In production, "turn it on and done" almost never works. On a standalone node, the technical sequence is short: enable auth, restart Manticore, create an admin user, and update clients. A topology with distributed tables or replication clusters needs extra preparation because nodes must authenticate to each other as well.
Handle the rollout like a small release. Inventory clients and nodes, prepare the auth data, rehearse the procedure for your topology, and then cut over. A rehearsal exposes failures before the maintenance window.
This checklist is for users who plan to enable authentication and want to roll it out as safely as possible in an existing system. Remember that authentication is disabled until you configure auth; after cutover, clients that still omit credentials will fail.
Choose the procedure by topology:
Topology
