[[connecting-to-cloud]]
=== Sending data to Elastic Cloud (hosted Elasticsearch Service)

Our hosted {ess} on https://cloud.elastic.co/[Elastic Cloud] simplifies safe, secure communication between {ls} and {es}. 
When you configure the Elasticsearch output plugin to use <<plugins-outputs-elasticsearch-cloud_id,`cloud_id`>> with either the <<plugins-outputs-elasticsearch-cloud_auth,`cloud_auth` option>> or the <<plugins-outputs-elasticsearch-api_key,`api_key` option>>, no additional SSL configuration is needed.

Examples:

* `output {elasticsearch { cloud_id => "<cloud id>" cloud_auth => "<cloud auth>" } }`
* `output {elasticsearch { cloud_id => "<cloud id>" api_key => "<api key>" } }``

{ess-leadin-short}

[[cloud-id]]
==== Cloud ID

{ls} uses the Cloud ID, found in the Elastic Cloud web console, to build the
Elasticsearch and Kibana hosts settings. It is a base64 encoded text value of
about 120 characters made up of upper and lower case letters and numbers.
If you have several Cloud IDs, you can add a label, which is ignored
internally, to help you tell them apart. To add a label you should prefix your
Cloud ID with a label and a `:` separator in this format "<label>:<cloud-id>"

[[cloud-auth]]
==== Cloud Auth
Cloud Auth is optional. Construct this value by following this format "<username>:<password>".
Use your Cloud username for the first part. Use your Cloud password for the second part,
which is given once in the Cloud UI when you create a cluster.
If you change your Cloud password in the Cloud UI, remember to change it here, too.

[[cloud-id-plugins]]
==== Using Cloud ID and Cloud Auth with plugins

The Elasticsearch input, output, and filter plugins support cloud_id and
cloud_auth in their configurations. 

* <<plugins-inputs-elasticsearch-cloud_id,Elasticsearch input plugin>>
* <<plugins-filters-elasticsearch-cloud_id,Elasticsearch filter plugin>>
* <<plugins-outputs-elasticsearch-cloud_id,Elasticsearch output plugin>>


[[cloud-id-mgmt]]
==== Sending {ls} management data to {es} Services

These settings in the `logstash.yml` config file can help you get set up to send
management data to Elastic Cloud:

* `xpack.management.elasticsearch.cloud_id`
* `xpack.management.elasticsearch.cloud_auth`

You can use the `xpack.management.elasticsearch.cloud_id` setting as an alternative to
`xpack.management.elasticsearch.hosts`. 

You can use the `xpack.management.elasticsearch.cloud_auth` setting as an
alternative to both `xpack.management.elasticsearch.username` and
`xpack.management.elasticsearch.password`. 
The credentials you specify here should be for a user with the logstash_admin
role, which provides access to .logstash-* indices for managing configurations.