: la_logstash_system_409

User: beats_system
Password: la_beats_system_409

User: remote_monitoring_user
Password: la_remote_monitoring_user_409

Challenge

Configure HTTP network encryption and restart Elasticsearch.
1. Using the Secure Shell (SSH), log in to each node as cloud_user via the public IP address.
2. Become the elastic user with:
```
sudo su - elastic
```
1. Add the following to /home/elastic/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml:
```
xpack.security.http.ssl.enabled: true
xpack.security.http.ssl.keystore.path: certs/CERTIFICATE_FILE_NAME_HERE
xpack.security.http.ssl.truststore.path: certs/CERTIFICATE_FILE_NAME_HERE
```
1. Stop Elasticsearch:
```
pkill -F /home/elastic/elasticsearch/pid
```
1. Start Elasticsearch as a background daemon and record the PID to a file:
```
/home/elastic/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -d -p pid
```

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