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[[introduction]]
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== {kib} — your window into the Elastic Stack
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<titleabbrev>What is Kibana?</titleabbrev>
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**_Visualize and analyze your data and manage all things Elastic Stack._**
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Whether you’ re an analyst or an admin, {kib} makes your data actionable by providing
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three key functions. Kibana is:
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* **An open-source analytics and visualization platform.**
Use {kib} to explore your {es} data, and then build beautiful visualizations and dashboards.
* **A UI for managing the Elastic Stack.**
Manage your security settings, assign user roles, take snapshots, roll up your data,
and more — all from the convenience of a {kib} UI.
* **A centralized hub for Elastic's solutions.** From log analytics to
document discovery to SIEM, {kib} is the portal for accessing these and other capabilities.
[role="screenshot"]
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image::images/intro-kibana.png[Kibana home page]
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[float]
[[get-data-into-kibana]]
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=== Ingest data
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{kib} is designed to use {es} as a data source. Think of Elasticsearch as the engine that stores
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and processes the data, with {kib} sitting on top.
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To start working with your data in Kibana, use one of the many ingest options,
available from the home page. You can collect data from an app or service or upload a file that contains your data.
If you're not ready to use your own data, you can add a sample data set
to give {kib} a test drive.
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[role="screenshot"]
image::setup/images/add-data-home.png[Built-in options for adding data to Kibana: Add data, Add Elastic Agent, Upload a file]
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[float]
[[explore-and-query]]
=== Explore & query
Ready to dive into your data? With <<discover, Discover>>, you can explore your data and
search for hidden insights and relationships. Ask your questions, and then
narrow the results to just the data you want.
[role="screenshot"]
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image::images/intro-discover.png[Discover UI]
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[float]
[[visualize-and-analyze]]
=== Visualize & analyze
A visualization is worth a thousand log lines, and {kib} provides
many options for showcasing your data. Use <<lens, Lens>>,
our drag-and-drop interface,
to rapidly build
charts, tables, metrics, and more. If there
is a better visualization for your data, *Lens* suggests it, allowing for quick
switching between visualization types.
Once your visualizations are just the way you want,
use <<dashboard, Dashboard>> to collect them in one place. A dashboard provides
insights into your data from multiple perspectives.
[role="screenshot"]
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image::images/intro-dashboard.png[Sample eCommerce data set dashboard]
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{kib} also offers these visualization features:
* <<canvas, Canvas>> gives you the ability to present your data in a
visually compelling, pixel-perfect report. Give your data the “wow” factor
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needed to impress your CEO or to captivate coworkers with a big-screen display.
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* <<maps, Maps>> enables you to ask (and answer) meaningful
questions of your location-based data. Maps supports multiple
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layers and data sources, mapping of individual geo points and shapes,
and dynamic client-side styling.
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* <<tsvb, TSVB>> allows you to combine
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an infinite number of aggregations to display complex data.
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With TSVB, you can customize
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every aspect of your visualization. Choose your own date format and color
gradients, and easily switch your data view between time series, metric,
top N, gauge, and markdown.
[float]
[[organize-and-secure]]
=== Organize & secure
Want to share Kibana’ s goodness with other people or teams? You can do so with
<<xpack-spaces, Spaces>>, built for organizing your visualizations, dashboards, and indices.
Think of a space as its own mini {kib} installation — it’ s isolated from
all other spaces, so you can tailor it to your specific needs without impacting others.
You can even choose which features to enable within each space. Don’ t need
Machine learning in your “Executive” space? Simply turn it off.
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image::images/intro-spaces.png[Space selector screen]
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You can take this all one step further with Kibana’ s security features, and
control which users have access to each space. {kib} allows for fine-grained
controls, so you can give a user read-only access to
dashboards in one space, but full access to all of Kibana’ s features in another.
[float]
[[manage-all-things-stack]]
=== Manage all things Elastic Stack
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<<management, Stack Management>> provides guided processes for managing all
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things Elastic Stack — indices, clusters, licenses, UI settings,
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and more. Want to update your {es} indices? Set user roles and privileges?
Turn on dark mode? Kibana has UIs for all that.
[role="screenshot"]
image::images/intro-management.png[]
[float]
[[extend-your-use-case]]
=== Extend your use case — or add a new one
As a hub for Elastic's https://www.elastic.co/products/[solutions], {kib}
can help you find security vulnerabilities,
monitor performance, and address your business needs. Get alerted if a key
metric spikes. Detect anomalous behavior or forecast future spikes. Root out
bottlenecks in your application code. Kibana doesn’ t limit or dictate how you explore your data.
[role="screenshot"]
image::siem/images/detections-ui.png[]
[float]
[[try-kibana]]
=== Give {kib} a try
There is no faster way to try out {kib} than with our hosted {es} Service.
https://www.elastic.co/cloud/elasticsearch-service/signup[Sign up for a free trial]
and start exploring data in minutes.
You can also <<install, install {kib} on your own>> — no code, no additional
infrastructure required.
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Our <<get-started, Quick start>> and in-product guidance can
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help you get up and running, faster. Click the help icon image:images/intro-help-icon.png[Help icon in navigation bar] for help with questions or to provide feedback.