# Database Access with Amazon ElastiCache Serverless for Redis and Valkey Teleport can provide secure access to Amazon ElastiCache Serverless via the [Teleport Database Service](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access.md). This allows for fine-grained access control through [Teleport's RBAC](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access/rbac.md). In this guide, you will: 1. Configure your Amazon ElastiCache Serverless database with IAM authentication. 2. Add the database to your Teleport cluster. 3. Connect to the database via Teleport. ## How it works The Teleport Database Service connects on user behalf using IAM authentication and proxies traffic from users to Amazon ElastiCache Serverless. **Self-Hosted** ![Enroll ElastiCache Serverless with a Self-Hosted Teleport Cluster](/docs/assets/images/elasticache_serverless_selfhosted-1aba4496725a1ac82d8e9161800e1398.png) **Teleport Cloud** ![Enroll ElastiCache Serverless with a Cloud-Hosted Teleport Cluster](/docs/assets/images/elasticache_serverless_cloud-5b661a76f41b27fa0b094150c734ab1c.png) This guide shows how to register a single Amazon Elasticache Serverless cache with your Teleport cluster. For a more scalable approach, learn how to set up [Database Auto-Discovery](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/auto-discovery/databases.md) to automatically enroll all AWS databases in your infrastructure. ## Prerequisites - A running Teleport cluster. If you want to get started with Teleport, [sign up](https://goteleport.com/signup) for a free trial or [set up a demo environment](https://goteleport.com/docs/get-started/deploy-community.md). - The `tctl` and `tsh` clients. Installing `tctl` and `tsh` clients 1. Determine the version of your Teleport cluster. The `tctl` and `tsh` clients must be at most one major version behind your Teleport cluster version. Send a GET request to the Proxy Service at `/v1/webapi/find` and use a JSON query tool to obtain your cluster version. Replace teleport.example.com:443 with the web address of your Teleport Proxy Service: ``` $ TELEPORT_DOMAIN=teleport.example.com:443 $ TELEPORT_VERSION="$(curl -s https://$TELEPORT_DOMAIN/v1/webapi/find | jq -r '.server_version')" ``` 2. Follow the instructions for your platform to install `tctl` and `tsh` clients: **Mac** Download the signed macOS .pkg installer for Teleport, which includes the `tctl` and `tsh` clients: ``` $ curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-${TELEPORT_VERSION?}.pkg ``` In Finder double-click the `pkg` file to begin installation. --- DANGER Using Homebrew to install Teleport is not supported. The Teleport package in Homebrew is not maintained by Teleport and we can't guarantee its reliability or security. --- **Windows - Powershell** ``` $ curl.exe -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-v${TELEPORT_VERSION?}-windows-amd64-bin.zip Unzip the archive and move the `tctl` and `tsh` clients to your %PATH% NOTE: Do not place the `tctl` and `tsh` clients in the System32 directory, as this can cause issues when using WinSCP. Use %SystemRoot% (C:\Windows) or %USERPROFILE% (C:\Users\) instead. ``` **Linux** All of the Teleport binaries in Linux installations include the `tctl` and `tsh` clients. For more options (including RPM/DEB packages and downloads for i386/ARM/ARM64) see our [installation page](https://goteleport.com/docs/installation.md). ``` $ curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-v${TELEPORT_VERSION?}-linux-amd64-bin.tar.gz $ tar -xzf teleport-v${TELEPORT_VERSION?}-linux-amd64-bin.tar.gz $ cd teleport $ sudo ./install Teleport binaries have been copied to /usr/local/bin ``` * AWS account with an ElastiCache Serverless for Redis or Valkey cache. * 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](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/auto-discovery/databases.md). * To check that you can connect to your Teleport cluster, sign in with `tsh login`, then verify that you can run `tctl` commands using your current credentials. For example, run the following command, assigning teleport.example.com to the domain name of the Teleport Proxy Service in your cluster and email\@example.com to your Teleport username: ``` $ tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=email@example.com $ tctl status Cluster teleport.example.com Version 19.0.0-dev 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 1/6. Create a Teleport user --- TIP To modify an existing user to provide access to the Database Service, see [Database Access Controls](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access/rbac.md) --- **Teleport Community Edition** Create a local Teleport user with the built-in `access` role: ``` $ tctl users add \ --roles=access \ --db-users="*" \ --db-names="*" \ alice ``` **Teleport Enterprise/Enterprise Cloud** Create a local Teleport user with the built-in `access` and `requester` roles: ``` $ tctl users add \ --roles=access,requester \ --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. | --- WARNING Database names are only enforced for PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Cloud Spanner databases. --- For more detailed information about database access controls and how to restrict access see [RBAC](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access/rbac.md) documentation. ## Step 2/6. Create a Database Service configuration 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 ``` Alternative methods 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: - [Configure Teleport to Automatically Enroll EC2 instances](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/auto-discovery/servers/ec2-discovery.md) - [Joining Teleport Services via AWS IAM Role](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/agents/aws-iam.md) - [Joining Teleport Services via AWS EC2 Identity Document](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/agents/aws-ec2.md) To install a Teleport Agent on your Linux server: The recommended installation method is the cluster install script. It will select the correct version, edition, and installation mode for your cluster. 1. Assign teleport.example.com:443 to your Teleport cluster hostname and port, but not the scheme (https\://). 2. Run your cluster's install script: ``` $ curl "https://teleport.example.com:443/scripts/install.sh" | sudo bash ``` Create the Database Service configuration: ``` $ ELASTICACHE_SERVERLESS_URI="" $ sudo teleport db configure create \ -o file \ --name="elasticache-serverless" \ --proxy=example.teleport.sh:443 \ --protocol="redis" \ --uri=${ELASTICACHE_SERVERLESS_URI?} \ --token=/tmp/token ``` Change `example.teleport.sh:443` to the host and port of your Teleport Proxy Service. Set `ELASTICACHE_SERVERLESS_URI` to the domain name and port of your ElastiCache database. The command will generate a Database Service configuration and place it at the `/etc/teleport.yaml` location. ## Step 3/6. Create an IAM role for Teleport The Teleport Database Service needs AWS IAM permissions to provide access to ElastiCache Serverless caches. ### Create an IAM role for Teleport 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 may use the EC2 Instance Metadata Service method - If you are running the Database Service in Kubernetes, you can use IAM Roles for Service Accounts (IRSA) - Otherwise, you must use environment variables **Instance Metadata Service** 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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_use_switch-role-ec2_instance-profiles.html). **Kubernetes IRSA** Refer to [IAM Roles for Service Accounts (IRSA)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/iam-roles-for-service-accounts.html) to set up an OIDC provider in AWS and configure an AWS IAM role that allows the pod's service account to assume the role. **Environment Variables** 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= ``` Have multiple sources of AWS credentials? 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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-go/api/aws/session/) for a detailed description of credential loading behavior. ### Grant permissions ``` { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Sid": "ElastiCacheServerlessFetchMetadata", "Effect": "Allow", "Action": "elasticache:DescribeServerlessCaches", "Resource": "*" }, { "Sid": "ElastiCacheServerlessDescribeUsers", "Effect": "Allow", "Action": "elasticache:DescribeUsers", "Resource": "*" }, { "Sid": "ElastiCacheServerlessConnect", "Effect": "Allow", "Action": "elasticache:Connect", "Resource": "*" } ] } ``` | Statement | Purpose | | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | `ElastiCacheServerlessFetchMetadata` | Automatically import AWS metadata about the database. | | `ElastiCacheServerlessDescribeUsers` | Determine whether a user is compatible with IAM authentication. | | `ElastiCacheServerlessConnect` | Connect using IAM authentication. | Details You can reduce the scope of the `ElastiCacheServerlessConnect` statement by updating it to only allow specific ElastiCache Serverless caches and IAM users. The resource ARN you can specify has the following formats: ``` arn:aws:elasticache:{Region}:{AccountID}:serverlesscache:{CacheName} arn:aws:elasticache:{Region}:{AccountID}:user:{UserName} ``` See [Authenticating with IAM for ElastiCache](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonElastiCache/latest/red-ug/auth-iam.html) for more information. ## Step 4/6. 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. **Package Manager** On the host where you will run the Database Service, enable and start Teleport: ``` $ sudo systemctl enable teleport $ sudo systemctl start teleport ``` **TAR Archive** 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 5/6. Configure authentication for ElastiCache users Configure authentication for your ElastiCache Serverless database. To enable ACL, please see [Authenticating users with Role-Based Access Control for ElastiCache](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonElastiCache/latest/dg/Clusters.RBAC.html). --- WARNING ElastiCache Serverless Redis OSS will automatically create a default user with no password. We strongly recommend that you take steps to disable the default user. The automatically created default user cannot be modified or deleted and you cannot remove the default user name from an ElastiCache Redis OSS user group. To disable the default user: 1. create a new user with the user name "default" and a unique (i.e., not "default") user ID. 2. *replace* the default user in your ElastiCache user group with the new default user. We recommend setting a strong password on your customized default user (IAM authentication is not possible for the default user) and using an access string that is not permissive. For example, the access string `off -@all` will disable logins and deny all Redis privileges to the default user. See [Applying RBAC](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonelasticache/latest/dg/clusters.rbac.html#rbac-using) for more information. --- Some additional limitations apply when using IAM authentication - for more information, see: [ElastiCache Auth IAM Limits](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonelasticache/latest/red-ug/auth-iam.html#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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonelasticache/latest/red-ug/clusters.rbac.html#access-string). --- Create an ElastiCache user group and attach it to your ElastiCache Serverless cache: ``` $ aws elasticache create-user-group \ --user-group-id iam-user-group-01 \ --engine redis \ --user-ids default iam-user-01 $ aws elasticache modify-serverless-cache \ --serverless-cache-name serverless-cache-1 \ --user-group-id "iam-user-group-01" ``` Once the ElastiCache user has been created, verify that the user is configured to satisfy the requirements for IAM authentication: ![ElastiCache IAM-enabled User](/docs/assets/images/redis-aws-iam-user@2x-c905b09c334e822958aa7049182b6eaf.png) If you choose not to use the above options, Teleport will not automatically authenticate with the database. You can either set up a "no password" configuration for your ElastiCache Serverless user, or manually enter an `AUTH` command with the password you have configured after a successful client connection. However, it is strongly advised to use one of the first two options or a strong password for better security. ## Step 6/6. Connect Once the Database Service has started and joined the cluster, log in to see the registered databases: **Self-Hosted** ``` $ tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alice $ tsh db ls Name Description Allowed Users Labels ------------------- ----------- ------------- ----------------------- my-serverless-cache [*] account_id=123456789012 ``` **Teleport Enterprise Cloud** ``` $ tsh login --proxy=mytenant.teleport.sh --user=alice $ tsh db ls Name Description Allowed Users Labels ------------------- ----------- ------------- ----------------------- my-serverless-cache [*] account_id=123456789012 ``` To retrieve credentials for a database and connect to it: ``` $ tsh db connect --db-user=my-database-user my-serverless-cache ``` 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: **Redis with ACL** The Database Service automatically authenticates Teleport-managed and IAM-enabled users with the database. 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 ``` **Redis with AUTH token** Now you can authenticate with the shared AUTH token: ``` AUTH ``` **Redis without AUTH** For Redis or Valkey 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-serverless-cache 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 or DocumentDB 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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/UsingWithRDS.SSL-certificate-rotation.html). ### 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. When running on EKS, this error may occur if the Teleport Database Service cannot access IMDSv2 when the PUT requests hop limit on the worker node instance is set to 1. You can use the following commands to check the hop limit: ``` $ aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids | grep HttpPutResponseHopLimit "HttpPutResponseHopLimit": 1, ``` See [IMDSv2 support for EKS](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2020/08/amazon-eks-supports-ec2-instance-metadata-service-v2/) and [EKS best practices](https://aws.github.io/aws-eks-best-practices/security/docs/iam/#when-your-application-needs-access-to-imds-use-imdsv2-and-increase-the-hop-limit-on-ec2-instances-to-2) for more details. ### Timeout errors The Teleport Database Service requires connectivity to your database endpoints. Check that firewall rules (e.g., AWS security groups) allow connectivity between the Teleport Database Service and the database endpoint. - Inbound firewall rules for the database must allow connections from the Teleport Database Service. - Outbound firewall rules for the Teleport Database Service must allow connections to the database endpoint. --- TIP On the same host as the Teleport Database Service, try running `nc` to check if it can reach the database port. - Database host: database-host - Database port: database-port ``` $ nc -zv database-host database-port Connection to postgres-instance-1.sadas.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com (172.31.24.172) 5432 port [tcp/postgresql] succeeded! ``` --- Debugging connection timeout errors in AWS For deployments in AWS, it may be helpful to use [AWS Reachability Analyzer](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/reachability/what-is-reachability-analyzer.html) to analyze the network path between the Teleport Database Service and the database. 1. Identify the Elastic Network Interface (ENI) associated with the Teleport Database Service host. This can be found in the [EC2 console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/home?NIC). 2. Identify the private IP address of the database. 3. Create and analyze a network path: - Set the path source to the ENI associated with the Teleport Database Service host. - Set the path destination to the database IP. 4. Check the analysis results to identify reachability issues. If your database is registered dynamically or via auto-discovery, repeat the above connectivity test for *every*\* Teleport Database Service instance that proxies this database. To list all Teleport Database Service instances associated with a given database, run the `tctl get db_server/` command. For example: ``` $ tctl get db_server/postgres-instance-1 --format json | jq '.[] | {hostname: .spec.hostname, host_id: .spec.host_id, version: .spec.version, target_health: .status.target_health}' { "hostname": "ip-10-0-0-111.ca-central-1.compute.internal", "host_id": "e5e670ac-a7b8-44ef-b373-6296d87f50e8", "version": "18.3.0", "target_health": { "status": "unhealthy", ... } } { "hostname": "ip-10-0-0-222.ca-central-1.compute.internal", ... } ``` If any of the Database Service instances listed here **should not** proxy the database, (for example, a Database Service instance in a different VPC or AWS region without connectivity), locate and update their configurations so they only receive or discover databases they can reach. In most cases, you can achieve this by refining your tag filters, such as adding the `vpc-id` label. ### Not authorized to perform `sts:AssumeRole` The Database Service assumes an IAM role in one of following situations: - A Teleport user specifies an IAM role as the database user they wish to use when accessing AWS services that require IAM roles as database users. Databases that support using an IAM role as a database user include: DynamoDB, Keyspaces, Opensearch, Redshift, and Redshift Serverless. - The `assume_role_arn` field is specified for the database resources or dynamic resource matchers. What if both situations apply? (role chaining) When both of the above conditions are true for a database connection, the Database Service performs a role chaining by assuming the IAM role specified in `assume_role_arn` first, then using that IAM role to assume the IAM role for the database user. You may encounter the following error if the trust relationship is not configured properly between the IAM roles: ``` AccessDenied: User: arn:aws:sts::111111111111:assumed-role/teleport-db-service-role/i-* is not authorized to perform: sts:AssumeRole on resource: arn:aws:iam::111111111111:role/db-user-role ``` how to properly configure the trust relationship? To allow IAM Role `teleport-db-service-role` to assume IAM Role `db-user-role`, the following is generally required: **1. Configure Trust Relationships on db-user-role** `teleport-db-service-role` or its AWS account should be set as `Principal` in `db-user-role`'s trust policy. **Role as principal** Assign aws-account-id to your AWS account ID: ``` { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": { "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::aws-account-id:role/teleport-db-service-role" }, "Action": "sts:AssumeRole" } ] } ``` **Account as principal** Assign aws-account-id to your AWS account ID: ``` { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": { "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::aws-account-id:root" }, "Action": "sts:AssumeRole" } ] } ``` **Cross-account with external-id** Assign external-aws-account-id to an external AWS account ID: ``` { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": { "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::external-aws-account-id:role/teleport-db-service-role" }, "Action": "sts:AssumeRole", "Condition": { "StringEquals": { "sts:ExternalId": "example-external-id" } } } ] } ``` **2. Configure Permissions Policies on teleport-db-service-role** `teleport-db-service-role` requires `sts:AssumeRole` permissions, for example: ``` { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Action": "sts:AssumeRole", "Effect": "Allow", "Resource": "arn:aws:iam::aws-account-id:role/db-user-role" } ] } ``` Note that this policy can be omitted when `teleport-db-service-role` and `db-user-role` are in the same AWS account and `teleport-db-service-role`'s full ARN is configured as Principal in `db-user-role`'s trust policy. **3. Configure Permissions Boundary on teleport-db-service-role** If `teleport-db-service-role` does not have an attached [Permissions boundary](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_boundaries.html) then you can skip this step. Otherwise, the boundary policy attached to `teleport-db-service-role` must include `sts:AssumeRole` permissions, for example: ``` { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Action": "sts:AssumeRole", "Effect": "Allow", "Resource": "*" } ] } ``` You can test the trust relationship by running this AWS CLI command as `teleport-db-service-role`: ``` $ aws sts assume-role --role-arn arn:aws:iam::111111111111:role/db-user-role --role-session-name test-trust-relationship ``` Learn more on [how to use trust policies with IAM roles](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/how-to-use-trust-policies-with-iam-roles/). ## Next steps - Learn how to [restrict access](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access/rbac.md) to certain users and databases. * View the [High Availability (HA)](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/agents/high-availability.md) guide. - Take a look at the YAML configuration [reference](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access/reference/configuration.md). * See the full CLI [reference](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access/reference/cli.md).