# Run the Mattermost Access Request plugin

This guide explains how to integrate Access Requests with Mattermost, an open source messaging platform.

This integration is hosted on Teleport Cloud

In Teleport Enterprise Cloud, Teleport manages the Mattermost integration for you, and you can enroll the Mattermost integration from the Teleport Web UI.

Visit the Teleport Web UI and on the left sidebar, click **Add New** followed by **Integration**:

![Enroll an Access Request plugin](/docs/assets/images/enroll-ee64e35054da594e264c55422bf39c7b.png)

On the "Select Integration Type" menu, click the tile for your integration. You will see a page with instructions to set up the integration, as well as a form that you can use to configure the integration.

## How it works

The Teleport Mattermost plugin notifies individuals of Access Requests. Users can then approve and deny Access Requests by following the message link, making it easier to implement security best practices without compromising productivity.

![The Mattermost Access Request plugin](/docs/assets/images/diagram-0481e3a7aeea9621cefa6c6267a6ce81.png)

## Prerequisites

- A running Teleport Enterprise 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\<username>) 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
     ```

**Recommended:** Configure Machine & Workload Identity to provide short-lived Teleport credentials to the plugin. Before following this guide, follow a Machine & Workload Identity [deployment guide](https://goteleport.com/docs/machine-workload-identity/deployment.md) to run the `tbot` binary on your infrastructure.

- A Mattermost account with admin privileges. This plugin has been tested with Mattermost v7.0.1.
- Either a Linux host or Kubernetes cluster where you will run the Teleport Mattermost plugin.
- 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. Define RBAC resources

Before you set up the Mattermost plugin, you will need to enable Role Access Requests in your Teleport cluster.

For the purpose of this guide, we will define an `editor-requester` role, which can request the built-in `editor` role, and an `editor-reviewer` role that can review requests for the `editor` role.

Create a file called `editor-request-rbac.yaml` with the following content:

```
kind: role
version: v7
metadata:
  name: editor-reviewer
spec:
  allow:
    review_requests:
      roles: ['editor']
---
kind: role
version: v7
metadata:
  name: editor-requester
spec:
  allow:
    request:
      roles: ['editor']
      thresholds:
        - approve: 1
          deny: 1

```

Create the roles you defined:

```
$ tctl create -f editor-request-rbac.yaml
role 'editor-reviewer' has been created
role 'editor-requester' has been created
```

---

TIP

You can also create and edit roles using the Web UI. Go to **Access -> Roles** and click **Create New Role** or pick an existing role to edit.

---

Allow yourself to review requests by users with the `editor-requester` role by assigning yourself the `editor-reviewer` role.

Assign the `editor-reviewer` role to your Teleport user by running the appropriate commands for your authentication provider:

**Local User**

1. Retrieve your local user's roles as a comma-separated list:

   ```
   $ ROLES=$(tsh status -f json | jq -r '.active.roles | join(",")')
   ```

2. Edit your local user to add the new role:

   ```
   $ tctl users update $(tsh status -f json | jq -r '.active.username') \
     --set-roles "${ROLES?},editor-reviewer"
   ```

3. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

**GitHub**

1. Open your `github` authentication connector in a text editor:

   ```
   $ tctl edit github/github
   ```

2. Edit the `github` connector, adding `editor-reviewer` to the `teams_to_roles` section.

   The team you should map to this role depends on how you have designed your organization's role-based access controls (RBAC). However, the team must include your user account and should be the smallest team possible within your organization.

   Here is an example:

   ```
     teams_to_roles:
       - organization: octocats
         team: admins
         roles:
           - access
   +       - editor-reviewer

   ```

3. Apply your changes by saving and closing the file in your editor.

4. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

**SAML**

1. Retrieve your `saml` configuration resource:

   ```
   $ tctl get --with-secrets saml/mysaml > saml.yaml
   ```

   Note that the `--with-secrets` flag adds the value of `spec.signing_key_pair.private_key` to the `saml.yaml` file. Because this key contains a sensitive value, you should remove the saml.yaml file immediately after updating the resource.

2. Edit `saml.yaml`, adding `editor-reviewer` to the `attributes_to_roles` section.

   The attribute you should map to this role depends on how you have designed your organization's role-based access controls (RBAC). However, the group must include your user account and should be the smallest group possible within your organization.

   Here is an example:

   ```
     attributes_to_roles:
       - name: "groups"
         value: "my-group"
         roles:
           - access
   +       - editor-reviewer

   ```

3. Apply your changes:

   ```
   $ tctl create -f saml.yaml
   ```

4. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

**OIDC**

1. Retrieve your `oidc` configuration resource:

   ```
   $ tctl get oidc/myoidc --with-secrets > oidc.yaml
   ```

   Note that the `--with-secrets` flag adds the value of `spec.signing_key_pair.private_key` to the `oidc.yaml` file. Because this key contains a sensitive value, you should remove the oidc.yaml file immediately after updating the resource.

2. Edit `oidc.yaml`, adding `editor-reviewer` to the `claims_to_roles` section.

   The claim you should map to this role depends on how you have designed your organization's role-based access controls (RBAC). However, the group must include your user account and should be the smallest group possible within your organization.

   Here is an example:

   ```
     claims_to_roles:
       - name: "groups"
         value: "my-group"
         roles:
           - access
   +       - editor-reviewer

   ```

3. Apply your changes:

   ```
   $ tctl create -f oidc.yaml
   ```

4. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

Create a user called `myuser` who has the `editor-requester` role. This user cannot edit your cluster configuration unless they request the `editor` role:

```
$ tctl users add myuser --roles=editor-requester
```

`tctl` will print an invitation URL to your terminal. Visit the URL and log in as `myuser` for the first time, registering credentials as configured for your Teleport cluster.

Later in this guide, you will have `myuser` request the `editor` role so you can review the request using the Teleport plugin.

## Step 2/8. Define a Teleport Mattermost plugin user

The required permissions for the plugin are configured in the preset `access-plugin` role. To generate credentials for the plugin, define either a Machine ID bot user or a regular Teleport user.

**Machine & Workload Identity**

If you haven't set up a Machine ID bot yet, refer to the [deployment guide](https://goteleport.com/docs/machine-workload-identity/deployment.md) to run the `tbot` binary on your infrastructure.

Next, allow the Machine ID bot to generate credentials for the `access-plugin` role. You can do this using `tctl`, replacing `my-bot` with the name of your bot:

```
$ tctl bots update my-bot --add-roles access-plugin
```

**Long-lived identity files**

As with all Teleport users, the Teleport Auth Service authenticates the `access-plugin` user by issuing short-lived TLS credentials. In this case, we will need to request the credentials manually by *impersonating* the `access-plugin` role and user.

If you are running a self-hosted Teleport Enterprise deployment and are using `tctl` from the Auth Service host, you will already have impersonation privileges.

To grant your user impersonation privileges for `access-plugin`, define a user named `access-plugin` and a role named `access-plugin-impersonator` by adding the following YAML document into a file called `access-plugin-impersonator.yaml`:

```
kind: user
metadata:
  name: access-plugin
spec:
  roles: ['access-plugin']
version: v2
---
kind: role
version: v7
metadata:
  name: access-plugin-impersonator
spec:
  allow:
    impersonate:
      roles:
      - access-plugin
      users:
      - access-plugin

```

Create the user and role:

```
$ tctl create -f access-plugin-impersonator.yaml
user "access-plugin" has been created
role "access-plugin-impersonator" has been created
```

---

TIP

You can also create and edit roles using the Web UI. Go to **Access -> Roles** and click **Create New Role** or pick an existing role to edit.

---

Assign this role to the user you plan to use to generate credentials for the `access-plugin` role and user:

Assign the `access-plugin-impersonator` role to your Teleport user by running the appropriate commands for your authentication provider:

**Local User**

1. Retrieve your local user's roles as a comma-separated list:

   ```
   $ ROLES=$(tsh status -f json | jq -r '.active.roles | join(",")')
   ```

2. Edit your local user to add the new role:

   ```
   $ tctl users update $(tsh status -f json | jq -r '.active.username') \
     --set-roles "${ROLES?},access-plugin-impersonator"
   ```

3. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

**GitHub**

1. Open your `github` authentication connector in a text editor:

   ```
   $ tctl edit github/github
   ```

2. Edit the `github` connector, adding `access-plugin-impersonator` to the `teams_to_roles` section.

   The team you should map to this role depends on how you have designed your organization's role-based access controls (RBAC). However, the team must include your user account and should be the smallest team possible within your organization.

   Here is an example:

   ```
     teams_to_roles:
       - organization: octocats
         team: admins
         roles:
           - access
   +       - access-plugin-impersonator

   ```

3. Apply your changes by saving and closing the file in your editor.

4. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

**SAML**

1. Retrieve your `saml` configuration resource:

   ```
   $ tctl get --with-secrets saml/mysaml > saml.yaml
   ```

   Note that the `--with-secrets` flag adds the value of `spec.signing_key_pair.private_key` to the `saml.yaml` file. Because this key contains a sensitive value, you should remove the saml.yaml file immediately after updating the resource.

2. Edit `saml.yaml`, adding `access-plugin-impersonator` to the `attributes_to_roles` section.

   The attribute you should map to this role depends on how you have designed your organization's role-based access controls (RBAC). However, the group must include your user account and should be the smallest group possible within your organization.

   Here is an example:

   ```
     attributes_to_roles:
       - name: "groups"
         value: "my-group"
         roles:
           - access
   +       - access-plugin-impersonator

   ```

3. Apply your changes:

   ```
   $ tctl create -f saml.yaml
   ```

4. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

**OIDC**

1. Retrieve your `oidc` configuration resource:

   ```
   $ tctl get oidc/myoidc --with-secrets > oidc.yaml
   ```

   Note that the `--with-secrets` flag adds the value of `spec.signing_key_pair.private_key` to the `oidc.yaml` file. Because this key contains a sensitive value, you should remove the oidc.yaml file immediately after updating the resource.

2. Edit `oidc.yaml`, adding `access-plugin-impersonator` to the `claims_to_roles` section.

   The claim you should map to this role depends on how you have designed your organization's role-based access controls (RBAC). However, the group must include your user account and should be the smallest group possible within your organization.

   Here is an example:

   ```
     claims_to_roles:
       - name: "groups"
         value: "my-group"
         roles:
           - access
   +       - access-plugin-impersonator

   ```

3. Apply your changes:

   ```
   $ tctl create -f oidc.yaml
   ```

4. Sign out of the Teleport cluster and sign in again to assume the new role.

You will now be able to generate signed certificates for the `access-plugin` role and user.

## Step 3/8. Export the access plugin identity

Give the plugin access to a Teleport identity file. We recommend using Machine ID for this in order to produce short-lived identity files that are less dangerous if exfiltrated, though in demo deployments, you can generate longer-lived identity files with `tctl`:

**Machine & Workload Identity**

Configure `tbot` with an output that will produce the credentials needed by the plugin. As the plugin will be accessing the Teleport API, the correct output type to use is `identity`.

For this guide, the `directory` destination will be used. This will write these credentials to a specified directory on disk. Ensure that this directory can be written to by the Linux user that `tbot` runs as, and that it can be read by the Linux user that the plugin will run as.

Modify your `tbot` configuration to add an `identity` output.

If running `tbot` on a Linux server, use the `directory` output to write identity files to the `/opt/machine-id` directory:

```
services:
- type: identity
  destination:
    type: directory
    # For this guide, /opt/machine-id is used as the destination directory.
    # You may wish to customize this. Multiple outputs cannot share the same
    # destination.
    path: /opt/machine-id

```

If running `tbot` on Kubernetes, write the identity file to Kubernetes secret instead:

```
services:
  - type: identity
    destination:
      type: kubernetes_secret
      name: teleport-plugin-mattermost-identity

```

If operating `tbot` as a background service, restart it. If running `tbot` in one-shot mode, execute it now.

You should now see an `identity` file under `/opt/machine-id` or a Kubernetes secret named `teleport-plugin-mattermost-identity`. This contains the private key and signed certificates needed by the plugin to authenticate with the Teleport Auth Service.

**Long-lived identity files**

Like all Teleport users, `access-plugin` needs signed credentials in order to connect to your Teleport cluster. You will use the `tctl auth sign` command to request these credentials.

The following `tctl auth sign` command impersonates the `access-plugin` user, generates signed credentials, and writes an identity file to the local directory:

```
$ tctl auth sign --user=access-plugin --out=identity
```

The plugin connects to the Teleport Auth Service's gRPC endpoint over TLS.

The identity file, `identity`, includes both TLS and SSH credentials. The plugin uses the SSH credentials to connect to the Proxy Service, which establishes a reverse tunnel connection to the Auth Service. The plugin uses this reverse tunnel, along with your TLS credentials, to connect to the Auth Service's gRPC endpoint.

Certificate Lifetime

By default, `tctl auth sign` produces certificates with a relatively short lifetime. For production deployments, we suggest using [Machine & Workload Identity](https://goteleport.com/docs/machine-workload-identity/introduction.md) to programmatically issue and renew certificates for your plugin. See our Machine & Workload Identity [getting started guide](https://goteleport.com/docs/machine-workload-identity/getting-started.md) to learn more.

Note that you cannot issue certificates that are valid longer than your existing credentials. For example, to issue certificates with a 1000-hour TTL, you must be logged in with a session that is valid for at least 1000 hours. This means your user must have a role allowing a `max_session_ttl` of at least 1000 hours (60000 minutes), and you must specify a `--ttl` when logging in:

```
$ tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --ttl=60060
```

If you are running the plugin on a Linux server, create a data directory to hold certificate files for the plugin:

```
$ sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/teleport/plugins/api-credentials
$ sudo mv identity /var/lib/teleport/plugins/api-credentials
```

If you are running the plugin on Kubernetes, create a Kubernetes secret that contains the Teleport identity file:

```
$ kubectl -n teleport create secret generic --from-file=identity teleport-plugin-mattermost-identity
```

Once the Teleport credentials expire, you will need to renew them by running the `tctl auth sign` command again.

## Step 4/8. Install the Teleport Mattermost plugin

**Self-Hosted**

We recommend installing Teleport plugins on the same host as the Teleport Proxy Service. This is an ideal location as plugins have a low memory footprint, and require both public internet access and Teleport Auth Service access.

**Teleport Enterprise Cloud**

Install the Teleport Mattermost plugin on a host that can access both your Teleport Proxy Service and your Mattermost deployment.

**Download**

Access Request Plugins are available as `amd64` and `arm64` Linux binaries for downloading. Replace `ARCH` with your required version.

```
$ curl -L -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-access-mattermost-v13.3.7-linux-ARCH-bin.tar.gz
$ tar -xzf teleport-access-mattermost-v13.3.7-linux-ARCH-bin.tar.gz
$ cd teleport-access-mattermost
$ sudo ./install
```

Make sure the binary is installed:

```
$ teleport-mattermost version
teleport-mattermost v13.3.7 git:teleport-mattermost-v13.3.7-fffffffff go1.25.9
```

**Docker Image**

```
$ docker pull public.ecr.aws/gravitational/teleport-plugin-mattermost:13.3.7
```

Make sure the plugin is installed by running the following command:

```
$ docker run public.ecr.aws/gravitational/teleport-plugin-mattermost:13.3.7 version
teleport-mattermost v13.3.7 1.25.9
```

For a list of available tags, visit [Amazon ECR Public Gallery](https://gallery.ecr.aws/gravitational/teleport-plugin-mattermost).

**From Source**

To install from source you need `git` and `go` installed. If you do not have Go installed, visit the Go [downloads page](https://go.dev/dl/).

```
$ git clone https://github.com/gravitational/teleport -b branch/v19
$ cd teleport/integrations/access/mattermost
$ git checkout v13.3.7
$ make build/teleport-mattermost
```

Move the `teleport-mattermost` binary into your PATH.

Make sure the binary is installed:

```
$ teleport-mattermost version
teleport-mattermost v13.3.7 git:teleport-mattermost-v13.3.7-fffffffff go1.25.9
```

**Helm Chart**

Allow Helm to install charts that are hosted in the Teleport Helm repository:

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

Update the cache of charts from the remote repository:

```
$ helm repo update
```

## Step 5/8. Register a Mattermost bot

Now that you have generated the credentials your plugin needs to connect to your Teleport cluster, register your plugin with Mattermost so it can send Access Request messages to your workspace.

In Mattermost, click the menu button in the upper left of the UI, then click System Console → Integrations → Bot Accounts.

Set "Enable Bot Account Creation" to "true".

![Enable Mattermost bots](/docs/assets/images/mattermost_admin_console_integrations_bot_accounts-1abe70f2db2d89f4bcb50f8bd0e10691.png)

This will allow you to create a new bot account for the Mattermost plugin.

Go back to your team. In the menu on the upper left of the UI, click Integrations → Bot Accounts → Add Bot Account.

Set the "Username", "Display Name", and "Description" fields according to how you would like the Mattermost plugin bot to appear in your workspace. Set "Role" to "Member".

You can [download](https://goteleport.com/docs/assets/images/avatar_logo-d25baa82e83316fe798e3778c6c729cb.png) our avatar to set as your Bot Icon.

Set "post:all" to "Enabled".

![Enable Mattermost Bots](/docs/assets/images/mattermost_bot-15ebbc72f225e13fecc729d3b2a32c1d.png)

Click "Create Bot Account". We will use the resulting OAuth 2.0 token when we configure the Mattermost plugin.

## Step 6/8. Configure the Mattermost plugin

At this point, you have generated credentials that the Mattermost plugin will use to connect to Teleport and Mattermost. You will now configure the Mattermost plugin to use these credentials and post messages in the right channels for your workspace.

**Executable or Docker**

The Mattermost plugin uses a configuration file in TOML format. On the host where you will run the Mattermost plugin, generate a boilerplate configuration by running the following commands:

```
$ teleport-mattermost configure > teleport-mattermost.toml
$ sudo mv teleport-mattermost.toml /etc
```

**Helm Chart**

The Mattermost Helm Chart uses a YAML values file to configure the plugin. On the host where you have Helm installed, create a file called `teleport-mattermost-helm.yaml` based on the following example:

```
teleport:
  # Teleport HTTPS Proxy web address, for Teleport Enterprise Cloud should be in the form "your-account.teleport.sh:443"
  address: ""            # e.g., teleport.example.com:443
  # Secret containing identity
  identitySecretName: "" # e.g., teleport-plugin-mattermost-identity 
  # Path within the secret containing the identity file.
  identitySecretPath: "" # e.g., identity

mattermost:
  url: ""          # URL of the Mattermost instance, e.g., https://mattermost.example.com/
  token: ""        # Mattermost token of the bot
  recipients:
    - ""           # User, e.g., access-requests@example.com
    - ""           # Channel, e.g., team/example-channel

log:
  output: "stderr" # Logger output. Could be "stdout", "stderr" or "/var/lib/teleport/mattermost.log"
  severity: "INFO" # Logger severity. Could be "INFO", "ERROR", "DEBUG" or "WARN".


```

Edit the configuration as explained below:

### `[teleport]`

**Executable**

**`addr`**: Include the hostname and HTTPS port of your Teleport Proxy Service or Teleport Enterprise Cloud account (e.g., `teleport.example.com:443` or `mytenant.teleport.sh:443`).

**`identity`**: Fill this in with the path to the identity file you exported earlier.

**`client_key`**, **`client_crt`**, **`root_cas`**: Comment these out, since we are not using them in this configuration.

**Helm Chart**

**`address`**: Include the hostname and HTTPS port of your Teleport Proxy Service or Teleport Enterprise Cloud tenant (e.g., `teleport.example.com:443` or `mytenant.teleport.sh:443`).

**`identitySecretName`**: Fill in the `identitySecretName` field with the name of the Kubernetes secret you created earlier.

**`identitySecretPath`**: Fill in the `identitySecretPath` field with the path of the identity file within the Kubernetes secret. If you have followed the instructions above, this will be `identity`.

If you are providing credentials to the plugin using a `tbot` binary that runs on a Linux server, make sure the value of `identity` is the same as the path of the identity file you configured `tbot` to generate, `/opt/machine-id/identity`.

Configure the plugin to periodically reload the identity file, ensuring that it does not attempt to connect to the Teleport Auth Service with expired credentials.

Add the following to the `teleport` section of the configuration:

```
refresh_identity = true

```

### `[mattermost]`

**`url`**: Include the scheme (`https://`) and fully qualified domain name of your Mattermost deployment.

**`token`**: Find your Mattermost bot's OAuth 2.0 token. To do so, visit Mattermost. In the menu on the upper left of the UI, go to Integrations → Bot Accounts. Find the listing for the Teleport plugin and click "Create New Token". After you save the token, you will see a message with text in the format, "Access Token: TOKEN". Copy the token and paste it here.

**`recipients`**: This field configures the channels that the Mattermost plugin will notify when it receives an Access Request message. The value is an array of strings, where each element is either:

- The email address of a Mattermost user to notify via a direct message when the plugin receives an Access Request event
- A channel name in the format `team/channel`, where `/` separates the name of the team and the name of the channel

For example, this configuration will notify `first.last@example.com` and the `Town Square` channel in the `myteam` team of any Access Request events:

**Executable or Docker**

```
recipients = [
  "myteam/Town Square",
  "first.last@example.com"
]

```

**Helm Chart**

```
recipients:
  - "myteam/Town Square"
  - first.last@example.com

```

You will need to invite your Teleport plugin to any channel you add to the `recipients` list (aside from direct message channels). Visit Mattermost, navigate to each channel you want to invite the plugin to, and enter `/invite @teleport` (or the name of the bot you configured) into the message box.

![Invite the bot](/docs/assets/images/add-bot-8f8d4bb0f799b5e264d0ec793457e4f7.png)

Suggested reviewers

Users can also suggest reviewers when they create an Access Request, e.g.,:

```
$ tsh request create --roles=dbadmin --reviewers=alice@example.com,ivan@example.com
```

If an Access Request includes suggested reviewers, the Mattermost plugin will add these to the list of channels to notify. If a suggested reviewer is an email address, the plugin will look up the direct message channel for that address and post a message in that channel.

If `recipients` is empty, and the user requesting elevated privileges has not suggested any reviewers, the plugin will skip forwarding the Access Request to Mattermost.

The final configuration should look similar to this:

**Executable or Docker**

```
# example mattermost configuration TOML file
[teleport]
auth_server = "myinstance.teleport.sh:443"                   # Teleport Cloud proxy HTTPS address
identity = "/var/lib/teleport/plugins/mattermost/identity"   # Identity file path
refresh_identity = true                                      # Refresh identity file on a periodic basis

[mattermost]
url = "https://mattermost.example.com" # Mattermost Server URL
token = "api-token"                    # Mattermost Bot OAuth token
recipients = [
  "myteam/general",
  "first.last@example.com"
]

[log]
output = "stderr" # Logger output. Could be "stdout", "stderr" or "/var/lib/teleport/mattermost.log"
severity = "INFO" # Logger severity. Could be "INFO", "ERROR", "DEBUG" or "WARN".


```

**Helm Chart**

```
teleport:
  # Teleport HTTPS Proxy web address, for Teleport Enterprise Cloud should be in the form "your-account.teleport.sh:443"
  address: ""            # e.g., teleport.example.com:443
  # Secret containing identity
  identitySecretName: "" # e.g., teleport-plugin-mattermost-identity 
  # Path within the secret containing the identity file.
  identitySecretPath: "" # e.g., identity

mattermost:
  url: ""          # URL of the Mattermost instance, e.g., https://mattermost.example.com/
  token: ""        # Mattermost token of the bot
  recipients:
    - ""           # User, e.g., access-requests@example.com
    - ""           # Channel, e.g., team/example-channel

log:
  output: "stderr" # Logger output. Could be "stdout", "stderr" or "/var/lib/teleport/mattermost.log"
  severity: "INFO" # Logger severity. Could be "INFO", "ERROR", "DEBUG" or "WARN".


```

## Step 7/8. Test your Mattermost bot

**Executable**

After modifying your configuration, run the bot with the following command:

```
$ teleport-mattermost start -d
```

The `-d` flag provides debug information to make sure the bot can connect to Mattermost, e.g.:

```
DEBU   Checking Teleport server version mattermost/main.go:234
DEBU   Starting a request watcher... mattermost/main.go:296
DEBU   Starting Mattermost API health check... mattermost/main.go:186
DEBU   Starting secure HTTPS server on :8081 utils/http.go:146
DEBU   Watcher connected mattermost/main.go:260
DEBU   Mattermost API health check finished ok mattermost/main.go:19

```

**Docker**

Run the plugin:

```
$ docker run -v <path-to-config>:/etc/teleport-mattermost.toml public.ecr.aws/gravitational/teleport-plugin-mattermost:19.0.0-dev start
```

**Helm Chart**

After modifying your configuration, run the bot with the following command:

```
$ helm upgrade --install teleport-plugin-mattermost teleport/teleport-plugin-mattermost --values teleport-mattermost-helm.yaml
```

To inspect the plugin's logs, use the following command:

```
$ kubectl logs deploy/teleport-plugin-mattermost
```

Debug logs can be enabled by setting `log.severity` to `DEBUG` in `teleport-mattermost-helm.yaml` and executing the `helm upgrade ...` command above again. Then you can restart the plugin with the following command:

```
$ kubectl rollout restart deployment teleport-plugin-mattermost
```

### Create an Access Request

**As an Admin**

A Teleport admin can create an Access Request for another user with `tctl`:

```
$ tctl request create myuser --roles=editor
```

**As a User**

Users can use `tsh` to create an Access Request and log in with approved roles:

```
$ tsh request create --roles=editor
Seeking request approval... (id: 8f77d2d1-2bbf-4031-a300-58926237a807)
```

**From the Web UI**

Users can request access using the Web UI by visiting "Identity", clicking "Access Requests" and then "New Request":

![Creating an Access Request using the Web UI](/docs/assets/images/request-access-be784784ab25db7e651c87817044f082.png)

The users and channels you configured earlier to review the request should receive a message from "Teleport" in Mattermost allowing them to visit a link in the Teleport Web UI and either approve or deny the request.

### Resolve the request

Once you receive an Access Request message, click the link to visit Teleport and approve or deny the request:

![Reviewing a request](/docs/assets/images/review-request-51dc06eae57234cbbfea4e13f0879884.png)

Reviewing from the command line

You can also review an Access Request from the command line:

**As an Admin**

```
Replace REQUEST_ID with the id of the request
$ tctl request approve REQUEST_ID
$ tctl request deny REQUEST_ID
```

**As a User**

```
Replace REQUEST_ID with the id of the request
$ tsh request review --approve REQUEST_ID
$ tsh request review --deny REQUEST_ID
```

---

AUDITING ACCESS REQUESTS

When the Mattermost plugin posts an Access Request notification to a channel, anyone with access to the channel can view the notification and follow the link. While users must be authorized via their Teleport roles to review Access Requests, you should still check the Teleport audit log to ensure that the right users are reviewing the right requests.

When auditing Access Request reviews, check for events with the type `Access Request Reviewed` in the Teleport Web UI.

---

## Step 8/8. Set up systemd

This section is only relevant if you are running the Teleport Mattermost plugin on a Linux host.

In production, we recommend starting the Teleport plugin daemon via an init system like systemd. Here's the recommended Teleport plugin service unit file for systemd:

```
[Unit]
Description=Teleport Mattermost Plugin
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=on-failure
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/teleport-mattermost start --config=/etc/teleport-mattermost.toml
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
PIDFile=/run/teleport-mattermost.pid

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

```

Save this as `teleport-mattermost.service` in either `/usr/lib/systemd/system/` or another [unit file load path](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.unit.html#unit%20file%20load%20path) supported by systemd.

Enable and start the plugin:

```
$ sudo systemctl enable teleport-mattermost
$ sudo systemctl start teleport-mattermost
```

## Troubleshooting

Access Request plugins need permissions to list and read any Teleport resource types included in a request. This is because, when the plugin receives a resource request, it queries the Teleport Auth Service API for data about the requested resources.

If you receive an error message similar to the following, the Teleport roles for the Access Request plugin's identity do not have permissions to perform one or more operations against the Teleport API. In the example below, the Access Request plugin needs `list` and `read` permissions on the `user_group` resource:

```
ERRO   Failed to process request error:[
ERROR REPORT:
Original Error: *interceptors.RemoteError access denied to perform action "list" on "user_group", access denied to perform action "read" on "user_group"

```

Make sure the Teleport roles for the Access Request plugin's identity include permissions to list requested resources. To resolve the error above, for example, you could grant the following role to the Access Request plugin's identity:

```
kind: role
version: v7
metadata:
  name: read-user-groups
spec:
  allow:
    rules:
      - resources: [user_group]
        verbs: [list, read]

```