---
description: >-
  Section details about what is an index patterns and how to create a new index
  pattern, exploring and configuring and setting default index pattern.
---

# Index Pattern

Kibana requires an index pattern to access the Elasticsearch data that you want to explore. An index pattern selects the data that is to be used and it also allows you to define the properties of the fields.

An index pattern points to a specific index, an index can be, for example, your log data from yesterday, or all indices that contain your data. It can also point to a data stream or index alias.

Under this section you will learn how to:

1. Create an index pattern
2. Explore and configure the data fields
3. Set the default index pattern
4. Delete an index pattern

But  before you begin you need to understand a few basics points given below:

* To access the Index Patterns view, you must have the Kibana privilege to access Index Pattern Management.
* To create an index pattern, you must have the Elasticsearch privilege under view\_index\_metadata. To add the privileges, open the main menu, then click Stack Management > Roles.
* If a read-only indicator appears in Kibana, you have insufficient privileges to create or save index patterns. The buttons to create new index patterns or save existing index patterns are not visible.
