[[tribe]]
== Using Kibana with Tribe nodes

Kibana can be configured to connect to a https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/{branch}/modules-tribe.html[tribe node] for data retrieval.  Because tribe nodes can't create indices, Kibana additionally
requires a separate connection to a node to maintain state.  When configured, searches and visualizations will retrieve data using
the tribe node and administrative actions (such as saving a dashboard) will be sent to non-tribe node.

[float]
[[tribe-configuration]]
=== Configuring Kibana for tribe nodes

Tribe nodes take all of the same configuration options used when configuring elasticsearch in `kibana.yml`.  Tribe options
are prefixed with `elasticsearch.tribe` and at a minimum requires a url:
[source,text]
----
elasticsearch.url: "<your_administration_node>"
elasticsearch.tribe.url: "<your_tribe_node>"
----

When configured to use a tribe node, actions that modify Kibana's state will be sent to the node at `elasticsearch.url`.  Searches and visualizations
will retrieve data from the node at `elasticsearch.tribe.url`.  It's acceptable to use a node for `elasticsearch.url` that is part of one of the clusters that
a tribe node is pointing to.

The full list of configurations can be found at <<settings>>.

[float]
[[tribe-limitations]]
=== Limitations

Due to the ambiguity of which cluster is being used, certain features are disabled in Kibana:

* Console
* Managing users and roles with the x-pack plugin
