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Teleport

Database Access with Redis Cluster

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If you want to configure Redis Standalone, please read Database Access with Redis.

This guide will help you to:

  • Install and configure Teleport.
  • Configure mutual TLS authentication between Teleport and Redis Cluster.
  • Connect to Redis through Teleport.
Teleport Database Access Redis Cluster Self-Hosted

Prerequisites

  • A running Teleport cluster. For details on how to set this up, see one of our Getting Started guides.

  • The tctl admin tool and tsh client tool version >= 13.0.3.

    tctl version

    Teleport v13.0.3 go1.20

    tsh version

    Teleport v13.0.3 go1.20

    See Installation for details.

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

  • The Enterprise tctl admin tool and tsh client tool version >= 13.0.3, which you can download by visiting your Teleport account.

    tctl version

    Teleport Enterprise v13.0.3 go1.20

    tsh version

    Teleport v13.0.3 go1.20

Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.
  • Redis version 6.0 or newer.
  • redis-cli version 6.2 or newer installed and added to your system's PATH environment variable.
  • A host where you will run the Teleport Database Service.
Note

Redis 7.0 and RESP3 (REdis Serialization Protocol) are currently not supported.

  • Make sure you can connect to Teleport. Log in to your cluster using tsh, then use tctl remotely:
    tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com [email protected]
    tctl status

    Cluster teleport.example.com

    Version 13.0.3

    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.

Step 1/6. 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 and configure Teleport where you will run the Teleport Database Service:

Use the appropriate commands for your environment to install your package.

Teleport Edition

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 v13. 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/v13" \| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teleport.list > /dev/null

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install teleport

Source variables about OS version

source /etc/os-release

Add the Teleport YUM repository for v13. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo "$(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/v13/teleport.repo")"
sudo yum install teleport

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

Source variables about OS version

source /etc/os-release

Add the Teleport YUM repository for v13. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

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/v13/teleport.repo")"

Install teleport

sudo dnf install teleport

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

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-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz.sha256

<checksum> <filename>

curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
shasum -a 256 teleport-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz

Verify that the checksums match

tar -xvf teleport-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
cd teleport
sudo ./install

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 v13. 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/v13" \| 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 v13. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo "$(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/v13/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 YUM repository for v13. You'll need to update this

file for each major release of Teleport.

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/v13/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

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-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz.sha256

<checksum> <filename>

curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
shasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz

Verify that the checksums match

tar -xvf teleport-ent-v13.0.3-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-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz.sha256

<checksum> <filename>

curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz
shasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz

Verify that the checksums match

tar -xvf teleport-ent-v13.0.3-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz
cd teleport-ent
sudo ./install
Cloud is not available for Teleport v.
Please use the latest version of Teleport Enterprise documentation.

On the host where you will run the Teleport Database Service, start Teleport with the appropriate configuration.

Note that a single Teleport process can run multiple different services, for example multiple Database Service agents as well as the SSH Service or Application Service. The step below will overwrite an existing configuration file, so if you're running multiple services add --output=stdout to print the config in your terminal, and manually adjust /etc/teleport.yaml.

Generate a configuration file at /etc/teleport.yaml for the Database Service:

teleport db configure create \ -o file \ --token=/tmp/token \ --proxy=teleport.example.com:443 \ --name=example-redis \ --protocol=redis \ --uri=rediss://redis.example.com:6379?mode=cluster \ --labels=env=dev

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 , start Teleport:

sudo systemctl enable teleport
sudo systemctl start teleport

On the host where you will run , 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 start the Teleport Database Service without configuration file using a CLI command:

teleport db start \ --token=/tmp/token \ --auth-server=teleport.example.com:443 \ --name=example-redis \ --protocol=redis \ --uri=rediss://redis.example.com:6379?mode=cluster \ --labels=env=dev

Note that 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.

Note

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.

Teleport provides Helm charts for installing the Teleport Database Service in Kubernetes Clusters.

To allow Helm to install charts that are hosted in the Teleport Helm repository, use helm repo add:

helm repo add teleport https://charts.releases.teleport.dev

To update the cache of charts from the remote repository, run helm repo update:

helm repo update

Install the Teleport Kube Agent into your Kubernetes Cluster with the Teleport Database Service configuration.

JOIN_TOKEN=$(cat /tmp/token)
helm install teleport-kube-agent teleport/teleport-kube-agent \ --create-namespace \ --namespace teleport-agent \ --set roles=db \ --set proxyAddr=teleport.example.com:443 \ --set authToken=${JOIN_TOKEN?} \ --set "databases[0].name=example-redis" \ --set "databases[0].uri=rediss://redis.example.com:6379?mode=cluster" \ --set "databases[0].protocol=redis" \ --set "labels.env=dev" \ --version 13.0.3
Tip

A single Teleport process can run multiple services, for example multiple Database Service instances as well as other services such the SSH Service or Application Service.

Step 2/6. 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
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 3/6. Create Redis users

Each Redis user must be protected by a strong password. We recommend using OpenSSL to generate passwords:

openssl rand -hex 32
Note

If you have access to Redis you can also generate a password by using the below command from the Redis console:

ACL GENPASS

Create a users.acl file, which defines users for your Redis deployment, passwords required to log in as a given user, and sets of ACL rules. Redis allows you to provide passwords in plaintext or an SHA256 hash. We strongly recommend using an SHA256 hash instead of plaintext passwords.

You can use the command below to generate an SHA256 hash from a password.

echo -n STRONG_GENERATED_PASSWORD | sha256sum
user alice on #57639ed88a85996453555f22f5aa4147b4c9614056585d931e5d976f610651e9 allcommands allkeys
user default off

For more ACL examples refer to the Redis documentation.

Warning

It's very important to either disable or protect with a password the default user. Otherwise, everyone with access to the database can log in as the default user, which by default has administrator privileges.

Step 4/6. 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.

We will show you how to use the tctl auth sign command below.

When connecting to Redis Cluster, sign certificates for each member using their hostnames and IP addresses. For example, if the first member is accessible at redis1.example.com with IP 10.0.0.1 and the second at redis2.example.com with IP 10.0.0.2, run:

tctl auth sign --format=redis --host=redis1.example.com,10.0.0.1 --out=redis1 --ttl=2190h
tctl auth sign --format=redis --host=redis2.example.com,10.0.0.2 --out=redis2 --ttl=2190h
TTL

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 three files:

  • server.cas with Teleport's certificate authority
  • server.key with a generated private key
  • server.crt with a generated user certificate

You will need these files to enable mutual TLS on your Redis server.

Certificate Rotation

Teleport 10.0 introduced a new certificate authority that is only used by the Teleport Database Service. Older Teleport versions use a host certificate to sign Database Service certificates.

After upgrading to Teleport 10.0, the host certificate authority will still be used by the Database Service 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 redis.conf configuration file and restart the database:

tls-port 7001
port 0
cluster-enabled yes
tls-replication yes
tls-cluster yes
aclfile /path/to/users.acl
masterauth GENERATED_STRONG_PASSWORD
masteruser replica-user
tls-cert-file /usr/local/etc/redis/certs/server.crt
tls-key-file /usr/local/etc/redis/certs/server.key
tls-ca-cert-file /usr/local/etc/redis/certs/server.cas
tls-protocols "TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3"

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 tls-auth-clients optional setting to allow connections from clients that do not present a certificate.

See TLS Support in the Redis documentation for more details.

Step 5/6. Create a cluster

Use the following command to create the cluster. Please note redis-cli --cluster create accepts only IP addresses.

export REDISCLI_AUTH=STRONG_GENERATED_PASSWORD
export CERTS_DIR=/path/to/certs/
export IP1=10.0.0.1 # update with the real node 1 IP
export IP2=10.0.0.2 # update with the real node 2 IP
export IP3=10.0.0.3 # update with the real node 3 IP
export IP4=10.0.0.4 # update with the real node 4 IP
export IP5=10.0.0.5 # update with the real node 5 IP
export IP6=10.0.0.6 # update with the real node 6 IP
redis-cli --user alice --cluster-replicas 1 --tls --cluster-yes \
--cluster create ${IP1}:7001 ${IP2}:7002 ${IP3}:7003 ${IP4}:7004 ${IP5}:7005 ${IP6}:7006 \
--cacert ${CERTS_DIR}/server.cas --key ${CERTS_DIR}/server.key --cert ${CERTS_DIR}/server.crt

Step 6/6. Connect

To enable Redis cluster mode in Teleport, add the mode=cluster parameter to the connection URI in your Teleport Database Service config file.

databases:
  - name: "redis-cluster"
    uri: "rediss://redis.example.com:6379?mode=cluster"

Log into your Teleport cluster and see available databases:

tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alice
tsh db ls

Name Description Labels

------------- --------------- --------

example-redis Example Redis env=dev

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

To connect to a particular database instance:

tsh db connect example-redis

You can optionally specify the database user to use by default when connecting to the database instance:

tsh db connect --db-user=alice example-redis

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

Now you can log in as the previously created user using the below command:

AUTH alice STRONG_GENERATED_PASSWORD

To log out of the database and remove credentials:

Remove credentials for a particular database instance.

tsh db logout example-redis

Remove credentials for all database instances.

tsh db logout

Supported Redis Cluster commands

Redis in cluster mode does not support the following commands. If one of the listed commands above is called Teleport returns the ERR Teleport: command not supported error.

  • ACL
  • ASKING
  • CLIENT
  • CLUSTER
  • CONFIG
  • DEBUG
  • EXEC
  • HELLO
  • INFO
  • LATENCY
  • MEMORY
  • MIGRATE
  • MODULE
  • MONITOR
  • MULTI
  • PFDEBUG
  • PFSELFTEST
  • PSUBSCRIBE
  • PSYNC
  • PUNSUBSCRIBE
  • PUNSUBSCRIBE
  • READONLY
  • READWRITE
  • REPLCONF
  • REPLICAOF
  • ROLE
  • SCAN
  • SCRIPT DEBUG
  • SCRIPT KILL
  • SHUTDOWN
  • SLAVEOF
  • SLOWLOG
  • SSUBSCRIBE
  • SUNSUBSCRIBE
  • SYNC
  • TIME
  • WAIT
  • WATCH

Teleport conducts additional processing on the following commands before communicating with Redis Cluster:

CommandDescription
DBSIZESends the query to all nodes and returns the number of keys in the whole cluster.
KEYSSends the query to all nodes and returns a list of all keys in the whole cluster.
MGETTranslates the commands to multiple GETs and sends them to multiple nodes. Result is merged in Teleport and returned back to the client. If Teleport fails to fetch at least one key an error is returned.
FLUSHDBSends the query to all nodes.
FLUSHALLWorks the same as FLUSHDB.
SCRIPT EXISTSSends the query to all nodes. 1 is returned only if script exists on all nodes.
SCRIPT LOADSends the script to all nodes.
SCRIPT FLUSHSends the query to all nodes. ASYNC parameter is ignored.

Next steps

  • Take a look at the YAML configuration reference.