[role="xpack"]
[[monitoring-data]]
= View monitoring data in {kib}
++++
<titleabbrev>View monitoring data</titleabbrev>
++++

After you collect monitoring data for one or more products in the {stack}, you
can configure {kib} to retrieve that information and display it in on the
*Stack Monitoring* page.

At a minimum, you must have monitoring data for the {es} production cluster.
Once that data exists, {kib} can display monitoring data for other products in
the cluster.

TIP: If you use a separate monitoring cluster to store the monitoring data, it
is strongly recommended that you use a separate {kib} instance to view it. If
you log in to {kib} using SAML, Kerberos, PKI, OpenID Connect, or token
authentication providers, a dedicated {kib} instance is *required*. The security
tokens that are used in these contexts are cluster-specific, therefore you
cannot use a single {kib} instance to connect to both production and monitoring
clusters. For more information about the recommended configuration, see
{ref}/monitoring-overview.html[Monitoring overview].

. Identify where to retrieve monitoring data from.
+
--
If the monitoring data is stored on a dedicated monitoring cluster, it is
accessible even when the cluster you're monitoring is not. If you have at least
a gold license, you can send data from multiple clusters to the same monitoring
cluster and view them all through the same instance of {kib}.

By default, data is retrieved from the cluster specified in the
`elasticsearch.hosts` value in the `kibana.yml` file. If you want to retrieve it
from a different cluster, set `monitoring.ui.elasticsearch.hosts`.

To learn more about typical monitoring architectures,
see {ref}/how-monitoring-works.html[How monitoring works] and
{ref}/monitoring-production.html[Monitoring in a production environment].
--

. Verify that `monitoring.ui.enabled` is set to `true`, which is the
default value, in the `kibana.yml` file. For more information, see
<<monitoring-settings-kb>>.

. If the Elastic {security-features} are enabled on the monitoring cluster, you
must provide a user ID and password so {kib} can retrieve the data.

.. Create a user that has the `monitoring_user`
{ref}/built-in-roles.html[built-in role] on the monitoring cluster.
+
NOTE: Make sure the `monitoring_user` role has read privileges on `metrics-*`
indices. If it doesn't, create a new role with `read` and `read_cross_cluster`
index privileges on `metrics-*`, then assign the new role (along with
`monitoring_user`) to your user.

.. Add the `monitoring.ui.elasticsearch.username` and
`monitoring.ui.elasticsearch.password` settings in the `kibana.yml` file.
If these settings are omitted, {kib} uses the `elasticsearch.username` and
`elasticsearch.password` setting values. For more
information, see {kibana-ref}/using-kibana-with-security.html[Configuring security in {kib}].

. (Optional) Configure {kib} to encrypt communications between the {kib} server
and the monitoring cluster. See <<configuring-tls>>.

. If the Elastic {security-features} are enabled on the {kib} server, only users
that have the authority to access {kib} indices and to read the monitoring indices
can use the monitoring dashboards.
+
--
NOTE: These users must exist on the monitoring cluster. If you are accessing a
remote monitoring cluster, you must use credentials that are valid on both the
{kib} server and the monitoring cluster.

--

.. Create users that have the `monitoring_user` and `kibana_admin`
{ref}/built-in-roles.html[built-in roles]. If you created a new role with
read privileges on `metrics-*` indices, also assign that role to the users.

. Open {kib} in your web browser.
+
--
By default, if you are running {kib} locally, go to `http://localhost:5601/`.

If the Elastic {security-features} are enabled, log in.
--

. Open the main menu, then click *Stack Monitoring*. 
+
--
If data collection is disabled, you are prompted to turn on data collection.
If {es} {security-features} are enabled, you must have `manage` cluster
privileges to turn on data collection.

NOTE: If you are using a separate monitoring cluster, you do not need to turn on
data collection. The dashboards appear when there is data in the monitoring
cluster.

--

You'll see cluster alerts
that require your attention and a summary of the available monitoring metrics
for {es}, Logstash, {kib}, and Beats. To view additional information, click the
Overview, Nodes, Indices, or Instances links.  See <<xpack-monitoring>>.

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/monitoring-dashboard.png[Monitoring dashboard]

If you encounter problems, see <<monitor-troubleshooting,Troubleshooting monitoring>>.
