Failed to authenticate user [elastic] after changing environment

Elastic Stack Elasticsearch
1

I am aware that there are multiple post on this issue already but my situation is kinda unique.

Back story: I have provisioned a VM on an offline server with Elasticsearch, Logstash and Kibana running fine on it for the past year. Due to certain reasons, I need to move this VM onto another environment. I have exported the qcow2 image of the VM and converted it VMDK to run on VMWare on a separate server.

After moving the image to a new server, I am unable to start my Elasticsearch service as it is facing issues authenticating with X-Pack. It should not be a case of wrong password as none of the configurations were changed and the instance on the original server is still running fine. Similarly, Kibana logs showed authentication error with user [kibana-system].

Kibana.yml config file (Password redacted). This file is unchanged between the original and new server so password should be the same as well.

# The URLs of the Elasticsearch instances to use for all your queries.
elasticsearch.hosts: ["http://localhost:9200"]

# Kibana uses an index in Elasticsearch to store saved searches, visualizations and
# dashboards. Kibana creates a new index if the index doesn't already exist.
#kibana.index: ".kibana"

# The default application to load.
#kibana.defaultAppId: "home"

# If your Elasticsearch is protected with basic authentication, these settings provide
# the username and password that the Kibana server uses to perform maintenance on the Kibana
# index at startup. Your Kibana users still need to authenticate with Elasticsearch, which
# is proxied through the Kibana server.
elasticsearch.username: "kibana_system"
elasticsearch.password: "XXXXXXXXXX"

From Kibana Logs

{"type":"log","@timestamp":"2022-04-26T11:36:29-07:00","tags":["warning","plugins","licensing"],"pid":2012,"message":"License information could not be obtained from Elasticsearch due to [security_exception] unable to authenticate user [kibana_system] for REST request [/_xpack?accept_enterprise=true], with { header={ WWW-Authenticate=\"Basic realm=\\\"security\\\" charset=\\\"UTF-8\\\"\" } } :: {\"path\":\"/_xpack?accept_enterprise=true\",\"statusCode\":401,\"response\":\"{\\\"error\\\":{\\\"root_cause\\\":[{\\\"type\\\":\\\"security_exception\\\",\\\"reason\\\":\\\"unable to authenticate user [kibana_system] for REST request [/_xpack?accept_enterprise=true]\\\",\\\"header\\\":{\\\"WWW-Authenticate\\\":\\\"Basic realm=\\\\\\\"security\\\\\\\" charset=\\\\\\\"UTF-8\\\\\\\"\\\"}}],\\\"type\\\":\\\"security_exception\\\",\\\"reason\\\":\\\"unable to authenticate user [kibana_system] for REST request [/_xpack?accept_enterprise=true]\\\",\\\"header\\\":{\\\"WWW-Authenticate\\\":\\\"Basic realm=\\\\\\\"security\\\\\\\" charset=\\\\\\\"UTF-8\\\\\\\"\\\"}},\\\"status\\\":401}\",\"wwwAuthenticateDirective\":\"Basic realm=\\\"security\\\" charset=\\\"UTF-8\\\"\"} error"}
{"type":"log","@timestamp":"2022-04-26T11:36:36-07:00","tags":["info","plugins-system"],"pid":2012,"message":"Stopping all plugins."}
{"type":"log","@timestamp":"2022-04-26T11:36:36-07:00","tags":["info","plugins","monitoring","monitoring","kibana-monitoring"],"pid":2012,"message":"Monitoring stats collection is stopped"}
{"type":"log","@timestamp":"2022-04-26T11:36:59-07:00","tags":["warning","plugins","licensing"],"pid":2012,"message":"License information could not be obtained from Elasticsearch due to Error: Cluster client cannot be used after it has been closed. error"}
{"type":"log","@timestamp":"2022-04-26T11:37:06-07:00","tags":["warning","plugins-system"],"pid":2012,"message":"\"eventLog\" plugin didn't stop in 30sec., move on to the next."}

From Elasticsearch Log

[2022-04-26T12:17:22,599][ERROR][o.e.x.s.a.e.ReservedRealm] [ubuntu] failed to retrieve password hash for reserved user [elastic]
org.elasticsearch.action.UnavailableShardsException: at least one primary shard for the index [.security-7] is unavailable
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.support.SecurityIndexManager.getUnavailableReason(SecurityIndexManager.java:148) ~[x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.esnative.NativeUsersStore.getReservedUserInfo(NativeUsersStore.java:519) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.esnative.ReservedRealm.getUserInfo(ReservedRealm.java:220) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.esnative.ReservedRealm.doAuthenticate(ReservedRealm.java:96) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.support.CachingUsernamePasswordRealm.authenticateWithCache(CachingUsernamePasswordRealm.java:168) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.support.CachingUsernamePasswordRealm.authenticate(CachingUsernamePasswordRealm.java:105) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.lambda$consumeToken$15(AuthenticationService.java:455) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.common.IteratingActionListener.run(IteratingActionListener.java:103) [x-pack-core-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.consumeToken(AuthenticationService.java:510) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.lambda$extractToken$11(AuthenticationService.java:422) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.extractToken(AuthenticationService.java:432) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.lambda$checkForApiKey$3(AuthenticationService.java:373) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener$1.onResponse(ActionListener.java:117) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.ApiKeyService.authenticateWithApiKeyIfPresent(ApiKeyService.java:378) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.checkForApiKey(AuthenticationService.java:354) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.lambda$authenticateAsync$0(AuthenticationService.java:336) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener$1.onResponse(ActionListener.java:117) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.TokenService.getAndValidateToken(TokenService.java:410) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.lambda$authenticateAsync$2(AuthenticationService.java:332) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.lambda$lookForExistingAuthentication$6(AuthenticationService.java:391) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.lookForExistingAuthentication(AuthenticationService.java:402) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.authenticateAsync(AuthenticationService.java:327) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService$Authenticator.access$000(AuthenticationService.java:268) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService.authenticate(AuthenticationService.java:146) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.authc.AuthenticationService.authenticate(AuthenticationService.java:131) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.xpack.security.rest.SecurityRestFilter.handleRequest(SecurityRestFilter.java:73) [x-pack-security-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.rest.RestController.dispatchRequest(RestController.java:247) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.rest.RestController.tryAllHandlers(RestController.java:329) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.rest.RestController.dispatchRequest(RestController.java:180) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.http.AbstractHttpServerTransport.dispatchRequest(AbstractHttpServerTransport.java:325) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.http.AbstractHttpServerTransport.handleIncomingRequest(AbstractHttpServerTransport.java:390) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.http.AbstractHttpServerTransport.incomingRequest(AbstractHttpServerTransport.java:307) [elasticsearch-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.http.netty4.Netty4HttpRequestHandler.channelRead0(Netty4HttpRequestHandler.java:31) [transport-netty4-client-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at org.elasticsearch.http.netty4.Netty4HttpRequestHandler.channelRead0(Netty4HttpRequestHandler.java:17) [transport-netty4-client-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at io.netty.channel.SimpleChannelInboundHandler.channelRead(SimpleChannelInboundHandler.java:99) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at org.elasticsearch.http.netty4.Netty4HttpPipeliningHandler.channelRead(Netty4HttpPipeliningHandler.java:47) [transport-netty4-client-7.12.0.jar:7.12.0]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageDecoder.channelRead(MessageToMessageDecoder.java:103) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageDecoder.channelRead(MessageToMessageDecoder.java:103) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageCodec.channelRead(MessageToMessageCodec.java:111) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageDecoder.channelRead(MessageToMessageDecoder.java:103) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageDecoder.channelRead(MessageToMessageDecoder.java:103) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.ByteToMessageDecoder.fireChannelRead(ByteToMessageDecoder.java:324) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.ByteToMessageDecoder.channelRead(ByteToMessageDecoder.java:296) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.timeout.IdleStateHandler.channelRead(IdleStateHandler.java:286) [netty-handler-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageDecoder.channelRead(MessageToMessageDecoder.java:103) [netty-codec-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:357) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.DefaultChannelPipeline$HeadContext.channelRead(DefaultChannelPipeline.java:1410) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:379) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:365) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.DefaultChannelPipeline.fireChannelRead(DefaultChannelPipeline.java:919) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.nio.AbstractNioByteChannel$NioByteUnsafe.read(AbstractNioByteChannel.java:163) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.processSelectedKey(NioEventLoop.java:714) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.processSelectedKeysPlain(NioEventLoop.java:615) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.processSelectedKeys(NioEventLoop.java:578) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.run(NioEventLoop.java:493) [netty-transport-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.util.concurrent.SingleThreadEventExecutor$4.run(SingleThreadEventExecutor.java:989) [netty-common-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at io.netty.util.internal.ThreadExecutorMap$2.run(ThreadExecutorMap.java:74) [netty-common-4.1.49.Final.jar:4.1.49.Final]
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:832) [?:?]
2

Update: I have tried the method proposed by TimV to add a new superuser and resetting the password for other users. This is the error that I received.

{
  "error" : {
    "root_cause" : [
      {
        "type" : "unavailable_shards_exception",
        "reason" : "[.security-7][0] [1] shardIt, [0] active : Timeout waiting for [1m], request: indices:data/write/update"
      }
    ],
    "type" : "unavailable_shards_exception",
    "reason" : "[.security-7][0] [1] shardIt, [0] active : Timeout waiting for [1m], request: indices:data/write/update"
  },
  "status" : 503
}
3

The process by which you migrated your VM has caused you to lose data.

You seem to have retained your cluster state (so the cluster knows it's supposed to have a security index) but the index itself is missing.

I would strongly recommend that you perform the migration using snapshot and restore rather than trying to work with the data on disk.

4

Thanks for the suggestion. Is there any possibility for me to restore the index without using the snapshot and restore method?

I am afraid I no longer have access to the original system. All I have is a vmdk file containing the data within.

5

To be more specific, I no longer have root access to the original system. However creating a snapshot would first require me to register a repository, which in turn requires me to edit the Elasticsearch.yml file in order to add the "path.repo" location and this would require root permission.

If there is a way I can still create a snapshot via the Web UI without any root access, I believe that can be an alternative

6

If you've never had any snapshots, then it's unlikely that you will be able to set them up without access to the underlying host. Every combination will require installing a plugin, and/or configuring something in yml.

If the only broken index is the security index, then you can probably recover the cluster by deleting that index and recreating your security configuration, but it's my strong suspicion that you'll have other broken indices as well.

In which case, you might find that reindex from remote is your best option for migrating your node to a new machine. All you need is HTTP access to the old ES instance.

7

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