ELK Stack — Installation
Installing the ELK Stack
In this chapter, you’ll install every component of the ELK Stack on your machine. We’ll cover two approaches — manual installation on Linux and a quick Docker Compose setup for local development.
By the end of this chapter, you’ll have Elasticsearch, Kibana, Logstash, and Filebeat all running and talking to each other.
What You’ll Learn
- Install Elasticsearch on Linux and verify it’s running
- Install Kibana and connect it to Elasticsearch
- Install Logstash and run a basic pipeline
- Install Filebeat and ship logs to Elasticsearch
- Set up the entire stack with Docker Compose (recommended for learning)
Chapter Contents
| # | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Install Elasticsearch | Download, configure, and start Elasticsearch |
| 2 | Install Kibana | Install Kibana and connect to Elasticsearch |
| 3 | Install Logstash | Install Logstash and test a basic pipeline |
| 4 | Install Filebeat | Install Filebeat and ship system logs |
| 5 | Docker Compose Stack | Run the entire ELK Stack with one command |
| 6 | Practice Exercises | 5 hands-on installation exercises |
Prerequisites
- Linux machine (Ubuntu 22.04+ or CentOS/RHEL 8+) or macOS or Docker Desktop
- 8 GB RAM minimum (16 GB recommended — Elasticsearch is memory-hungry)
- Java 17+ for Logstash (bundled with recent versions)
- curl for testing Elasticsearch API
- Root or sudo access for system installations
Important Notes
- All commands in this chapter use Elasticsearch 8.x
- Elasticsearch 8.x enables security by default (TLS + authentication)
- We’ll configure passwords and certificates during installation
- For learning purposes, the Docker Compose approach is fastest
Let’s start by installing Elasticsearch.
