[role="xpack"]
[[apm-getting-started]]
== Getting Started

If you have not already installed and configured Elastic APM,
the *Setup Instructions* will get you started.

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image::apm/images/apm-setup.png[Installation instructions on the APM page in Kibana]


Index patterns tell Kibana which Elasticsearch indices you want to explore.
An APM index pattern is necessary for certain features in the APM UI, like the query bar. 
To set up the correct index pattern,
simply click *Load Kibana objects* at the bottom of the Setup Instructions.

After you install an Elastic APM agent library in your application,
the application automatically appears in the APM UI in {kib}.
No further configuration is required.

[role="screenshot"]
image::apm/images/apm-index-pattern.png[Setup index pattern for APM in Kibana]
