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I'm evaluating ES for our project use case. Once of the requirement is security. I have some questions regarding ES license and security features ?

  1. Does basic license include security ?
  2. If security enabled in basic ( free ) version does it include document fields level security ? if not what level free security stops ?

There are some confusing information regarding this hence i thought to post it here to get clear understanding.

Viraj
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1 Answers1

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Inline answers:

1. Does basic license include security ?

Yes, from ES 6.8 its included in basic free license but in basic license it's off by default using x-pack security config `xpack.security.enabled. it can be enabled.

More info on above setting in this official doc. Also please refer Elastic blog on making security free, which has detailed information.

2. If security enabled in basic ( free ) version does it include document fields level security? if not what level free security stops ?

Edit: As I looked into Elastic blog it seems the document level security is still a paid feature as from the same blog:

Note that our advanced security features — from single sign-on and Active Directory/LDAP authentication to field- and document-level security — remain paid features

More info on what is available in what subscription can be seen at Elastic subscription matrix

Amit
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  • ES includes security for free since v6.8 and v7.1, but 7.0 didn't have it: https://www.elastic.co/blog/security-for-elasticsearch-is-now-free – Val May 14 '20 at 09:12
  • @Val, Yeah vaguely remember that and updated it as I looked into their blog to confirm that :) – Amit May 14 '20 at 09:14
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    Document/field-level security is not available in the Basic license, not even in Gold, only in Platinum: https://www.elastic.co/subscriptions – Val May 14 '20 at 09:15
  • @Val, I was confirming that only and just see my updated answer added the same details, anyway thanks for acting fast on this :) – Amit May 14 '20 at 09:16
  • @Val, now I am done with my answer, let me know if you have some comments, you type so fast(in a good manner) that sometime i don't even get a chance to update the answer :) – Amit May 14 '20 at 09:18
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/213847/discussion-between-opster-elasticsearch-ninja-and-val). – Amit May 14 '20 at 09:20
  • @Val as you said document/field-level security not available in basic license. This is ES response to such request with basic license ` { "type": "security_exception", "reason": "current license is non-compliant for [field and document level security]", "license.expired.feature": "field and document level security" } – Viraj May 14 '20 at 12:54
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    @Viraj, yeah I also updated with the Elastic link mentioning this and subscription link which includes what all features available in a tier – Amit May 14 '20 at 12:58