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+<!--
+title: "Secure your nodes"
+description: "Your data and systems are safe with Netdata, but we recommend a few easy ways to improve the security of your infrastructure."
+custom_edit_url: https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/docs/configure/secure-nodes.md
+-->
+
+# Secure your nodes
+
+Upon installation, the Netdata Agent serves the **local dashboard** at port `19999`. If the node is accessible to the
+internet at large, anyone can access the dashboard and your node's metrics at `http://NODE:19999`. We made this decision
+so that the local dashboard was immediately accessible to users, and so that we don't dictate how professionals set up
+and secure their infrastructures.
+
+Despite this design decision, your [data](/docs/netdata-security.md#your-data-are-safe-with-netdata) and your
+[systems](/docs/netdata-security.md#your-systems-are-safe-with-netdata) are safe with Netdata. Netdata is read-only,
+cannot do anything other than present metrics, and runs without special/`sudo` privileges. Also, the local dashboard
+only exposes chart metadata and metric values, not raw data.
+
+While Netdata is secure by design, we believe you should [protect your
+nodes](/docs/netdata-security.md#why-netdata-should-be-protected). If left accessible to the internet at large, the
+local dashboard could reveal sensitive information about your infrastructure. For example, an attacker can view which
+applications you run (databases, webservers, and so on), or see every user account on a node.
+
+Instead of dictating how to secure your infrastructure, we give you many options to establish security best practices
+that align with your goals and your organization's standards.
+
+- [Disable the local dashboard](#disable-the-local-dashboard): **Simplest and recommended method** for those who have
+ added nodes to Netdata Cloud and view dashboards and metrics there.
+- [Restrict access to the local dashboard](#restrict-access-to-the-local-dashboard): Allow local dashboard access from
+ only certain IP addresses, such as a trusted static IP or connections from behind a management LAN. Full support for
+ Netdata Cloud.
+- [Use a reverse proxy](#use-a-reverse-proxy): Password-protect a local dashboard and enable TLS to secure it. Full
+ support for Netdata Cloud.
+
+## Disable the local dashboard
+
+This is the _recommended method for those who have claimed their nodes to Netdata Cloud_ and prefer viewing real-time
+metrics using the War Room Overview, Nodes view, and Cloud dashboards.
+
+You can disable the local dashboard (and API) but retain the encrypted Agent-Cloud link ([ACLK](/aclk/README.md)) that
+allows you to stream metrics on demand from your nodes via the Netdata Cloud interface. This change mitigates all
+concerns about revealing metrics and system design to the internet at large, while keeping all the functionality you
+need to view metrics and troubleshoot issues with Netdata Cloud.
+
+Open `netdata.conf` with `./edit-config netdata.conf`. Scroll down to the `[web]` section, and find the `mode =
+static-threaded` setting, and change it to `none`.
+
+```conf
+[web]
+ mode = none
+```
+
+Save and close the editor, then [restart your Agent](/docs/configure/start-stop-restart.md) using `sudo systemctl
+restart netdata`. If you try to visit the local dashboard to `http://NODE:19999` again, the connection will fail because
+that node no longer serves its local dashboard.
+
+> See the [configuration basics doc](/docs/configure/nodes.md) for details on how to find `netdata.conf` and use
+> `edit-config`.
+
+## Restrict access to the local dashboard
+
+If you want to keep using the local dashboard, but don't want it exposed to the internet, you can restrict access with
+[access lists](/web/server/README.md#access-lists). This method also fully retains the ability to stream metrics
+on-demand through Netdata Cloud.
+
+The `allow connections from` setting helps you allow only certain IP addresses or FQDN/hostnames, such as a trusted
+static IP, only `localhost`, or connections from behind a management LAN.
+
+By default, this setting is `localhost *`. This setting allows connections from `localhost` in addition to _all_
+connections, using the `*` wildcard. You can change this setting using Netdata's [simple
+patterns](/libnetdata/simple_pattern/README.md).
+
+```conf
+[web]
+ # Allow only localhost connections
+ allow connections from = localhost
+
+ # Allow only from management LAN running on `10.X.X.X`
+ allow connections from = 10.*
+
+ # Allow connections only from a specific FQDN/hostname
+ allow connections from = example*
+```
+
+The `allow connections from` setting is global and restricts access to the dashboard, badges, streaming, API, and
+`netdata.conf`, but you can also set each of those access lists more granularly if you choose:
+
+```conf
+[web]
+ allow connections from = localhost *
+ allow dashboard from = localhost *
+ allow badges from = *
+ allow streaming from = *
+ allow netdata.conf from = localhost fd* 10.* 192.168.* 172.16.* 172.17.* 172.18.* 172.19.* 172.20.* 172.21.* 172.22.* 172.23.* 172.24.* 172.25.* 172.26.* 172.27.* 172.28.* 172.29.* 172.30.* 172.31.*
+ allow management from = localhost
+```
+
+See the [web server](/web/server/README.md#access-lists) docs for additional details about access lists. You can take
+access lists one step further by [enabling SSL](/web/server/README.md#enabling-tls-support) to encrypt data from local
+dashboard in transit. The connection to Netdata Cloud is always secured with TLS.
+
+## Use a reverse proxy
+
+You can also put Netdata behind a reverse proxy for additional security while retaining the functionality of both the
+local dashboard and Netdata Cloud dashboards. You can use a reverse proxy to password-protect the local dashboard and
+enable HTTPS to encrypt metadata and metric values in transit.
+
+We recommend Nginx, as it's what we use for our [demo server](https://london.my-netdata.io/), and we have a guide
+dedicated to [running Netdata behind Nginx](/docs/Running-behind-nginx.md).
+
+We also have guides for [Apache](/docs/Running-behind-apache.md), [Lighttpd](/docs/Running-behind-lighttpd.md),
+[HAProxy](/docs/Running-behind-haproxy.md), and [Caddy](/docs/Running-behind-caddy.md).
+
+## What's next?
+
+Read about [Netdata's security design](/docs/netdata-security.md) and our [blog
+post](https://www.netdata.cloud/blog/netdata-agent-dashboard/) about why the local Agent dashboard is both open and
+secure by design.
+
+Next up, learn about [collectors](/docs/collect/how-collectors-work.md) to ensure you're gathering every essential
+metric about your node, its applications, and your infrastructure at large.
+
+[![analytics](https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&aip=1&t=pageview&_s=1&ds=github&dr=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fnetdata%2Fnetdata&dl=https%3A%2F%2Fmy-netdata.io%2Fgithub%2Fdocs%2Fconfigure%2Fsecure-nodesa&_u=MAC~&cid=5792dfd7-8dc4-476b-af31-da2fdb9f93d2&tid=UA-64295674-3)](<>)