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Encrypting Communications in an Elasticsearch Docker Image

Starting with version 6.0.0, X-Pack security (Gold, Platinum or Enterprise subscriptions) requires SSL/TLS encryption for the transport networking layer.

This section demonstrates an easy path to get started with SSL/TLS for both HTTPS and transport using the elasticsearch-platinum docker image.

For further details, please refer to Encrypting Communications and available subscriptions.

Prepare the environment

Install Elasticsearch with Docker.

Inside a new, empty, directory create the following four files:

instances.yml:

instances:
  - name: es01
    dns:
      - es01 
      - localhost
    ip:
      - 127.0.0.1
  - name: es02
    dns:
      - es02
      - localhost
    ip:
      - 127.0.0.1

Allow use of embedded Docker DNS server names.

.env:

CERTS_DIR=/usr/share/elasticsearch/config/x-pack/certificates 
ELASTIC_PASSWORD=PleaseChangeMe

	The path, inside the Docker image, where certificates are expected to be found.
	Initial password for the `elastic` user.

create-certs.yml:

version: '2.2'
services:
  create_certs:
    container_name: create_certs
    image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-platinum:6.0.1
    command: >
      bash -c '
        if [[ ! -d config/x-pack/certificates/certs ]]; then
          mkdir config/x-pack/certificates/certs;
        fi;
        if [[ ! -f /local/certs/bundle.zip ]]; then
          bin/x-pack/certgen --silent --in config/x-pack/certificates/instances.yml --out config/x-pack/certificates/certs/bundle.zip;
          unzip config/x-pack/certificates/certs/bundle.zip -d config/x-pack/certificates/certs; 
        fi;
        chgrp -R 0 config/x-pack/certificates/certs
      '
    user: ${UID:-1000}
    working_dir: /usr/share/elasticsearch
    volumes: ['.:/usr/share/elasticsearch/config/x-pack/certificates']

The new node certificates and CA certificate+key are placed under the local directory certs.

docker-compose.yml:

version: '2.2'
services:
  es01:
    container_name: es01
    image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-platinum:6.0.1
    environment:
      - node.name=es01
      - discovery.zen.minimum_master_nodes=2
      - ELASTIC_PASSWORD=$ELASTIC_PASSWORD 
      - "ES_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m"
      - xpack.security.http.ssl.enabled=true
      - xpack.security.transport.ssl.enabled=true
      - xpack.security.transport.ssl.verification_mode=certificate 
      - xpack.ssl.certificate_authorities=$CERTS_DIR/ca/ca.crt
      - xpack.ssl.certificate=$CERTS_DIR/es01/es01.crt
      - xpack.ssl.key=$CERTS_DIR/es01/es01.key
    volumes: ['esdata_01:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data', './certs:$CERTS_DIR']
    ports:
      - 9200:9200
    healthcheck:
      test: curl --cacert $CERTS_DIR/ca/ca.crt -s https://localhost:9200 >/dev/null; if [[ $$? == 52 ]]; then echo 0; else echo 1; fi
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 5
  es02:
    container_name: es02
    image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-platinum:6.0.1
    environment:
      - node.name=es02
      - discovery.zen.minimum_master_nodes=2
      - ELASTIC_PASSWORD=$ELASTIC_PASSWORD
      - discovery.zen.ping.unicast.hosts=es01
      - "ES_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m"
      - xpack.security.http.ssl.enabled=true
      - xpack.security.transport.ssl.enabled=true
      - xpack.security.transport.ssl.verification_mode=certificate
      - xpack.ssl.certificate_authorities=$CERTS_DIR/ca/ca.crt
      - xpack.ssl.certificate=$CERTS_DIR/es02/es02.crt
      - xpack.ssl.key=$CERTS_DIR/es02/es02.key
    volumes: ['esdata_02:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data', './certs:$CERTS_DIR']
  wait_until_ready:
    image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-platinum:6.0.1
    command: /usr/bin/true
    depends_on: {"es01": {"condition": "service_healthy"}}
volumes: {"esdata_01": {"driver": "local"}, "esdata_02": {"driver": "local"}}

	Bootstrap `elastic` with the password defined in `.env`. See the Elastic Bootstrap Password.
	Disable verification of authenticity for inter-node communication. Allows creating self-signed certificates without having to pin specific internal IP addresses.

Run the example

Generate the certificates (only needed once):
```
docker-compose -f create-certs.yml up
```
Start two Elasticsearch nodes configured for SSL/TLS:
```
docker-compose up -d
```

Access the Elasticsearch API over SSL/TLS using the bootstrapped password:

curl --cacert certs/ca/ca.crt -u elastic:PleaseChangeMe https://localhost:9200

The setup-passwords tool can also be used to generate random passwords for all users:

Windows users not running PowerShell will need to remove \ and join lines in the snippet below.

docker exec es01 /bin/bash -c "bin/x-pack/setup-passwords \
auto --batch \
-Expack.ssl.certificate=x-pack/certificates/es01/es01.crt \
-Expack.ssl.certificate_authorities=x-pack/certificates/ca/ca.crt \
-Expack.ssl.key=x-pack/certificates/es01/es01.key \
--url https://localhost:9200"

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