# Generating Node Certificates for X-Pack

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/generating-node-certificates-for-x-pack/141493>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Tags:** elastic-stack-monitoring\
**Created:** [July 25, 2018, 6:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/generating-node-certificates-for-x-pack/141493 "2018-07-25T06:03:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ong](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ong/32/40766_2.png) [@Ong](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ong)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/generating-node-certificates-for-x-pack/141493/1 "2018-07-25T06:03:17Z")

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I am installing X-Pack on a 3 node cluster and am now at the step to generate the node certificates based on the X-Pack installation documentation.

Is it necessary to create a certificate authority (CA) on every node of the cluster or just on the first node?

There is also a step where the .p12 certificate should be copied into a /config/certs folder. Does this .p12 certificate need to be generated on each node or can I simply copy the certificate file generated on the first node into the other nodes in the cluster?

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**Author:** ![Marius\_Dragomir](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/marius_dragomir/32/42087_2.png) [@Marius\_Dragomir](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Marius_Dragomir)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/generating-node-certificates-for-x-pack/141493/2 "2018-07-27T15:08:34Z")

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As long as the certificate contains the domain/ip of each node in the cluster, you can reuse it for all the nodes in that Cluster. And there is no need to create a CA for each then.

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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:** [August 24, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/generating-node-certificates-for-x-pack/141493/3 "2018-08-24T15:08:41Z")

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