# Database Access with Cloud Spanner Teleport can provide secure access to Cloud Spanner 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 Cloud Spanner database with a service account. 2. Add the database to your Teleport cluster. 3. Connect to the database via Teleport. ## How it works The Teleport Database Service uses IAM authentication to communicate with Spanner. When a user connects to the database via Teleport, the Teleport Database Service obtains Google Cloud credentials and authenticates to Google Cloud as an IAM principal with permissions to access the database. **Self-Hosted** ![Self-Hosted Teleport Architecture for Cloud Spanner Access](/docs/assets/images/spanner_selfhosted-96f7e7a34b6cacc5a5cf93f2a98bb2ce.png) **Cloud-Hosted** ![Cloud-Hosted Teleport Architecture for Cloud Spanner Access](/docs/assets/images/spanner_cloud-bd274c4d9cc9cd62c518821c5631c3eb.png) ## 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 ``` * Google Cloud account * Google Cloud Spanner database. * A host where you will run the Teleport Database Service, e.g. a Compute Engine instance. * 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 1/8. Create a service account for the Teleport Database Service A GCP service account will be used by the Teleport Database Service to create ephemeral access tokens for *other* GCP service accounts when it's acting on the behalf of authorized Teleport users. ### Create a service account Go to the [Service Accounts](https://console.cloud.google.com/iam-admin/serviceaccounts) page and create a service account: ![Create Service Account](/docs/assets/images/service-account-db-service@2x-894c28edfe0f2f1477bc18d723688723.png) Ignore the optional steps - click "Done". We will grant permissions to this service account later in this guide. ## Step 2/8. Create a service account for a database user When a user connects to Spanner via Teleport, they will specify a service account name as the database user and the Teleport Database service will impersonate that service account to authenticate to GCP. You can create multiple service accounts to provide different access levels to Teleport users, but for this guide we will just create one. ### Create a service account Go to the IAM & Admin [Service Accounts](https://console.cloud.google.com/iam-admin/serviceaccounts) page and create a new service account named "spanner-user": ![Create Service Account](/docs/assets/images/create-spanner-user@2x-9a8894eda46a26ddb6e856877f353bed.png) Ignore the optional steps - just click "Done". Rather than granting access at the project level, we will grant this service account permissions to just the databases it will be used to access. ### Grant permissions Navigate to the [Spanner instance overview page](https://console.cloud.google.com/spanner/instances) and check the box of your Spanner instance, then click "Permissions". ![Open Cloud Spanner Instance Permissions](/docs/assets/images/select-instance@2x-44153a96dba554d7adac1280962d2edc.png) In the permissions blade, click "Add Principal" then add the "spanner-user" service account as a principal and assign it the "Cloud Spanner Database User" role: ![Grant Cloud Spanner Database User to Service Account](/docs/assets/images/grant-service-account-access-to-instance@2x-7a7fe27bd09e6d6af2d581a8497daf67.png) Click "Save". --- NOTE [Cloud Spanner Database User](https://cloud.google.com/spanner/docs/iam#spanner.databaseuser) is a pre-defined role. You can use a different pre-defined role or create and customize your own role permissions with [custom IAM roles](https://cloud.google.com/spanner/docs/iam#custom-roles). --- ### Grant access to the service account The Teleport Database Service must be able to impersonate this service account. Navigate to the "spanner-user" service account overview page and select the "permissions" tab: ![Select Service Account Permissions Tab](/docs/assets/images/service-account-permissions-tab@2x-64b02ca5cb5cbadf15e8b659e0089d16.png) Click "Grant Access" and add the "teleport-db-service" principal ID. Select the "Service Account Token Creator" role and save the change: ![Grant Service Account Token Creator to Database Service](/docs/assets/images/grant-token-creator@2x-1dda128bb0248687a1b967605ee28f63.png) --- SERVICE ACCOUNT PERMISSIONS The "Service Account Token Creator" IAM role includes more permissions than the Database Service needs. To further restrict the service account, you can create a role that includes only the following permission: ``` # Used to generate IAM auth tokens when connecting to a database instance. iam.serviceAccounts.getAccessToken ``` --- ## Step 3/8. Install Teleport 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 ``` ## Step 4/8. Configure the Teleport Database Service 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 ``` Provide the following information and then generate a configuration file for the Teleport Database Service: - example.teleport.sh:443 The host **and port** of your Teleport Proxy Service or cloud-hosted Teleport Enterprise site - project-id The GCP project ID. You can normally see it in the organization view at the top of the GCP dashboard. - instance-id The name of your Cloud Spanner instance. ``` $ sudo teleport db configure create \ -o file \ --name=spanner-example \ --protocol=spanner \ --labels=env=dev \ --token=/tmp/token \ --uri=spanner.googleapis.com:443 \ --proxy=example.teleport.sh:443 \ --gcp-project-id=project-id \ --gcp-instance-id=instance-id ``` ## Step 5/8. Configure GCP credentials The Teleport Database Service must have credentials for the "teleport-db-service" GCP service account. If the Teleport Database Service is hosted on a GCE instance, you can [change the attached service account](https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/change-service-account). For non-GCE deployments of Teleport, we recommend using [workload identity](https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/workload-identity-federation). Using service account keys (insecure) Alternatively, go to that service account's Keys tab and create a new key: ![Service Account Keys](/docs/assets/images/service-account-keys@2x-0a3270370e86e9a93ce51fb7b6174d2d.png) Make sure to choose JSON format: ![Service Account New Key](/docs/assets/images/service-account-new-key@2x-ebf26eda3b9625e0571a1b53378fe640.png) Save the file. Set the `GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS` environment variable to point to the JSON credentials file you downloaded earlier. For example, if you use `systemd` to start `teleport`, then you should edit the service's `EnvironmentFile` to include the env var: ``` $ echo 'GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/credentials.json' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/teleport ``` --- WARNING A service account key can be a security risk - we only describe using a key in this guide for simplicity. We do not recommend using service account keys in production. See [authentication](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#service-accounts) in the Google Cloud documentation for more information about service account authentication methods. --- ## Step 6/8. Start the Teleport Database Service Configure the Teleport 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 Teleport Database Service. **Package Manager** On the host where you will run the Teleport Database Service, enable and start Teleport: ``` $ sudo systemctl enable teleport $ sudo systemctl start teleport ``` **TAR Archive** On the host where you will run the Teleport 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 Teleport Database Service with `systemctl status teleport` and view its logs with `journalctl -fu teleport`. ## Step 7/8. 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 8/8. Connect Once the Teleport Database Service has joined the cluster, log in to see the available databases: **Self-Hosted** ``` $ tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=example-user $ tsh db ls Name Description Allowed Users Labels Connect --------------- ----------------- ------------- ------- ------- spanner-example GCP Cloud Spanner [*] env=dev ``` **Cloud-Hosted** ``` $ tsh login --proxy=mytenant.teleport.sh --user=example-user $ tsh db ls Name Description Allowed Users Labels Connect --------------- ----------------- ------------- ------- ------- spanner-example GCP Cloud Spanner [*] env=dev ``` --- NOTE You will only be able to see databases that your Teleport role has access to. See our [RBAC](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/database-access/rbac.md) guide for more details. --- When connecting to the database, use the name of the service account that you created for a database user [above](#step-28-create-a-service-account-for-a-database-user), (minus the "@project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com" suffix). Retrieve credentials for a database in the Cloud Spanner instance and connect to it: ``` $ tsh db connect --db-user=spanner-user --db-name=example-db spanner-example ``` To log out of the database and remove credentials: ``` Remove credentials for a particular database instance: $ tsh db logout spanner-example Or remove credentials for all databases: $ tsh db logout ``` ## Troubleshooting ### Could not find default credentials This error can come from either your client application or Teleport. For a client application, ensure that you disable GCP credential loading. Your client should not attempt to load credentials because GCP credentials will be provided by the Teleport Database Service. If you see the credentials error message in the Teleport Database Service logs (at DEBUG log level), then the Teleport Database Service does not have GCP credentials configured correctly. If you are using a service account key, then ensure that the environment variable `GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/credentials.json` is set and restart your Teleport Database Service to ensure that the env var is available to `teleport`. For example, if your Teleport Database Service runs as a `systemd` service: ``` $ echo 'GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/credentials.json' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/teleport $ sudo systemctl restart teleport ``` See [authentication](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#service-accounts) in the Google Cloud documentation for more information about service account authentication methods. ## 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). - Learn how to [connect with a GUI client](https://goteleport.com/docs/connect-your-client/third-party/gui-clients.md#cloud-spanner-datagrip). - Learn more about [authenticating as a service account](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#service-accounts) in Google Cloud.