ElasticSearch xpack.security.enabled: true Error on start - elasticsearch

Question

I want to set password to my elasticsearch. I have not paid or started my free-trial so I guess I am using basic plan as default.
I have followed official guide to install elasticsearch on ubuntu EC2.
I don't think I have installed OSS version but when i run:
/usr/share/elasticsearch$ sudo bin/elasticsearch-plugin list --verbose
Plugins directory: /usr/share/elasticsearch/plugins
it does not print xpack.
I tried Removing and Installing ElasticSearch clean just in case i have set something wrong.
Only thing I did to my elasticsearch.yml is adding: xpack.security.enabled:true
However starting elastic search by systemctl start elasticsearch.service outputs this error message:
● elasticsearch.service - Elasticsearch
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2019-11-13 02:53:44 UTC; 9min ago
Docs: http://www.elastic.co
Process: 20330 ExecStart=/usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch -p ${PID_DIR}/elasticsearch.pid --quiet (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: 20330 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 elasticsearch[20330]: at org.yaml.snakeyaml.scanner.ScannerImpl.needMoreTokens(ScannerImpl.java:280)
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 elasticsearch[20330]: at org.yaml.snakeyaml.scanner.ScannerImpl.checkToken(ScannerImpl.java:225)
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 elasticsearch[20330]: at org.yaml.snakeyaml.parser.ParserImpl$ParseBlockMappingKey.produce(ParserImpl.java:557)
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 elasticsearch[20330]: at org.yaml.snakeyaml.parser.ParserImpl.peekEvent(ParserImpl.java:157)
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 elasticsearch[20330]: at org.yaml.snakeyaml.parser.ParserImpl.getEvent(ParserImpl.java:167)
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 elasticsearch[20330]: at com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.YAMLParser.nextToken(YAMLParser.java:340)
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 elasticsearch[20330]: ... 13 more
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 systemd[1]: elasticsearch.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 systemd[1]: elasticsearch.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Nov 13 02:53:44 ip-172-31-47-37 systemd[1]: Failed to start Elasticsearch
Also after I added xpack.security.enabled:true, listing plugin shows this error message:
/usr/share/elasticsearch$ sudo bin/elasticsearch-plugin list --verbose
Exception in thread "main" SettingsException[Failed to load settings from [elasticsearch.yml]]; nested: MarkedYAMLException[while scanning a simple key
in 'reader', line 90, column 1:
xpack.security.enabled:true
^
could not find expected ':'
in 'reader', line 91, column 1:
^
at [Source: sun.nio.ch.ChannelInputStream#6155d082; line: 37, column: 34]]; nested: ScannerException[while scanning a simple key
in 'reader', line 90, column 1:
xpack.security.enabled:true
^
could not find expected ':'
in 'reader', line 91, column 1:
^
];
at org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings$Builder.loadFromStream(Settings.java:1097)
at org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings$Builder.loadFromPath(Settings.java:1070)
at org.elasticsearch.node.InternalSettingsPreparer.prepareEnvironment(InternalSettingsPreparer.java:83)
at org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.createEnv(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:95)
at org.elasticsearch.cli.EnvironmentAwareCommand.execute(EnvironmentAwareCommand.java:86)
at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:125)
at org.elasticsearch.cli.MultiCommand.execute(MultiCommand.java:77)
at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.mainWithoutErrorHandling(Command.java:125)
at org.elasticsearch.cli.Command.main(Command.java:90)
at org.elasticsearch.plugins.PluginCli.main(PluginCli.java:47)
Caused by: com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.snakeyaml.error.MarkedYAMLException: while scanning a simple key
in 'reader', line 90, column 1:
xpack.security.enabled:true
^
could not find expected ':'
in 'reader', line 91, column 1:
^
at [Source: sun.nio.ch.ChannelInputStream#6155d082; line: 37, column: 34]
at com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.snakeyaml.error.MarkedYAMLException.from(MarkedYAMLException.java:27)
at com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.YAMLParser.nextToken(YAMLParser.java:343)
at org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.json.JsonXContentParser.nextToken(JsonXContentParser.java:52)
at org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings.fromXContent(Settings.java:645)
at org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings.fromXContent(Settings.java:620)
at org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings.access$400(Settings.java:82)
at org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings$Builder.loadFromStream(Settings.java:1093)
... 9 more
Caused by: while scanning a simple key
in 'reader', line 90, column 1:
xpack.security.enabled:true
^
could not find expected ':'
in 'reader', line 91, column 1:
^
at org.yaml.snakeyaml.scanner.ScannerImpl.stalePossibleSimpleKeys(ScannerImpl.java:465)
at org.yaml.snakeyaml.scanner.ScannerImpl.needMoreTokens(ScannerImpl.java:280)
at org.yaml.snakeyaml.scanner.ScannerImpl.checkToken(ScannerImpl.java:225)
at org.yaml.snakeyaml.parser.ParserImpl$ParseBlockMappingKey.produce(ParserImpl.java:557)
at org.yaml.snakeyaml.parser.ParserImpl.peekEvent(ParserImpl.java:157)
at org.yaml.snakeyaml.parser.ParserImpl.getEvent(ParserImpl.java:167)
at com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.YAMLParser.nextToken(YAMLParser.java:340)
... 14 more
Here's my elasticsearch.yml:
# ======================== Elasticsearch Configuration =========================
#
# NOTE: Elasticsearch comes with reasonable defaults for most settings.
# Before you set out to tweak and tune the configuration, make sure you
# understand what are you trying to accomplish and the consequences.
#
# The primary way of configuring a node is via this file. This template lists
# the most important settings you may want to configure for a production cluster.
#
# Please consult the documentation for further information on configuration options:
# https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/index.html
#
# ---------------------------------- Cluster -----------------------------------
#
# Use a descriptive name for your cluster:
#
#cluster.name: my-application
#
# ------------------------------------ Node ------------------------------------
#
# Use a descriptive name for the node:
#
#node.name: node-1
#
# Add custom attributes to the node:
#
#node.attr.rack: r1
#
# ----------------------------------- Paths ------------------------------------
#
# Path to directory where to store the data (separate multiple locations by comma):
#
path.data: /var/lib/elasticsearch
#
# Path to log files:
#
path.logs: /var/log/elasticsearch
#
# ----------------------------------- Memory -----------------------------------
#
# Lock the memory on startup:
#
#bootstrap.memory_lock: true
#
# Make sure that the heap size is set to about half the memory available
# on the system and that the owner of the process is allowed to use this
# limit.
#
# Elasticsearch performs poorly when the system is swapping the memory.
#
# ---------------------------------- Network -----------------------------------
#
# Set the bind address to a specific IP (IPv4 or IPv6):
#
#network.host: 192.168.0.1
#
# Set a custom port for HTTP:
#
#http.port: 9200
#
# For more information, consult the network module documentation.
#
# --------------------------------- Discovery ----------------------------------
#
# Pass an initial list of hosts to perform discovery when this node is started:
# The default list of hosts is ["127.0.0.1", "[::1]"]
#
#discovery.seed_hosts: ["host1", "host2"]
#
# Bootstrap the cluster using an initial set of master-eligible nodes:
#
#cluster.initial_master_nodes: ["node-1", "node-2"]
#
# For more information, consult the discovery and cluster formation module documentation.
#
# ---------------------------------- Gateway -----------------------------------
#
# Block initial recovery after a full cluster restart until N nodes are started:
#
#gateway.recover_after_nodes: 3
#
# For more information, consult the gateway module documentation.
#
# ---------------------------------- Various -----------------------------------
#
# Require explicit names when deleting indices:
#
#action.destructive_requires_name: true
xpack.security.enabled:true
What do i need to do to successfully launch elastic search?
Thank you in advance

Answer 1

Try to add a space after the colon for your xpack setting.
xpack.security.enabled: true
Syntax on yaml files can be pretty specific.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/YAMLSyntax.html
"A dictionary is represented in a simple key: value form (the colon must be followed by a space)"