Database Access with Oracle

Teleport can provide secure access to Oracle via the Teleport Database Service. This allows for fine-grained access control through the Teleport RBAC system.

The Teleport Database Service proxies traffic from database clients to self-hosted databases in your infrastructure. Teleport maintains a certificate authority (CA) for database clients. You configure your database to trust the Teleport database client CA, and the Teleport Database Service presents certificates signed by this CA when proxying user traffic. With this setup, there is no need to store long-lived credentials for self-hosted databases.

Meanwhile, the Teleport Database Service verifies self-hosted databases by checking their TLS certificates against either the Teleport database CA or a custom CA used with the database.

In this guide, you will:

1. Configure your Oracle database for Teleport access.
2. Add the database to your Teleport cluster.
3. Connect to the database via Teleport.

How it works

The Teleport Database Service authenticates to your self-hosted Oracle database using mutual TLS. Oracle trusts the Teleport certificate authority for database clients, and presents a certificate signed by either the Teleport database CA or a custom CA. When a user initiates a database session, the Teleport Database Service presents a certificate signed by Teleport. The authenticated connection then proxies client traffic from the user.

• Teleport Enterprise
• Teleport Enterprise Cloud

Prerequisites

• A running Teleport cluster. If you want to get started with Teleport, sign up for a free trial.

• The tctl admin tool and tsh client tool.

  Visit Installation for instructions on downloading tctl and tsh.

• Self-hosted Oracle server instance 18c or later.
• The sqlcl Oracle client installed and added to your system's PATH environment variable or any GUI client that supports JDBC Oracle thin client.
• Optional: a certificate authority that issues certificates for your self-hosted database.

Step 1/6. Create a Teleport token and user

The Database Service requires a valid join token to join your Teleport cluster. Run the following tctl command and save the token output in /tmp/token on the server that will run the Database Service:

tctl tokens add --type=db --format=text
abcd123-insecure-do-not-use-this

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

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

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

Step 2/6. Create a certificate/key pair and Teleport Oracle Wallet

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.

To use issue certificates from your workstation with tctl, your Teleport user must be allowed to impersonate the system role Db.

Include the following allow rule in in your Teleport user's role:

allow:
  impersonate:
    users: ["Db"]
    roles: ["Db"]

Follow the instructions below to generate TLS credentials for your database.

Export Teleport's certificate authority and a generated certificate/key pair
for host db.example.com with a 3-month validity period.
tctl auth sign --format=oracle --host=db.example.com --out=server --ttl=2190h

In this example, db.example.com is the hostname where the Teleport Database Service can reach the Oracle server.

If tctl finds the Orapki tool in your local environment, the tctl auth sign --format=oracle --host=db.example.com --out=server --ttl=2190h command will produce an Oracle Wallet and instructions how to configure the Oracle TCPS listener with Teleport Oracle Wallet. Otherwise the tctl auth sign --format=oracle command will produce a p12 certificate and instructions on how to create an Oracle Wallet on your Oracle Database instance.

If your Oracle database presents TLS credentials signed by an existing certificate authority, take the following steps instead:

1. Export a Teleport CA certificate for Oracle to authenticate traffic from the Teleport Database Service. Replace example.teleport.sh:443 with the host and web port of the Teleport Proxy Service in your cluster. Run the following command on your workstation:

   tctl auth export --type=db-client --auth-server=example.teleport.sh:443 > server.ca-client.crt

2. Move server.ca-client.crt to a directory in your Oracle server you will use for your Oracle wallet.

3. Issue a key and certificate in PKCS12 format for the Oracle server and move the resulting P12 file to server.p12 in your Oracle wallet directory.

4. Use the orapki tool on your Oracle server to set up an Oracle wallet:

   Assign this to your password
   PKCS12_PASS=""
   WALLET_DIR="/path/to/oracleWalletDir"
   orapki wallet create -wallet "$WALLET_DIR" -auto_login_only
   orapki wallet import_pkcs12 -wallet "$WALLET_DIR" -auto_login_only -pkcs12file server.p12 -pkcs12pwd ${PKCS12_PASS?}
   orapki wallet add -wallet "$WALLET_DIR" -trusted_cert -auto_login_only -cert server.ca-client.crt

Step 3/6. Configure Oracle Database

In order to enable the Teleport Oracle integration you will need to configure the TCPS Oracle listener and use the Teleport Oracle Wallet created in the previous step.

Align your listener.ora Oracle configuration file and add the following entries:

LISTENER =
  (DESCRIPTION_LIST =
    (DESCRIPTION =
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCPS)(HOST = 0.0.0.0)(PORT = 2484))
    )
  )

WALLET_LOCATION = (SOURCE = (METHOD = FILE)(METHOD_DATA = (DIRECTORY = /path/to/oracleWalletDir)))
SSL_CLIENT_AUTHENTICATION = TRUE

Additionally, you will need to extend your sqlnet.ora Oracle configuration:

WALLET_LOCATION = (SOURCE = (METHOD = FILE)(METHOD_DATA = (DIRECTORY = /path/to/oracleWalletDir)))
SSL_CLIENT_AUTHENTICATION = TRUE
SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES = (TCPS)

Additionally, your Oracle Database user accounts must be configured to require a valid client certificate. If you're creating a new user:

CREATE USER alice IDENTIFIED EXTERNALLY AS 'CN=alice';
GRANT CREATE SESSION TO alice;

Step 4/6. Configure and Start the Database Service

Install and configure Teleport where you will run the Teleport Database Service:

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 v16. 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/v16" \| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teleport.list > /dev/null

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

sudo apt-get install teleport-ent-fips

Source variables about OS version
source /etc/os-release
Add the Teleport YUM repository for v16. 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 $VERSION_ID | grep -Eo "^[0-9]+")
sudo yum install -y yum-utils
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo "$(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/v16/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

sudo yum install teleport-ent-fips

Source variables about OS version
source /etc/os-release
Add the Teleport Zypper repository for v16. 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

sudo yum install teleport-ent-fips

Source variables about OS version
source /etc/os-release
Add the Teleport YUM repository for v16. 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/v16/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

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/v16/teleport-zypper.repo")

Install teleport
sudo zypper install teleport-ent

sudo zypper install teleport-ent-fips

curl https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz.sha256
<checksum> <filename>
curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
shasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
Verify that the checksums match
tar -xvf teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-bin.tar.gz
cd teleport-ent
sudo ./install

curl https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz.sha256
<checksum> <filename>
curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz
shasum -a 256 teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz
Verify that the checksums match
tar -xvf teleport-ent-v16.4.12-linux-$SYSTEM_ARCH-fips-bin.tar.gz
cd teleport-ent
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 cloud.
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/teleport-archive-keyring.asc] \https://apt.releases.teleport.dev/${ID?} ${VERSION_CODENAME?} stable/cloud" \| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teleport.list > /dev/null

Provide your Teleport domain to query the latest compatible Teleport version
export TELEPORT_DOMAIN=example.teleport.com
export TELEPORT_VERSION="$(curl https://$TELEPORT_DOMAIN/v1/webapi/automaticupgrades/channel/default/version | sed 's/v//')"

Update the repo and install Teleport and the Teleport updater
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install "teleport-ent=$TELEPORT_VERSION" teleport-ent-updater

Source variables about OS version
source /etc/os-release
Add the Teleport YUM repository for cloud.
First, get the OS major version from $VERSION_ID so this fetches the correct
package version.
VERSION_ID=$(echo $VERSION_ID | grep -Eo "^[0-9]+")
sudo yum install -y yum-utils
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo "$(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/cloud/teleport-yum.repo")"

Provide your Teleport domain to query the latest compatible Teleport version
export TELEPORT_DOMAIN=example.teleport.com
export TELEPORT_VERSION="$(curl https://$TELEPORT_DOMAIN/v1/webapi/automaticupgrades/channel/default/version | sed 's/v//')"

Install Teleport and the Teleport updater
sudo yum install "teleport-ent-$TELEPORT_VERSION" teleport-ent-updater

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 cloud.
First, get the OS major version from $VERSION_ID so this fetches the correct
package version.
VERSION_ID=$(echo $VERSION_ID | grep -Eo "^[0-9]+")
Use the dnf config manager plugin to add the teleport RPM repo
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo "$(rpm --eval "https://yum.releases.teleport.dev/$ID/$VERSION_ID/Teleport/%{_arch}/stable/cloud/teleport-yum.repo")"

Provide your Teleport domain to query the latest compatible Teleport version
export TELEPORT_DOMAIN=example.teleport.com
export TELEPORT_VERSION="$(curl https://$TELEPORT_DOMAIN/v1/webapi/automaticupgrades/channel/default/version | sed 's/v//')"

Install Teleport and the Teleport updater
sudo dnf install "teleport-ent-$TELEPORT_VERSION" teleport-ent-updater

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 Zypper repository for cloud.
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")

Provide your Teleport domain to query the latest compatible Teleport version
export TELEPORT_DOMAIN=example.teleport.com
export TELEPORT_VERSION="$(curl https://$TELEPORT_DOMAIN/v1/webapi/automaticupgrades/channel/default/version | sed 's/v//')"

Install Teleport and the Teleport updater
sudo zypper install "teleport-ent-$TELEPORT_VERSION" teleport-ent-updater

sudo teleport db configure create \   -o file \   --token=/tmp/token \   --proxy=example.teleport.sh \   --name=oracle \   --protocol=oracle \   --uri=oracle.example.com:2484 \   --labels=env=dev 

sudo teleport db configure create \   -o file \   --token=/tmp/token \   --proxy=example.teleport.sh:443 \   --name=oracle \   --protocol=oracle \   --uri=oracle.example.com:2484 \   --trust_system_cert_pool \   --labels=env=dev

sudo systemctl enable teleport
sudo systemctl start teleport

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

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

helm repo update

roles: db
proxyAddr: example.teleport.sh
# Set to false if using Teleport Community Edition
enterprise: true
authToken: "JOIN_TOKEN"
databases:
  - name: oracle
    uri: oracle.example.com:2484
    protocol: oracle
    static_labels:
      env: dev

Step 5/6. (Optional) Configure Teleport to pull audit logs from Oracle Audit Trail

Teleport can pull audit logs from Oracle Audit Trail. In order to enable this feature, you will need to configure Oracle Audit Trail and create a dedicated Teleport user that will be used to fetch audit events from Oracle Audit Trail.

Create an internal Oracle teleport user that will fetch audit events from Oracle Audit Trail:

CREATE USER teleport IDENTIFIED EXTERNALLY AS 'CN=teleport';
GRANT CREATE SESSION TO teleport;
GRANT SELECT ON dba_audit_trail TO teleport;
GRANT SELECT ON V_$SESSION TO teleport;

Enable the table in Oracle Audit Trail:

ALTER system SET audit_trail=db,extended scope=spfile;

Restart your Oracle instance to propagate audit trail changes.

Enable Oracle auditing for the alice user:

AUDIT ALL STATEMENTS by alice BY access;

You must enable auditing for each Teleport user that will be used to connect to Oracle. Additionally you can create a different audit policy for each user.

Edit the Database Service configuration you created earlier pull audit logs from Oracle Audit Trail:

db_service:
  enabled: "yes"
  databases:
  - name: "oracle"
    protocol: "oracle"
    uri: oracle.example.com:2484"
    oracle:
      audit_user: "teleport"

Teleport doesn't clean up audit trail events from Oracle Audit Trail. Make sure to configure an Oracle Audit Trail cleanup policy to avoid running out of disk space.

Step 6/6. Connect

Once the Database Service has joined the cluster, log in to see the available databases:

tsh login --proxy=mytenant.teleport.sh --user=alice
tsh db ls
Name   Description    Allowed Users Labels  Connect
------ -------------- ------------- ------- -------
oracle Oracle Example [*]                   env=dev

Connect to the database:

tsh db connect --db-user=alice --db-name=XE oracle
SQLcl: Release 22.4 Production on Fri Mar 31 20:48:02 2023
Copyright (c) 1982, 2023, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
Connected to:
Oracle Database 21c Express Edition Release 21.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 21.3.0.0.0
SQL>

To log out of the database and remove credentials:

Remove credentials for a particular database instance.
tsh db logout oracle
Remove 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.

• Learn more about sqlnet.ora and listener.ora configuration from the Parameters for the sqlnet.ora File and Oracle Net Listener Parameters in the listener.ora File Oracle documentation.
• Oracle Audit Trail