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Teleport

Database Access with Azure Cache for Redis

  • Available for:
  • OpenSource
  • Team
  • Cloud
  • Enterprise

Teleport can provide secure access to Azure Cache for Redis via the Teleport Database Service. This allows for fine-grained access control through Teleport's RBAC.

In this guide, you will:

  1. Configure an Azure Cache for Redis with IAM authentication.
  2. Join the Azure Cache for Redis database to your Teleport cluster.
  3. Connect to the Azure Cache for Redis database via the Teleport Database Service.
Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.

Prerequisites

  • A Teleport Team account. If you don't have an account, sign up to begin your free trial.

  • The Enterprise tctl admin tool and tsh client tool, version >= 14.0.0.

    You can download these tools by visiting your Teleport account workspace.

  • A running Teleport cluster. For details on how to set this up, see the Getting Started guide.

  • The tctl admin tool and tsh client tool version >= 14.0.0.

    See Installation for details.

  • A running Teleport Enterprise cluster. For details on how to set this up, see the Enterprise Getting Started guide.

  • The Enterprise tctl admin tool and tsh client tool version >= 14.0.0.

    You can download these tools by visiting your Teleport account workspace.

Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.

To check version information, run the tctl version and tsh version commands. For example:

tctl version

Teleport Enterprise v13.3.9 git:api/14.0.0-gd1e081e go1.21


tsh version

Teleport v13.3.9 go1.21

Proxy version: 13.3.9Proxy: teleport.example.com
  • Deployed Azure Redis server or Azure Redis Enterprise cluster.
  • Azure administrative privileges to manage service principals and access controls.
  • A host, e.g., an Azure VM instance, where you will run the Teleport Database Service.
  • redis-cli version 6.2 or newer installed and added to your system's PATH environment variable.
  • To check that you can connect to your Teleport cluster, sign in with tsh login, then verify that you can run tctl commands on your administrative workstation using your current credentials. For example:
    tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=[email protected]
    tctl status

    Cluster teleport.example.com

    Version 14.0.0

    CA pin sha256:abdc1245efgh5678abdc1245efgh5678abdc1245efgh5678abdc1245efgh5678

    If you can connect to the cluster and run the tctl status command, you can use your current credentials to run subsequent tctl commands from your workstation. If you host your own Teleport cluster, you can also run tctl commands on the computer that hosts the Teleport Auth Service for full permissions.

Step 1/5. Create a Teleport user

Tip

To modify an existing user to provide access to the Database Service, see Database Access Access Controls

Create a local Teleport user with the built-in access role:

tctl users add \ --roles=access \ --db-users=\* \ --db-names=\* \ alice

Create a local Teleport user with the built-in access and requester roles:

tctl users add \ --roles=access,requester \ --db-users=\* \ --db-names=\* \ alice
FlagDescription
--rolesList of roles to assign to the user. The builtin access role allows them to connect to any database server registered with Teleport.
--db-usersList of database usernames the user will be allowed to use when connecting to the databases. A wildcard allows any user.
--db-namesList of logical databases (aka schemas) the user will be allowed to connect to within a database server. A wildcard allows any database.
Warning

Database names are only enforced for PostgreSQL and MongoDB databases.

For more detailed information about database access controls and how to restrict access see RBAC documentation.

Step 2/5. Create a Database Service configuration

Install Teleport on the host where you will run the Teleport Database Service:

Select an edition, then follow the instructions for that edition to install Teleport.

Teleport Edition

curl https://goteleport.com/static/install.sh | bash -s 13.3.9

Before installing a teleport binary with a version besides v13, read our compatibility rules to ensure that the binary is compatible with Teleport Cloud.

When running multiple teleport binaries within a cluster, the following rules apply:

  • Patch and minor versions are always compatible, for example, any 8.0.1 component will work with any 8.0.3 component and any 8.1.0 component will work with any 8.3.0 component.
  • Servers support clients that are 1 major version behind, but do not support clients that are on a newer major version. For example, an 8.x.x Proxy Service is compatible with 7.x.x resource services and 7.x.x tsh, but we don't guarantee that a 9.x.x resource service will work with an 8.x.x Proxy Service. This also means you must not attempt to upgrade from 6.x.x straight to 8.x.x. You must upgrade to 7.x.x first.
  • Proxy Services and resource services do not support Auth Services that are on an older major version, and will fail to connect to older Auth Services by default. This behavior can be overridden by passing --skip-version-check when starting Proxy Services and resource services.
curl https://goteleport.com/static/install.sh | bash -s 14.0.0

Download Teleport's PGP public key

sudo curl https://apt.releases.teleport.dev/gpg \-o /usr/share/keyrings/teleport-archive-keyring.asc

Source variables about OS version

source /etc/os-release

Add the Teleport APT repository for v14. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/teleport-archive-keyring.asc] \https://apt.releases.teleport.dev/${ID?} ${VERSION_CODENAME?} stable/v14" \| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teleport.list > /dev/null

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install teleport-ent

For FedRAMP/FIPS-compliant installations, install the teleport-ent-fips package instead:

sudo apt-get install teleport-ent-fips

Source variables about OS version

source /etc/os-release

Add the Teleport YUM repository for v14. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

First, get the major version from $VERSION_ID so this fetches the correct

package version.

VERSION_ID=$(echo $VERSION_ID | grep -Eo "^[0-9]+")
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo "$(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/v14/teleport.repo")"
sudo yum install teleport-ent

Tip: Add /usr/local/bin to path used by sudo (so 'sudo tctl users add' will work as per the docs)

echo "Defaults secure_path = /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin" > /etc/sudoers.d/secure_path

For FedRAMP/FIPS-compliant installations, install the teleport-ent-fips package instead:

sudo yum install teleport-ent-fips

Source variables about OS version

source /etc/os-release

Add the Teleport Zypper repository for v14. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

First, get the OS major version from $VERSION_ID so this fetches the correct

package version.

VERSION_ID=$(echo $VERSION_ID | grep -Eo "^[0-9]+")

Use zypper to add the teleport RPM repo

sudo zypper addrepo --refresh --repo $(rpm --eval "https://zypper.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/cloud/teleport-zypper.repo")
sudo yum install teleport-ent

Tip: Add /usr/local/bin to path used by sudo (so 'sudo tctl users add' will work as per the docs)

echo "Defaults secure_path = /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin" > /etc/sudoers.d/secure_path

For FedRAMP/FIPS-compliant installations, install the teleport-ent-fips package instead:

sudo yum install teleport-ent-fips

Source variables about OS version

source /etc/os-release

Add the Teleport YUM repository for v14. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

First, get the major version from $VERSION_ID so this fetches the correct

package version.

VERSION_ID=$(echo $VERSION_ID | grep -Eo "^[0-9]+")

Use the dnf config manager plugin to add the teleport RPM repo

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo "$(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/v14/teleport.repo")"

Install teleport

sudo dnf install teleport-ent

Tip: Add /usr/local/bin to path used by sudo (so 'sudo tctl users add' will work as per the docs)

echo "Defaults secure_path = /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin" > /etc/sudoers.d/secure_path

For FedRAMP/FIPS-compliant installations, install the teleport-ent-fips package instead:

sudo dnf install teleport-ent-fips

Source variables about OS version

source /etc/os-release

Add the Teleport Zypper repository.

First, get the OS major version from $VERSION_ID so this fetches the correct

package version.

VERSION_ID=$(echo $VERSION_ID | grep -Eo "^[0-9]+")

Use Zypper to add the teleport RPM repo

sudo zypper addrepo --refresh --repo $(rpm --eval "https://zypper.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/v14/teleport-zypper.repo")

Install teleport

sudo zypper install teleport-ent

For FedRAMP/FIPS-compliant installations, install the teleport-ent-fips package instead:

sudo zypper install teleport-ent-fips

In the example commands below, update $SYSTEM_ARCH with the appropriate value (amd64, arm64, or arm). All example commands using this variable will update after one is filled out.

curl https://get.gravitational.com/teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz.sha256

<checksum> <filename>

curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
shasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz

Verify that the checksums match

tar -xvf teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
cd teleport-ent
sudo ./install

For FedRAMP/FIPS-compliant installations of Teleport Enterprise, package URLs will be slightly different:

curl https://get.gravitational.com/teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz.sha256

<checksum> <filename>

curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz
shasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz

Verify that the checksums match

tar -xvf teleport-ent-v14.0.0-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz
cd teleport-ent
sudo ./install

OS repository channels

The following channels are available for APT, YUM, and Zypper repos. They may be used in place of stable/v14 anywhere in the Teleport documentation.

Channel nameDescription
stable/<major>Receives releases for the specified major release line, i.e. v14
stable/cloudRolling channel that receives releases compatible with current Cloud version
stable/rollingRolling channel that receives all published Teleport releases
Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.

Create the Database Service configuration, specifying a region like this:

sudo teleport db configure create \ -o file \ --proxy=tele.example.com:443 \ --token=/tmp/token \ --azure-redis-discovery=eastus
Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.

The command will generate a Database Service configuration with Azure Cache for Redis auto-discovery enabled in the eastus region and place it at the /etc/teleport.yaml location.

Tip

Use --azure-redis-discovery=* to discover databases in all regions. In addition to the region, you can optionally specify --azure-resource-group=<resource-group-name>, --azure-subscription=<subscription-id>, or --labels=<key>=<value> to further customize the scopes of the auto-discovery.

Step 3/5. Configure IAM permissions for Teleport

The Teleport Database Service needs Azure IAM permissions to:

  • Discover and register Azure Cache for Redis databases.
  • Retrieve Redis access keys to authenticate with the databases.

Configure an Azure service principal

There are a couple of ways for the Teleport Database Service to access Azure resources:

  • The Database Service can run on an Azure VM with attached managed identity. This is the recommended way of deploying the Database Service in production since it eliminates the need to manage Azure credentials.
  • The Database Service can be registered as an Azure AD application (via AD's "App registrations") and configured with its credentials. This is only recommended for development and testing purposes since it requires Azure credentials to be present in the Database Service's environment.

Go to the Managed Identities page in your Azure portal and click Create to create a new user-assigned managed identity:

Managed identities

Pick a name and resource group for the new identity and create it:

Take note of the created identity's Client ID:

Next, navigate to the Azure VM that will run your Database Service instance and add the identity you've just created to it:

VM identity

Attach this identity to all Azure VMs that will be running the Database Service.

Note

Registering the Database Service as Azure AD application is suitable for test and development scenarios, or if your Database Service does not run on an Azure VM. For production scenarios prefer to use the managed identity approach.

Go the the App registrations page of your Azure Active Directory and click on New registration:

App registrations

Pick a name (e.g. DatabaseService) and register a new application. Once the app has been created, take note of its Application (client) ID and click on Add a certificate or secret:

Create a new client secret that the Database Service agent will use to authenticate with the Azure API:

Registered app secrets

The Teleport Database Service uses Azure SDK's default credential provider chain to look for credentials. Refer to Azure SDK Authorization to pick a method suitable for your use-case. For example, to use environment-based authentication with a client secret, the Database Service should have the following environment variables set:

export AZURE_TENANT_ID=export AZURE_CLIENT_ID=export AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=

Create a custom role

Teleport requires <resource-type>/read permissions for discovery and <resource-type>/listKeys/action permissions for authentication with the Redis servers, but Teleport only needs permissions for the resource types you have.

Here is a sample role definition allowing Teleport to read and list keys for both Azure Redis and Azure Redis Enterprise:

{
    "properties": {
        "roleName": "TeleportDiscovery",
        "description": "Allows Teleport to discover Azure Cache For Redis databases and list keys",
        "assignableScopes": [
            "/subscriptions/11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555"
        ],
        "permissions": [
            {
                "actions": [
                    "Microsoft.Cache/redis/read",
                    "Microsoft.Cache/redis/listKeys/action",
                    "Microsoft.Cache/redisEnterprise/read",
                    "Microsoft.Cache/redisEnterprise/databases/read",
                    "Microsoft.Cache/redisEnterprise/databases/listKeys/action"
                ],
                "notActions": [],
                "dataActions": [],
                "notDataActions": []
            }
        ]
    }
}

The assignableScopes field above includes a subscription /subscriptions/<subscription>, allowing the role to be assigned at any resource scope within that subscription or the subscription scope itself. If you want to further limit the assignableScopes, you can use a resource group /subscriptions/<subscription>/resourceGroups/<group> or a management group /providers/Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/<group> instead.

Now go to the Subscriptions page and select a subscription.

Click on Access control (IAM) in the subscription and select Add > Add custom role:

IAM custom role

In the custom role creation page, click the JSON tab and click Edit, then paste the JSON example and replace the subscription in assignableScopes with your own subscription id:

Create a role assignment for the Teleport Database Service principal

To grant Teleport permissions, the custom role you created must be assigned to the Teleport service principal - either the managed identity or the app registration you created earlier.

Navigate to the resource scope where you want to make the role assignment. Click Access control (IAM) and select Add > Add role assignment. Choose the custom role you created as the role and the Teleport service principal as a member.

Assign role
Azure Role Assignments

The role assignment should be at a high enough scope to allow the Teleport Database Service to discover all matching databases. See Identify the needed scope for more information about Azure scopes and creating role assignments.

Step 4/5. Start the Database Service

Configure the Teleport Database Service to start automatically when the host boots up by creating a systemd service for it. The instructions depend on how you installed the Teleport Database Service.

On the host where you will run the Teleport Database Service, enable and start Teleport:

sudo systemctl enable teleport
sudo systemctl start teleport

On the host where you will run the Teleport Database Service, create a systemd service configuration for Teleport, enable the Teleport service, and start Teleport:

sudo teleport install systemd -o /etc/systemd/system/teleport.service
sudo systemctl enable teleport
sudo systemctl start teleport

You can check the status of the Teleport Database Service with systemctl status teleport and view its logs with journalctl -fu teleport.

Step 5/5. Connect

Log in to your Teleport cluster. Your Azure Cache for Redis databases should appear in the list of available databases:

tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alice
tsh db ls
Name Description Allowed Users Labels Connect ------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ------------- ------- ------- my-azure-redis Azure Redis server in East US [*] ...my-azure-redis-enterprise Azure Redis Enterprise server in East US [*] ...
Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.
Override default database name

By default, Teleport uses the name of the Azure Cache for Redis resource as the database name. You can override the database name by applying the TeleportDatabaseName Azure tag to the resource. The value of the tag will be used as the database name.

To retrieve credentials for a database and connect to it:

tsh db connect my-azure-redis

Note that the Teleport Database Service will retrieve the access key and authenticate with the Redis server on the backend automatically. Therefore, the AUTH <access-key> command is not required here once connected.

To log out of the database and remove credentials:

tsh db logout my-azure-redis

Troubleshooting

No credential providers error

If you see the error DefaultAzureCredential: failed to acquire a token. in Database Service logs then Teleport is not detecting the required credentials to connect to the Azure SDK. Check whether the credentials have been applied in the machine running the Teleport Database Service and restart the Teleport Database Service. Refer to Azure SDK Authorization for more information.

Timeout errors

The Teleport Database Service needs connectivity to your database endpoints. That may require enabling inbound traffic on the database from the Database Service on the same VPC or routing rules from another VPC. Using the nc program you can verify connections to databases:

nc -zv server-name.postgres.database.azure.com 5432

Connection to server-name.postgres.database.azure.com 5432 port [tcp/postgresql] succeeded!

Next steps

  • See the YAML configuration reference for updating dynamic resource matchers or static database definitions.

Further reading