

Setting up Teleport Database Access for MongoDB
Length: 12:54
In this guide you will:
- Install and configure Teleport for Database Access.
- Configure mutual TLS authentication between Teleport and your MongoDB cluster.
- Connect to your MongoDB instance via Teleport.

Prerequisites
-
A running Teleport cluster. For details on how to set this up, see one of our Getting Started guides.
-
The
tctl
admin tool andtsh
client tool version >= 12.1.1.tctl versionTeleport v12.1.1 go1.19
tsh versionTeleport v12.1.1 go1.19
See Installation for details.
-
A running Teleport cluster. For details on how to set this up, see our Enterprise Getting Started guide.
-
The Enterprise
tctl
admin tool andtsh
client tool version >= 12.1.1, which you can download by visiting the customer portal.tctl versionTeleport Enterprise v12.1.1 go1.19
tsh versionTeleport v12.1.1 go1.19
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.
- MongoDB cluster (standalone or replica set) version
3.6
or newer.
Teleport Database Access supports MongoDB 3.6
and newer.
Older versions have not been tested and are not guaranteed to work. MongoDB
3.6
was released in November 2017 and reached EOL in
April 2021 so if you're still using an older version, consider upgrading.
To connect to Teleport, log in to your cluster using tsh
, then use tctl
remotely:
tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com [email protected]tctl statusCluster teleport.example.com
Version 12.1.1
CA pin sha256:abdc1245efgh5678abdc1245efgh5678abdc1245efgh5678abdc1245efgh5678
You can run subsequent tctl
commands in this guide on your local machine.
For full privileges, you can also run tctl
commands on your Auth Service host.
To connect to Teleport, log in to your cluster using tsh
, then use tctl
remotely:
tsh login --proxy=myinstance.teleport.sh [email protected]tctl statusCluster myinstance.teleport.sh
Version 12.1.1
CA pin sha256:sha-hash-here
You must run subsequent tctl
commands in this guide on your local machine.
Step 1/3. Install and configure Teleport
Set up the Teleport Database service
The Database Service requires a valid auth token to connect to the cluster. Generate
one by running the following command against your Teleport Auth Service and save
it in /tmp/token
on the node that will run the Database Service:
tctl tokens add --type=db
Install Teleport on the host where you will run the Teleport Database Service:
Use the appropriate commands for your environment to install your package.
Teleport Edition
Add the Teleport repository to your repository list:
Download Teleport's PGP public key
sudo curl https://apt.releases.teleport.dev/gpg \-o /usr/share/keyrings/teleport-archive-keyring.ascSource variables about OS version
source /etc/os-releaseAdd the Teleport APT repository for v12. You'll need to update this
file for each major release of Teleport.
Note: if using a fork of Debian or Ubuntu you may need to use '$ID_LIKE'
and the codename your distro was forked from instead of '$ID' and '$VERSION_CODENAME'.
Supported versions are listed here: https://github.com/gravitational/teleport/blob/master/build.assets/tooling/cmd/build-os-package-repos/runners.go#L42-L67
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/teleport-archive-keyring.asc] \https://apt.releases.teleport.dev/${ID?} ${VERSION_CODENAME?} stable/v12" \| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teleport.list > /dev/nullsudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install teleport
Source variables about OS version
source /etc/os-releaseAdd the Teleport YUM repository for v12. You'll need to update this
file for each major release of Teleport.
Note: if using a fork of RHEL/CentOS or Amazon Linux you may need to use '$ID_LIKE'
and the codename your distro was forked from instead of '$ID'
Supported versions are listed here: https://github.com/gravitational/teleport/blob/master/build.assets/tooling/cmd/build-os-package-repos/runners.go#L133-L153
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo $(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/v12/teleport.repo")sudo yum install teleportTip: 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
Optional: Use DNF on newer distributions
$ sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://rpm.releases.teleport.dev/teleport.repo
$ sudo dnf install teleport
In the example commands below, update $SYSTEM-ARCH
with the appropriate
value (amd64
, arm64
, or arm
). All example commands using this variable
will update after one is filled out.
curl https://get.gravitational.com/teleport-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gz.sha256<checksum> <filename>
curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gzshasum -a 256 teleport-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gzVerify that the checksums match
tar -xvf teleport-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gzcd teleportsudo ./install
In the example commands below, update $SYSTEM-ARCH
with the appropriate
value (amd64
, arm64
, or arm
). All example commands using this variable
will update after one is filled out.
After Downloading the .deb
file for your system architecture, install it with
dpkg
. The example below assumes the root
user:
dpkg -i ~/Downloads/teleport-ent_12.1.1_$SYSTEM-ARCH.debSelecting previously unselected package teleport-ent.
(Reading database ... 30810 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack teleport-ent_12.1.1_$SYSTEM_ARCH.deb ...
Unpacking teleport-ent 12.1.1 ...
Setting up teleport-ent 12.1.1 ...
After Downloading the .rpm
file for your system architecture, install it with rpm
:
rpm -i ~/Downloads/teleport-ent-12.1.1.$SYSTEM-ARCH.rpmwarning: teleport-ent-12.1.1.$SYSTEM-ARCH.rpm: Header V4 RSA/SHA512 Signature, key ID 6282c411: NOKEY
curl https://get.gravitational.com/teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gz.sha256<checksum> <filename>
curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gzshasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gzVerify that the checksums match
tar -xvf teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-bin.tar.gzcd teleport-entsudo ./install
For FedRAMP/FIPS-compliant installations of Teleport Enterprise, package URLs will be slightly different:
curl https://get.gravitational.com/teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz.sha256<checksum> <filename>
curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gzshasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gzVerify that the checksums match
tar -xvf teleport-ent-v12.1.1-linux-$SYSTEM-ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gzcd teleport-entsudo ./install
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.
Start the Teleport Database Service, pointing the --auth-server
flag to the
address of your Teleport Proxy Service:
teleport db start \ --token=/tmp/token \ --auth-server=teleport.example.com:3080 \ --name=example-mongo \ --protocol=mongodb \ --uri=mongo.example.com:27017 \ --labels=env=dev
The --auth-server
flag must point to the Teleport cluster's Proxy Service
endpoint because the Database Service always connects back to the cluster over a
reverse tunnel.
You can specify either a single connection address or a MongoDB connection string as a URI. For example, when connecting to a replica set:
--uri="mongodb://mongo1.example.com:27017,mongo2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=rs0"
By default, Teleport will connect to the primary replica set member. If you'd
like to connect to a secondary instead, Teleport will respect readPreference
connection string setting:
--uri="mongodb://mongo1.example.com:27017,mongo2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=rs0&readPreference=secondary"
You can start the Database Service using a configuration file instead of CLI flags. See the YAML reference for details.
Create a Teleport user
To modify an existing user to provide access to the Database Access 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
Flag | Description |
---|---|
--roles | List of roles to assign to the user. The builtin access role allows them to connect to any database server registered with Teleport. |
--db-users | List of database usernames the user will be allowed to use when connecting to the databases. A wildcard allows any user. |
--db-names | List of logical databases (aka schemas) the user will be allowed to connect to within a database server. A wildcard allows any database. |
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 2/3. Configure MongoDB
Create a MongoDB user
Teleport will use X.509 authentication
when connecting to a MongoDB instance. Users authenticating with client certificates
must be created in the $external
MongoDB authentication database.
MongoDB treats the entire Subject
line of the client certificate as a username.
When connecting to a MongoDB server, say as a user alice
, Teleport will sign
an ephemeral certificate with the CN=alice
subject.
To create this user in the database, connect to it using the mongosh
or mongo
shell and run
the following command:
db.getSiblingDB("$external").runCommand(
{
createUser: "CN=alice",
roles: [
{ role: "readWriteAnyDatabase", db: "admin" }
]
}
)
Update the roles accordingly to grant the user appropriate database permissions.
Set up mutual TLS
Teleport uses mutual TLS authentication with self-hosted databases. These databases must be configured with Teleport's certificate authority to be able to verify client certificates. They also need a certificate/key pair that Teleport can verify.
Create the secrets:
When connecting to standalone MongoDB, sign the certificate for the hostname over which Teleport will be connecting to it.
For example, if your MongoDB server is accessible at mongo.example.com
hostname, run:
tctl auth sign --format=mongodb --host=mongo.example.com --out=mongo --ttl=2190h
We recommend using a shorter TTL, but keep mind that you'll need to update the database server certificate before it expires to not lose the ability to connect. Pick the TTL value that best fits your use-case.
The command will create two files: mongo.cas
with Teleport's certificate
authority and mongo.crt
with the generated certificate and key pair. You will
need these files to enable mutual TLS on your MongoDB server.
When connecting to a MongoDB replica set, sign certificates for each member using the hostnames they're accessible at.
For example, if the first member is accessible at mongo1.example.com
and
the second at mongo2.example.com
, run:
tctl auth sign --format=mongodb --host=mongo1.example.com --out=mongo1 --ttl=2190htctl auth sign --format=mongodb --host=mongo2.example.com --out=mongo2 --ttl=2190h
We recommend using a shorter TTL, but keep mind that you'll need to update the database server certificate before it expires to not lose the ability to connect. Pick the TTL value that best fits your use-case.
Each command will create two files: mongo1.cas
/mongo2.cas
with Teleport's
certificate authority and mongo1.crt
/mongo2.crt
with the generated certificate
and key pair. You will need these files to enable mutual TLS on your MongoDB
servers.
Teleport 10.0 introduced a new certificate authority that is only used by Database Access. Older Teleport versions use a host certificate to sign Database Access certificates.
After upgrading to Teleport 10.0, the host certificate authority will still be used by Database Access to maintain compatibility. The first certificate rotation will rotate host and database certificates.
New Teleport 10.0+ installations generate the database certificate authority when they first start, and are not affected by the rotation procedure described above.
Use the generated secrets to enable mutual TLS in your mongod.conf
configuration
file and restart the database:
net:
ssl:
mode: requireSSL
PEMKeyFile: /etc/certs/mongo.crt
CAFile: /etc/certs/mongo.cas
net:
tls:
mode: requireTLS
certificateKeyFile: /etc/certs/mongo.crt
CAFile: /etc/certs/mongo.cas
When configuring a replica set, make sure to do it for each member and use secrets generated for the particular server.
Once mutual TLS has been enabled, you will no longer be able to connect to
the cluster without providing a valid client certificate. You can use the
net.tls.allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates
setting to allow connections
from clients that do not present a certificate.
See Configure TLS/SSL in the MongoDB documentation for more details.
Step 3/3. Connect
Log in to your Teleport cluster and see available databases:
tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alicetsh db lsName Description Labels
------------- --------------- --------
example-mongo Example MongoDB env=dev
To retrieve credentials for a database and connect to it:
tsh db connect example-mongo
You can optionally specify the database name and the user to use by default when connecting to the database instance:
tsh db connect --db-user=alice example-mongo
Either the mongosh
or mongo
command-line clients should be available in PATH
in order to be
able to connect. The Database Service attempts to run mongosh
first and, if mongosh
is not in PATH
, runs mongo
.
Teleport 9.0 added support for mongosh
and made it the default Mongo DB client.
To log out of the database and remove credentials:
Remove credentials for a particular database instance.
tsh db logout example-mongoRemove credentials for all database instances.
tsh db logout
Next steps
- Learn how to restrict access to certain users and databases.
- View the High Availability (HA) guide.
- Take a look at the YAML configuration reference.
- See the full CLI reference.