# Create index

**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/create-index/118285
**Category:** Kibana
**Created:** [February 2, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/create-index/118285 "2018-02-02T21:28:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Nada\_I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@Nada\_I](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Nada_I)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/create-index/118285/1 "2018-02-02T21:28:37Z")

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i want to create index in kibana dashboard and this message appeared to me what i do to create the index ?  
and why i should create index?

 ![Untitled4](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/f/7/f79f680fa50d8b758d0fc6e55b712f1dccf4514e.png)

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### Author: ![rashmi](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/rashmi/32/16391_2.png) [@rashmi](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rashmi)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/create-index/118285/2 "2018-02-05T18:12:09Z")

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Hi,  
An index pattern identifies one or more Elasticsearch indices that you want to explore with Kibana. To use Kibana, you have to tell it about the Elasticsearch indices that you want to explore by configuring one or more index patterns.  
Kibana looks for index names that match the specified pattern, hence it is necessary to configure an index pattern in Kibana.  
I don't quite understand the statement `create index in kibana dashboard` can you elaborate with more info?

Thanks  
Rashmi

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### Author: ![Nada\_I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@Nada\_I](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Nada_I)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/create-index/118285/3 "2018-02-05T20:40:49Z")

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First i want to monitor my network with x-pack and show the network behavior so i install elasticsearch and x-pack on it then open kibana dashboard but i can't install x-pack on kibana .

Second are you mean to add index in elasticsearch then open this index in kibana ?  
what is the feature of the index ?  
and how i can add index in elasticsearch?

Thanks & Best Regards  
Nada

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### Author: ![rashmi](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/rashmi/32/16391_2.png) [@rashmi](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rashmi)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/create-index/118285/4 "2018-02-05T22:59:54Z")

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I think you will need to understand what an index is and how to index into ES first. I would suggest you to read couple of articles mentioned here to get the basic idea.

> **[What is an Elasticsearch Index?
	  	 | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/blog/what-is-an-elasticsearch-index)**
>
> Editor's Note: This article contains outdated information. Please reference our documentation, our latest blogs, and our forums for the latest and greatest. Thank you. What exactly is an index in...

  
[https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/getting-started.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/getting-started.html)

Once you get a basic idea, you can build on top of it by installing Kibana and then x-pack on top of it .

Hope this helps,

Thanks  
Rashmi

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### Author: ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/create-index/118285/5 "2018-03-05T22:59:58Z")

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