Get token API

POST /_security/oauth2/token

The tokens are created by the Elasticsearch Token Service, which is automatically enabled when you configure TLS on the HTTP interface. See Encrypt HTTP client communications for Elasticsearch. Alternatively, you can explicitly enable the xpack.security.authc.token.enabled setting. When you are running in production mode, a bootstrap check prevents you from enabling the token service unless you also enable TLS on the HTTP interface.

The get token API takes the same parameters as a typical OAuth 2.0 token API except for the use of a JSON request body.

A successful get token API call returns a JSON structure that contains the access token, the amount of time (seconds) that the token expires in, the type, and the scope if available.

The tokens returned by the get token API have a finite period of time for which they are valid and after that time period, they can no longer be used. That time period is defined by the xpack.security.authc.token.timeout setting. For more information, see Token service settings.

If you want to invalidate a token immediately, you can do so by using the invalidate token API.

The following parameters can be specified in the body of a POST request and pertain to creating a token:

The following example obtains a token using the client_credentials grant type, which simply creates a token as the authenticated user:

POST /_security/oauth2/token
{
  "grant_type" : "client_credentials"
}

The following example output contains the access token, the amount of time (in seconds) that the token expires in, and the type:

{
  "access_token" : "dGhpcyBpcyBub3QgYSByZWFsIHRva2VuIGJ1dCBpdCBpcyBvbmx5IHRlc3QgZGF0YS4gZG8gbm90IHRyeSB0byByZWFkIHRva2VuIQ==",
  "type" : "Bearer",
  "expires_in" : 1200,
  "authentication" : {
    "username" : "test_admin",
    "roles" : [
      "superuser"
    ],
    "full_name" : null,
    "email" : null,
    "metadata" : { },
    "enabled" : true,
    "authentication_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "lookup_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "authentication_type" : "realm"
  }
}

The token returned by this API can be used by sending a request with an Authorization header with a value having the prefix "Bearer " followed by the value of the access_token.

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer dGhpcyBpcyBub3QgYSByZWFsIHRva2VuIGJ1dCBpdCBpcyBvbmx5IHRlc3QgZGF0YS4gZG8gbm90IHRyeSB0byByZWFkIHRva2VuIQ==" http://localhost:9200/_cluster/health

The following example obtains a token for the test_admin user using the password grant type. This request needs to be made by an authenticated user with sufficient privileges that may or may not be the same as the one whose username is passed in the username parameter:

POST /_security/oauth2/token
{
  "grant_type" : "password",
  "username" : "test_admin",
  "password" : "x-pack-test-password"
}

The following example output contains the access token, the amount of time (in seconds) that the token expires in, the type, and the refresh token:

{
  "access_token" : "dGhpcyBpcyBub3QgYSByZWFsIHRva2VuIGJ1dCBpdCBpcyBvbmx5IHRlc3QgZGF0YS4gZG8gbm90IHRyeSB0byByZWFkIHRva2VuIQ==",
  "type" : "Bearer",
  "expires_in" : 1200,
  "refresh_token": "vLBPvmAB6KvwvJZr27cS",
  "authentication" : {
    "username" : "test_admin",
    "roles" : [
      "superuser"
    ],
    "full_name" : null,
    "email" : null,
    "metadata" : { },
    "enabled" : true,
    "authentication_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "lookup_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "authentication_type" : "realm"
  }
}

To extend the life of an existing token obtained using the password grant type, you can call the API again with the refresh token within 24 hours of the token’s creation. For example:

POST /_security/oauth2/token
{
  "grant_type": "refresh_token",
  "refresh_token": "vLBPvmAB6KvwvJZr27cS"
}

The API will return a new token and refresh token. Each refresh token may only be used one time.

{
  "access_token" : "dGhpcyBpcyBub3QgYSByZWFsIHRva2VuIGJ1dCBpdCBpcyBvbmx5IHRlc3QgZGF0YS4gZG8gbm90IHRyeSB0byByZWFkIHRva2VuIQ==",
  "type" : "Bearer",
  "expires_in" : 1200,
  "refresh_token": "vLBPvmAB6KvwvJZr27cS",
  "authentication" : {
    "username" : "test_admin",
    "roles" : [
      "superuser"
    ],
    "full_name" : null,
    "email" : null,
    "metadata" : { },
    "enabled" : true,
    "authentication_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "lookup_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "authentication_type" : "token"
  }
}

The following example obtains a access token and refresh token using the kerberos grant type, which simply creates a token in exchange for the base64 encoded kerberos ticket:

POST /_security/oauth2/token
{
  "grant_type" : "_kerberos",
  "kerberos_ticket" : "YIIB6wYJKoZIhvcSAQICAQBuggHaMIIB1qADAgEFoQMCAQ6iBtaDcp4cdMODwOsIvmvdX//sye8NDJZ8Gstabor3MOGryBWyaJ1VxI4WBVZaSn1WnzE06Xy2"
}

The API will return a new token and refresh token if kerberos authentication is successful. Each refresh token may only be used one time. When the mutual authentication is requested in the Spnego GSS context, a base64 encoded token will be returned by the server in the kerberos_authentication_response_token for clients to consume and finalize the authentication.

{
  "access_token" : "dGhpcyBpcyBub3QgYSByZWFsIHRva2VuIGJ1dCBpdCBpcyBvbmx5IHRlc3QgZGF0YS4gZG8gbm90IHRyeSB0byByZWFkIHRva2VuIQ==",
  "type" : "Bearer",
  "expires_in" : 1200,
  "refresh_token": "vLBPvmAB6KvwvJZr27cS"
  "kerberos_authentication_response_token": "YIIB6wYJKoZIhvcSAQICAQBuggHaMIIB1qADAg",
  "authentication" : {
    "username" : "test_admin",
    "roles" : [
      "superuser"
    ],
    "full_name" : null,
    "email" : null,
    "metadata" : { },
    "enabled" : true,
    "authentication_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "lookup_realm" : {
      "name" : "file",
      "type" : "file"
    },
    "authentication_type" : "realm"
  }
}