﻿---
title: Manage roles tokens
description: At the end of the Elastic Cloud Enterprise installation process on the first host, you are provided with a roles token. This token can be used to install...
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4919/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/generate-roles-tokens
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise: Generally available in 4.0+
---

# Manage roles tokens
At the end of the Elastic Cloud Enterprise installation process on the first host, you are provided with a roles token. This token can be used to install Elastic Cloud Enterprise on additional hosts, but it does not include any role permissions.
You can [assign roles](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4919/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/assign-roles-to-hosts) to the additional hosts through the Cloud UI later on, but this role assignment is a manual process.
For automation purposes, you need to generate a new *ephemeral* or *persistent* token with the right role permissions, so that you can install Elastic Cloud Enterprise on hosts and add the right roles at the same time.
This section covers the different types of tokens and the following tasks:
- [Generate roles tokens](#ece-generate-roles-token)
- [Revoke roles tokens](#ece-revoke-roles-token)


## Ephemeral and persistent roles tokens

Ephemeral and persistent tokens differ as follows:
<definitions>
  <definition term="Ephemeral token">
    Available for use during Elastic Cloud Enterprise installation on additional hosts for one hour before the token is revoked automatically. Cannot be revoked manually.
  </definition>
  <definition term="Persistent token">
    Available for use during Elastic Cloud Enterprise installation on additional hosts indefinitely. Can be revoked at any time.
  </definition>
</definitions>

The permitted roles are the same as those you can [assign in the Cloud UI](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4919/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/assign-roles-to-hosts):
<definitions>
  <definition term="allocator">
    Allocates the available computing resources to Elasticsearch nodes or Kibana instances. In larger installations, a majority of the machines will be allocators.
  </definition>
  <definition term="coordinator">
    Serves as a distributed coordination system and resource scheduler.
  </definition>
  <definition term="proxy">
    Manages communication between a user and an Elasticsearch or Kibana instance.
  </definition>
  <definition term="director">
    Manages the ZooKeeper datastore. This role is typically shared with the coordinator role. In production deployments it can be separated from a coordinator.
  </definition>
</definitions>


## Generate roles tokens

To generate an ephemeral token for additional allocators:
```sh
curl -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -u USER:PASSWORD https://$COORDINATOR_HOST:12443/api/v1/platform/configuration/security/enrollment-tokens -d '{ "persistent": false, "roles": [ "allocator"] }'
```

```sh
{
  "token": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiI0Njk3N2I3ZC1hM2U2LTQ2MDUtYjcwZC0xNzIzMTI5YWY4ZTQiLCJyb2xlcyI6WyJwcm94eSIsImFsbG9jYXRvciJdLCJpc3MiOiJib290c3RyYXAtaW5pdGlhbCIsImV4cCI6MTQ5MzY0NjIxM30.xsaRb72CsNMuXKy6Y-PJgqLc0qmjCljlB4Smcx_MRxg"
}
```

To generate a persistent token for additional allocators:
```sh
curl -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -u USER:PASSWORD https://$COORDINATOR_HOST:12443/api/v1/platform/configuration/security/enrollment-tokens -d '{ "persistent": true, "roles": [ "allocator"] }'
```

```sh
{
  "token": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiI0Yzg5OTBkZi0xZmI3LTQ4MjAtYjg2OC02YmM5ZTg4NjA4MTQiLCJyb2xlcyI6WyJwcm94eSIsImFsbG9jYXRvciJdLCJpc3MiOiJib290c3RyYXAtaW5pdGlhbCJ9.mfTkO4j8uZJ-qwB2jmBuMScyYfLmcJpvKgSTLx2WV24",
  "token_id": "4c8990df-1fb7-4820-b868-6bc9e8860814"
}
```


## Revoke roles tokens

At the end of the Elastic Cloud Enterprise installation process on the first host, you are provided with a roles token. You can also generate new roles tokens yourself, either as ephemeral tokens that get deleted after 24 hours or as persistent tokens that get stored by Elastic Cloud Enterprise. These tokens enable additional hosts to join an Elastic Cloud Enterprise installation and should be kept secure or deleted if they are no longer needed.
If you delete all tokens and need to add more hosts to your installation, you should generate a new token first.
<important>
  During installation, an emergency token gets generated that enables you to install Elastic Cloud Enterprise on additional hosts with all roles already assigned, except the allocator role. The emergency token can save your installation if all coordinators fail or are removed and you can no longer use the Cloud UI or the RESTful API. You should not delete this token. To learn more, check [Using the Emergency Roles Token](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4919/troubleshoot/deployments/cloud-enterprise/use-emergency-roles-token).
</important>

To delete a token:
1. Retrieve the list of available tokens through the RESTful API :
   ```sh
   curl -u USER:PASSWORD https://localhost:12443/api/v1/platform/configuration/security/enrollment-tokens
   ```
   ```sh
   {
     "tokens": [{
       "token_id": "5f9cad2f-c6e7-4ee2-8f6e-53225df45be5",
       "roles": []
     }, {
       "token_id": "4c8990df-1fb7-4820-b868-6bc9e8860814",
       "roles": ["proxy", "allocator"]
     }]
   }
   ```
2. Use the token ID to delete the tokens you no longer need: `4c8990df-1fb7-4820-b868-6bc9e8860814`:
   ```sh
   curl -XDELETE -u USER:PASSWORD  'https://localhost:12443/api/v1/platform/configuration/security/enrollment-tokens/4c8990df-1fb7-4820-b868-6bc9e8860814'
   ```
   ```sh
   {
   }
   ```
3. Optional: To check that the token has been deleted, repeat Step 1 and make sure that the token is no longer listed.