Teleport

Teleport is an open-source, self-hosted application that provides connectivity, authentication, and access controls for infrastructure. It acts as an identity-aware access proxy and certificate authority to manage access to servers, Kubernetes clusters, databases, and internal web applications. The software is distributed as a single Go binary and can be deployed as a Linux daemon or as a Kubernetes deployment to suit different infrastructure needs.

Users employ Teleport to establish secure tunnels to resources behind firewalls and NATs without the need for traditional VPNs or bastion hosts. It replaces long-lived keys and passwords with short-lived certificates and provides a unified interface for managing both human users and machine workloads. Access is managed through a combination of a web UI and a command line interface, allowing for centralized visibility of all connected nodes and services.

Key features

• Single sign-on integration via GitHub Auth, OpenID Connect, or SAML
• Certificate-based authentication with automatic expiration for all protocols
• Role-Based and Attribute-Based Access Control (RBAC/ABAC)
• Session recording and auditing for SSH, Kubernetes, database, and RDP sessions
• Just-in-Time (JIT) access requests for elevated privileges
• Support for PostgreSQL, MongoDB, CockroachDB, and MySQL databases
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all access points
• Session sharing for collaborative troubleshooting

The architecture relies on an internal certificate authority to issue temporary credentials, which eliminates the need for shared secrets like static SSH keys or Kubernetes tokens. It is fully compatible with OpenSSH, sshd servers, and standard ssh clients, ensuring that existing workflows are not disrupted. The system integrates with various cloud consoles, Git repositories, and Model Context Protocol servers to maintain a single identity layer across a distributed environment. This allows administrators to view the status of every SSH node, database instance, and internal web app from a single point of control.

Teleport is designed for system administrators, DevOps engineers, and security professionals managing hybrid or multi-cloud infrastructure who require centralized audit logs and strict access governance across multiple protocols.