# Database Access with ClickHouse The Teleport Clickhouse integration allows you to enroll ClickHouse databases with Teleport. This guide will help you to: - Install and configure a Teleport database agent. - Set up Teleport to access your self-hosted ClickHouse database. - Connect to your database through Teleport. ## How it works The Teleport Database Service authenticates to ClickHouse using x509 certificates, which are available for the ClickHouse HTTP and Native (TCP) [interfaces](https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/interfaces/overview). The Teleport Database Service can communicate in both the ClickHouse Native (TCP) and HTTP protocols, and you can select which protocol to use when configuring the Teleport Database Service. Teleport audit logs for query activity are only supported for the ClickHouse HTTP interface. Teleport support for ClickHouse's native interfaces does not include audit logs for database query activity. **Self-Hosted** ![Enroll ClickHouse with a self-hosted Teleport cluster](/docs/assets/images/clickhouse_selfhosted_selfhosted-60cc030f2a6cb538bb8c504d2deb1462.png) **Teleport Cloud** ![Enroll ClickHouse with a cloud-hosted Teleport cluster](/docs/assets/images/clickhouse_selfhosted_cloud-e10e7c4e34f17d2a3b79c38cde79e4ac.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 ``` * Either a Linux host or Kubernetes cluster where you will run the Teleport Database Service. You will also need the following, depending on the ClickHouse protocol you choose: **HTTP** - A self-hosted deployment of ClickHouse Server v22.3 or later. **Native (TCP)** - A self-hosted deployment of ClickHouse Server v23.3 or later. - The [clickhouse-client](https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/interfaces/cli) installed and added to your user's `PATH` environment variable. * Optional: a certificate authority that issues certificates for your self-hosted database. ## Step 1/5. 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 ``` --- 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 2/5. Create a certificate/key pair Teleport uses mutual TLS authentication with self-hosted databases. These databases must be able to verify certificates presented by the Teleport Database Service. Self-hosted databases also need a certificate/key pair that Teleport can verify. By default, the Teleport Database Service trusts certificates issued by a certificate authority managed by the Teleport Auth Service. You can either: - Configure your self-hosted database to trust this CA, and instruct Teleport to issue a certificate for the database to present to the Teleport Database Service. - Configure the Database Service to trust a custom CA. **Use the Teleport CA** To configure the database to trust the Teleport CA and issue a certificate for the database, follow these instructions on your workstation: 1. To use `tctl` from your workstation, your Teleport user must be allowed to impersonate the system role `Db` in order to be able to generate the database certificate. Include the following `allow` rule in your Teleport user's role: ``` allow: impersonate: users: ["Db"] roles: ["Db"] ``` 2. Export Teleport's certificate authority and generate a certificate/key pair. This example generates a certificate with a 90-day validity period. `db.example.com` is the hostname where the Teleport Database Service can reach the Clickhouse server. ``` $ tctl auth sign --format=db --host=db.example.com --out=server --ttl=2160h ``` --- TTL We recommend using a shorter TTL, but keep in mind that you'll need to update the database server certificate before it expires to not lose the ability to connect. Pick the TTL value that best fits your use-case. --- The command creates 3 files: `server.cas`, `server.crt` and `server.key`. **Use a custom CA** If the Clickhouse database already has a CA that it uses to sign certificates , you only need to export a Teleport CA certificate for the database to authenticate traffic from the Teleport Database Service. You do not need to enable `Db` impersonation privileges. 1. 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 > db-client.cas ``` The command creates 1 file, `db-client.cas`. 2. Append the contents of `db-client.cas` to your database's existing CA cert file, which this guide expects to be called `server.cas`. 3. Generate `server.crt` and `server.key` by retrieving a TLS certificate and private key from your existing database CA, signed for your database server. You will use these files later in the guide. ## Step 3/5. Configure ClickHouse Use the generated secrets to enable mutual TLS in your `clickhouse-server/config.xml` configuration file: ``` /path/to/server.key /path/to/server.cas /path/to/server.crt strict ``` Restart the ClickHouse Server to enable this configuration. Additionally, your ClickHouse database user accounts must be configured to require a valid client certificate: ``` CREATE USER alice IDENTIFIED WITH ssl_certificate CN 'alice'; ``` By default, the created user may not have access to anything and won't be able to connect, so let's grant it some permissions: ``` GRANT ALL ON *.* TO alice; ``` ## Step 4/5. Configure and start the Database Service Install and configure Teleport on the host or Kubernetes cluster where you will run the Teleport Database Service. Assign protocol to `clickhouse-http` for the HTTP protocol and `clickhouse` for the native ClickHouse protocol: **Linux Server** 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 ``` --- NOTE The step below will overwrite an existing configuration file, so if you're running multiple services add `--output=stdout` to print the config in your terminal, and manually adjust `/etc/teleport.yaml`. --- On the host where you will run the Teleport Database Service, start Teleport with the appropriate configuration. Note that a single Teleport process can run multiple different services, for example multiple Database Service agents as well as the SSH Service or Application Service. The step below will overwrite an existing configuration file, so if you're running multiple services add `--output=stdout` to print the config in your terminal, and manually adjust `/etc/teleport.yaml`. Run the following command to generate a configuration file at `/etc/teleport.yaml` for the Database Service. Update teleport.example.com:443 to use the host and port of the Teleport Proxy Service: ``` $ sudo teleport db configure create \ -o file \ --token=/tmp/token \ --proxy=teleport.example.com:443 \ --name=example-clickhouse \ --protocol=protocol \ --uri=clickhouse.example.com:8443 \ --labels=env=dev ``` To configure the Teleport Database Service to trust a custom CA: 1. Export a CA certificate for the custom CA and make it available at `/var/lib/teleport/db.ca` on the Teleport Database Service host. 2. Run a variation of the command above that uses the `--ca-cert-file` flag. This configures the Teleport Database Service to use the CA certificate at `db.ca` to verify traffic from the database: ``` $ sudo teleport db configure create \ -o file \ --token=/tmp/token \ --proxy=teleport.example.com:443 \ --name=example-clickhouse \ --protocol=protocol \ --uri=clickhouse.example.com:8443 \ --ca-cert-file="/var/lib/teleport/db.ca" \ --labels=env=dev ``` 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`. **Kubernetes Cluster** Teleport provides Helm charts for installing the Teleport Database Service in Kubernetes Clusters. Configure Helm to fetch Teleport charts from the Teleport Helm repository: ``` $ helm repo add teleport https://charts.releases.teleport.dev ``` Refresh the local Helm cache by fetching the latest charts: ``` $ helm repo update ``` Install a Teleport Agent into your Kubernetes Cluster with the Teleport Database Service configuration. Create a file called `values.yaml` with the following content. Update teleport.example.com:443 to use the host and port of the Teleport Proxy Service and JOIN\_TOKEN to the join token you created earlier: ``` roles: db proxyAddr: teleport.example.com:443 # Set to false if using Teleport Community Edition enterprise: true authToken: JOIN_TOKEN databases: - name: example-clickhouse uri: clickhouse.example.com:8443 protocol: protocol tags: env: dev ``` To configure the Teleport Database Service to trust a custom CA: 1. Export a CA certificate for the custom CA and make it available at `db.ca` on your workstation. 2. Create a secret containing the database CA certificate in the same namespace as Teleport using the following command: ``` $ kubectl create secret generic db-ca --from-file=ca.pem=/path/to/db.ca ``` 3. Add the following to `values.yaml`: ``` roles: db proxyAddr: teleport.example.com:443 # Set to false if using Teleport Community Edition enterprise: true authToken: JOIN_TOKEN databases: - name: example-clickhouse uri: clickhouse.example.com:8443 protocol: + tls: + ca_cert_file: "/etc/teleport-tls-db/db-ca/ca.pem" static_labels: env: dev + extraVolumes: + - name: db-ca + secret: + secretName: db-ca + extraVolumeMounts: + - name: db-ca + mountPath: /etc/teleport-tls-db/db-ca + readOnly: true ``` Install the chart: ``` $ helm install teleport-kube-agent teleport/teleport-kube-agent \ --create-namespace \ --namespace teleport-agent \ --version 18.7.3 \ -f values.yaml ``` Make sure that the Teleport Agent pod is running. You should see one `teleport-kube-agent` pod with a single ready container: ``` $ kubectl -n teleport-agent get pods NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE teleport-kube-agent-0 1/1 Running 0 32s ``` --- TIP A single Teleport process can run multiple services, for example multiple Database Service instances as well as other services such as the SSH Service or Application Service. --- ## Step 5/5. Connect Once the Database Service has joined the cluster, log in to see the available databases: **HTTP** Log in to Teleport and list the databases you can connect to. You should see the ClickHouse database you enrolled earlier: ``` $ tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alice $ tsh db ls Name Description Allowed Users Labels Connect ------------------------- ----------- ------------- ------- ------- example-clickhouse-http [*] env=dev ``` Create an authenticated proxy tunnel so you can connect to ClickHouse via a GUI database client, or send a request via `curl`: ``` $ tsh proxy db --db-user=alice --tunnel example-clickhouse-http Started authenticated tunnel for the Clickhouse (HTTP) database "clickhouse-http" in cluster "teleport.example.com" on 127.0.0.1:59215. To avoid port randomization, you can choose the listening port using the --port flag. Use the following command to connect to the database or to the address above using other database GUI/CLI clients: $ curl http://localhost:59215/ ``` To test the connection you can run the following command: ``` $ echo 'select currentUser();' | curl http://localhost:59215/ --data-binary @- alice ``` To log out of the database and remove credentials: ``` Remove credentials for a particular database instance. $ tsh db logout example-clickhouse-http Remove credentials for all database instances. $ tsh db logout ``` **Native (TCP)** Log in to Teleport and list the databases you can connect to. You should see the ClickHouse database you enrolled earlier: ``` $ tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com --user=alice $ tsh db ls Name Description Allowed Users Labels Connect ----------------------- ----------- ------------- ------- ------- example-clickhouse [*] env=dev ``` Connect to the database: ``` $ tsh db connect --db-user=alice example-clickhouse ClickHouse client version 22.7.2.1. Connecting to localhost:59502 as user default. Connected to ClickHouse server version 23.4.2 revision 54462. 350ddafd1941 :) select 1; SELECT 1 Query id: 327cfd34-2fec-4e04-a185-79fc840aa5cf ┌─1─┐ │ 1 │ └───┘ ↓ Progress: 1.00 rows, 1.00 B (208.59 rows/s., 208.59 B/s.) (0.0 CPU, 9.19 KB RAM) 1 row in set. Elapsed: 0.005 sec. 350ddafd1941 :) ``` To log out of the database and remove credentials: ``` Remove credentials for a particular database instance. $ tsh db logout example-clickhouse Remove credentials for all database instances. $ tsh db logout ``` ## 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).