elasticsearch/docs/reference/security/securing-communications/securing-elasticsearch.asciidoc

[role="xpack"]
[[configuring-tls]]
=== Encrypting communications in {es}

{stack} {security-features} enable you to encrypt traffic to, from, and within
your {es} cluster. Connections are secured using Transport Layer Security
(TLS/SSL).

WARNING: Clusters that do not have encryption enabled send all data in plain text
including passwords. If the {es} {security-features} are enabled, unless you
have a trial license, you must configure SSL/TLS for internode-communication.

To enable encryption, you need to perform the following steps on each node in
the cluster:

. Verify that the `xpack.security.enabled` setting is `true`. For more
information, see <<security-settings>>. 

. <<node-certificates, Generate a private key and X.509 certificate>>.

. Configure each node to:
.. Required: <<tls-transport,Enable TLS on the transport layer>>.
.. Recommended: <<tls-http,Enable TLS on the HTTP layer>>.

. If you are using Active Directory user authentication, 
<<tls-active-directory,encrypt communications between {es} and your Active Directory server>>. 

. If you are using LDAP user authentication, 
<<tls-ldap,encrypt communications between {es} and your LDAP server>>. 

For more information about encrypting communications across the Elastic Stack,
see {stack-ov}/encrypting-communications.html[Encrypting Communications].

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