elasticsearch/docs/reference/setup/secure-settings.asciidoc

[[secure-settings]]
=== Secure settings

Some settings are sensitive, and relying on filesystem permissions to protect
their values is not sufficient. For this use case, Elasticsearch provides a
keystore and the `elasticsearch-keystore` tool to manage the settings in the keystore.

NOTE: All commands here should be run as the user which will run Elasticsearch.

IMPORTANT: Only some settings are designed to be read from the keystore. However,
the keystore has no validation to block unsupported settings.
Adding unsupported settings to the keystore will cause {es}
to fail to start. See documentation for each setting to see if it is supported
as part of the keystore.

NOTE: All the modifications to the keystore take affect only after restarting
Elasticsearch.

NOTE: The elasticsearch keystore currently only provides obfuscation. In the future,
password protection will be added.

These settings, just like the regular ones in the `elasticsearch.yml` config file,
need to be specified on each node in the cluster. Currently, all secure settings
are node-specific settings that must have the same value on every node.

[float]
[[creating-keystore]]
=== Creating the keystore

To create the `elasticsearch.keystore`, use the `create` command:

[source,sh]
----------------------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-keystore create
----------------------------------------------------------------

The file `elasticsearch.keystore` will be created alongside `elasticsearch.yml`.

[float]
[[list-settings]]
=== Listing settings in the keystore

A list of the settings in the keystore is available with the `list` command:

[source,sh]
----------------------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-keystore list
----------------------------------------------------------------

[float]
[[add-string-to-keystore]]
=== Adding string settings

Sensitive string settings, like authentication credentials for cloud
plugins, can be added using the `add` command:

[source,sh]
----------------------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-keystore add the.setting.name.to.set
----------------------------------------------------------------

The tool will prompt for the value of the setting. To pass the value
through stdin, use the `--stdin` flag:

[source,sh]
----------------------------------------------------------------
cat /file/containing/setting/value | bin/elasticsearch-keystore add --stdin the.setting.name.to.set
----------------------------------------------------------------

[float]
[[add-file-to-keystore]]
=== Adding file settings
You can add sensitive files, like authentication key files for cloud plugins,
using the `add-file` command. Be sure to include your file path as an argument
after the setting name.

[source,sh]
----------------------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-keystore add-file the.setting.name.to.set /path/example-file.json
----------------------------------------------------------------

[float]
[[remove-settings]]
=== Removing settings

To remove a setting from the keystore, use the `remove` command:

[source,sh]
----------------------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-keystore remove the.setting.name.to.remove
----------------------------------------------------------------

[float]
[[keystore-upgrade]]
=== Upgrading the keystore

Occasionally, the internal format of the keystore changes. When Elasticsearch is
installed from a package manager, an upgrade of the on-disk keystore to the new
format is done during package upgrade. In other cases, Elasticsearch will
perform such an upgrade during node startup. This requires that Elasticsearch
have write permissions to the directory that contains the keystore.
Alternatively, you can manually perform such an upgrade by using the `upgrade`
command:

[source,sh]
----------------------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-keystore upgrade
----------------------------------------------------------------

[float]
[[reloadable-secure-settings]]
=== Reloadable secure settings

Just like the settings values in `elasticsearch.yml`, changes to the
keystore contents are not automatically applied to the running
elasticsearch node. Re-reading settings requires a node restart.
However, certain secure settings are marked as *reloadable*. Such settings
can be re-read and applied on a running node.

The values of all secure settings, *reloadable* or not, must be identical
across all cluster nodes. After making the desired secure settings changes,
using the `bin/elasticsearch-keystore add` command, call:

[source,console]
----
POST _nodes/reload_secure_settings
----

This API will decrypt and re-read the entire keystore, on every cluster node,
but only the *reloadable* secure settings will be applied. Changes to other
settings will not go into effect until the next restart. Once the call returns,
the reload has been completed, meaning that all internal datastructures dependent
on these settings have been changed. Everything should look as if the settings
had the new value from the start.

When changing multiple *reloadable* secure settings, modify all of them, on
each cluster node, and then issue a `reload_secure_settings` call, instead
of reloading after each modification.

There are reloadable secure settings for:

* {plugins}/repository-azure-client-settings.html[The Azure repository plugin]
* {plugins}/discovery-ec2-usage.html#_configuring_ec2_discovery[The EC2 discovery plugin]
* {plugins}/repository-gcs-client.html[The GCS repository plugin]
* {plugins}/repository-s3-client.html[The S3 repository plugin]