Youtube Tutorial
Overview
This project sets up an Elastic Cluster with 3 nodes using Virtualbox virtual machines. It includes the setup of Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana (ELK stack) for log management and analysis.
Project Goals
- Set up Elastic Cluster with all necessary components.
- Create an index with a retention period of 10 days in Hot, 10 days in Cold, and 10 days in Frozen tiers.
- Load logs using one of the methods listed in the setup.
- Create a Dashboard with drilldown capabilities.
Prerequisites
- VirtualBox installed on your system
- Debian 12 ISO image
- Sufficient system resources to run 3 VMs
VM Configuration
Create 3 VMs with the following specifications:
-
elktest1 (Master + Data_Hot + Data_Content, Kibana, Logstash)
- 8 GB RAM, 4 CPU, 40 GB storage
-
elktest2 (Data_Cold, Logstash)
- 8 GB RAM, 4 CPU, 40 GB storage
-
elktest3 (Data_Frozen, Logstash)
- 6 GB RAM, 3 CPU, 50 GB storage
Setup Instructions
1. VM Installation
-
Download Debian 12 ISO:
<https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/debian-12.7.0-amd64-netinst.iso> Install Debian on each VM.
In VM settings, change network from NAT to Bridged Adapter.
2. SSH Setup
Install SSH on each VM:
su -
apt-get update
apt-get install openssh-server
systemctl start ssh
systemctl enable ssh
Reboot and get IP addresses:
reboot now
ip addr show
Connect from host machine:
ssh <username>@<your_ip_address>
3. Elasticsearch Installation
On all VMs:
apt install curl
curl -fsSL <https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch> | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/elastic.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/elastic.gpg] <https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/8.x/apt> stable main" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-8.x.list
apt update
apt install elasticsearch
4. Elasticsearch Configuration
On elktest1:
-
Edit
/etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml:
cluster.name: elktestcluster node.name: elktest1 node.roles: ["master","data_hot","data_content"] cluster.initial_master_nodes: ["elktest1"] path.data: /var/lib/elasticsearch path.logs: /var/log/elasticsearch network.host: 0.0.0.0 http.port: 9200 discovery.seed_hosts: ["elktest1"] xpack.security.enabled: true xpack.security.enrollment.enabled: true xpack.security.http.ssl: enabled: true keystore.path: certs/http.p12 xpack.security.transport.ssl: enabled: true verification_mode: certificate keystore.path: certs/transport.p12 truststore.path: certs/transport.p12 http.host: 0.0.0.0 -
Start Elasticsearch:
systemctl start elasticsearch -
Reset elastic user password:
/usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -i -u elastic -
Generate enrollment tokens for other nodes:
cd /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin ./elasticsearch-create-enrollment-token -s node
On elktest2 and elktest3:
-
Reconfigure node with enrollment token:
cd /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin ./elasticsearch-reconfigure-node --enrollment-token <your_enrollment_token> -
Edit
/etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml:For elktest2:
cluster.name: elktestcluster node.name: elktest2 node.roles: ["data_cold"] path.data: /var/lib/elasticsearch path.logs: /var/log/elasticsearch network.host: 0.0.0.0 http.port: 9200For elktest3:
cluster.name: elktestcluster node.name: elktest3 node.roles: ["data_frozen"] path.data: /var/lib/elasticsearch path.logs: /var/log/elasticsearch network.host: 0.0.0.0 http.port: 9200 xpack.searchable.snapshot.shared_cache.size: 30% -
Start Elasticsearch on both nodes:
systemctl start elasticsearch
5. Index Lifecycle Management
Create ILM policy:
PUT _ilm/policy/elktestcluster_logs_policy
{
"policy": {
"phases": {
"hot": {
"actions": {
"rollover": {
"max_size": "40gb",
"max_age": "10d"
}
}
},
"warm": {
"min_age": "10d",
"actions": {
"forcemerge": {
"max_num_segments": 1
},
"allocate": {
"require": {
"data": "cold"
}
}
}
},
"cold": {
"min_age": "20d",
"actions": {
"freeze": {},
"allocate": {
"require": {
"data": "frozen"
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
Assign policy to index template:
PUT _index_template/elktestcluster_logs_template
{
"index_patterns": ["elktestcluster-logs-*"],
"template": {
"settings": {
"number_of_shards": 1,
"number_of_replicas": 1,
"index.lifecycle.name": "elktestcluster_logs_policy",
"index.lifecycle.rollover_alias": "elktestcluster-logs"
}
}
}
6. Logstash Setup
Install Logstash on all VMs:
apt install logstash -y
Add logstash user to elasticsearch group:
sudo usermod -aG elasticsearch logstash
Create Logstash pipeline configuration:
nano /etc/logstash/conf.d/elktestcluster-logs.con
Add the following content:
input {
file {
path => [
"/var/log/elasticsearch/elktestcluster*.json"
]
start_position => "beginning"
sincedb_path => "/dev/null"
codec => "json"
}
}
output {
elasticsearch {
hosts => ["<https://elktest1:9200>", "<https://elktest2:9200>", "<https://elktest3:9200>"]
index => "elktestcluster-logs-%{+YYYY.MM.dd}"
user => "elastic"
password => "elastic"
ssl => true
cacert => "/etc/elasticsearch/certs/http_ca.crt"
}
}
Start Logstash on all VMs:
systemctl start logstash
7. Kibana Setup
Install Kibana on one VM (preferably elktest1 or elktest2):
apt install kibana -y
Reset kibana_system user password:
/usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-reset-password -i -u kibana_system
Configure Kibana:
nano /etc/kibana/kibana.yml
Add/edit the following:
server.port: 5601
server.host: "0.0.0.0"
elasticsearch.hosts: ["<https://elktest1:9200>", "<https://elktest2:9200>", "<https://elktest3:9200>"]
elasticsearch.username: "kibana_system"
elasticsearch.password: "kibana"
elasticsearch.ssl.verificationMode: none
Start Kibana:
systemctl start kibana
8. Accessing Kibana
Open a web browser and go to:
http://<your_kibana_machine_ip>:5601
Use the Elasticsearch credentials:
- Username: elastic
- Password: elastic
Final Steps
- Create a data view from cluster logs in Kibana.
- Create a dashboard from the data view.
Congratulations! You have now set up a complete ELK stack for log management and analysis.
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