# Audits and Observables

To learn about auditing and how it is leveraged in Grey Matter, see the [usage documentation on audits](https://greymatter.gitbook.io/grey-matter-documentation/1.3/usage/security/auditing). To enable auditing, follow the [steps](#steps-to-enable-auditing) below.

## Steps to enable auditing and visualization

To set up Grey Matter with auditing and visualize the audits in a Kibana dashboard, step through the guides in the following order:

1. [Deploy an ELK stack](https://greymatter.gitbook.io/grey-matter-documentation/1.3/guides/security-guides/audits/elk-stack). If you already have an [ELK stack](https://www.elastic.co/what-is/elk-stack) that you wish to use, skip to step 2.
2. [Configure auditing to kafka on a Grey Matter sidecar](https://greymatter.gitbook.io/grey-matter-documentation/1.3/guides/security-guides/audits/configure-audits).
3. [Configure the Kibana dashboard to visualize audits](https://greymatter.gitbook.io/grey-matter-documentation/1.3/guides/security-guides/audits/visualize-audits).

If you don't want to install a full ELK stack, but want to configure auditing to a [Kafka](https://kafka.apache.org/) cluster, install a cluster on its own, make sure it's servers are reachable from your Grey Matter sidecar's and follow step 2 only.

If you'd like to inspect audits without installing kafka, follow the [setting filters guide](https://greymatter.gitbook.io/grey-matter-documentation/1.3/guides/fabric-guides/set-and-modify-sidecar-filters).

## Questions

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Create an account at [Grey Matter Support](https://support.greymatter.io/support/home) to reach our team.
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