Summary
This article details Elasticsearch-Head and Kibana 7.3.0 installation, configuration and connectivity troubleshooting, covering Chrome extension quick access, cluster health and shard visualization, REST API debugging and other core functions.
1. Version Compatibility Matrix
| Tool/Component | Version/Environment | Compatibility Note |
|---|---|---|
| Elasticsearch-Head | Chrome Extension | Latest version can directly connect to ES 7.x HTTP; when security enabled, need to configure CORS |
| Elasticsearch-Head | Standalone | Requires Node/npm start, suitable for intranet deployment |
| Kibana | 7.3.0 Linux x86_64 | Port default 5601, works normally with ES 7.x |
| Elasticsearch | 7.x (HTTP) | Usable with Head/Kibana 7.3.0 |
| Elasticsearch | 8.x | Forces security and certificate validation by default, requires additional config |
2. Elasticsearch-Head Plugin
2.1 Introduction
Elasticsearch-Head is an open-source visualization plugin for Elasticsearch cluster management, providing these core functions:
- Cluster Health Monitoring: Display cluster status (green/yellow/red) and node information
- Index Management: Support index view, create, delete, close and open operations
- Data Node Monitoring: Display node status and hardware resource information
- Shard Management: Visualize shard allocation
- RESTful Query Execution: Support GET, POST, PUT, DELETE request methods
- Index Distribution Visualization: View shard distribution in cluster
- Multi-cluster Support: Can manage multiple clusters
2.2 Installation Steps
Install using Chrome extension:
Chrome Extension URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/elasticsearch-head/ffmkiejjmecolpfloofpjologoblkegm/2.3 Usage Scenarios
- Development and debugging: Send REST requests directly, view index structure and data
- Real-time cluster health monitoring: Quickly discover unassigned shards, node failures and other issues
- Resource balance optimization: Visually view shard distribution for load balancing
2.4 Notes
- ES-Head plugin doesn’t require login authentication, production environment needs VPN or firewall to limit access
- Large cluster with too much data may cause slow UI response
3. Kibana Installation and Config
3.1 Core Functions
- Dashboard: Integrate multiple visualization charts, support drag, zoom and linked updates
- Discover: Support KQL and Lucene syntax queries
- Visualizations: Support bar charts, line charts, pie charts, maps, heatmaps, etc.
- Logs: Quick query and real-time log stream analysis
- Monitoring: Monitor ES cluster and Kibana’s own status
- Security: User authentication and authorization control
- Alerting: Trigger events based on query results
- Machine Learning: Automatically detect anomaly patterns and trends
3.2 Installation Steps
Extract and Config
cd /opt/software
ls
tar -zxvf kibana-7.3.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
mv kibana-7.3.0-linux-x86_64 ../serversModify Directory Permissions
chown -R es_server /opt/servers/kibana-7.3.0-linux-x86_64
chmod -R 777 /opt/servers/kibana-7.3.0-linux-x86_64Config File
Modify kibana.yml:
server.port: 5601
elasticsearch.hosts: ["http://h121.wzk.icu:9200"]
server.host: "0.0.0.0"
server.publicBaseUrl: "http://h122.wzk.icu:5601"Start Service
su es_server
cd /opt/servers/kibana-7.3.0-linux-x86_64
bin/kibana3.3 Access Service
http://h122.wzk.icu:5601/Login account: elastic (password is elastic user password)
Access DevTool button to enter visualization tool for testing.
4. Error Quick Reference
| Symptom | Root Cause | Location | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head reports CORS error | ES not enabled or CORS not allowed | Browser console/network panel | Enable http.cors.enabled: true in elasticsearch.yml, set http.cors.allow-origin |
| Head 401/403 | No credentials or cross-origin without Cookie | Browser network request/ES logs | Configure allow credentials; use reverse proxy to inject Basic/Auth header |
| Cluster Red/shards unassigned | Node/disk threshold/routing exception | _cat/shards, _cluster/allocation/explain | Fix nodes and disk; manually cluster/reroute |
| Kibana startup EACCES | Directory owner incorrect | ls -l check owner/permissions | chown -R es_server … |
| Kibana “Kibana server is not ready yet” | ES not ready or address wrong | curl ES:9200, ES health status | Correct elasticsearch.hosts; start after ES green/yellow |
| 5601 occupied | Port conflict | lsof -i:5601 | Release occupied or change server.port |
| Login failed (elastic user) | Password changed/not initialized | _security API/ES logs | Reset built-in user password or use API Key |
| DevTools reports 413/429 | Proxy rate limiting/size limit | Proxy (Nginx) logs | Adjust client_max_body_size, rate limiting and timeout |
5. Summary
This article details the complete installation and config flow for Elasticsearch-Head and Kibana 7.3.0, including version compatibility notes, Chrome extension installation, service config startup and common error troubleshooting. Suggest developers use Chrome Elasticsearch-Head for cluster visualization in local or intranet environment, paired with Kibana for query and dashboard analysis, while paying attention to CORS and security config in production.