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Elastic Agent environment variables

Use environment variables to configure Elastic Agent when running in a containerized environment. Variables on this page are grouped by action type:

To limit the number of environment variables that need to be set, the following common variables are available. These variables can be used across all Elastic Agent actions, but have a lower precedence than action-specific environment variables.

These common variables are useful, for example, when using the same Elasticsearch and Kibana credentials to prepare the Fleet plugin in Kibana, configure Fleet Server, and enroll an Elastic Agent.

Settings Description

ELASTICSEARCH_HOST
 (string) The Elasticsearch host to communicate with.

Default: http://elasticsearch:9200

ELASTICSEARCH_USERNAME
 (string) The basic authentication username used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token for Fleet.

Default: none

ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD
 (string) The basic authentication password used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token for Fleet.

Default: none

ELASTICSEARCH_API_KEY
 (string) API key used for authenticating to Elasticsearch.

Default: none

ELASTICSEARCH_CA
 (string) The path to a certificate authority.

By default, Elastic Agent uses the list of trusted certificate authorities (CA) from the operating system where it is running. If the certificate authority that signed your node certificates is not in the host system’s trusted certificate authorities list, use this config to add the path to the .pem file that contains your CA’s certificate.

Default: ""

KIBANA_HOST
 (string) The Kibana host.

Default: http://kibana:5601

KIBANA_USERNAME
 (string) The basic authentication username used to connect to Kibana to retrieve a service_token.

Default: elastic

KIBANA_PASSWORD
 (string) The basic authentication password used to connect to Kibana to retrieve a service_token.

Default: changeme

KIBANA_CA
 (string) The path to a certificate authority.

By default, Elastic Agent uses the list of trusted certificate authorities (CA) from the operating system where it is running. If the certificate authority that signed your node certificates is not in the host system’s trusted certificate authorities list, use this config to add the path to the .pem file that contains your CA’s certificate.

Default: ""

ELASTIC_NETINFO
 (bool) When false, disables netinfo.enabled parameter of add_host_metadata processor. Setting this to false is recommended for large scale setups where the host.ip and host.mac fields index size increases.

By default, Elastic Agent initializes the add_host_metadata processor. The netinfo.enabled parameter defines ingestion of IP addresses and MAC addresses as fields host.ip and host.mac. For more information see add_host_metadata

Default: "false"

Settings used to prepare the Fleet plugin in Kibana.

Settings Description

KIBANA_FLEET_HOST
 (string) The Kibana host to enable Fleet on. Overrides FLEET_HOST when set.

Default: http://kibana:5601

KIBANA_FLEET_USERNAME
 (string) The basic authentication username used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token to enable Fleet. Overrides ELASTICSEARCH_USERNAME when set.

Default: elastic

KIBANA_FLEET_PASSWORD
 (string) The basic authentication password used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token to enable Fleet. Overrides ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD when set.

Default: changeme

KIBANA_FLEET_CA
 (string) The path to a certificate authority. Overrides KIBANA_CA when set.

By default, Elastic Agent uses the list of trusted certificate authorities (CA) from the operating system where it is running. If the certificate authority that signed your node certificates is not in the host system’s trusted certificate authorities list, use this config to add the path to the .pem file that contains your CA’s certificate.

Default: ""

Settings used to bootstrap Fleet Server on this Elastic Agent. At least one Fleet Server is required in a deployment.

Settings Description

FLEET_SERVER_ENABLE
 (int) Set to 1 to bootstrap Fleet Server on this Elastic Agent. When set to 1, this automatically forces Fleet enrollment as well.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_ELASTICSEARCH_HOST
 (string) The Elasticsearch host for Fleet Server to communicate with. Overrides ELASTICSEARCH_HOST when set.

Default: http://elasticsearch:9200

FLEET_SERVER_ELASTICSEARCH_CA
 (string) The path to a certificate authority. Overrides ELASTICSEARCH_CA when set.

By default, Elastic Agent uses the list of trusted certificate authorities (CA) from the operating system where it is running. If the certificate authority that signed your node certificates is not in the host system’s trusted certificate authorities list, use this config to add the path to the .pem file that contains your CA’s certificate.

Default: ""

FLEET_SERVER_ES_CERT
 (string) The path to the mutual TLS client certificate that Fleet Server will use to connect to Elasticsearch.

Default: ""

FLEET_SERVER_ES_CERT_KEY
 (string) The path to the mutual TLS private key that Fleet Server will use to connect to Elasticsearch.

Default: ""

FLEET_SERVER_INSECURE_HTTP
 (bool) When true, Fleet Server is exposed over insecure or unverified HTTP. Setting this to true is not recommended.

Default: false

FLEET_SERVER_SERVICE_TOKEN
 (string) Service token to use for communication with Elasticsearch and Kibana. If the service token value and service token path are specified the value may be used for setup and the path is passed to the agent in the container.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_SERVICE_TOKEN_PATH
 (string) The path to the service token file to use for communication with Elasticsearch and Kibana. If the service token value and service token path are specified the value may be used for setup and the path is passed to the agent in the container.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_POLICY_NAME
 (string) The name of the policy for Fleet Server to use on itself. Overrides FLEET_TOKEN_POLICY_NAME when set.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_POLICY_ID
 (string) The policy ID for Fleet Server to use on itself.

FLEET_SERVER_HOST
 (string) The binding host for Fleet Server HTTP. Overrides the host defined in the policy.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_PORT
 (string) The binding port for Fleet Server HTTP. Overrides the port defined in the policy.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_CERT
 (string) The path to the certificate to use for HTTPS.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_CERT_KEY
 (string) The path to the private key for the certificate used for HTTPS.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_CERT_KEY_PASSPHRASE
 (string) The path to the private key passphrase for an encrypted private key file.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_CLIENT_AUTH
 (string) One of none, optional, or required. Fleet Server's client authentication option for client mTLS connections. If optional or required is specified, client certificates are verified using CAs.

Default: none

FLEET_SERVER_ELASTICSEARCH_CA_TRUSTED_FINGERPRINT
 (string) The SHA-256 fingerprint (hash) of the certificate authority used to self-sign Elasticsearch certificates. This fingerprint is used to verify self-signed certificates presented by Fleet Server and any inputs started by Elastic Agent for communication. This flag is required when using self-signed certificates with Elasticsearch.

Default: ""

FLEET_DAEMON_TIMEOUT
 (duration) Set to indicate how long Fleet Server will wait during the bootstrap process for Elastic Agent.

FLEET_SERVER_TIMEOUT
 (duration) Set to indicate how long Elastic Agent will wait for Fleet Server to check in as healthy.

Settings used to enroll an Elastic Agent into a Fleet Server.

Settings Description

ELASTIC_AGENT_CERT
 (string) The path to the mutual TLS client certificate that Elastic Agent will use to connect to Fleet Server.

ELASTIC_AGENT_CERT_KEY
 (string) The path to the mutual TLS private key that Elastic Agent will use to connect to Fleet Server.

ELASTIC_AGENT_CERT_KEY_PASSPHRASE
 (string) The path to the file that contains the passphrase for the mutual TLS private key that Elastic Agent will use to connect to Fleet Server. The file must only contain the characters of the passphrase, no newline or extra non-printing characters.

This option is only used if the --elastic-agent-cert-key is encrypted and requires a passphrase to use.

ELASTIC_AGENT_ID
 (string) The unique identifier (agent ID) to use when enrolling the Elastic Agent with Fleet Server. This setting is useful when restoring a previously enrolled agent or in stateless containerized environments where the agent cannot persist enrollment data between redeployments.

If an agent with the same ID is already enrolled in Fleet, enrollment will fail unless a valid replacement token is provided using the FLEET_REPLACE_TOKEN environment variable.

Default: ""

ELASTIC_AGENT_TAGS
 (string) A comma-separated list of tags to apply to Fleet-managed Elastic Agents. You can use these tags to filter the list of agents in Fleet.

FLEET_ENROLL
 (bool) Set to 1 to enroll the Elastic Agent into Fleet Server.

Default: false

FLEET_FORCE
 (bool) Set to true to force overwrite of the current Elastic Agent configuration without prompting for confirmation. This flag is helpful when using automation software or scripted deployments.

Default: false

FLEET_URL
 (string) URL to enroll the Fleet Server into.

Default: ""

FLEET_ENROLLMENT_TOKEN
 (string) The token to use for enrollment.

Default: ""

FLEET_REPLACE_TOKEN
 (string) The token that can be used to replace the Elastic Agent after it is enrolled in Fleet Server. The FLEET_REPLACE_TOKEN environment variable must be provided when enrolling an agent with a specific agent ID for the first time. Subsequently, the agent can be replaced by enrolling another agent using the same ELASTIC_AGENT_ID and FLEET_REPLACE_TOKEN environment variables. Once replaced, the original agent can no longer communicate with Fleet.

If an Elastic Agent is enrolled without a replacement token, it cannot be replaced by another agent with the same ID. This mechanism prevents accidental or malicious takeovers by requiring the replacement token to match the hashed token stored in Fleet.

Default: ""

FLEET_TOKEN_NAME
 (string) The token name to use to fetch the token from Kibana.

Default: ""

FLEET_TOKEN_POLICY_NAME
 (string) The token policy name to use to fetch the token from Kibana.

Default: false

FLEET_CA
 (string) The path to a certificate authority. Overrides ELASTICSEARCH_CA when set.

By default, Elastic Agent uses the list of trusted certificate authorities (CA) from the operating system where it is running. If the certificate authority that signed your node certificates is not in the host system’s trusted certificate authorities list, use this config to add the path to the .pem file that contains your CA’s certificate.

Default: false

FLEET_INSECURE
 (bool) When true, Elastic Agent communicates with Fleet Server over insecure or unverified HTTP. Setting this to true is not recommended.

Default: false

KIBANA_FLEET_HOST
 (string) The Kibana host to enable Fleet on. Overrides FLEET_HOST when set.

Default: http://kibana:5601

KIBANA_FLEET_USERNAME
 (string) The basic authentication username used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token to enable Fleet. Overrides ELASTICSEARCH_USERNAME when set.

Default: elastic

KIBANA_FLEET_PASSWORD
 (string) The basic authentication password used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token to enable Fleet. Overrides ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD when set.

Default: changeme

KIBANA_FLEET_CA
 (string) The path to a certificate authority. Overrides KIBANA_CA when set.

By default, Elastic Agent uses the list of trusted certificate authorities (CA) from the operating system where it is running. If the certificate authority that signed your node certificates is not in the host system’s trusted certificate authorities list, use this config to add the path to the .pem file that contains your CA’s certificate.

Default: ""