Elasticsearch and Kibana on Docker: A Complete Guide

Elasticsearch and Kibana are powerful tools widely used for search, logging, and data visualization. Running them locally using Docker is the easiest way to experiment, develop, and test without complex installations.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to set up Elasticsearch and Kibana on Docker, connect them using a Docker network, and verify the setup.

What You’ll Learn

• Running Elasticsearch on Docker

• Running Kibana on Docker

• Connecting Elasticsearch and Kibana

• Verifying the setup using Kibana Dev Tools

Prerequisites

• Docker installed on your system

• Basic Docker knowledge

👉 If you’re new to Docker, check out my blog: Getting Started with Docker

What Is Elasticsearch?

Elasticsearch is a distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine commonly used for:

• Full-text search

• Log and metrics analysis

• Observability and monitoring

It is fast, scalable, and widely used with the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana).

Step 1: Create a Docker Network

To allow Elasticsearch and Kibana to communicate, create a dedicated Docker network:

docker network create elastic

Step 2: Run Elasticsearch on Docker

Start an Elasticsearch container with the following command:

docker run \
  --name es01 \
  --net elastic \
  -p 9200:9200 \
  -it \
  -m 500MB \
  docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:8.10.4
livescript

Explanation of Flags

• --name
  ada

  → Container name

• --net
  ada

  → Attach container to the elastic network

• -p
  css

  → Expose container port to host

• -it
  applescript

  → Interactive terminal

• -m
  diff

  → Memory limit

Step 3: Capture Elasticsearch Credentials

Once Elasticsearch starts, note the following from the logs:

• Elastic user password

• Enrollment token

• Certificate path

Export the Password

export ELASTIC_PASSWORD=<password-from-container-logs>
routeros

Copy the Certificate for Secure Communication

docker cp es01:/usr/share/elasticsearch/config/certs/http_ca.crt .
awk

This certificate enables secure HTTPS communication with Elasticsearch.

Step 4: Test Elasticsearch Cluster Health

Run the following command to verify the cluster:

curl --cacert http_ca.crt \
  -u elastic:$ELASTIC_PASSWORD \
  https://localhost:9200/_cluster/health
awk

If the response shows "status": "green" or "yellow", your cluster is running successfully ✅

What Is Kibana?

Kibana is a data visualization and exploration tool that works with Elasticsearch. It allows you to:

• Visualize data

• Build dashboards

• Query Elasticsearch using Dev Tools

• Monitor cluster health

Step 5: Run Kibana on Docker

Start the Kibana container:

docker run \
  --name kib01 \
  --net elastic \
  -p 5601:5601 \
  docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:8.10.4
livescript

Explanation

• Runs Kibana on the same Docker network

• Exposes Kibana UI on port

  5601
  yaml

Step 6: Connect Kibana to Elasticsearch

1. Open your browser and navigate to:

   http://localhost:5601

2. Paste the Enrollment Token copied from Elasticsearch logs.

3. Log in using:

   • Username: elastic

   • Password: Value stored in ELASTIC_PASSWORD

🎉 Kibana is now connected to Elasticsearch.

Step 7: Verify Using Kibana Dev Tools

1. Open the hamburger menu in Kibana

2. Navigate to Management → Dev Tools

3. Run a test query:

GET _cluster/health

If you receive a valid response, the connection is successful ✅

Conclusion

In this guide, you learned how to:

• Run Elasticsearch on Docker

• Run Kibana on Docker

• Securely connect both services

• Verify the setup using Kibana Dev Tools

This setup is perfect for local development, testing, and learning Elasticsearch fundamentals.

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