

Setting up Database Access with GCP Cloud SQL
Length: 12:32
This guide will help you to:
- Install Teleport
12.1.1
. - Set up Teleport to access your PostgreSQL on Google Cloud SQL.
- Connect to your databases through 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.
- Google Cloud account
- Command-line client
psql
installed and added to your system'sPATH
environment variable. - A host, e.g., a Compute Engine instance, where you will run the Teleport Database Service
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 1/7. Enable Cloud SQL IAM authentication
Teleport uses IAM database authentication with Cloud SQL PostgreSQL instances.
If you're creating
a new PostgreSQL instance, make sure to add the cloudsql.iam_authentication
database flag under "Customize your instance / Flags" section:

To check whether IAM authentication is enabled for an existing Cloud SQL instance, look for the flag on the Configuration panel on the instance's Overview page:

If it isn't enabled, you can add this flag using the "Edit configuration" dialog at the bottom of the Configuration panel. Note, changing this setting may require a database instance reboot.
Step 2/7. Create a service account for the database
Teleport uses service accounts to connect to Cloud SQL databases.
Create a service account
Go to the IAM & Admin Service Accounts page and create a new service account:

Press "Create".
Grant permissions
On the second step grant this service account the "Cloud SQL Instance User" role which will allow it to connect to Cloud SQL instances using IAM token for authentication:

Press "Done".
Configure authentication for your service account
Now go back to the Users page of your Cloud SQL instance and add a new user account. In the sidebar, choose "Cloud IAM" authentication type and add the service account you've just created:

Press "Add" and your Users table should look similar to this:

See Creating and managing IAM users in Google Cloud documentation for more info.
Step 3/7. Create a service account for Teleport Database Service
The final part of GCP configuration is to create a service account for the Teleport Database Service.
Create a service account
Go to the Service Accounts page and create a service account:

Grant permissions
Assign the Service Account the following IAM roles:
- "Service Account Token Creator" will allow the Database Service to generate IAM authentication tokens when connecting to the database as the service account user we created above.
- Either "Cloud SQL Viewer" or "Cloud SQL Admin":
- "Cloud SQL Viewer" will allow the Database Service to automatically download your Cloud SQL instance's root CA certificate, but does not support client certificate authentication.
- "Cloud SQL Admin" will allow the Database Service to automatically download your Cloud SQL instance's root CA certificate and generate an ephemeral client certificate when the GCP instance is configured to "Allow only SSL connections."
Assign it the "Service Account Token Creator" role:

"Service Account Token Creator", "Cloud SQL Viewer", and "Cloud SQL Admin" IAM roles include more permissions than the Database Service needs. To further restrict the service account, you can create a role that includes only the following permissions:
# Used to generate IAM auth tokens when connecting to a database instance.
iam.serviceAccounts.getAccessToken
# Used to auto-download the instance's root CA certificate.
cloudsql.instances.get
# Used to generate an ephemeral client certificate when the GCP instance
# is configured to "Allow only SSL connections." (optional)
cloudsql.sslCerts.createEphemeral
Create a key for the service account
Once created, go to that service account's Keys tab and create a new key:

Make sure to choose JSON format:

Save the file. The Teleport Database Service will need it to be able to generate IAM auth tokens.
Step 4/7. Gather Cloud SQL instance information
To connect a Cloud SQL database to Teleport, you'll need to gather a few pieces of information about the instance.
- GCP Project ID.
You can normally see it in the organization view at the top of the GCP dashboard.
- Cloud SQL instance ID.
The instance ID is the name of your Cloud SQL instance shown at the top of the Overview page:

- Cloud SQL instance endpoint.
You will use the instance's public IP address to connect to it. It can be viewed on the "Connect to this instance" panel on the Overview page:

- Cloud SQL instance root certificate.
The instance's root certificate is required so Teleport can validate the
certificate presented by the database instance. You can download server-ca.pem
file from the Connections tab under Security section:

Step 5/7. 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.
Create a 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 6/7. Set up the Teleport Database service
Below is an example of a Database Service configuration file that proxies a single Cloud SQL PostgreSQL database:
version: v3
teleport:
data_dir: /var/lib/teleport-db
nodename: test
# Proxy address to connect to. Note that it has to be the proxy address
# because the Database Service always connects to the cluster over a reverse
# tunnel.
proxy_server: teleport.example.com:3080
db_service:
enabled: "yes"
# This section contains definitions of all databases proxied by this
# service, can contain multiple items.
databases:
# Name of the database proxy instance, used to reference in CLI.
- name: "cloudsql"
# Free-form description of the database proxy instance.
description: "GCP Cloud SQL PostgreSQL"
# Database protocol.
protocol: "postgres"
# Database endpoint. For Cloud SQL use instance's public IP address.
uri: "35.1.2.3:5432"
# Path to Cloud SQL instance root certificate you downloaded above.
ca_cert_file: /path/to/cloudsql/instance/root.pem
# GCP specific configuration when connecting Cloud SQL instance.
gcp:
# GCP project ID.
project_id: "<project-id>"
# Cloud SQL instance ID.
instance_id: "test"
# Labels to assign to the database, used in RBAC.
static_labels:
env: dev
auth_service:
enabled: "no"
ssh_service:
enabled: "no"
proxy_service:
enabled: "no"
A single Teleport process can run multiple different services, for example multiple Database Access instances as well as other services such the SSH Service or Application Service.
Start the Database Service:
teleport start --config=/path/to/teleport-db.yaml --token=/tmp/token
GCP credentials
The Teleport Database Service must have credentials of teleport-db-service
GCP
service account we created
above in order to be
able to generate IAM auth tokens.
The easiest way to ensure that is to set the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
environment variable to point to the JSON credentials file you downloaded
earlier.
See Authenticating as a service account in the Google Cloud documentation for more details.
Step 7/7. Connect
Once the Database Service has joined the cluster, log in to see the available databases:
tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alicetsh db lsName Description Labels
-------- ------------------------ --------
cloudsql GCP Cloud SQL PostgreSQL env=dev
Note that you will only be able to see databases your role has access to. See our RBAC guide for more details.
To retrieve credentials for a database and connect to it:
$ tsh db connect cloudsql
You can optionally specify the database name and the user to use by default when connecting to the database instance:
tsh db connect [email protected]<project-id>.iam --db-name=postgres cloudsql
When connecting to the database, use the name of the database service account
that you added as an IAM database user
above, minus the
.gserviceaccount.com
suffix. The database user name is shown on the Users
page of your Cloud SQL instance.
To log out of the database and remove credentials:
Remove credentials for a particular database instance.
tsh db logout cloudsqlRemove credentials for all database instances.
tsh db logout