title	description
Teleport CLI Reference	Detailed guide and reference documentation for Teleport's command line interface (CLI) tools.

Teleport is made up of four CLI tools.

teleport: Supports the Teleport access plane by starting and configuring various Teleport services.
tsh: Allows end users to authenticate to Teleport and access resources in a cluster.
tctl: Used to configure the Teleport Auth Service.
tbot: Supports Machine ID, which provides short lived credentials to service accounts (e.g, a CI/CD server).

(!docs/pages/includes/permission-warning.mdx!)

(!docs/pages/includes/backup-warning.mdx!)

teleport

The CLI tool that supports the Teleport access plane is called teleport, and allows Teleport services to be managed over the command line:

Auth
Node/SSH
Proxy
App
Database
Windows Desktop
Kubernetes

The primary commands for the teleport CLI are as follows:

Command	Description
`teleport help`	Outputs guidance for using Teleport commands.
`teleport start`	Starts the `teleport` process in the foregound using the current shell session, including any services configured by the configuration YAML file.
`teleport status`	Prints the status of the current active Teleport SSH session.
`teleport configure`	Generates and writes a configuration YAML file for the Teleport service. This file should be customized in production to suit the needs of your environment, and the default output should only be used when testing.
`teleport version`	Prints the current release version of the Teleport binary installed on your system.
`teleport app start`	Starts the Teleport Application Service.
`teleport db start`	Starts the Teleport Database Service.
`teleport db configure create`	Generates a configuration YAML file for the Database Service. This file should be customized in production to suit the needs of your environment, and the default output should only be used when testing.
`teleport db configure bootstrap`	Used to bootstrap a configuration to the Teleport Database Service by reading a provided configuration.
`teleport db configure aws print-iam`	Generates and outputs current IAM policies for a Teleport-managed database.
`teleport db configure aws create-iam`	Generates, creates, and attaches desired IAM policies to a Teleport-managed database.
`teleport install systemd`	Creates a systemd unit file, used to configure and install a `teleport` service daemon.
`teleport node configure`	Generates a configuration YAML file for a Teleport Node accessed via SSH. This file should be customized in production to suit the needs of your environment, and the default output should only be used when testing.

For more information on subcommands when working with the `teleport` cli, use the `--help` option or `teleport --help`.

teleport start

The teleport start command includes a large number of optional configuration flags.

While configuration flags for teleport start can be used to set parameters for Teleport's configuration, we recommend using a configuration file in production.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-d, --debug`	none	none	enable verbose logging to stderr
`--insecure-no-tls`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Tells proxy to not generate default self-signed TLS certificates. This is useful when running Teleport on kubernetes (behind reverse proxy) or behind things like AWS ELBs, GCP LBs or Azure Load Balancers where SSL termination is provided externally.
`-r, --roles`	`proxy`, `node`, `auth`, `app`, `db`, `kube`, `windowsdesktop`	string comma-separated list of `proxy, auth, node, db, app` or `windowsdesktop`	start listed services/roles. These roles are explained in the Core Concepts document.
`--pid-file`	none	string filepath	create a PID file at the path
`--advertise-ip`	none	string IP	advertise IP to clients, often used behind NAT
`-l, --listen-ip`	`0.0.0.0`	net. IP	binds services to IP
`--auth-server`	none	string IP	proxy attempts to connect to a specified auth server instead of local auth, disables `--roles=auth` if set
`--token`	none	string	set invitation token to register with an auth server on start, used once and ignored afterwards. Obtain it by running `tctl nodes add` on the auth server.We recommend to use tools like `pwgen` to generate sufficiently random tokens of 32+ byte length.
`--ca-pin`	none	string `sha256:<hash>`	set CA pin to validate the Auth Server. Generated by `tctl status`
`--nodename`	value returned by the `hostname` command on the machine	string	assigns an alternative name for the node which can be used by clients to log in.
`-c, --config`	`/etc/teleport.yaml`	string `.yaml` filepath	starts services with config specified in the YAML file, overrides CLI flags if set
`--apply-on-startup`	none	string `.yaml` filepath	On startup, always apply resources described in the file at the given path. Only supports the following types: `token`.
`--bootstrap`	none	string `.yaml` filepath	bootstrap configured YAML resources {/* TODO link how to configure this file */}
`--labels`	none	string comma-separated list	assigns a set of labels to a node, for example env=dev,app=web. See the explanation of labeling mechanism in the Labeling Nodes section.
`--insecure`	none	none	disable certificate validation on Proxy Service, validation still occurs on Auth Service.
`--fips`	none	none	start Teleport in FedRAMP/FIPS 140-2 mode.
`--skip-version-check`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Skips version checks between the Auth Server this Teleport instance
`--diag-addr`	none	none	Enable diagnostic endpoints
`--permit-user-env`	none	none	flag reads in environment variables from `~/.tsh/environment` when creating a session.
`--app-name`	none	none	Name of the application to start
`--app-uri`	none	none	Internal address of the application to proxy
`--app-public-addr`	none	none	Public address fo the application to proxy

teleport start --roles

The --roles flag when used with teleport --start instructs Teleport on which specific Teleport services to start. Below is a more cohesive table of roles and their associated services that teleport start supports:

Service	Role Name	Description
Node	`node`	Allows SSH connections from authenticated clients.
Auth	`auth`	Authenticates and authorizes hosts and users who want access to Teleport-managed resources or information about a cluster.
Proxy	`proxy`	The gateway that clients use to connect to the Auth Service or resources managed by Teleport.
App	`app`	Provides access to applications.
Database	`db`	Provides access to databases.
Windows Desktop	`windowsdesktop`	Provides Windows Desktop access.

Teleport Cloud manages Teleport instances with the auth and proxy roles. Use the remaining roles to manage access to specific resources and other Teleport clusters.

Examples

# By default without any configuration, teleport starts running as a single-node
# cluster. It's the equivalent of running with --roles=node,proxy,auth
sudo teleport start

# Starts a node named 'db' running in strictly SSH mode role, joining the cluster
# serviced by the auth server running on 10.1.0.1
sudo teleport start --roles=node --auth-server=10.1.0.1 --token=xyz --nodename=db

# Same as the above, but the node runs with db=master label and can be connected
# to using that label in addition to its name.
sudo teleport start --roles=node --auth-server=10.1.0.1 --labels=db=master

# Starts an app server that proxies the application "example-app" running at http://localhost:8080.
sudo teleport start --roles=app --token=xyz --auth-server=proxy.example.com:3080 \
    --app-name="example-app" \
    --app-uri="http://localhost:8080" \
    --labels=group=dev

tsh

tsh is a CLI client used by Teleport Users. It allows users to interact with current and past sessions on the cluster, copy files to and from nodes, and list information about the cluster.

tsh global flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-l, --login`	none	an identity name	The login identity that the Teleport user will use
`--proxy`	none	`host:https_port[,ssh_proxy_port]`	Teleport Proxy Service address
`--user`	`$USER`	none	The Teleport username
`--ttl`	`720` (12 hours)	integer	Number of minutes a certificate issued for the `tsh` user will be valid for
`-i, --identity`	none	string filepath	Identity file
`--cert-format`	`standard`	`standard` or `oldssh`	SSH certificate format
`--insecure`	none	none	Do not verify the server's certificate and host name. Use only in test environments.
`--auth`	`local`	any defined authentication connector, including `local` and `passwordless`	Specify the type of authentication connector to use.
`--mfa-mode`	auto	`auto`, `cross-platform`, `platform` or `otp`	Preferred mode for MFA and Passwordless assertions.
`--skip-version-check`	none	none	Skip version checking between server and client.
`-d, --debug`	none	none	Verbose logging to stdout
`-J, --jumphost`	none	A jump host	SSH jumphost

tsh help

Prints help:

$ tsh help

tsh version

Print the version of your tsh binary:

$ tsh version

tsh ssh

Run shell or execute a command on a remote SSH node:

$ tsh ssh [<flags>] <[user@]host> [<command>...]

Arguments

<[user@]host> [<command>...]

user The login identity to use on the remote host. If [user] is not specified the user defaults to $USER or can be set with --user. If the flag --user and positional argument [user] are specified the arg [user] takes precedence.
host The nodename of a cluster Node or a label specification like env=aws to run on all matching hosts.
command The command to execute on a remote host.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-p, --port`	none	port	SSH port on a remote host
`-A, --forward-agent`	none	none	Forward agent to target node like `ssh -A`
`-L, --forward`	none	none	Forward localhost connections to remote server
`-D, --dynamic-forward`	none	none	Forward localhost connections to remote server using SOCKS5
`-N, -no-remote-exec`	none	none	Don't execute remote command, useful for port forwarding
`--local`	none		Execute command on localhost after connecting to SSH node
`-t, --tty`	`file`		Allocate TTY
`--cluster`	none		Specify the cluster to connect
`-o, --option`	`local`		OpenSSH options in the format used in the configuration file
`--enable-escape-sequences`			Enable support for SSH escape sequences. Type `~?` during an SSH session to list supported sequences.
`--no-use-local-ssh-agent`			Do not load generated SSH certificates into the local ssh-agent (specified via `$SSH_AUTH_SOCK`). Useful when using `gpg-agent` or Yubikeys. You can also set the `TELEPORT_USE_LOCAL_SSH_AGENT` environment variable to `false` (default `true`)
`-X, --x11-untrusted`	none	none	Requests untrusted (secure) X11 forwarding for this session.
`-Y, --x11-trusted`	none	none	Requests trusted (insecure) X11 forwarding for this session. This can make your local machine vulnerable to attacks, use with caution.
`--x11-untrusted-timeout`	10m	duration	Sets a timeout for untrusted X11 forwarding, after which the client will reject any forwarding requests from the server.

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Log in to node `grav-00` as OS User `root` with Teleport User `teleport`
$ tsh ssh --proxy proxy.example.com --user teleport -d root@grav-00
# `tsh ssh` takes the same arguments as OpenSSH client:
$ tsh ssh -o ForwardAgent=yes root@grav-00
$ tsh ssh -o AddKeysToAgent=yes root@grav-00
# Run `hostname` on all nodes with the `env: aws` label
$ tsh ssh root@env=aws hostname

tsh config

Generates OpenSSH configuration to use currently logged in teleport as a bastion host.

$ tsh config

Examples

# Print OpenSSH config file to console
$ tsh config

# Append Teleport configuration to ssh config
$ tsh config >> ~/.ssh/config

tsh apps ls

List all available applications:

$ tsh apps ls

tsh gcloud

Proxy gcloud CLI commands through the Teleport Application Service. gcloud is a tool for interacting with Google Cloud. A user must already be authenticated to a Google Cloud application in Teleport before they can execute tsh gcloud commands.

$ tsh gcloud [--app] [<command>]

Arguments

command: A gcloud command to run, including arguments and flags.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--app`	Currently logged in Google Cloud application	The name of a Google Cloud application as listed via `tsh apps ls`.	The Google Cloud application to run the command against, if logged in to multiple Google Cloud applications.

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

$ tsh gcloud compute instances list

tsh gsutil

Proxy gsutil CLI commands through the Teleport Application Service. gsutil is a tool for interacting with Google Cloud Storage. A user must already be authenticated to a Google Cloud application in Teleport before they can execute tsh gsutil commands.

$ tsh gsutil [--app] [<command>]

Arguments

command: A gsutil command to run, including arguments and flags.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--app`	Currently logged in Google Cloud application	The name of a Google Cloud application as listed via `tsh apps ls`.	The Google Cloud application to run the command against, if logged in to multiple Google Cloud applications.

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

$ tsh gsutil ls

tsh join

Joins an active session:

$ tsh join [<flags>] <session-id>

Arguments

<session-id>

session-id The UUID of an active Teleport Session obtained by teleport status within the session.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--cluster`	none	a cluster_name	Specify the cluster to connect

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# join session using teleport user joe as ec2-user
$ tsh --user=joe --login=ec2-user join <session-id>

tsh recordings ls

List recorded sessions.

$ tsh recordings ls [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--from-utc`	24 hours ago	date	Start of time range in which recordings are listed. Format 2006-01-02. Defaults to 24 hours ago.
`--to-utc`	current	date	Start of time range in which recordings are listed. Format 2006-01-02. Defaults to 24 hours ago.
`--limit`	50	number	Maximum number of recordings to show.
`--last`	none	duration	Duration into the past from which session recordings should be listed. Format 5h30m40s

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# get the recorded sessions from the last 24 hours
$ tsh --proxy proxy.example.com recordings ls
ID                                   Type Participants Hostname Timestamp
------------------------------------ ---- ------------ -------- -------------------
b0a04442-70dc-4be8-9308-7b7901d2d600 ssh  jeff         dev       Nov 26 16:36:16 UTC
c0a02222-70dc-4be8-9308-7b7901d2d600 kube alice                  Nov 26 20:36:16 UTC
d0a04442-70dc-4be8-9308-7b7901d2d600 ssh  navin        test      Nov 26 16:36:16 UTC

# The session can be played with tsh play
$ tsh play c0a02222-70dc-4be8-9308-7b7901d2d60

# List recorded sessions that occurred between Nov 1, 2022 to Nov 3, 2022
$ tsh recordings ls --from-utc=2022-11-01 --to-utc=2022-11-3

# Retrieve recorded sessions in the last 6 hours
$ tsh recordings ls --last=6h0m0s

<Admonition title="Recorded Sessions Availability" scope={["oss", "enterprise"]} type="tip" scopeOnly

Recorded sessions are linked from the audit events to session recordings files in their storage backend. The following error can occur if a session recording file is not available or when employing multiple auth servers with directory storage backend for recorded sessions. When using a directory storage backend for audit logs and recorded sessions, only the auth server with that recorded session can retrieve it.

$ tsh play c8e1b2c5-322a-4095-89e3-391edfd2da9b
ERROR: Recording for session c8e1b2c5-322a-4095-89e3-391edfd2da9b not found.

Using a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) service that combines the audit logs will help consolidate the list of available recordings.

Downloaded recorded session are directly playable as a file.

$ tsh play c8e1b2c5-322a-4095-89e3-391edfd2da9b.tar

tsh play

Plays back a prior session:

$ tsh play [<flags>] <session-id>

Arguments

<session-id>

session-id The UUID of a past Teleport Session obtained by teleport status within the session or from the Web UI.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--cluster`	none	a cluster_name	Specify the cluster to connect
`--format`	`pty`	json, pty	Format for playback

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

$ tsh --proxy proxy.example.com play <session-id>

# Playing back a session using pty format using a downloaded session recording.
$ tsh play --format=pty 1fe153d1-ce8b-4ef4-9908-6539457ba4ad.tar

# Playing back a session in json format using jq to filter on events
$ tsh play --format=json ~/play/0c0b81ed-91a9-4a2a-8d7c-7495891a6ca0.tar | jq '.event

tsh proxy db

Start a local TLS proxy for database connections when using Teleport with TLS Routing enabled. Clients can connect to a Teleport-registered database through the local proxy.

$ tsh proxy db [<flags>] <db>

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--cert-file`	none	string	Path to the certificate file for configuring TLS on the local proxy.
`--cluster`	none	string	The name of the Teleport cluster to connect to.
`--key-file`	none	string	Path to the private key file for configuring TLS on the local proxy.
`--db-name`	none	string	Optional database name to log in to.
`--db-user`	none	string	Optional database user to log in as.
`--port`	none	string	Source port used by the local proxy.
`--tunnel`	none	Boolean	Open an authenticated tunnel using a database's client certificate so clients don't need to authenticate.

Global Flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags Section

Examples

Proxy a DB connection to a named database

$ tsh proxy db <db>

Proxy a connection to mysql db on local port 10700:

$ tsh proxy db --port 10700  mysql-db
# Started DB proxy on 127.0.0.1:10700

# Use following credentials to connect to the mysql-db proxy:
#  ca_file=/Users/jeff/.tsh/keys/teleport.example.com/cas/teleport.example.com.pem
#  cert_file=/Users/jeff/.tsh/keys/teleport.example.com/jeff-db/tele1c/mysql-db-x509.pem
#  key_file=/Users/jeff/.tsh/keys/teleport.example.com/jeff

Proxy a connection to mysql db with no credentials required:

$ tsh proxy db --tunnel mysql-db
Started authenticated tunnel for the MySQL database "mysql-db" in cluster "teleport.example.com" on 127.0.0.1:49415.

Use the following command to connect to the database:
  $ mysql --port 49415 --host localhost --protocol TCP

tsh proxy ssh

Start a local TLS proxy for ssh connections when using Teleport in TLS Routing mode. This is typically used as part of the SSH client configuration to use ssh as a client through Teleport. See the OpenSSH Guide guide on configuring OpenSSH servers and clients. The tsh config output will include tsh proxy ssh within a ProxyCommand directive.

$ tsh proxy ssh [<flags>] <[user@]host>

Arguments

<[user@]host> Remote hostname and the login to use

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--cluster`	none	Teleport Cluster	The name of the Teleport cluster to connect to.

Global Flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags Section

Examples

Run the following command to generate an OpenSSH client configuration:

$ tsh config

This command produces the following configuration:

# Common flags for all example.com hosts
Host *.example.com example.com
    UserKnownHostsFile "/Users/jeff/.tsh/known_hosts"
    IdentityFile "/Users/jeff/.tsh/keys/enterprise.teleportdemo.com/jeff"
    CertificateFile "/Users/jeff/.tsh/keys/example.com/jeff-ssh/example.com-cert.pub"
    PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes +ssh-rsa-cert-v01@openssh.com
    HostKeyAlgorithms ssh-rsa-cert-v01@openssh.com

# Flags for all example.com hosts except the proxy
Host *.example.com !example.com
    Port 3022
    ProxyCommand "/usr/local/bin/tsh" proxy ssh --cluster=example.com --proxy=example.com %r@%h:%p

This output should be placed into the default SSH Config for environment, ~/.ssh/config for Mac/Linux or .ssh\config in the Windows User home directory. You can use this as a standalone SSH config file too.

When you run an ssh command against a host with a subdomain of your Proxy Service's domain, this SSH configuration will use the ProxyCommand to run tsh proxy ssh:

$ ssh myuser@node1.example.com

tsh proxy app

Starts a local TLS proxy for Application Access connections. You can use this proxy to connect to an application repeatedly after a single login to your Teleport cluster, which is especially useful for interacting with an application via a CLI.

$ tsh proxy app [<flags>] <app>

Arguments

<app>

app The name of the application to start the local proxy for. To see a list of available applications, run tsh apps ls.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-p, --port`	none	port number	Specify the source port for the local proxy

Global Flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags Section

Examples

$ tsh proxy app <app>

# Proxy a connection to grafana on local port 10700
$ tsh proxy --port 10700 app grafana &
# Proxying connections to grafana on 127.0.0.1:10700
$ curl http://127.0.0.1:10700/api/users

tsh proxy azure

Starts a local proxy server that provides secure access to an Azure managed service identity endpoint. This is useful for managing access to Azure from custom client applications. The local proxy forwards traffic to the Teleport Application Service, which uses an Azure managed identity to fetch an authentication token from Azure.

$ tsh proxy azure [<flags>]

The command will print the address of the local proxy server along with export commands for environment variables required to connect:

Started Azure proxy on http://127.0.0.1:54330.
To avoid port randomization, you can choose the listening port using the --port flag.

Use the following credentials and HTTPS proxy setting to connect to the proxy:

  export AZURE_CONFIG_DIR=/Users/myuser/.tsh/azure/my.teleport.cluster/azure
  export HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:54330
  export HTTP_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:54330
  export MSI_ENDPOINT=https://azure-msi.teleport.dev/eedfd5b55257c0aaa58f
  export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=/Users/myuser/.tsh/keys/teleport.example.com/myuser-app/teleport.example.com/azure-cli-localca.pem

tsh proxy azure runs the local proxy in the foreground, so don't interrupt the process or exit the terminal where you ran the command until you're ready to close the local proxy.

Copy the export commands and paste them into a second terminal.

To run the local proxy server, one of the user's roles must include the spec.allow.azure_identities field with one of the identities used by the Application Service. To learn how to set up secure access to Azure via Teleport, read Protect the Azure CLI with Teleport Application Access.

Arguments

This command does not accept any arguments.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--app`	none	string	Name of the Teleport application representing Azure (i.e., based on `tsh apps ls`). Use this flag if your Teleport user has access to multiple Azure applications.
`--port`	none	port number	The port on `localhost` where the local proxy will listen for connections.
`--format`	`powershell` if on Windows, `unix` otherwise	`text`, `unix`, `command-prompt`, or `powershell`	The format to use for listing environment variables for Azure client applications connecting to the local proxy.

Global Flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags Section

tsh proxy aws

Start a local proxy for AWS access. The user must already be logged in to at least one AWS application via Teleport before the proxy can start.

$ tsh proxy aws [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--app`	Currently logged in AWS app	string	Optional name of the AWS application (as shown in `tsh apps ls`) to use if logged in to multiple
`-p, --port`	none	port number	Specify the source port for the local proxy
`-e, --endpoint-url`	HTTP Proxy	Endpoint URL	Run the local proxy to serve as an AWS endpoint URL. If not specified, the local proxy serves as an HTTPS proxy.
`-f, --format`	unix	`text`, `unix`, `command-prompt`, or `powershell`	Optional format for printing environment variables for the AWS proxy

Global Flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags Section

Examples

# Proxy a connection to AWS with the default settings
$ tsh apps login awsapp
$ tsh proxy aws
# Set env variables from output
$ aws s3 ls

# Proxying connections to AWS on 127.0.0.1:10700 to app awsapp2
$ tsh apps logins awsapp2
$ tsh proxy aws --port=10700 --app=awsapp2
# Set env variables from output
$ aws s3 ls

tsh proxy gcloud

Start a local proxy for Google Cloud API access. The user must already be logged in to at least one Google Cloud application via Teleport before the proxy can start.

$ tsh proxy gcloud [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--app`	Currently logged in Google Cloud app	string	Optional name of the Google Cloud application (as shown in `tsh apps ls`) to use if logged in to multiple
`-p, --port`	none	port number	Specify the source port for the local proxy
`-e, --endpoint-url`	HTTP Proxy	Endpoint URL	Run the local proxy to serve as a Google Cloud endpoint URL. If not specified, the local proxy serves as an HTTPS proxy.
`-f, --format`	unix	`text`, `unix`, `command-prompt`, or `powershell`	Optional format for printing environment variables for the Google Cloud proxy

Global Flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost, --format. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags Section

Examples

$ tsh apps login google-cloud-app
$ tsh proxy gcloud
# Set env variables from output
$ gcloud compute instances list 
$ gsutil ls

tsh scp

Copies files from source to dest:

$ tsh scp [<flags>] <source>... <dest>

{/* TODO Confirm which flags are supported and whether supports multiple sources */}

Arguments

<source> - filepath to copy
<dest> - target destination

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--cluster`	none	a cluster_name	Specify the cluster to connect
`-r, --recursive`	none	none	Recursive copy of subdirectories
`-P, --port`	none	port number	Port to connect to on the remote host
`-q, --quiet`	none	none	Quiet mode

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com scp example.txt user@host:/destination/dir

tsh ls

List cluster nodes:

$ tsh ls [<flags>] [<label>]

(!docs/pages/includes/node-logins.mdx!)

{/* TODO: label? or labels? seems like it only supports one label at a time */}

Arguments

<label> - key=value label to filer nodes by

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-v, --verbose`	none	none	also print Node ID

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

$ tsh ls

# Node Name Address            Labels
# --------- ------------------ ------
# grav-00   10.164.0.0:3022    os:linux
# grav-01   10.156.0.2:3022    os:linux
# grav-02   10.156.0.7:3022    os:osx

$ tsh ls -v

# Node Name Node ID                              Address            Labels
# --------- ------------------------------------ ------------------ ------
# grav-00   52e3e46a-372f-494b-bdd9-a1d25b9d6dec 10.164.0.0:3022    os:linux
# grav-01   73d86fc7-7c4b-42e3-9a5f-c46e177a29e8 10.156.0.2:3022    os:linux
# grav-02  24503590-e8ae-4a0a-ad7a-dd1865c04e30 10.156.0.7:3022     os:osx

# Only show nodes with os label set to 'osx':
$ tsh ls os=osx

# Node Name Address            Labels
# --------- ------------------ ------
# grav-02   10.156.0.7:3022    os:osx

tsh kube ls

List Kubernetes clusters:

$ tsh kube ls

Examples

$ tsh kube ls

# Kube Cluster Name                     Selected
# ------------------------------------- --------
# gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo *
# microk8s

tsh clusters

$ tsh clusters [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-q, --quiet`	none	none	no headers in output

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

$ tsh clusters

# Cluster Name Status
# ------------ ------
# staging          online
# production       offline

$ tsh clusters --quiet

# staging online
# production offline

tsh login

Logs in to the cluster. When tsh logs in, the auto-expiring key is stored in ~/.tsh and is valid for 12 hours by default unless you specify another interval via --ttl flag (capped by the server-side configuration).

$ tsh login [<flags>] [<cluster>]

Arguments

<cluster> - the name of the cluster, see Trusted Cluster for more information.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--bind-addr`	none	host:port	Address in the form of host:port to bind to for login command webhook
`-o, --out`	none	filepath	Identity output filepath
`--format`	`file`	`file`, `openssh` or `kubernetes`	Identity format: file, openssh (for OpenSSH compatibility) or kubernetes (for kubeconfig)
`--browser`	none	`none`	Set to 'none' to suppress opening system default browser for `tsh login` commands
`--request-roles`	none		Request one or more extra roles
`--request-reason`	none		Reason for requesting additional roles
`--request-nowait`	none		Finish without waiting for request resolution
`--request-id`	none		Login with the roles requested in the given request
`--no-use-local-ssh-agent`			Do not load generated SSH certificates into the local ssh-agent (specified via `$SSH_AUTH_SOCK`). Useful when using `gpg-agent` or Yubikeys. You can also set the `TELEPORT_USE_LOCAL_SSH_AGENT` environment variable to `false` (default `true`)

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --login, --proxy, --user, --ttl, --identity, --cert-format, --insecure, --auth, --skip-version-check, --debug, --jumphost. Run tsh help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

The proxy endpoint can take a https and ssh port in this format host:https_port[,ssh_proxy_port]

# Try Toboth ports 443 and 3080 for https
$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com login

# Use ports 8080 and 8023 for https and SSH proxy:
$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com:8080,8023 login

# Use port 8080 and 3023 (default) for SSH proxy:
$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com:8080 login

# Use port 23 as custom SSH port, keep HTTPS proxy port as default
$ tsh --proxy=work.example.com:,23 login

# Login and select cluster "two":
$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com login two

# Select cluster "two" using existing credentials and proxy:
$ tsh login two

# Login to the  cluster with a very short-lived certificate
$ tsh --ttl=1 login

# Login using the local Teleport 'admin' user:
$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com --auth=local --user=admin login

# Login using GitHub as an SSO provider, assuming the GitHub connector is called "github"
$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com --auth=github login

# Suppress the opening of the system default browser for external provider logins
$ tsh --proxy=proxy.example.com --browser=none

# Login to cluster and output a local kubeconfig
$ tsh login --proxy=proxy.example.com --format=kubernetes -o kubeconfig

# Request access to a cluster.
$ tsh login --proxy=proxy.example.com --request-reason="I need to run a debug script on production"

tsh kube login

Log into a Kubernetes cluster. Discover connected clusters by using tsh kube ls.

$ tsh kube login <kube-cluster>

# tsh kube login to k8s cluster (gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo)
$ tsh kube login gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo
# Logged into kubernetes cluster "gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo". Try 'kubectl version' to test the connection.

# On login, kubeconfig is pointed at the first cluster (alphabetically)
$ kubectl config current-context
# aws-gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo

# But all clusters are populated as contexts
$ kubectl config get-contexts

# CURRENT   NAME                                        CLUSTER                       AUTHINFO                                    NAMESPACE
# *         aws-gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo   aws                           aws-gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo
#          aws-microk8s                                aws                           aws-microk8s

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--all`	false	Boolean	Whether to generate a kubeconfig for every Kubernetes cluster the current Teleport user has access to. If this is false, `tsh` will only generate a kubeconfig for the cluster specified in the `tsh kube login` command.
`--as`	none	string	The Kubernetes user that the current Teleport user will log in as when they authenticate to the specified Kubernetes cluster. This uses Kubernetes impersonation, so the Teleport user's Kubernetes user must have permissions to impersonate the target user.
`--as-groups`	none	string	A Kubernetes group that the current Teleport user will log in as when they authenticate to the specified Kubernetes cluster. This uses Kubernetes impersonation, so the Teleport user's Kubernetes user must have permissions to impersonate the target group. You can include this flag multiple times to enable impersonation of multiple Kubernetes groups.
`--cluster`	none	string	Name of the Teleport cluster to log into in order to connect to the given Kubernetes cluster.
`-n`, `--kube-namespace`	none	string	The name of the Kubernetes namespace to configure as the default within the cluster the user is logging into.

tsh logout

Deletes the client's cluster certificate:

$ tsh logout

tsh status

Display the list of proxy servers and retrieved certificates:

$ tsh status

Examples

$ tsh status

# > Profile URL:  https://proxy.example.com:3080
#   Logged in as:       benarent
#   Cluster:            aws
#   Roles:              admin*
#   Logins:             benarent, root, ec2-user, ubunutu
#   Kubernetes:         enabled
#   Kubernetes cluster: "gke_bens-demos_us-central1-c_gks-demo"
#   Kubernetes groups:  system:masters
#  Valid until:        2020-11-21 01:50:23 -0800 PST [valid for 11h52m0s]
#  Extensions:         permit-agent-forwarding, permit-port-forwarding, permit-pty

tsh mfa ls

List all registered Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) devices:

$ tsh mfa ls

tsh mfa add

Register a new Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) device:

$ tsh mfa add

Examples

$ tsh mfa add

# Choose device type [TOTP, WEBAUTHN]: webauthn
# Enter device name: desktop yubikey
# Tap any *registered* security key
# Tap your *new* security key
# MFA device "desktop yubikey" added.

$ tsh mfa add

# Choose device type [TOTP, WEBAUTHN]: totp
# Enter device name: android
# Tap any *registered* security key
# Open your TOTP app and create a new manual entry with these fields:
# Name: awly@example.com:3080
# Issuer: Teleport
# Algorithm: SHA1
# Number of digits: 6
# Period: 30s
# Secret: 6DHDR7GWA7ZKLLWEWRIF55WXJKZ52UVJ

# Once created, enter an OTP code generated by the app: 123456
# MFA device "android" added.

tsh mfa rm

Remove a registered Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) device. You can view your registered devices using tsh mfa ls.

$ tsh mfa rm <device-name>

tsh request create

Create a new Access Request.

$ tsh request create [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--roles`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of Teleport roles to request
`--resource`	none	String (flag can be repeated to request multiple resources)	Resource ID to be requested
`--reason`	none	String	Reason for making the request (optional)
`--reviewers`	none	Comma-separated strings	Suggested reviewers for the request (optional)
`--nowait`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Finish without waiting for request resolution
`--request-ttl`	1 hour	Relative duration like `5s`, `2m`, or `3h`,	Defines how long the Access Request will be in a `PENDING` state before becoming invalid
`--session-ttl`	Time left on current session	Relative duration like `5s`, `2m`, or `3h`	Defines how long the elevated session will be valid for

The `--request-ttl` and `--session-ttl` values can not be greater than the following:

Maximum certificate lifetime.
Time left on an existing session (certificate).
Maximum session duration defined by the user's roles.

tsh request ls

List Access Requests

$ tsh request ls

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--format`	`text`	`text`, `json`, or `yaml`	Format output
`--reviewable`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Only show requests reviewable by current user
`--suggested`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Only show requests that suggest current user as reviewer
`--my-requests`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Only show requests created by current user

tsh request show

Show Access Request details

$ tsh request show <request-id>

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--format`	text	`text`, `json`, or `yaml`	Format output

Arguments

<request-id> - ID of the target request

tsh request review

Review an Access Request

$ tsh request review [<flags>] <request-id>

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--approve`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Review proposes approval
`--deny`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Review proposes denial
`--reason`	none	String	Review reason message

Arguments

<request-id> - ID of the target request

tsh request search

Search for resources to request access to

$ tsh request search [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--kind`	none	`node`, `kubernetes_cluster`, `db`, `app`, `windows_desktop`	Resource kind to search for (required)
`--search`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of comma-separated search keywords or phrases enclosed in single quotes
`--query`	none	String	Query by predicate language enclosed in single quotes
`--labels`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of comma-separated labels to filter by labels (e.g. `key=value1,key2=value2`)

tsh request drop

Drop one or more access requests from current identity

$ tsh request drop [<request-id>...]

Arguments

<request-id> - IDs of requests to "drop" from the current identity so that your certificate will lose elevated roles and/or resource restrictions. If no request ID is given, the default is to drop all Access Requests.

tsh device enroll

Enroll the current device as a trusted device.

Requires a device enrollment token created via tctl devices enroll.

$ tsh device enroll --token=TOKEN

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--token`	none	String	Device enrollment token

Examples

$ tsh device enroll --token=(=devicetrust.enroll_token=)
Device "(=devicetrust.asset_tag=)"/macOS enrolled

tsh environment variables

Environment variables configure your tsh client and can help you avoid using flags repetitively.

Environment Variable	Description	Example Value
TELEPORT_AUTH	Name of a defined local, SAML, OIDC, or GitHub auth connector	okta
TELEPORT_MFA_MODE	Preferred mode for MFA and Passwordless assertions	otp
TELEPORT_CLUSTER	Name of a Teleport root or leaf cluster	cluster.example.com
TELEPORT_LOGIN	Login name to be used by default on the remote host	root
TELEPORT_LOGIN_BIND_ADDR	Address in the form of host:port to bind to for login command webhook	host:port
TELEPORT_PROXY	Address of the Teleport proxy server	cluster.example.com:3080
TELEPORT_HOME	Home location for tsh configuration and data	/directory
TELEPORT_USER	A Teleport user name	alice
TELEPORT_ADD_KEYS_TO_AGENT	Specifies if the user certificate should be stored on the running SSH agent	yes, no, auto, only
TELEPORT_USE_LOCAL_SSH_AGENT	Disable or enable local SSH agent integration	true, false
TELEPORT_GLOBAL_TSH_CONFIG	Override location of global `tsh` config file from default `/etc/tsh.yaml`	/opt/teleport/tsh.yaml

tsh configuration files

tsh has an optional configuration files:

global, shared config: /etc/tsh.yaml. Location can be overridden with TELEPORT_GLOBAL_TSH_CONFIG environment variable.
user specific config: $TELEPORT_HOME/config/config.yaml. Unless changed, TELEPORT_HOME defaults to ~/.tsh.

The settings from both are merged, with the user config taking precedence.

Extra proxy headers

The tsh configuration file enables you to specify HTTP headers to be included in requests to Teleport Proxy Servers with addresses matching the proxy field.

add_headers:
  - proxy: "*.example.com" # matching proxies will have headers included
    headers: # headers are pairs to include in the http headers
      foo: bar # Key/Value to be included in the http request

Adding HTTP headers may be useful, if for example an intermediate HTTP proxy is in place that requires setting an authentication token:

add_headers:
  - proxy: "*.infra.corp.xyz"
    headers:
      "Authorization": "Bearer tokentokentoken"

Aliases

Aliases allow you to define custom commands or change the default flag values for existing commands using the following syntax:

aliases:
    "<alias>": "<command>"

The <alias> can only be a top-level subcommand. In other words, you can define a tsh mycommand alias but not tsh my command.

New command tsh l:

aliases:
    "l": "tsh login --auth=okta"

Make tsh status use JSON as a default format:

aliases:
    "status": "tsh status --format=json"

The alias can use an arbitrary number of arguments. If an argument variable $N is referenced, tsh will check that at least N+1 arguments were given to the alias invocation. All arguments that were given but not referenced in the alias definition will be appended at the end.

Define a custom command using bash. The $0 and $1 variables will be substituted with command arguments.

aliases:
    "connect": "bash -c 'tsh login $0 && tsh ssh $1'"

Define a custom login command where first argument specifies --auth option.

aliases:
    "ap": "tsh login --auth=$0 --proxy=teleport.example.com"

Given the configuration:

aliases:
    "example": "bash -c 'echo first=$0 $0-$1 $3'"

tsh example 0 1 unused-2 3 unused-4 will expand to bash -c 'echo first=0 0-1 3 unused-2 unused-4'.

An alias definition can also reference the $TSH variable. tsh will expand this variable to the absolute path of the current tsh executable. This can be useful if there are multiple tsh versions installed, or the currently used version is not in PATH.

aliases:
    "status": "$TSH status --format=json"

To troubleshoot aliases, set the TELEPORT_DEBUG=1 environment variable. This will cause detailed logs to be printed to the console:

$ TELEPORT_DEBUG=1 tsh status
DEBU [TSH]       Self re-exec command: tsh [status --format=json]. tsh/aliases.go:203
...

tctl

tctl is a CLI tool that allows a cluster administrator to manage all resources in a cluster, including nodes, users, tokens, and certificates.

tctl can also be used to modify the dynamic configuration of the cluster, such as creating new user roles or connecting Trusted Clusters.

When running tctl commands, administrators must authenticate to a Teleport cluster. This can be done in three ways:

On a remote host with an identity file

tctl can authenticate with a user-provided identity file. The Teleport Auth Service signs an identity file when a user runs tctl auth sign or tsh login --out=<output-path>, and the user can include the path to the identity file in the --identity flag when running tctl commands.

When using the --identity flag, the user must provide the --auth-server flag with the address of an Auth Service or Proxy Service so tctl knows which cluster to authenticate to.

On the same host as the Teleport Auth Service

If there is a Teleport configuration file on the host where tctl is run, tctl attempts to authenticate to the Auth Service named in the configuration file using an identity stored in its local backend.

tctl only authenticates using this method if an identity file is not provided.

Note that when a tctl command is run locally on the Auth Service, the audit logs will show that it was performed by the Auth Service itself.

To provide an accurate audit trail, it is important to limit direct SSH access to the Auth Service with Access Controls and ensure that admins use tctl remotely instead.

On a remote host after running `tsh login`

If tctl cannot find a local Teleport configuration file or a user-provided identity file, it attempts to load the user's tsh profile to authenticate to the cluster. The tsh profile is created when a user runs tsh login.

tctl reads the TELEPORT_CONFIG_FILE environment variable to determine if a Teleport configuration file is present. If you are using your tsh profile to authenticate tctl, you must ensure that one of these conditions is true:

TELEPORT_CONFIG_FILE is blank
No file exists at /etc/teleport.yaml

Otherwise tctl will attempt to connect to a Teleport cluster on the machine, which could result in the error, ERROR: open /var/lib/teleport/host_uuid: permission denied.

When running tctl commands, administrators must authenticate to a Teleport cluster. This can be done in two ways:

On a remote host with an identity file

tctl can authenticate with a user-provided identity file. The Teleport Auth Service signs an identity file when a user runs tctl auth sign or tsh login --out=<output-path>, and the user can include the path to the identity file in the --identity flag when running tctl commands.

When using the --identity flag, the user must alo provide the --auth-server flag with the address of an Auth Service or Proxy Service so tctl knows which cluster to authenticate to.

On a remote host after running `tsh login`

If tctl cannot find a local Teleport configuration file or a user-provided identity file, it attempts to load the user's tsh profile to authenticate to the cluster. The tsh profile is created when a user runs tsh login.

tctl reads the TELEPORT_CONFIG_FILE environment variable to determine if a Teleport configuration file is present. If you are using your tsh profile to authenticate tctl, you must ensure that one of these conditions is true:

TELEPORT_CONFIG_FILE is blank
No file exists at /etc/teleport.yaml

Otherwise tctl will attempt to connect to a Teleport cluster on the machine, which could result in the error, ERROR: open /var/lib/teleport/host_uuid: permission denied.

Example

$ export TELEPORT_CONFIG_FILE=""
$ tctl tokens add --type=node

tctl global flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-d, --debug`	none	none	Enable verbose logging to stderr
`-c, --config`	`/etc/teleport.yaml`	string filepath	Path to a configuration file
`--auth-server`	none	`host:port`	Attempts to connect to specific Auth/Proxy Service address(es) instead of a local Auth Service (`127.0.0.1:3025`)
`-i, --identity`	none	string filepath	Path to an identity file
`--insecure`	none	none	When specifying a Proxy Service address in `--auth-server`, do not verify its TLS certificate. Danger: any data you send can be intercepted or modified by an attacker

tctl help

Shows help:

$ tctl help

tctl users add

Generates a user invitation token:

$ tctl users add [<flags>] <account>

Arguments

<account> - The Teleport user account name.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--roles`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of Teleport roles to assign to the new user
`--logins`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of allowed SSH logins for the new user
`--azure-identities`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of Azure managed identities to allow the user to assume. Must be the full URIs of the identities
`--kubernetes-groups`	none	Comma-separated strings	Kubernetes groups to assign to a user, e.g. `system:masters`
`--kubernetes-users`	none	Comma-separated strings	Kubernetes user to assign to a user, e.g. `jenkins`
`--db-users`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of allowed database users for the new user
`--db-names`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of allowed database names for the new user
`--windows-logins`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of allowed Windows logins for the new user
`--aws-role-arns`	none	Comma-separated strings	List of allowed AWS role ARNs for the new user
`--ttl`	1h	relative duration like 5s, 2m, or 3h, maximum 48h	Set expiration time for token

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Adds teleport user "joe" with mappings to
# OS users and {{ internal.logins }} to "joe" and "ubuntu"
$ tctl users add joe --roles=access joe,ubuntu
# Adds Teleport user "joe" with mappings to the editor role
$ tctl users add joe --roles=editor

tctl users update

Update user account:

$ tctl users update [<flags>] <account>

Arguments

<account> - The Teleport user account name.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--set-roles`	none	Comma-separated list of roles for the user to assume.	Assigns the user's roles to the ones provided, replacing the user's current roles.
`--set-azure-identities`	none	Comma-separated list of allowed Azure identity URIs.	Assigns the user's allowed Azure identities to the ones provided, replacing the user's currently allowed Azure identities.

Examples

Set the user joe's roles to access and editor:

$ tctl users update joe --set-roles=access,editor

Set the user priya's Azure identities to developer and dba:

$ tctl users update priya --set-azure-identities \
 `/subscriptions/${SUBSCRIPTION_ID?}/resourceGroups/${MY_RESOURCE_GROUP?}/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/developer,\
 `/subscriptions/${SUBSCRIPTION_ID?}/resourceGroups/${MY_RESOURCE_GROUP?}/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/dba

tctl users ls

Lists all user accounts:

$ tctl users ls [<flags>]

tctl users rm

Deletes user accounts:

$ tctl users rm <logins>

Arguments

<logins> - comma-separated list of Teleport users

Examples

$ tctl users rm sally,tim
# Removes users sally and tim

tctl users reset

Reset local user account password and any associated second factor with expiring link to populate values. Usage: tctl users reset <account>

Arguments

<account> - Teleport Local DB User

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--ttl`	`8h`	relative duration like `5s`, `2m`, or `3h`	Set the expiration time for token, default is `8h0m0s`, maximum is `24h0m0s`

Examples

$ tctl users reset jeff
# User jeff has been reset. Share this URL with the user to complete password reset, the link is valid for 8h0m0s:
# https://teleport.example.com:3080/web/reset/8a4a40bec3a31a28db44fa64c0c70ca3
# Resets jeff's password and any associated second factor.  Jeff populates the password and confirms the token with the link.

tctl request ls

List of open requests:

$ tctl request ls

Examples

$ tctl request ls

# Token                                Requestor Metadata       Created At (UTC)    Status
# ------------------------------------ --------- -------------- ------------------- -------
# request-id-1                         alice     roles=dictator 07 Nov 19 19:38 UTC PENDING

tctl request approve

Approve a user's request:

$ tctl request approve [token]

Arguments

<tokens> - comma-separated list of Teleport tokens.

Examples

$ tctl request approve request-id-1, request-id-2

tctl request deny

Denies a user's request:

$ tctl request deny [token]

Arguments

<tokens> - comma-separated list of Teleport tokens.

Examples

$ tctl request deny request-id-1, request-id-2

tctl request rm

Delete a users role request:

$ tctl request rm [token]

Arguments

<tokens> - comma-separated list of Teleport tokens.

Examples

$ tctl request rm request-id-1

tctl nodes add

Generate a node invitation token:

$ tctl nodes add [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--roles`	`node`	`proxy, auth, node, db, app` or `windowsdesktop`	Comma-separated list of roles for the new node to assume
`--ttl`	30m	relative duration like 5s, 2m, or 3h	Time to live for a generated token
`--token`	none	string token value	A custom token to use, auto-generated if not provided. Should match token set with `teleport start --token`

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Generates a token that can be used by a node to join the cluster, default ttl is 30 minutes
$ tctl nodes add
# Generates a token that can be used to add an SSH node to the cluster.
# The node will run both the proxy service and the node (ssh) service.
# This token can be used within an hour.
$ tctl nodes add --roles=node,proxy --ttl=1h

tctl nodes ls

List all active SSH nodes within the cluster:

$ tctl nodes ls [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--namespace`	none	string namespace	Namespace of the nodes

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

tctl tokens add

Create an invitation token:

$ tctl tokens add --type=TYPE [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--type`	none	`proxy`, `auth`, `trusted_cluster`, `node`, `db`, `kube`, `app`, `windowsdesktop`	Type of token to add
`--value`	none	string token value	Value of token to add
`--ttl`	1h	relative duration like 5s, 2m, or 3h	Set expiration time for token
`--format`	none	`text`, `json`, `yaml`	Output format

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config . Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Generate an invite token for a trusted_cluster
$ tctl tokens add --type=trusted_cluster --ttl=5m
# Generate an invite token for a trusted_cluster with labels
$ tctl tokens add --type=trusted_cluster --labels=env=prod
# Generate an invite token for a node
# This is equivalent to `tctl nodes add`
$ tctl tokens add --type=node
# Generate a join token for both a Node and the Database Service
$ tctl tokens add --type=node,db
# Generate an invite token for a kubernetes_service
$ tctl tokens add --type=kube
# Generate an invite token for an app_service
$ tctl tokens add --type=app

tctl tokens rm

Delete/revoke an invitation token:

$ tctl tokens rm [<token>]

Arguments

<token> The full-length token string to delete

tctl tokens ls

List node and user invitation tokens:

$ tctl tokens ls [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--format`	none	`text`, `json`, `yaml`	Output format

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config . Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Example

$ tctl tokens ls

# Token                            Type            Expiry Time (UTC)
# -------------------------------- --------------- -------------------
# (=presets.tokens.first=) Node            11 Oct 19 22:17 UTC
# (=presets.tokens.second=) trusted_cluster 11 Oct 19 22:19 UTC
# (=presets.tokens.third=) User signup     11 Oct 19 22:20 UTC

tctl auth export

Export public cluster (CA) keys to stdout:

$ tctl auth export [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--keys`	none	none	if set, only exports private keys
`--fingerprint`	none	string e.g. `SHA256:<fingerprint>`	filter authority by fingerprint
`--compat`	none	version number	export certificates compatible with specific version of Teleport
`--type`	none	`user, host` or `tls`	certificate type

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config. Run:

$ tctl help <subcommand>

or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Export all keys
$ tctl auth export
# Filter by fingerprint
$ tctl auth export --fingerprint=SHA256:8xu5kh1CbHCZRrGuitbQd4hM+d9V+I7YA1mUwA/2tAo
# Export tls certs only
$ tctl auth export --type tls

tctl auth sign

Create an identity file(s) for a given user:

$ tctl auth sign -o <filepath> [--user <user> | --host <host>][--format] [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--user`	none	existing user	Teleport user name
`--host`	none	auth host	Teleport host name
`-o, --out`	none	filepath	identity output
`--overwrite`	none	none	When specified, write new identity files, even if they already exist
`--format`	`file`	`file`, `openssh`, `tls` or `kubernetes`	identity format
`--identity`	none	`file`	Identity file to use for logging in to the Auth Service
`--auth-server`	none	auth host & port	Remote Teleport host name
`--ttl`	`12h`	relative duration like `5s`, `2m`, or `3h`	TTL (time to live) for the generated certificate
`--compat`	`""`	`standard` or `oldssh`	OpenSSH compatibility flag
`--proxy`	`""`	Address of the Teleport Proxy Service	When --format is set to `kubernetes`, this address will be set as the cluster address in the generated kubeconfig file
`--leaf-cluster`	`""`	The name of a leaf cluster.
`--kube-cluster-name`	`""`	Kubernetes Cluster Name
`--app-name`	`""`	application name	Generate a certificate for accessing the specified web application
`--db-service`	`""`	database service name	Generate a certificate for accessing the specified database service
`--db-user`	`""`	database user	When `--db-service` is specified, encode this database user in the certificate
`--db-name`	`""`	database name	When `--db-service` is specified, encode this database name in the certificate

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Export identity file to teleport_id.pem
# for user `teleport` with a ttl set to 5m
$ tctl auth sign --format file --ttl=5m --user teleport -o teleport_id.pem
# Export identity formatted for openssh to teleport_id.pem
$ tctl auth sign --format openssh --user teleport -o teleport_id.pem
# Export host identity, `--format openssh` must be set with `--host`
# Generates grav-01 (private key) and grav-01-cert.pub in the current directory
$ tctl auth sign --format openssh --host grav-00
# Invalid command, only one of --user or --host should be set
$ tctl auth sign --format openssh --host grav-00 --user teleport -o grav_host
# error: --user or --host must be specified
# create a certificate with a TTL of 24 hours for the jenkins user
# the jenkins.pem file can later be used with `tsh`
$ tctl auth sign --ttl=24h --user=jenkins --out=jenkins.pem
# create a certificate with a TTL of 3 months for the jenkins user
# the jenkins.pem file can later be used with `tsh`
$ tctl auth sign --ttl=2190h --user=jenkins --out=jenkins.pem
# create a certificate with a TTL of 1 day for the jenkins user
# The kubeconfig file can later be used with `kubectl` or compatible tooling.
$ tctl auth sign --ttl=24h --user=jenkins --out=kubeconfig --format=kubernetes
# Exports an identity from the Auth Server in preparation for remote
# tctl execution.
$ tctl auth sign --user=admin --out=identity.pem

tctl auth rotate

Rotate certificate authorities in the cluster:

$ tctl auth rotate [<flags>]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--grace-period`	none	relative duration like 5s, 2m, or 3h	Grace period keeps previous certificate authorities signatures valid, if set to 0 will force users to log in again and nodes to re-register.
`--manual`	none	none	Activate manual rotation, set rotation phases manually
`--type`	`user,host`	`user` or `host`	Certificate authority to rotate
`--phase`		`init, standby, update_clients, update_servers, rollback`	Target rotation phase to set, used in manual rotation

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config . Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Rotate only user certificates with a grace period of 200 hours:
$ tctl auth rotate --type=user --grace-period=200h

# Rotate only host certificates with a grace period of 8 hours:
$ tctl auth rotate --type=host --grace-period=8h

tctl sso test

Perform an end-to-end test of an SSO authentication flow using the provided auth connector definition.

The command supports all auth connector types: github, oidc and saml. The latter two require Teleport Enterprise.

$ tctl [<global-flags>] sso test [<auth-connector.yaml>]

The testing consists of running a single end-to-end authentication request using the provided auth connector definition. Once the request is finished, the results will be printed to standard output along with context-specific diagnostic information. The test process is safe from side effects in that:

it will not change the list of configured auth connectors
the audit log will clearly state the login attempts as "test" ones
there will be no certificates issued for the authenticated user

<Admonition type="note" title="Important"

To use this command, you must have access to the github_request, oidc_request, and saml_request resources (depending on the type of connector being tested).

If you receive a "permission denied" error, ensure that you have access to the following resources in one of your Teleport roles:

- resources: [github_request]
  verbs: [list,create,read,update,delete]
- resources: [oidc_request]
  verbs: [list,create,read,update,delete]
- resources: [saml_request]
  verbs: [list,create,read,update,delete]

Arguments

[<filename>] Connector resource definition file. Optional. Empty for stdin.

Flags

This command defines no flags.

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands: --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

Test the auth connector from connector.yaml:

$ tctl sso test connector.yaml

The command is designed to be used in conjunction with the tctl sso configure family of commands:

$ tctl sso configure ... | tctl sso test

The pipeline may also utilize tee to capture the connector generated with tctl sso configure. This will save the connector in connector.yaml:

$ tctl sso configure ... | tee connector.yaml | tctl sso test

You can test an existing auth connector by combining the command with tctl get:

$ tctl get saml/your-connector-name --with-secrets | tctl sso test

<Admonition type="note" title="Important"

Make sure to include --with-secrets flag, or the exported auth connector will not be testable.

tctl sso configure github

Configure the GitHub auth connector.

Required params --id and --secret come from registering a GitHub OAuth app, which you can read about in the GitHub documentation.

The flag --teams-to-roles can be provided multiple times to specify which GitHub Teams are assigned which roles. In this example, members of the octocats team in GitHub will be assigned the devs, access, and editor roles in Teleport.

$ tctl sso test --id=GITHUB_CLIENT_ID --secret=GITHUB_SECRET --teams-to-roles=octocats,devs,access,editor [<other-flags>]

Arguments

This command accepts no arguments.

Flags

Mandatory flags: --id, --secret, --teams-to-roles.

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-n`, `--name`	`github`	resource name	Connector name.
`-r`, `--teams-to-roles`	none	`org,team,role1,role2,...`	Sets teams-to-roles mapping. Repeatable.
`--display`	none	display name	Controls how this connector is displayed.
`--id`	none	GitHub OAuth2 client id	GitHub app client ID.
`--secret`	none	GitHub OAuth2 secret	GitHub app client secret.
`--redirect-url`	none	Valid callback URL.	Authorization callback URL.
`--ignore-missing-roles`			Ignore missing roles referenced in `--teams-to-roles`.

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands: --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

Generate a GitHub auth connector. Two role mappings are defined:

members of the admin team in the octocats org will receive access, editor and auditor roles.
members of the dev team in octocats org will receive the access role.

`tctl sso configure gh` is an alias for `tctl sso configure github`.

$ tctl sso configure gh -r octocats,admin,access,editor,auditor -r octocats,dev,access --secret GH_SECRET --id CLIENT_ID
INFO [CLIENT]    RedirectURL empty, resolving automatically.
INFO [CLIENT]    RedirectURL set to "https://teleport.example.com:3080/v1/webapi/github/callback"
kind: github
metadata:
  name: github
spec:
  client_id: CLIENT_ID
  client_secret: GH_SECRET
  display: ""
  redirect_url: https://teleport.example.com:3080/v1/webapi/github/callback
  teams_to_logins:
  - logins:
    - access
    - editor
    - auditor
    organization: octocats
    team: admin
  - logins:
    - access
    organization: octocats
    team: dev
version: v3

Generate the configuration and immediately test it using tctl sso test command.

$ tctl sso configure gh ... | tctl sso test

tctl sso configure oidc

Configure an OIDC auth connector, optionally using a preset.

The flag --claims-to-roles can be provided multiple times.

$ tctl sso configure oidc --id=CLIENT_ID --secret=SECRET --claims-to-roles=... [<other-flags>]

Arguments

This command accepts no arguments.

Flags

Mandatory flags: --id, --secret, --claims-to-roles. Other flags may be required depending on chosen preset.

General flags:

Name	Description
`-p`, `--preset`	Preset. One of: `google`, `gitlab`, `okta`.
`-n`, `--name`	Connector name. Required, unless implied from preset.
`-r`, `--claims-to-roles`	Sets claim-to-roles mapping using format `claim_name,claim_value,role1,role2,...`. Repeatable.
`--display`	Display controls how this connector is displayed.
`--id`	OIDC app client ID.
`--secret`	OIDC app client secret.
`--issuer-url`	Issuer URL.
`--redirect-url`	Authorization callback URL.
`--prompt`	Optional OIDC prompt. Example values: `none`, `select_account`, `login`, `consent`.
`--scope`	Scope specifies additional scopes set by provider. Each repetition of the flag declares one scope. Examples: `email`, `groups`, `openid`.
`--acr`	Authentication Context Class Reference values.
`--provider`	Sets the external identity provider type to enable IdP specific workarounds. Examples: `ping`, `adfs`, `netiq`, `okta``.
`--ignore-missing-roles`	Ignore missing roles referenced in `--claims-to-roles`.

Supported presets:

Name	Description	Display	Issuer URL
`google`	Google Workspace	Google	`https://accounts.google.com`
`gitlab`	GitLab	GitLab	`https://gitlab.com`
`okta`	Okta	Okta	`https://oktaice.okta.com`

The above values for --issuer-url are defaults which may need to be updated depending on your IdP configuration.

The following flags are specific to Google Workspace:

Name	Description
`--google-acc-uri`	URI of your service account credentials file. Example: `file:///var/lib/teleport/gworkspace-creds.json`.
`--google-acc`	String containing Google service account credentials.
`--google-admin`	Email of a Google admin to impersonate.
`--google-legacy`	Flag to select groups with direct membership filtered by domain (legacy behavior). Disabled by default. More info
`--google-id`	Shorthand for setting the `--id` flag to `<GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLIENT_ID>.apps.googleusercontent.com`

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands: --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

Generate an OIDC auth connector configuration called myauth. Two mappings from OIDC claims to roles are defined:
- members of admin group will receive access, editor and auditor roles.
- members of developer group will receive access role.

The values for --secret, --id and --issuer-url are provided by the IdP.

$ tctl sso configure oidc -n myauth -r groups,admin,access,editor,auditor -r group,developer,access \
      --secret IDP_SECRET --id CLIENT_ID                                                            \
      --issuer-url https://idp.example.com

Generate an OIDC auth connector with the Okta preset, enabling the groups scope and mapping the okta-admin group to roles access, editor, auditor. Issuer URL is set to match a custom Okta domain.

$ tctl sso configure oidc --preset okta --scope groups -r groups,okta-admin,access,editor,auditor \
      --secret IDP_SECRET --id CLIENT_ID                                                          \
      --issuer-url dev-123456.oktapreview.com

Generate an OIDC auth connector with the Google preset. Service account credentials are set to be loaded from /var/lib/teleport/gacc.json with --google-acc-uri.

$ tctl sso configure oidc --preset google -r groups,mygroup@mydomain.example.com,access \
      --secret SECRET --google-id GOOGLE_ID --google-acc-uri /var/lib/teleport/gacc.json \
      --google-admin admin@mydomain.example.com

Generate the configuration and immediately test it using the tctl sso test command.

$ tctl sso configure oidc ... | tctl sso test

tctl sso configure saml

Configure the SAML auth connector, optionally using a preset.

The flag --attributes-to-roles/-r can be provided multiple times.

To avoid errors when pasting XML to a YAML file, we encourage the usage of the flag --entity-descriptor/-e.

$ tctl sso configure saml -e entity_desc.xml -r attr,value,role1 [<other-flags>]

Arguments

This command accepts no arguments.

Flags

Mandatory flags: --name, --attributes-to-roles, --entity-descriptor. These flags may become non-mandatory when other flags are present; see table below for details.

Name	Required?	Description
`-p/--preset`		Preset. One of: `okta`, `onelogin`, `ad`, `adfs`.
`-n/--name`	Yes, unless `--preset` is given.	Connector name.
`-e/--entity-descriptor`	Yes, unless `--sso`, `--acs`, `--cert` and `--issuer` are also given.	Set the Entity Descriptor. Valid values: file path, URL, XML content. Supplies configuration parameters as a single XML document instead of individual elements.
`-r/--attributes-to-roles`	Yes, at least one occurrence must be present.	Sets attribute-to-role mapping using format `attr_name,attr_value,role1,role2,...`. Repeatable.
`--display`		Sets the connector display name.
`--issuer`		Sets identity provider issuer.
`--sso`		URL of the identity provider's SSO service.
`--cert`		Path to your IdP's certificate PEM file. Your IdP signs responses using this certificate.
`--acs`		URL for the assertion consumer service on the service provider (Teleport's side).
`--audience`		Uniquely identifies our service provider.
`--service-provider-issuer`		Issuer of the service provider (Teleport).
`--signing-key-file`		A file with request signing key. Must be used together with `--signing-cert-file`.
`--signing-cert-file`		A file with request certificate. Must be used together with `--signing-key-file`.
`--assertion-key-file`		A file with key used for securing SAML assertions. Must be used together with `--assertion-cert-file`.
`--assertion-cert-file`		A file with cert used for securing SAML assertions. Must be used together with `--assertion-key-file`.
`--provider`		Sets the external identity provider type, enabling workarounds. Examples: ping, adfs.
`--ignore-missing-roles`		Ignore missing roles referenced in `--attributes-to-roles`.

Supported presets:

Name	Description	Display
`okta`	Okta	Okta
`onelogin`	OneLogin	OneLogin
`ad`	Azure Active Directory	Microsoft
`adfs`	Active Directory Federation Services	ADFS

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands: --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

Generate a SAML auth connector configuration called myauth. Two mappings from SAML attributes to roles are defined:
- members of admin group will receive access, editor and auditor roles.
- members of developer group will receive access role. The IdP metadata will be read from entity-desc.xml file.

$ tctl sso configure saml -n myauth -r group,admin,access,editor,auditor -r group,developer,access -e entity-desc.xml

Generate a SAML auth connector configuration using the okta preset. The choice of preset affects the default name and display attribute, and may apply IdP-specific tweaks. Instead of an XML file, a URL was provided to the -e flag, which will be fetched by Teleport during runtime.

$ tctl sso configure saml -p okta -r group,dev,access -e https://dev-123456.oktapreview.com/app/ex30h8/sso/saml/metadata

Generate a configuration and immediately test it using the tctl sso test command:

$ tctl sso configure saml -p okta -r group,developer,access -e entity-desc.xml | tctl sso test

tctl login_rule test

Test a Login Rule resource without installing it in the cluster.

Arguments

<traits-file> input traits file in JSON or YAML format. Empty for stdin.

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--resource-file`	none	string filepath	Path to Login Rule resource path, can be repeated for multiple files
`--load-from-cluster`	`false`	`true, false`	When true, all Login Rules currently installed in the cluster will be loaded for the test. Can be combined with `--resource-file` to test interactions.
`--format`	`yaml`	`yaml, json`	Output format for traits

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

Test evaluation of the Login Rules from rule1.yaml and rule2.yaml with input traits from traits.json

$tctl login_rule test --resource-file rule1.yaml --resource-file rule2.yaml traits.json

Test the Login Rule in rule.yaml along with all Login Rules already present in the cluster

$ tctl login_rule test --resource-file rule.yaml --load-from-cluster traits.json

Read the input traits from stdin

$ echo '{"groups": ["example"]}' | tctl login_rule test --resource-file rule.yaml

tctl create

Create or update a Teleport resource from a YAML file.

The supported resource types are: user, node, cluster, role, connector. See the Resources Reference for complete docs on how to build these yaml files.

$ tctl create [<flags>] <filename>

Arguments

<filename> resource definition file

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`-f, --force`	none	none	Overwrite the resource if already exists

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config. Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# Update a user record
$ tctl create -f joe.yaml
# Add a trusted cluster
$ tctl create cluster.yaml
# Update a trusted cluster
$ tctl create -f cluster.yaml

tctl rm

Delete a resource:

$ tctl rm <resource-type/resource-name>

Arguments

<resource-type/resource-name> Resource to delete
- <resource type> Type of a resource [for example: saml,oidc,github,user,cluster,tokens]
- <resource name> Resource name to delete

Examples

# Delete a SAML connector called "okta":
$ tctl rm saml/okta

# Delete a local user called "admin":
$ tctl rm users/admin

tctl get

Print a YAML declaration of various Teleport resources:

$ tctl get [<flags>] <resource-type/resource-name>,...

Arguments

<resource-type/resource-name> The resource to get
- <resource type> The type of the resource [for example: user,cluster,token]
- <resource name> The name of the resource

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--format`		`yaml, json` or `text`	Output format
`--with-secrets`	none	none	Include secrets in resources like certificate authorities or OIDC connectors

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config . Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

$ tctl get users
# Dump the user definition into a file:
$ tctl get user/joe > joe.yaml
# Prints the trusted cluster 'east'
$ tctl get cluster/east
# Prints all trusted clusters and all users
$ tctl get clusters,users
# Dump all resources for backup into state.yaml
$ tctl get all > state.yaml

$ tctl get users
# Dump the user definition into a file:
$ tctl get user/joe > joe.yaml
# Prints the trusted cluster 'east'
$ tctl get cluster/east
# Prints all trusted clusters and all users
$ tctl get clusters,users

tctl edit

Modify a Teleport resource using your preferred text editor.

$ tctl edit <resource-type/resource-name>

The text editor is selected by checking the following, in order of precedence:

the TELEPORT_EDITOR environment variable
the VISUAL environment variable
the EDITOR environment variable
defaulting to vi

tctl will fetch the resource from the backend and open it in the selected editor. When the editor process terminates, tctl will push the updates to the Teleport cluster. To abandon the edit, close the editor without saving the file.

Some graphical editors like VS Code launch a background process rather than running in the foreground. This prevents tctl from properly detecting when the editor process terminates. To work around this, check whether your editor supports a "wait" option that waits for files to be closed before terminating. For example, to edit a Teleport resource with VS Code, you can set TELEPORT_EDITOR="code --wait".

Note: Renaming resources with tctl edit is not supported since Teleport resources often refer to other resources by name. To rename a resource, we recommend you:

fetch the resource with tctl get and redirect the output to a file
change the name of the resource in the file
save the new resource with tctl create -f
update any references to the old resource

Arguments

<resource-type/resource-name> The resource to edit
- <resource type> The type of the resource [for example: user,cluster,token]
- <resource name> The name of the resource

Global flags

These flags are available for all commands --debug, --config . Run tctl help <subcommand> or see the Global Flags section.

Examples

# edit the sre role
$ tctl edit role/sre

# edit the alice user with the nano editor
$ TELEPORT_EDITOR=nano tctl edit user/alice

tctl status

Report cluster status:

$ tctl status

Examples

# Checks status of cluster.
$ tctl status Cluster  grav-00 User CA  never updated Host CA  never updated CA
# pin   sha256:1146cdd2b887772dcc2e879232c8f60012a839f7958724ce5744005474b15b9d
# Checks remote auth status using exported identity.
$ tctl status \
    --auth-server=192.168.99.102:3025 \
    --identity=identity.pem

tctl alerts create

Creates cluster alerts. Cluster alerts can be displayed to Teleport users in the web UI or upon logging via tsh.

$ tctl alerts create [<flags>] <message>

Arguments

<message>: The message for the alert to display

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--severity`	`low`	`low`, `medium`, `high`	Alert severity
`--ttl`	none	Any duration	Optional expiry for alert (alert does not expire if no TTL is specified)
`--labels`	none	any	A list of labels to attach to the alert.

While any labels can be applied to an alert, there are several internal labels that can be used to configure the behavior of alerts:

teleport.internal/alert-on-login: yes: ensures that the alert is displayed to users upon login
teleport.internal/alert-permit-all: yes: ensures that the alert is displayed to all users

If no labels are specified, tctl will automatically add both of these labels.

Examples

$ tctl alerts create \
    --severity=low \
    --ttl=4h \
    "The system is under maintenance, functionality may be limited."

tctl devices add

Register a device.

$ tctl devices add --os=OS --asset-tag=SERIAL_NUMBER

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--os`	none	`linux`, `macos`, `windows`	Device operating system
`--asset-tag`	none	string	Device inventory identifier (e.g., Mac serial number)
`--enroll`	false	boolean	If set, creates a device enrollment token

Examples

$ tctl devices add --os=macos --asset-tag=(=devicetrust.asset_tag=)
Device (=devicetrust.asset_tag=)/macOS added to the inventory

$ tctl devices add --os=macos --asset-tag=(=devicetrust.asset_tag=) --enroll
Device (=devicetrust.asset_tag=)/macOS added to the inventory
Run the command below on device "(=devicetrust.asset_tag=)" to enroll it:
tsh device enroll --token=(=devicetrust.enroll_token=)

tctl devices enroll

Create an enrollment token for a device.

$ tctl devices enroll [--device-id=ID] [--asset-tag=ASSET_TAG]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--device-id`	none	string	Teleport device identifier
`--asset-tag`	none	string	Device inventory identifier (e.g., Mac serial number)

One of --device-id or --asset-tag must be present.

Examples

$ tctl devices enroll --device-id=d40f2ee4-856d-4aef-b784-c4371e39c036
Run the command below on device "d40f2ee4-856d-4aef-b784-c4371e39c036" to enroll it:
tsh device enroll --token=(=devicetrust.enroll_token=)

$ tctl devices enroll --asset-tag=(=devicetrust.asset_tag=)
Run the command below on device "(=devicetrust.asset_tag=)" to enroll it:
tsh device enroll --token=(=devicetrust.enroll_token=)

tctl devices ls

List registered devices.

$ tctl devices ls

Examples

$ tctl devices ls

Asset Tag    OS    Enroll Status Device ID
------------ ----- ------------- ------------------------------------
(=devicetrust.asset_tag=) macOS enrolled      d40f2ee4-856d-4aef-b784-c4371e39c036

tctl devices rm

Removes a registered device.

A removed device is not considered a trusted device for future device authentication attempts.

$ tctl devices rm [--device-id=ID] [--asset-tag=ASSET_TAG]

Flags

Name	Default Value(s)	Allowed Value(s)	Description
`--device-id`	none	string	Teleport device identifier
`--asset-tag`	none	string	Device inventory identifier (e.g., Mac serial number)

One of --device-id or --asset-tag must be present.

Examples

$ tctl devices rm --device-id=d40f2ee4-856d-4aef-b784-c4371e39c036
Device "ac3590ec-87d4-4519-8e9e-2f35af0a9f85" removed

$ tctl devices rm --asset-tag=(=devicetrust.asset_tag=)
Device "(=devicetrust.asset_tag=)" removed

tctl top

Reports diagnostic information.

The diagnostic metrics endpoint must be enabled with teleport start --diag-addr=<bind-addr> for tctl top to work.

$ tctl top [<diag-addr>] [<refresh>]

Argument

[<diag-addr>] Diagnostic HTTP URL (HTTPS not supported)
[<refresh>] Refresh period e.g. 5s, 2m, or 3h

Example

$ sudo teleport start --diag-addr=127.0.0.1:3000
# View stats with a refresh period of 5 seconds
$ tctl top http://127.0.0.1:3000 5s

tctl version

Print the version of your tctl binary:

tctl version

Resource filtering

Both tsh and tctl allow you to filter servers, applications, databases, desktops, and Kubernetes clusters using the --search and --query flags.

The --search flag performs a simple fuzzy search on resource fields. For example, --search=mac searches for resources containing mac.

The --query flag allows you to perform more sophisticated searches using a predicate language.

In both cases, you can further refine the results by appending a list of comma-separated labels to the command. For example:

$ tsh ls --search=foo,bar labelKey1=labelValue1,labelKey2=labelValue2

Filter Examples

# List all nodes
$ tsh ls

# List nodes using label argument
$ tsh ls env=staging,os=mac

# List nodes using search keywords
$ tsh ls --search=staging,mac

# List nodes using predicate language. This query searches for nodes with labels
# with key `env` equal to `staging` and key `os` equal to `mac`.
$ tsh ls --query='labels["env"] == "staging" && equals(labels["os"], "mac")'

tbot

tbot is a CLI tool used with Machine ID that programatically issues and renews short-lived certificates to any service account (e.g, a CI/CD server).

The primary commands for tbot are as follows:

Command	Description
`tbot help`	Outputs guidance for using commands with `tbot`.
`tbot version`	Outputs the current version of the `tbot` binary.
`tbot configure`	Outputs a basic Machine ID client configuration file to be adjusted as needed.
`tbot start`	Starts the Machine ID client `tbot`, fetching and writing certificates to disk at a set interval.
`tbot init`	Initialize a certificate destination directory for writes from a separate bot user, configuring either file or POSIX ACL permissions.
`tbot db`	Connects to databases using native clients and queries database information. Functions as a wrapper for `tsh`, and requires `tsh` installation.
`tbot proxy`	Allows for access to Teleport resources on a cluster using TLS Routing. Functions as a wrapper for `tsh`, and requires `tsh` installation.

tbot start

Starts the Machine ID client tbot, fetching and writing certificates to disk at a set interval.

Flags

Flag	Description
`-d/--debug`	Enable verbose logging to stderr.
`-c/--config`	Path to a Machine ID configuration file.
`-a/--auth-server`	Address of the Teleport Auth Server (on-prem installs) or Teleport Cloud tenant.
`--token`	A bot join token, if attempting to onboard a new bot; used on first connect. Can also be an absolute path to a file containing the token.
`--ca-pin`	CA pin to validate the Teleport Auth Server; used on first connect.
`--data-dir`	Directory to store internal bot data. In production environments access to this directory should be limited only to an isolated linux user as an owner with `0600` permissions.
`--destination-dir`	Directory to write short-lived machine certificates.
`--certificate-ttl`	TTL of short-lived machine certificates.
`--renewal-interval`	Interval at which short-lived certificates are renewed; must be less than the certificate TTL.
`--join-method`	Method to use to join the cluster. Can be `token` or `iam`.
`--oneshot`	If set, quit after the first renewal.

Examples

$ tbot start \
   --data-dir=/var/lib/teleport/bot \
   --destination-dir=/opt/machine-id \
   --token=00000000000000000000000000000000 \
   --join-method=token \
   --ca-pin=sha256:1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 \
   --auth-server=example.teleport.sh:443

$ tbot start \
   --data-dir=/var/lib/teleport/bot \
   --destination-dir=/opt/machine-id \
   --token=00000000000000000000000000000000 \
   --join-method=token \
   --ca-pin=sha256:1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 \
   --auth-server=auth.example.com:3025

tbot init

Initializes a certificate destination directory for access from a separate bot user. Allows for certificates to be written to disks other than a Machine ID client, configuring either file or POSIX ACL permissions.

Flags

Flag	Description
`-d/--debug`	Enable verbose logging to stderr.
`-c/--config`	Path to a Machine ID configuration file.
`--destination-dir`	Directory to write short-lived machine certificates to.
`--owner`	Defines the Linux `user:group` owner of `--destination-dir`. Defaults to the Linux user running `tbot` if unspecified.
`--bot-user`	Enables POSIX ACLs and defines the Linux user that can read/write short-lived certificates to `--destination-dir`.
`--reader-user`	Enables POSIX ACLs and defines the Linux user that will read short-lived certificates from `--destination-dir`.
`--init-dir`	If using a config file and multiple destinations are configured, controls which destination dir to configure.
`--clean`	If set, remove unexpected files and directories from the destination.

Examples

Example using file permissions.

The following command highlights how to set permissions with tbot through Linux groups, using the user and group jenkins:jenkins. If running tbot as the Linux user root, use the following invocation of tbot init to initialize the short-lived certificate directory /opt/machine-id with owner jenkins:jenkins.

$ tbot init \
    --destination-dir=/opt/machine-id \
    --owner=jenkins:jenkins

Example using POSIX ACLs.

If running tbot as the Linux user teleport, use the following invocation of tbot init to initialize the short-lived certificate directory /opt/machine-id with owner teleport:teleport but allow jenkins to read from /opt/machine-id.

$ tbot init \
    --destination-dir=/opt/machine-id \
    --bot-user=teleport \
    --reader-user=jenkins

tbot db

Connects to databases using native clients and queries database information. This is best used for testing and validation purposes; most users will likely prefer to connect their own databases to a local proxy using tbot proxy db.

Note that tsh must be installed to make use of this command.

Flags

Flag	Description
`-d/--debug`	Enable verbose logging to stderr.
`-c/--config`	Path to a Machine ID configuration file. Required if not using other required configuration flags.
`--destination-dir`	Path to the Machine ID destination dir that should be used for authentication. Required.
`--proxy`	The `host:port` of the Teleport Proxy Service to use to access resources. Required.
`--cluster`	The name of the cluster on which resources should be accessed. Extracted from the bot identity if unset.

All other flags and arguments are passed directly to tsh db ..., along with authentication parameters to use the Machine ID identity to skip tsh's login steps.

Note that certain CLI parameters, for example --help, may be captured by tbot even if intended to be passed to the wrapped tsh. A -- argument can be used to ensure all following arguments are passed to tsh and ignored by tbot.

Additionally, be aware of the following limitations of tbot db:

tbot db connect requires a tbot db login for certain database types, like MySQL, so that additional connection parameters can be written to a local configuration file.
tbot db env is not fully supported.

tbot proxy

Allows for access to Teleport resources via a local TLS proxy in TLS Routing mode. The tbot proxy command acts as a wrapper for tsh proxy to provide local proxy functionality for various protocols.

Note that tsh must be installed to make use of this command.

Flags

Flag	Description
`-d/--debug`	Enable verbose logging to stderr.
`-c/--config`	Path to a Machine ID configuration file. Required if not using other required configuration flags.
`--destination-dir`	Path to the Machine ID destination dir that should be used for authentication. Required.
`--proxy`	The `host:port` of the Teleport Proxy Service through which resources will be accessed. Required.
`--cluster`	The name of the cluster on which resources should be accessed. Extracted from the bot identity if unset.

All other flags and arguments are passed directly to tsh proxy ..., along with authentication parameters to use the Machine ID identity to skip tsh's login step.

Additionally, the following should be noted:

Certain CLI parameters, for example --help, may be captured by tbot even if intended to be passed to the wrapped tsh. A -- argument can be used to ensure all following arguments are passed to tsh and ignored by tbot
If no configuration file is provided, tbot will apply a sample configuration based on provided CLI flags. For this reason, it is recommended that settings are explicitly applied to a configuration file in production.

Examples

Example using OpenSSH

The following command forwards standard input and output over a proxy suitable for use as an OpenSSH ProxyCommand for SSH access:

$ tbot proxy --destination-dir=./tbot-user --proxy=proxy.example.com:3080 ssh alice@node:3022

In this case:

alice is the remote username
node is the Teleport Node name
3022 is the remote SSH port, which is 3022 for Nodes running the Teleport SSH service.

Example using Database Access

The following example opens a local proxy server to the given database. Your database client must still be configured with client TLS certificates:

$ tbot proxy --destination-dir=./tbot-user --proxy=proxy.example.com:3080 db --port=1234 example

In this case:

example is the name of the database server as it exists in Teleport
1234 is an arbitrary port on which to run the proxy

Though not recommended, to avoid the need for additional client authentication, the --tunnel flag may be used to perform authentication at the local proxy rather than within your client:

$ tbot proxy --destination-dir=./tbot-user --proxy=proxy.example.com:3080 db --tunnel --port=1234 example

Note that this decreases security:

It allows any user on the system to access the database via localhost.
Your connection to the database will be unencrypted until it reaches the tbot proxy running on localhost.

Refer to the database guide for more information on using database proxies.

Flags

Flag	Description
`-d/--debug`	Enable verbose logging to stderr.
`-c/--config`	Path to a configuration file.
`-a/--auth-server`	Address of the Teleport Auth Server (on-prem installs) or Teleport Cloud tenant.
`--token`	A bot join token, if attempting to onboard a new bot; used on first connect. Can also be an absolute path to a file containing the token.
`--ca-pin`	CA pin to validate the Teleport Auth Server; used on first connect.
`--data-dir`	Directory to store internal bot data. In production environments access to this directory should be limited only to an isolated linux user as an owner with `0600` permissions.
`--destination-dir`	Directory to write short-lived machine certificates.
`--certificate-ttl`	TTL of short-lived machine certificates.
`--renewal-interval`	Interval at which short-lived certificates are renewed; must be less than the certificate TTL.
`--join-method`	Method to use to join the cluster. Can be `token` or `iam`.
`--oneshot`	If set, quit after the first renewal.

Files

cli.mdx

Latest commit

History

cli.mdx

File metadata and controls

teleport

teleport start

Flags

teleport start --roles

Examples

tsh

tsh global flags

tsh help

tsh version

tsh ssh

Arguments

Flags

Global flags

Examples

tsh config

Examples

tsh apps ls

tsh gcloud

Arguments

Flags

Global flags

Examples

tsh gsutil

Arguments

Flags

Global flags

Examples

tsh join

Arguments

Flags

Global flags

Examples

tsh recordings ls

Flags

Global flags

Examples

tsh play

Arguments

Flags

Global flags

Examples

tsh proxy db

Flags

Global Flags

Examples

tsh proxy ssh

Arguments

Flags

Global Flags

Examples

tsh proxy app

Arguments

Flags

Global Flags

Examples

tsh proxy azure

Arguments

Flags

Global Flags

tsh proxy aws

Flags

Global Flags

Examples

tsh proxy gcloud

Flags

Global Flags

Examples

tsh scp

Arguments

Flags

Global flags

Examples

tsh ls

Arguments

On a remote host after running `tsh login`

On a remote host after running `tsh login`