[[client-key]]
== --client-key

[float]
Summary
~~~~~~~

Allows the use of a specified SSL client key file to authenticate to
Elasticsearch.  If using `--client-cert` and the file specified does not also
contain the key, use `--client-key` to specify the file containing the
SSL key.  The key file must be an unencrypted key in PEM format.

[float]
Flags
~~~~~

* `--client-key` Path to client key file to use for SSL client authentication.

IMPORTANT: This flag must come before any <<commands,command>>.

[float]
Example
~~~~~~~

Connect to a cluster at `https://example.com/` via SSL using SSL client authentication:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
curator --host example.com --port 443 --use_ssl \
        --certificate /path/to/cacert.pem \
        --client-cert /path/to/clientcert.pem \
        --client-key /path/to/clientkey.pem \
        <<command>> <<flags>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
