Kibana 8 Installation

Download:

The zip file can be downloaded directly from Elastic Group site using this link:
https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/kibana/kibana-8.5.3-windows-x86_64.zip

Installation:

1. Download the zip file
2. Extract Kibana folders to C:\Program Files\ELK\Kibana (or any other folder)
3. Generate and create kibana_system user password
   
   1. Open CMD as administrator
   2. Head to elasticsearch folder (cd “C:\Program Files\ELK\Kibana”)
   3. Run the following command: “.\bin\elasticsearch-reset-password -u kibana_system”
      A password will be generated for the “kibana_system” user, keep it for the next step.
4. Open the kibana.yml configuration file, in this example it will be located in C:\Program Files\ELK\Kibana\config. Add the following rows:
   elasticsearch.hosts: [“http://localhost:9200”]
   elasticsearch.username: “kibana_system”
   elasticsearch.password: “<Generated Password>”
5. Your Kibana is good to go!

Install as a service:

Once you finish all installation steps, you can now run Kibana as a service.

1. There are multiple ways to set a new service manually in windows, in this example we will use nssm.exe (a tool that helps to install services on windows)
   Download nssm.exe from elasticsearch official site using this link:
2. Download NSSM (the non-sucking service manager)
3. Extract the nssm.exe to the Kibana bin folder “C:\Program Files\ELK\Kibana\bin“
4. Open PowerShell as administrator and head to the folder using:
   cd “C:\Program Files\ELK\Kibana\bin“
5. Run the following command to start the installation:
   “.\nssm.exe install KibanaServiceName”
6. A windows will popup to fill all required fields:
   
   • Path: the path to your kibana.bat file
     In this case C:\Program Files\ELK\Kibana\bin\kibana.bat
   • Startup directory: the path to your your bin folder
     In this case C:\Program Files\ELK\Kibana\bin
     
   • Dependencies → add your Elasticsearch service name
     In this case elasticsearch-service-x64
     NOTE! You can find elasticsearch exact service name in services
     
7. Once you finish filling all required fields press “Install service” and your Kibana will be added as a service.