IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the current release documentation.
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Elastic Docs ›Kibana Guide [8.6] ›Set up ›Install Kibana

Install Kibana on Windows

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Install Kibana on Windows

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Kibana can be installed on Windows using the .zip package.

This package contains both free and subscription features. Start a 30-day trial to try out all of the features.

The latest stable version of Kibana can be found on the Download Kibana page. Other versions can be found on the Past Releases page.

Download and install the .zip package

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Download the .zip windows archive for Kibana v8.6.2 from https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/kibana/kibana-8.6.2-windows-x86_64.zip

Unzip it with your favourite unzip tool. This will create a folder called kibana-8.6.2-windows-x86_64, which we will refer to as $KIBANA_HOME. In a terminal window, CD to the $KIBANA_HOME directory, for instance:

CD c:\kibana-8.6.2-windows-x86_64

Start Elasticsearch and generate an enrollment token for Kibana

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When you start Elasticsearch for the first time, the following security configuration occurs automatically:

  • Certificates and keys for TLS are generated for the transport and HTTP layers.
  • The TLS configuration settings are written to elasticsearch.yml.
  • A password is generated for the elastic user.
  • An enrollment token is generated for Kibana.

You can then start Kibana and enter the enrollment token to securely connect Kibana with Elasticsearch. The enrollment token is valid for 30 minutes.

Run Kibana from the command line

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Kibana can be started from the command line as follows:

.\bin\kibana.bat

By default, Kibana runs in the foreground, prints its logs to STDOUT, and can be stopped by pressing Ctrl-C.

If this is the first time you’re starting Kibana, this command generates a unique link in your terminal to enroll your Kibana instance with Elasticsearch.

  1. In your terminal, click the generated link to open Kibana in your browser.
  2. In your browser, paste the enrollment token that was generated in the terminal when you started Elasticsearch, and then click the button to connect your Kibana instance with Elasticsearch.
  3. Log in to Kibana as the elastic user with the password that was generated when you started Elasticsearch.

If you need to reset the password for the elastic user or other built-in users, run the elasticsearch-reset-password tool. To generate new enrollment tokens for Kibana or Elasticsearch nodes, run the elasticsearch-create-enrollment-token tool. These tools are available in the Elasticsearch bin directory.

Configure Kibana via the config file

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Kibana loads its configuration from the $KIBANA_HOME/config/kibana.yml file by default. The format of this config file is explained in Configuring Kibana.

Directory layout of .zip archive

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The .zip package is entirely self-contained. All files and directories are, by default, contained within $KIBANA_HOME — the directory created when unpacking the archive.

This is very convenient because you don’t have to create any directories to start using Kibana, and uninstalling Kibana is as easy as removing the $KIBANA_HOME directory. However, it is advisable to change the default locations of the config and data directories so that you do not delete important data later on.

Type Description Default Location Setting

home

Kibana home directory or $KIBANA_HOME

Directory created by unpacking the archive

bin

Binary scripts including kibana to start the Kibana server and kibana-plugin to install plugins

$KIBANA_HOME\bin

config

Configuration files including kibana.yml

$KIBANA_HOME\config

KBN_PATH_CONF

data

The location of the data files written to disk by Kibana and its plugins

$KIBANA_HOME\data

plugins

Plugin files location. Each plugin will be contained in a subdirectory.

$KIBANA_HOME\plugins
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