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Teleport

Database Access with AWS ElastiCache and AWS MemoryDB for Redis

Version 14.x
  • Available for:
  • OpenSource
  • Team
  • Cloud
  • Enterprise

Teleport can provide secure access to AWS ElastiCache and MemoryDB 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 AWS ElastiCache and MemoryDB for Redis cluster database with IAM authentication.
  2. Join the AWS ElastiCache and MemoryDB for Redis database to your Teleport cluster.
  3. Connect to the AWS ElastiCache and MemoryDB for Redis database via the Teleport Database Service.

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
  • AWS account with at least one ElastiCache or MemoryDB for Redis clusters In-transit encryption via (TLS) must be enabled.
  • Permissions to create and attach IAM policies.
  • redis-cli version 6.2 or newer installed and added to your system's PATH environment variable.
  • A host, e.g., an EC2 instance, where you will run the Teleport Database Service.
  • A running Teleport Discovery Service if you plan to use Database Auto-Discovery.
  • 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 1/7. 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 2/7. Create a Database Service configuration

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

For users with a lot of infrastructure in AWS, or who might create or recreate many instances, consider alternative methods for joining new EC2 instances running Teleport:

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

Teleport Team
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.

Databases can be registered dynamically by Discovery Service, tctl, etc.

Generate a Database Service configuration that monitors the dynamic database resources:

sudo teleport db configure create \   -o file \   --proxy=mytenant.teleport.sh:443 \   --token=/tmp/token \   --dynamic-resources-labels env=prod

This command will place the Database Service configuration at the /etc/teleport.yaml location.

In your Teleport Discovery Service's configuration, use AWS matcher type elasticache, and update region and tags that match your ElastiCache databases:

discovery_service:
  enabled: "yes"
  aws:
  - types: ["elasticache"]
    regions: ["us-west-1"]
    tags:
      "env": "prod" # Match database resource tags where tag:env=prod

Restart the Discovery Service.

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

Teleport Team
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.

Databases can be registered dynamically by Discovery Service, tctl, etc.

Generate a Database Service configuration that monitors the dynamic database resources:

sudo teleport db configure create \   -o file \   --proxy=mytenant.teleport.sh:443 \   --token=/tmp/token \   --dynamic-resources-labels env=prod

This command will place the Database Service configuration at the /etc/teleport.yaml location.

In your Teleport Discovery Service's configuration, use AWS matcher type memorydb, and update region and tags that match your MemoryDB databases:

discovery_service:
  enabled: "yes"
  aws:
  - types: ["memorydb"]
    regions: ["us-west-1"]
    tags:
      "env": "prod" # Match database resource tags where tag:env=prod

Restart the Discovery Service.

Step 3/7. Create an IAM policy for Teleport

Teleport needs AWS IAM permissions to be able to:

  • Modify ElastiCache and MemoryDB user passwords for Teleport-managed users.
  • Save user passwords in AWS Secrets Manager for Teleport-managed users.
  • Connect to an ElastiCache Redis cluster using IAM auth for ElastiCache IAM users.

Before you can generate IAM permissions, you must provide the Teleport Database Service access to AWS credentials.

Grant the Database Service access to credentials that it can use to authenticate to AWS. If you are running the Database Service on an EC2 instance, you should use the EC2 Instance Metadata Service method. Otherwise, you must use environment variables:

Teleport will detect when it is running on an EC2 instance and use the Instance Metadata Service to fetch credentials.

The EC2 instance should be configured to use an EC2 instance profile. For more information, see: Using Instance Profiles.

Teleport's built-in AWS client reads credentials from the following environment variables:

  • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
  • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
  • AWS_DEFAULT_REGION

When you start the Database Service, the service reads environment variables from a file at the path /etc/default/teleport. Obtain these credentials from your organization. Ensure that /etc/default/teleport has the following content, replacing the values of each variable:

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=00000000000000000000
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=<YOUR_REGION>

Teleport's AWS client loads credentials from different sources in the following order:

  • Environment Variables
  • Shared credentials file
  • Shared configuration file (Teleport always enables shared configuration)
  • EC2 Instance Metadata (credentials only)

While you can provide AWS credentials via a shared credentials file or shared configuration file, you will need to run the Database Service with the AWS_PROFILE environment variable assigned to the name of your profile of choice.

If you have a specific use case that the instructions above do not account for, consult the documentation for the AWS SDK for Go for a detailed description of credential loading behavior.

Teleport can bootstrap IAM permissions for the Database Service based on its configuration:

Teleport can bootstrap IAM permissions for the Database Service based on Discovery Service's configuration while bootstrapping the Discovery Service using the teleport discovery bootstrap command. You can use this command in automatic or manual mode:

  • In automatic mode, Teleport will attempt to create appropriate IAM policies and attach them to the specified IAM role. This requires IAM permissions to create and attach IAM policies.
  • In manual mode, Teleport will print required IAM policies. You can then create and attach them manually using the AWS management console. Add --manual flag to the command to enable manual mode.
teleport discovery bootstrap \  --attach-to-role arn:aws:iam::aws-account-id:role/discovery-iam-role-name \  --policy-name TeleportDatabaseDiscovery \  --database-service-role arn:aws:iam::aws-account-id:role/database-iam-role-name \  --database-service-policy-name TeleportDatabaseAccess \  -c path to Discovery's teleport.yaml

Teleport can bootstrap IAM permissions for the Database Service based on its configuration using the teleport db configure bootstrap command. You can use this command in automatic or manual mode:

  • In automatic mode, Teleport will attempt to create appropriate IAM policies and attach them to the specified IAM identity (user or role). This requires IAM permissions to create and attach IAM policies.
  • In manual mode, Teleport will print required IAM policies. You can then create and attach them manually using the AWS management console.

Use this command to bootstrap the permissions automatically when your Teleport Database Service runs as an IAM user (for example, uses an AWS credentials file).

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --attach-to-user TeleportUser

Use this command to bootstrap the permissions automatically when your Teleport Database Service runs as an IAM role (for example, on an EC2 instance with an attached IAM role).

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --attach-to-role TeleportRole

Use this command to display required IAM policies which you will then create in your AWS console:

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --manual --attach-to-user arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/TeleportUser

Use this command to display required IAM policies which you will then create in your AWS console:

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --manual --attach-to-role arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/TeleportRole

When assume_role_arn is configured for databases or AWS matchers, teleport db configure bootstrap will determine permissions required for the bootstrap target AWS IAM identity using the following logic:

  • When the target does not match assume_role_arn in any database resource or AWS matcher in the configuration file, the target is assumed to be the Teleport Database Service's AWS IAM identity and permissions are bootstrapped for all the configured static databases and AWS matchers.
  • When an --attach-to-role target matches an assume_role_arn setting for static databases or AWS matchers in the configuration file, permissions will be bootstrapped only for those static databases or AWS matchers.

You will need to run the bootstrap command once with the Teleport Database Service's IAM identity as the policy attachment target, and once for each AWS IAM role that is used for assume_role_arn.

Alternatively, you can create or print the required IAM policies with the following commands and manually attach them to the IAM role:

  • teleport db configure aws create-iam --types elasticache
  • teleport db configure aws print-iam --types elasticache

Teleport can bootstrap IAM permissions for the Database Service based on its configuration:

Teleport can bootstrap IAM permissions for the Database Service based on Discovery Service's configuration while bootstrapping the Discovery Service using the teleport discovery bootstrap command. You can use this command in automatic or manual mode:

  • In automatic mode, Teleport will attempt to create appropriate IAM policies and attach them to the specified IAM role. This requires IAM permissions to create and attach IAM policies.
  • In manual mode, Teleport will print required IAM policies. You can then create and attach them manually using the AWS management console. Add --manual flag to the command to enable manual mode.
teleport discovery bootstrap \  --attach-to-role arn:aws:iam::aws-account-id:role/discovery-iam-role-name \  --policy-name TeleportDatabaseDiscovery \  --database-service-role arn:aws:iam::aws-account-id:role/database-iam-role-name \  --database-service-policy-name TeleportDatabaseAccess \  -c path to Discovery's teleport.yaml

Teleport can bootstrap IAM permissions for the Database Service based on its configuration using the teleport db configure bootstrap command. You can use this command in automatic or manual mode:

  • In automatic mode, Teleport will attempt to create appropriate IAM policies and attach them to the specified IAM identity (user or role). This requires IAM permissions to create and attach IAM policies.
  • In manual mode, Teleport will print required IAM policies. You can then create and attach them manually using the AWS management console.

Use this command to bootstrap the permissions automatically when your Teleport Database Service runs as an IAM user (for example, uses an AWS credentials file).

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --attach-to-user TeleportUser

Use this command to bootstrap the permissions automatically when your Teleport Database Service runs as an IAM role (for example, on an EC2 instance with an attached IAM role).

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --attach-to-role TeleportRole

Use this command to display required IAM policies which you will then create in your AWS console:

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --manual --attach-to-user arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/TeleportUser

Use this command to display required IAM policies which you will then create in your AWS console:

teleport db configure bootstrap -c /etc/teleport.yaml --manual --attach-to-role arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/TeleportRole

When assume_role_arn is configured for databases or AWS matchers, teleport db configure bootstrap will determine permissions required for the bootstrap target AWS IAM identity using the following logic:

  • When the target does not match assume_role_arn in any database resource or AWS matcher in the configuration file, the target is assumed to be the Teleport Database Service's AWS IAM identity and permissions are bootstrapped for all the configured static databases and AWS matchers.
  • When an --attach-to-role target matches an assume_role_arn setting for static databases or AWS matchers in the configuration file, permissions will be bootstrapped only for those static databases or AWS matchers.

You will need to run the bootstrap command once with the Teleport Database Service's IAM identity as the policy attachment target, and once for each AWS IAM role that is used for assume_role_arn.

Alternatively, you can create or print the required IAM policies with the following commands and manually attach them to the IAM role:

  • teleport db configure aws create-iam --types memorydb
  • teleport db configure aws print-iam --types memorydb

Step 4/7. Start the Database Service

Configure the 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 Database Service.

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

sudo systemctl enable teleport
sudo systemctl start teleport

On the host where you will run the 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 Database Service with systemctl status teleport and view its logs with journalctl -fu teleport.

Step 5/7. Create an ElastiCache IAM user (optional)

If your ElastiCache for Redis cluster supports IAM authentication, the Teleport Database Service can connect to your ElastiCache cluster using a short-lived AWS IAM authentication token. AWS IAM authentication is available for ElastiCache for Redis version 7.0 or above. Redis ACL must be enabled as well. To enable Redis ACL, please see Authenticating users with Role-Based Access Control for ElastiCache.

Some additional limitations apply when using IAM authentication - for more information, see: ElastiCache Auth IAM Limits.

There are a few requirements for configuring an ElastiCache IAM-enabled user:

  • the user must have identical username and user id properties.
  • the user must have authentication mode set to "IAM".
  • the user must be attached to an ElastiCache user group.

Create an ElastiCache IAM-enabled user. The following example creates an ElastiCache user with the access string on ~* +@all that represents an active user with access to all available keys and commands:

aws elasticache create-user \  --user-name iam-user-01 \  --user-id iam-user-01 \  --authentication-mode Type=iam \  --engine redis \  --access-string "on ~* +@all"
Access Strings

You may prefer a less permissive access string for your ElastiCache users. For more information about ElastiCache access strings, please see: ElastiCache Cluster RBAC Access String.

Create an ElastiCache user group and attach it to your ElastiCache replication group:

aws elasticache create-user-group \  --user-group-id iam-user-group-01 \  --engine redis \  --user-ids default iam-user-01
aws elasticache modify-replication-group \  --replication-group-id replication-group-01 \  --user-group-ids-to-add iam-user-group-01

Once the ElastiCache user has been created, verify that the user is configured to satisfy the requirements for IAM authentication:

Step 6/7. Create a Teleport-managed ElastiCache or MemoryDB user (optional)

To provide better security, it is recommended to use Redis ACL for authentication with Redis and let Teleport manage the users. The Teleport Database Service constantly rotates any passwords managed by Teleport, saves these passwords in AWS Secrets Manager, and automatically sends an AUTH command with the saved password when connecting the client to the Redis server.

To enable Redis ACL, please see Authenticating users with Role-Based Access Control for ElastiCache and Authenticating users with Access Control Lists for MemoryDB.

Once an ElastiCache or MemoryDB user is created with the desired access, add an AWS resource tag teleport.dev/managed with the value true to this user:

The Database Service will automatically discover this user if it is associated with a registered database. Keep in mind that it may take the Database Service some time (up to 20 minutes) to discover this user once the tag is added.

Step 7/7. Connect

Once the Database Service has started and joined the cluster, log in to see the registered databases:

tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alice
tsh db ls
Name                        Description                                               Labels
--------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- --------
my-cluster-mode-elasticache ElastiCache cluster in us-west-1 (configuration endpoint) ...
my-elasticache              ElastiCache cluster in us-west-1 (primary endpoint)       ...
my-elasticache-reader       ElastiCache cluster in us-west-1 (reader endpoint)        ...
my-memorydb                 MemoryDB cluster in us-west-1                             ...
Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.
Note

You can override the database name by applying the TeleportDatabaseName AWS 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 --db-user=my-database-user my-elasticache

If flag --db-user is not provided, Teleport logs in as the default user.

Now, depending on the authentication configurations, you may need to send an AUTH command to authenticate with the Redis server:

The Database Service automatically authenticates Teleport-managed users with the Redis server. No AUTH command is required after successful connection.

If you are connecting as a user that is not managed by Teleport and is not IAM-enabled, the connection normally starts as the default user. Now you can authenticate the database user with its password:

AUTH my-database-user <USER_PASSWORD>

Now you can authenticate with the shared AUTH token:

AUTH <SHARED_AUTH_TOKEN>

For Redis deployments without the ACL system or legacy requirepass directive enabled, no AUTH command is required.

To log out of the database and remove credentials:

Remove credentials for a particular database instance.
tsh db logout my-elasticache
Remove credentials for all database instances.
tsh db logout

Troubleshooting

Certificate error

If your tsh db connect error includes the following text, you likely have an RDS database created before July 28, 2020, which presents an X.509 certificate that is incompatible with Teleport:

x509: certificate relies on legacy Common Name field, use SANs instead

AWS provides instructions to rotate your SSL/TLS certificate.

No credential providers error

If you see the error NoCredentialProviders: no valid providers in chain in Database Service logs then Teleport is not detecting the required credentials to connect via AWS IAM permissions. Check whether the credentials or security role has been applied in the machine running the Teleport Database Service.

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 postgres-instance-1.sadas.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com 5432
Connection to postgres-instance-1.sadas.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com (172.31.24.172) 5432 port [tcp/postgresql] succeeded!

Next steps

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