Elasticsearch-users Command

The elasticsearch-users command allows you to add or remove users using file-based authentication in the Elasticsearch cluster. It also allows you to manage user roles and passwords per node. This post explores the various use cases of the elasticsearch-users command.

Command Location

The elasticsearch-users command is located in the bin directory of the elasticsearch install directory:

Keep in mind that this may vary depending on the installation method and the environment in which you are accessing your cluster.

Command Syntax

The elasticsearch-users command follows a relatively simple syntax as shown:

Option Description

—— ———–

-E <KeyValuePair> Configure a setting

-h, –help Show help

-s, –silent Show minimal output

-v, –verbose Show verbose output

Elasticsearch-Users Sub Commands

The elasticsearch-users command supports various subcommands allowing you to add and remove users, manage passwords, edit roles, etc.

The subcommands are as shown:

Commands

Let us now explore how we can use the elasticsearch-users command to perform various operations.

Examples

The following examples show how to perform various actions using the elasticsearch-users command:

Example 1 – Elasticsearch-Users Create User

We can use the elasticsearch-users command and the useradd subcommand to create a new user in the file realm.

An example is shown below:

The command above creates a new user with the username ‘linuxhint’ and the password ‘password.’

Example 2 – Elasticsearch Users Create Users With Roles

To assign specific roles to a given username during user creation, we can use the -r parameter followed by the list of roles we wish to assign as a comma-separated list

Example:

The command above creates a user with the specified username and password. We also assign the superuser, kibana_admin, and watcher_admin roles to the username.

Example 3 – Elasticsearch-users List Users

We can list the users in the file realm using the list subcommand. Example:

The command should list the available usernames and the associated roles.

Example 4 – Elasticsearch-Users Reset Password

To change the password of an existing user, we can use the passwd command as shown in the example below:

Enter new password:

Retype new password:

The command will prompt you for a new password for the specified username.

Example 5 – Elasticsearch-users Delete User

To remove a user, we can use the userdel subcommand as shown:

Conclusion

This post taught you how to use the Elasticsearch-users command to manage file-based user authentication and roles.