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Teleport

Secure unified access proxy for modern infrastructure

VPN & Zero Trust Networks

Teleport delivers certificate‑based authentication, SSO, and audited access across SSH, Kubernetes, databases, and web services, with built‑in tunneling and role‑based controls.

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Overview

Overview

Teleport acts as an identity‑aware access proxy that issues short‑lived certificates for every supported protocol. By replacing shared secrets with certificate‑based auth and enforcing two‑factor verification, it provides zero‑trust security for SSH nodes, Kubernetes clusters, databases, Windows hosts, and internal web applications.

Capabilities

The platform unifies role‑based access control, access‑request workflows, and comprehensive audit logging with session recording and replay. Users can authenticate via GitHub SSO (open source), OpenID Connect, or SAML providers such as Okta and Microsoft Entra ID, and gain seamless, tunnelled connectivity to resources hidden behind NATs or firewalls.

Deployment

Teleport can be run as a single‑binary Linux daemon, deployed in Kubernetes, or containerized with Docker. The open source edition is production‑ready, while additional enterprise features are offered in a paid cloud‑hosted option.

Highlights

Short‑lived certificates for all supported protocols
Built‑in SSO (GitHub, OIDC, SAML) and mandatory 2FA
Unified access proxy with RBAC and access‑request workflow
Transparent tunneling to services behind firewalls

Pros

  • Eliminates shared secrets with zero‑trust certificate auth
  • Compatible with existing OpenSSH and Kubernetes tooling
  • CLI and web UI give full visibility of infrastructure state
  • Single binary simplifies installation and upgrades

Considerations

  • Open source edition limited to GitHub SSO
  • Building from source requires at least 1 GB of virtual memory
  • RBAC configuration can be complex for new users
  • Advanced enterprise features require a paid license

Managed products teams compare with

When teams consider Teleport, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.

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Zscaler

Cloud-based zero trust security platform providing secure access to applications without traditional VPNs

Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.

Fit guide

Great for

  • Teams needing unified, audited access to heterogeneous cloud and on‑prem resources
  • Organizations adopting zero‑trust security principles
  • Ops teams managing SSH, Kubernetes, and database access from a single control plane
  • Enterprises that can extend the open source version with custom SSO integrations

Not ideal when

  • Small projects that only need simple SSH key access
  • Environments without sufficient memory to build the binary
  • Use cases requiring out‑of‑the‑box SSO beyond GitHub in the free version
  • Teams unable to manage the operational overhead of an additional proxy layer

How teams use it

Secure remote SSH access for developers

Developers obtain short‑lived certificates via SSO, eliminating static keys and providing audit logs of every session.

Kubernetes cluster management with zero‑trust

Admins access clusters through Teleport’s proxy, enforcing 2FA and RBAC while recording kubectl activity.

Database access behind a firewall

Database clients tunnel through Teleport, receiving mTLS certificates and centralized audit trails without exposing ports.

Internal web application access from anywhere

Users authenticate via SSO and receive time‑bound certificates to reach internal web services securely.

Tech snapshot

Go72%
TypeScript17%
C8%
Shell1%
Rust1%
MDX1%

Tags

rdpbastionkubernetesrbacteleportgodatabase-accessfirewallsfirewallsshcertificatepostgresauditclusterjumpservergolangteleport-binariessecuritypamkubernetes-access

Frequently asked questions

What authentication methods does Teleport support?

Teleport uses certificate‑based authentication with short‑lived certificates, supports two‑factor authentication, and provides SSO via GitHub (open source), OpenID Connect, and SAML providers such as Okta or Microsoft Entra ID.

Can Teleport be deployed on Kubernetes?

Yes, Teleport can run as a Kubernetes deployment or as a traditional Linux daemon, and Docker images are also provided for containerized environments.

How does Teleport record sessions?

All supported protocols (SSH, Kubernetes, databases, RDP, web) are recorded and stored in an audit log, enabling replay of sessions through the web UI.

Is the open source version suitable for production?

The open source edition is production‑ready, offering core security features; however, advanced SSO integrations and enterprise management tools are available only in the paid Enterprise offering.

What are the system requirements for building Teleport?

Building from source requires at least 1 GB of virtual memory; a 512 MB instance without swap will not compile successfully.

Project at a glance

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