# Where do kiabna stores local users created from GUI

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-kiabna-stores-local-users-created-from-gui/106077>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [November 1, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-kiabna-stores-local-users-created-from-gui/106077 "2017-11-01T18:36:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenny123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ab992/32.png) [@kenny123](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kenny123)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-kiabna-stores-local-users-created-from-gui/106077/1 "2017-11-01T18:36:51Z")

</div>

Hi ,

I am new to ELK. I installed x-pack on kibana , elastic search and logstash . I also created few users from kibana GUI but I was wondering in which config file will kibana stores that users created from GUI. Can I also know what is the best practice to create roles and users - is it either from GUI or in elasticsearch.yml file.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [November 1, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-kiabna-stores-local-users-created-from-gui/106077/2 "2017-11-01T23:54:23Z")

</div>

Kibana doesn't store _anything_ locally.  
There are configuration options you can manually set in the `kibana.yml` file, and everything else is stored in Elasitcsearch.

The User + Roles UI in Kibana sits on top of the [Elasticsearch Native realm](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/x-pack/5.6/native-realm.html).  
Those users and roles are stored inside an Elasticsearch index (not in `elasticsearch.yml`).

There is no practical difference between using the Kibana UI or the Elasticsearch REST API for managing users and roles.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenny123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ab992/32.png) [@kenny123](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kenny123)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-kiabna-stores-local-users-created-from-gui/106077/3 "2017-11-06T21:52:13Z")

</div>

Thank you for the reply. . Since users and roles are stored in elastic search index , can I please know which index to search to retrieve that information.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [November 6, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-kiabna-stores-local-users-created-from-gui/106077/4 "2017-11-06T23:21:09Z")

</div>

X-Pack Security stores all its data in the `.security` index, but that index is hidden from regular users and the format is undocumented and subject to change in any release. We strongly discourage accessing it directly.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-kiabna-stores-local-users-created-from-gui/106077/5 "2017-12-04T23:21:22Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.