kibana/docs/setup.asciidoc

[[setup]]
== Setting Up Kibana
You can install Kibana and start exploring your Elasticsearch indices in minutes.
All you need is:

* Elasticsearch {esversion}
* A modern web browser - https://www.elastic.co/support/matrix#show_browsers[Supported Browsers].
* Information about your Elasticsearch installation:
** URL of the Elasticsearch instance you want to connect to.
** Which Elasticsearch indices you want to search.

[float]
[[install]]
=== Install Kibana
To install and start Kibana:

. Download the https://www.elastic.co/downloads/kibana[Kibana 4 binary package] for your platform.
. Extract the `.zip` or `tar.gz` archive file.
. If you're upgrading, migrate any configuration changes from the previous `kibana.yml` to the new version.
. Install Kibana plugins (optional).
. Run Kibana from the install directory: `bin/kibana` (Linux/MacOSX) or `bin\kibana.bat` (Windows).

That's it! Kibana is now running on port 5601.

On Unix, you can also install Kibana using the package manager suited for your distribution. For more 
information, see <<setup-repositories, Installing Kibana with apt and yum>>.

IMPORTANT: If your Elasticsearch installation is protected by http://www.elastic.co/overview/shield/[Shield] 
see {shield}/kibana.html#using-kibana4-with-shield[Using Kibana with Shield] for additional setup 
instructions.

[float]
[[connect]]
=== Connect Kibana with Elasticsearch
Before you can start using Kibana, you need to tell it which Elasticsearch indices you want to explore. 
The first time you access Kibana, you are prompted to define an _index pattern_ that matches the name of 
one or more of your indices. That's it. That's all you need to configure to start using Kibana. You can 
add index patterns at any time from the <<settings-create-pattern,Settings tab>>.

TIP: By default, Kibana connects to the Elasticsearch instance running on `localhost`. To connect to a 
different Elasticsearch instance, modify the Elasticsearch URL in the `kibana.yml` configuration file and 
restart Kibana. Forninformation about using Kibana with your production nodes, see <<production>>.

To configure the Elasticsearch indices you want to access with Kibana:

. Point your browser at port 5601 to access the Kibana UI. For example, `localhost:5601` or 
`http://YOURDOMAIN.com:5601`.
+
image:images/Start-Page.png[Kibana start page]
+
. Specify an index pattern that matches the name of one or more of your Elasticsearch indices. By default, 
Kibana guesses that you're working with data being fed into Elasticsearch by Logstash. If that's the case, 
you can use the default `logstash-*` as your index pattern. The asterisk (*) matches zero or more 
characters in an index's name. If your Elasticsearch indices follow some other naming convention, enter 
an appropriate pattern. The "pattern" can also simply be the name of a single index.
. Select the index field that contains the timestamp that you want to use to perform time-based 
comparisons. Kibana reads the index mapping to list all of the fields that contain a timestamp. If your 
index doesn't have time-based data, disable the *Index contains time-based events* option.
+
WARNING: Using event times to create index names is *deprecated* in this release of Kibana. Support for 
this functionality will be removed entirely in the next major Kibana release. Elasticsearch 2.1 includes 
sophisticated date parsing APIs that Kibana uses to determine date information, removing the need to 
specify dates in the index pattern name.
+
. Click *Create* to add the index pattern. This first pattern is automatically configured as the default.
When you have more than one index pattern, you can designate which one to use as the default from 
*Settings > Indices*.

All done! Kibana is now connected to your Elasticsearch data. Kibana displays a read-only list of fields 
configured for the matching index.

NOTE: Kibana relies on dynamic mapping to use fields in visualizations and manage the 
`.kibana` index. If you have disabled dynamic mapping, you need to manually provide 
mappings for the fields that Kibana uses to create visualizations. For more information, see 
<<kibana-dynamic-mapping,  Kibana and Elasticsearch Dynamic Mapping>>.

[float]
[[explore]]
=== Start Exploring your Data!
You're ready to dive in to your data:

* Search and browse your data interactively from the <<discover, Discover>> page.
* Chart and map your data from the <<visualize, Visualize>> page.
* Create and view custom dashboards from the <<dashboard, Dashboard>> page.

For a step-by-step introduction to these core Kibana concepts, see the <<getting-started, 
Getting Started>> tutorial.

[float]
[[kibana-dynamic-mapping]]
=== Kibana and Elasticsearch Dynamic Mapping
By default, Elasticsearch enables {ref}dynamic-mapping.html[dynamic mapping] for fields. Kibana needs 
dynamic mapping to use fields in visualizations correctly, as well as to manage the `.kibana` index 
where saved searches, visualizations, and dashboards are stored.

If your Elasticsearch use case requires you to disable dynamic mapping, you need to manually provide 
mappings for fields that Kibana uses to create visualizations. You also need to manually enable dynamic 
mapping for the `.kibana` index.

The following procedure assumes that the `.kibana` index does not already exist in Elasticsearch and 
that the `index.mapper.dynamic` setting in `elasticsearch.yml` is set to `false`:

. Start Elasticsearch.
. Create the `.kibana` index with dynamic mapping enabled just for that index:
+
[source,shell]
PUT .kibana
{
	"index.mapper.dynamic": true
}
+
. Start Kibana and navigate to the web UI and verify that there are no error messages related to dynamic 
mapping.

include::kibana-repositories.asciidoc[]

[[upgrading-kibana]]
=== Upgrading Kibana

Your existing Kibana version is generally compatible with the next minor version release of Elasticsearch.
This means you should upgrade your Elasticsearch cluster(s) before or at the same time as Kibana.
We cannot guarantee compatibility between major version releases so in those cases both Elasticsearch and 
Kibana must be upgraded together.

To upgrade Kibana:

. Create a https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/modules-snapshots.html[snapshot] 
of the existing `.kibana` index.
. Back up the `kibana.yml` configuration file.
. Take note of the Kibana plugins that are installed:
 * `bin/kibana plugin --list` on 4.x versions of Kibana.
 * `bin/kibana-plugin list` on 5.x versions of Kibana.
. To upgrade from an Archive File:
.. Extract the new version of Kibana into a different directory.  See steps below.
.. Migrate any custom configuration from your old kibana.yml to your new one
.. Follow other steps below to complete the new installation.
.. Once the new version is fully configured and working with required plugins, remove the previous version 
of Kibana
. To upgrade using a Linux Package Manager:
.. Uninstall the existing Kibana package: `apt-get remove kibana` or `yum remove kibana`
.. Install the new Kibana package.   There have been some installer issues between various version of 
Kibana so the uninstall and install process is safer than an upgrade.