---
title: Start a single-node cluster in Docker
description: Use Docker commands to start a single-node Elasticsearch cluster for development or testing. You can then run additional Docker commands to add nodes...
url: https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/install-elasticsearch-docker-basic
products:
  - Elastic Stack
  - Elasticsearch
  - Kibana
applies_to:
  - Self-managed Elastic deployments: Generally available
---

# Start a single-node cluster in Docker
Use Docker commands to start a single-node Elasticsearch cluster for development or testing. You can then run additional Docker commands to add nodes to the test cluster or run Kibana.
<tip>
  - If you just want to test Elasticsearch in local development, refer to [Run Elasticsearch locally](https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/local-development-installation-quickstart). Note that this setup is not suitable for production environments.
  - This setup doesn’t run multiple Elasticsearch nodes or Kibana by default. To create a multi-node cluster with Kibana, use Docker Compose instead. See [Start a multi-node cluster with Docker Compose](https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/install-elasticsearch-docker-compose).
</tip>


## Hardened Docker images

You can also use the hardened [Wolfi](https://wolfi.dev/) image for additional security. Using Wolfi images requires Docker version 20.10.10 or higher.
To use the Wolfi image, append `-wolfi` to the image tag in the Docker command.
For example:
<tab-set>
  <tab-item title="Latest">
    ```sh
    docker pull docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-wolfi:9.4.2
    ```
  </tab-item>

  <tab-item title="Specific version">
    ```sh
    docker pull docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-wolfi:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
    ```
    You can download and install a specific version of the Elastic Stack by replacing `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with the version number you want. For example, you can replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with 9.0.0.
  </tab-item>
</tab-set>


## Start a single-node cluster

1. Install Docker. Visit [Get Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/) to install Docker for your environment.
   If using Docker Desktop, make sure to allocate at least 4GB of memory. You can adjust memory usage in Docker Desktop by going to **Settings > Resources**.
2. Create a new docker network.
   ```sh
   docker network create elastic
   ```
3. Pull the Elasticsearch Docker image.
   <tab-set>
   <tab-item title="Latest">
   ```sh
   docker pull docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.2
   ```
   </tab-item>

   <tab-item title="Specific version">
   Replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with the Elastic Stack version number you want. For example, you can replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with 9.0.0. You'll use this same version number throughout this tutorial.
   ```sh
   docker pull docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```
   </tab-item>
   </tab-set>
4. Optional: Install [Cosign](https://docs.sigstore.dev/cosign/system_config/installation/) for your environment. Then use Cosign to verify the Elasticsearch image’s signature.
   <tab-set>
   <tab-item title="Latest">
   ```sh
   wget https://artifacts.elastic.co/cosign.pub
   cosign verify --key cosign.pub docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.2
   ```
   The `cosign` command prints the check results and the signature payload in JSON format:
   ```sh
   Verification for docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.2 --
   The following checks were performed on each of these signatures:
   - The cosign claims were validated
   - Existence of the claims in the transparency log was verified offline
   - The signatures were verified against the specified public key
   ```
   </tab-item>

   <tab-item title="Specific version">
   Replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with the version of the Docker image you downloaded.

   ```sh
   wget https://artifacts.elastic.co/cosign.pub
   cosign verify --key cosign.pub docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```
   The `cosign` command prints the check results and the signature payload in JSON format:
   ```sh
   Verification for docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER> --
   The following checks were performed on each of these signatures:
   - The cosign claims were validated
   - Existence of the claims in the transparency log was verified offline
   - The signatures were verified against the specified public key
   ```
   </tab-item>
   </tab-set>
5. Start an Elasticsearch container.
   <tab-set>
   <tab-item title="Latest">
   ```sh
   docker run --name es01 --net elastic -p 9200:9200 -it -m 1GB docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.2
   ```

   <tip>
   Use the `-m` flag to set a memory limit for the container. This removes the need to [manually set the JVM size](/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/install-elasticsearch-docker-prod#docker-set-heap-size).
   </tip>
   Machine learning features such as [semantic search with ELSER](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/search/semantic-search/semantic-search-elser-ingest-pipelines) require a larger container with more than 1GB of memory. If you intend to use the machine learning capabilities, then start the container with this command:
   ```sh
   docker run --name es01 --net elastic -p 9200:9200 -it -m 6GB -e "xpack.ml.use_auto_machine_memory_percent=true" docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.2
   ```
   The command prints the `elastic` user password and an enrollment token for Kibana.
   </tab-item>

   <tab-item title="Specific version">
   Use the same Elastic Stack version number as the Docker image you pulled earlier and replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with it.
   ```sh
   docker run --name es01 --net elastic -p 9200:9200 -it -m 1GB docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```

   <tip>
   Use the `-m` flag to set a memory limit for the container. This removes the need to [manually set the JVM size](/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/install-elasticsearch-docker-prod#docker-set-heap-size).
   </tip>
   Machine learning features such as [semantic search with ELSER](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/search/semantic-search/semantic-search-elser-ingest-pipelines) require a larger container with more than 1GB of memory. If you intend to use the machine learning capabilities, then start the container with this command:
   ```sh
   docker run --name es01 --net elastic -p 9200:9200 -it -m 6GB -e "xpack.ml.use_auto_machine_memory_percent=true" docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```
   The command prints the `elastic` user password and an enrollment token for Kibana.
   </tab-item>
   </tab-set>
6. Copy the generated `elastic` password and enrollment token. These credentials are only shown when you start Elasticsearch for the first time. You can regenerate the credentials using the following commands.
   ```sh
   docker exec -it es01 /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic
   docker exec -it es01 /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-create-enrollment-token -s kibana
   ```
   We recommend storing the `elastic` password as an environment variable in your shell. Example:
   ```sh
   export ELASTIC_PASSWORD="your_password"
   ```
7. Copy the `http_ca.crt` SSL certificate from the container to your local machine.
   ```sh
   docker cp es01:/usr/share/elasticsearch/config/certs/http_ca.crt .
   ```
8. Make a REST API call to Elasticsearch to ensure the Elasticsearch container is running.
   ```sh
   curl --cacert http_ca.crt -u elastic:$ELASTIC_PASSWORD https://localhost:9200
   ```


## Add more nodes

1. Use an existing node to generate a enrollment token for the new node.
   ```sh
   docker exec -it es01 /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-create-enrollment-token -s node
   ```
   The enrollment token is valid for 30 minutes.
2. Start a new Elasticsearch container. Include the enrollment token as an environment variable.
   <tab-set>
   <tab-item title="Latest">
   ```sh
   docker run -e ENROLLMENT_TOKEN="<token>" --name es02 --net elastic -it -m 1GB docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:9.4.2
   ```
   </tab-item>

   <tab-item title="Specific version">
   Use the same Elastic Stack version number as the Docker image you pulled earlier and replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with it.
   ```sh
   docker run -e ENROLLMENT_TOKEN="<token>" --name es02 --net elastic -it -m 1GB docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```
   </tab-item>
   </tab-set>
3. Call the [cat nodes API](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch/operation/operation-cat-nodes) to verify the node was added to the cluster.
   ```sh
   curl --cacert http_ca.crt -u elastic:$ELASTIC_PASSWORD https://localhost:9200/_cat/nodes
   ```


## Run Kibana

1. Pull the Kibana Docker image.
   <tab-set>
   <tab-item title="Latest">
   ```sh
   docker pull docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:9.4.2
   ```
   </tab-item>

   <tab-item title="Specific version">
   Use the same Elastic Stack version number as the Docker image you pulled earlier and replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with it.
   ```sh
   docker pull docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```
   </tab-item>
   </tab-set>
2. Optional: Verify the Kibana image’s signature.
   <tab-set>
   <tab-item title="Latest">
   ```sh
   wget https://artifacts.elastic.co/cosign.pub
   cosign verify --key cosign.pub docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:9.4.2
   ```
   </tab-item>

   <tab-item title="Specific version">
   Use the same Elastic Stack version number as the Docker image you pulled earlier and replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with it.
   ```sh
   wget https://artifacts.elastic.co/cosign.pub
   cosign verify --key cosign.pub docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```
   </tab-item>
   </tab-set>
3. Start a Kibana container.
   <tab-set>
   <tab-item title="Latest">
   ```sh
   docker run --name kib01 --net elastic -p 5601:5601 docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:9.4.2
   ```
   </tab-item>

   <tab-item title="Specific version">
   Use the same Elastic Stack version number as the Docker image you pulled earlier and replace `<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>` with it.
   ```sh
   docker run --name kib01 --net elastic -p 5601:5601 docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:<SPECIFIC.VERSION.NUMBER>
   ```
   </tab-item>
   </tab-set>
4. When Kibana starts, it outputs a unique generated link to the terminal. To access Kibana, open this link in a web browser.
5. In your browser, enter the enrollment token that was generated when you started Elasticsearch.
   To regenerate the token, run:
   ```sh
   docker exec -it es01 /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-create-enrollment-token -s kibana
   ```
6. Log in to Kibana as the `elastic` user with the password that was generated when you started Elasticsearch.
   To regenerate the password, run:
   ```sh
   docker exec -it es01 /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -u elastic
   ```


## Remove containers

To remove the containers and their network, run:
```sh
# Remove the Elastic network
docker network rm elastic

# Remove Elasticsearch containers
docker rm es01
docker rm es02

# Remove the Kibana container
docker rm kib01
```


## Next steps

You now have a test Elasticsearch environment set up. Before you start serious development or go into production with Elasticsearch, review the [requirements and recommendations](https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/install-elasticsearch-docker-prod) to apply when running Elasticsearch in Docker in production.