# How the heck do you setup the default password?

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-the-heck-do-you-setup-the-default-password/126267>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Tags:** elastic-stack-security\
**Created:** [March 30, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-the-heck-do-you-setup-the-default-password/126267 "2018-03-30T18:47:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![craigvphillips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@craigvphillips](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/craigvphillips)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-the-heck-do-you-setup-the-default-password/126267/1 "2018-03-30T18:47:56Z")

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I download elastic 6.1.4  
Unzip elastic 6.1.4  
install x-pack  
start elasticsearch 6.1.4  
run setup-passwords auto

Unexpected response code [403] from calling GET [http://127.0.0.1:9200/\_xpack/security/\_authenticate?pretty](http://127.0.0.1:9200/_xpack/security/_authenticate?pretty)  
Possible causes include:

- The relative path of the URL is incorrect. Is there a proxy in-between?
- The protocol (http/https) does not match the port.
- Is this really an Elasticsearch server?

ERROR: Uknown error

I don't understand. Once i install x-pack it will require authentication to access, yet that setup-plugins appears to try and hit ES without it... so it fails. How in the heck is that ever supposed to work?

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**Author:** ![TimV](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/timv/32/13162_2.png) [@TimV](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/TimV)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-the-heck-do-you-setup-the-default-password/126267/2 "2018-03-31T06:05:48Z")

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If you're interested in the technical details they're documented here: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/x-pack/current/setting-up-authentication.html#bootstrap-elastic-passwords](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/x-pack/current/setting-up-authentication.html#bootstrap-elastic-passwords)

But knowing the details isn't necessarily going to fix the problem for you.  
Is that list of steps completly accurate?

There shouldn't be any way to get a `403` from that URL.

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**Author:** ![kvudata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@kvudata](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kvudata)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-the-heck-do-you-setup-the-default-password/126267/3 "2018-04-05T17:45:02Z")

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For other folks who come by this, I had the same issue - doing a curl against the URL it complains about provides more information - you need to have an elastic stack license which supports security.

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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:** [May 3, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-the-heck-do-you-setup-the-default-password/126267/4 "2018-05-03T17:45:05Z")

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