Run the latest version of the Elastic stack with Docker and Docker Compose.

It gives you the ability to analyze any data set by using the searching/aggregation capabilities of Elasticsearch and the visualization power of Kibana.

ℹ️ The Docker images backing this stack include X-Pack with paid features enabled by default (see How to disable paid features to disable them). The trial license is valid for 30 days. After this license expires, you can continue using the free features seamlessly, without losing any data.

Based on the official Docker images from Elastic:

• Elasticsearch
• Filebeat
• Kibana

1. Requirements
   • Host setup
   • SELinux
   • Docker for Desktop
     • Windows
     • macOS
2. Usage
   • Version selection
   • Bringing up the stack
   • Cleanup
   • Initial setup
     • Setting up user authentication
     • Injecting data
     • Default Kibana index pattern creation
3. Configuration
   • How to configure Elasticsearch
   • How to configure Kibana
   • How to configure Logstash
   • How to disable paid features
   • How to scale out the Elasticsearch cluster
   • How to reset a password programmatically
4. JVM tuning
   • How to specify the amount of memory used by a service
   • How to enable a remote JMX connection to a service

• Docker Engine version 17.05 or newer
• Docker Compose version 1.20.0 or newer
• 1.5 GB of RAM

ℹ️ Especially on Linux, make sure your user has the [required permissions][linux-postinstall] to interact with the Docker daemon.

By default, the stack exposes the following ports:

• 9200: Elasticsearch HTTP
• 9300: Elasticsearch TCP transport
• 5601: Kibana
• 1515: OSSEC Authd Registration port
• 1514: OSSEC Remoted Communications port

On distributions which have SELinux enabled out-of-the-box you will need to either re-context the files or set SELinux into Permissive mode in order for docker-elk to start properly. For example on Redhat and CentOS, the following will apply the proper context:

$ chcon -R system_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 docker-elk/

Ensure the [Shared Drives][win-shareddrives] feature is enabled for the C: drive.

The default Docker for Mac configuration allows mounting files from /Users/, /Volumes/, /private/, and /tmp exclusively. Make sure the repository is cloned in one of those locations or follow the instructions from the [documentation][mac-mounts] to add more locations.

This repository tries to stay aligned with the latest version of the Elastic stack. The main branch tracks the current major version (7.x).

To use a different version of the core Elastic components, simply change the version number inside the .env file. If you are upgrading an existing stack, please carefully read the note in the next section.

⚠️ Always pay attention to the [official upgrade instructions][upgrade] for each individual component before performing a stack upgrade.

Older major versions are also supported on separate branches:

• release-6.x: 6.x series
• release-5.x: 5.x series (End-Of-Life)

Clone this repository onto the Docker host that will run the stack, then start services locally using Docker Compose:

$ make create

You can also run all services in the background (detached mode) by adding the -d flag to the above command.

⚠️ You must rebuild the stack images with docker-compose build whenever you switch branch or update the version of an already existing stack.

If you are starting the stack for the very first time, please read the section below attentively.

Elasticsearch data is persisted inside a volume by default.

In order to entirely shutdown the stack and remove all persisted data, use the following Docker Compose command:

$ make destroy

ℹ️ Refer to How to disable paid features to disable authentication.

The stack is pre-configured with the following privileged bootstrap user:

• user: elastic
• password: changeme

Although all stack components work out-of-the-box with this user, we strongly recommend using the unprivileged [built-in users][builtin-users] instead for increased security.

1. Initialize passwords for built-in users

    ```console
    $ docker-compose exec -T elasticsearch bin/elasticsearch-setup-passwords auto --batch
    ```
   
    Passwords for all 6 built-in users will be randomly generated. Take note of them.
   

2. Unset the bootstrap password (optional)

    Remove the `ELASTIC_PASSWORD` environment variable from the `elasticsearch` service inside the Compose file
    (`docker-compose.yml`). It is only used to initialize the keystore during the initial startup of Elasticsearch.
   

3. Replace usernames and passwords in configuration files

    Use the `kibana_system` user (`kibana` for releases <7.8.0) inside the Kibana configuration file
    (`kibana/config/kibana.yml`) and the `logstash_system` user inside the Logstash configuration file
    (`logstash/config/logstash.yml`) in place of the existing `elastic` user.
   
    Replace the password for the `elastic` user inside the Logstash pipeline file (`logstash/pipeline/logstash.conf`).
   
    *:information_source: Do not use the `logstash_system` user inside the Logstash **pipeline** file, it does not have
    sufficient permissions to create indices. Follow the instructions at [Configuring Security in Logstash][ls-security]
    to create a user with suitable roles.*
   
    See also the [Configuration](#configuration) section below.
   

4. Restart Kibana and Logstash to apply changes

    ```console
    $ docker-compose restart kibana logstash
    ```
   
    *:information_source: Learn more about the security of the Elastic stack at [Tutorial: Getting started with
    security][sec-tutorial].*
   

Give Kibana about a minute to initialize, then access the Kibana web UI by opening http://localhost:5601 in a web browser and use the following credentials to log in:

• user: elastic
• password: <your generated elastic password>

Now that the stack is running, you can go ahead and inject some log entries. The shipped Logstash configuration allows you to send content via TCP:

# Using BSD netcat (Debian, Ubuntu, MacOS system, ...)
$ cat /path/to/logfile.log | nc -q0 localhost 5000

# Using GNU netcat (CentOS, Fedora, MacOS Homebrew, ...)
$ cat /path/to/logfile.log | nc -c localhost 5000

You can also load the sample data provided by your Kibana installation.

When Kibana launches for the first time, it is not configured with any index pattern.

ℹ️ You need to inject data into Logstash before being able to configure a Logstash index pattern via the Kibana web UI.

Navigate to the Discover view of Kibana from the left sidebar. You will be prompted to create an index pattern. Enter ossec-* to match Logstash indices then, on the next page, select @timestamp as the time filter field. Finally, click Create index pattern and return to the Discover view to inspect your log entries.

Refer to [Connect Kibana with Elasticsearch][connect-kibana] and [Creating an index pattern][index-pattern] for detailed instructions about the index pattern configuration.

Generate OSSEC index using Kibana API.

$ make generate-index

Note: There will be a prompt to supply your Elasticsearch Password.

The created pattern will automatically be marked as the default index pattern as soon as the Kibana UI is opened for the first time.

Expected Output

$ make generate-index
$ /root/kofe-docker/scripts/index-manage.sh
$ Enter Elasticsearch Password: [REDACTED]
$ OSSEC index generated!

ℹ️ Configuration is not dynamically reloaded, you will need to restart individual components after any configuration change.

The Elasticsearch configuration is stored in [elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml][config-es].

You can also specify the options you want to override by setting environment variables inside the Compose file:

elasticsearch:

	environment:
		network.host: _non_loopback_
		cluster.name: my-cluster

Please refer to the following documentation page for more details about how to configure Elasticsearch inside Docker containers: [Install Elasticsearch with Docker][es-docker].

The Kibana default configuration is stored in [kibana/config/kibana.yml][config-kbn].

It is also possible to map the entire config directory instead of a single file.

Please refer to the following documentation page for more details about how to configure Kibana inside Docker containers: [Install Kibana with Docker][kbn-docker].

Switch the value of Elasticsearch's xpack.license.self_generated.type option from trial to basic (see License settings).

If for any reason your are unable to use Kibana to change the password of your users (including [built-in users][builtin-users]), you can use the Elasticsearch API instead and achieve the same result.

In the example below, we reset the password of the elastic user (notice "/user/elastic" in the URL):

$ curl -XPOST -D- 'http://localhost:9200/_security/user/elastic/_password' \
		-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
		-u elastic:<your current elastic password> \
		-d '{"password" : "<your new password>"}'

By default, Elasticsearch starts with 1/4 of the total host memory allocated to the JVM Heap Size.

The startup script for Elasticsearch can append extra JVM options from the value of an environment variable, allowing the user to adjust the amount of memory that can be used by each component:

To accomodate environments where memory is scarce (Docker for Mac has only 2 GB available by default), the Heap Size allocation is capped by default to 256MB per service in the docker-compose.yml file. If you want to override the default JVM configuration, edit the matching environment variable(s) in the docker-compose.yml file.

For example, to increase the maximum JVM Heap Size for Logstash:

elasticsearch:

	environment:
		ES_JAVA_OPTS: -Xmx1g -Xms1g

As for the Java Heap memory (see above), you can specify JVM options to enable JMX and map the JMX port on the Docker host.

Update the {ES,LS}_JAVA_OPTS environment variable with the following content (I've mapped the JMX service on the port 18080, you can change that). Do not forget to update the -Djava.rmi.server.hostname option with the IP address of your Docker host (replace DOCKER_HOST_IP):

elasticsearch:

	environment:
		ES_JAVA_OPTS: -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=18080 -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.rmi.port=18080 -Djava.rmi.server.hostname=DOCKER_HOST_IP -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.local.only=false

• TLS support for Elasticsearch and Kibana

Special thanks to:

• The creators of docker-elk
• Scott Shinn for creating ossec-docker