# Enabling security in Kibana without X-pack

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/enabling-security-in-kibana-without-x-pack/274155>\
**Category:** Kibana\
**Tags:** elastic-stack-security\
**Created:** [May 27, 2021, 8:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/enabling-security-in-kibana-without-x-pack/274155 "2021-05-27T08:05:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ashwin\_Srivastav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Ashwin\_Srivastav](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ashwin_Srivastav)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 8:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/enabling-security-in-kibana-without-x-pack/274155/1 "2021-05-27T08:05:07Z")

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I am new to Elasticsearch and Kibana. I am using version 6.8.0 for both Kibana and Elasticsearch. I have a multi-node cluster and I want to add security to Kibana. So after reading the documentation, I got to know that if I use x-pack then I will need to perform a full cluster restart. So is there any way to add a login page to Kibana only without using x-pack?  
Will writing a custom login plugin for Kibana will work?

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**Author:** ![Aaron\_Caldwell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/aaron_caldwell/32/45755_2.png) [@Aaron\_Caldwell](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Aaron_Caldwell)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/enabling-security-in-kibana-without-x-pack/274155/2 "2021-05-27T14:51:38Z")

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Hello Ashwin,

I would think writing a custom plugin to handle security would be hypothetically possible but impractical. The x-pack security plugin's usage isn't isolated to just the plugin itself, it's used throughout kibana.

I don't entirely know your situation, but if your issue is cluster downtime, maybe consider something along the lines of:

- Stand up a duplicate cluster with security enabled
- Confirm it's operating as expected
- Redirect traffic to the new security-enabled cluster
- Shut down old cluster

This is really just a general suggestion without full knowing your situation. Mostly I would just suggest not writing your own security plugin and exploring alternatives using the existing plugin.

Regards,  
Aaron

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**Author:** ![Ashwin\_Srivastav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Ashwin\_Srivastav](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ashwin_Srivastav)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 5:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/enabling-security-in-kibana-without-x-pack/274155/3 "2021-05-28T05:12:37Z")

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Hello Aaron.

Thanks for the help.  
I am considering to go with the downtime as the cluster duplication will require more hardware.

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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:** [June 25, 2021, 5:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/enabling-security-in-kibana-without-x-pack/274155/4 "2021-06-25T05:13:06Z")

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