Just-in-Time Database Access via GUI

In a production environment, an incident arises that requires a developer to access the production database for troubleshooting. However, the developer does not have the necessary access privileges. To address this, the developer can request Just-in-Time (JIT) access to the production database. Bytebase streamlines this process, allowing developers to efficiently request and obtain temporary access when needed.

This tutorial will guide you through setting up Just-in-Time (JIT) access using the Bytebase GUI. In the next tutorial, we will explore automating JIT access through Slack by leveraging Bytebase webhooks and API.

This is Part 1 of our tutorial series on implementing Just-in-Time (JIT) database access:

• Part 1: JIT database access via GUI (this one)
• Part 2: JIT database access via Slack

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Docker installed

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Step 1 - Run Bytebase in Docker and register a developer user

1. Make sure your docker daemon is running, and start the Bytebase docker container by typing the following command in the terminal.

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   docker run --rm --init \
     --name bytebase \
     --publish 8080:8080 --pull always \
     --volume ~/.bytebase/data:/var/opt/bytebase \
     bytebase/bytebase:3.8.0
   

   Bytebase starts successfully if you see following message.

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   ██████╗ ██╗   ██╗████████╗███████╗██████╗  █████╗ ███████╗███████╗
   ██╔══██╗╚██╗ ██╔╝╚══██╔══╝██╔════╝██╔══██╗██╔══██╗██╔════╝██╔════╝
   ██████╔╝ ╚████╔╝    ██║   █████╗  ██████╔╝███████║███████╗█████╗
   ██╔══██╗  ╚██╔╝     ██║   ██╔══╝  ██╔══██╗██╔══██║╚════██║██╔══╝
   ██████╔╝   ██║      ██║   ███████╗██████╔╝██║  ██║███████║███████╗
   ╚═════╝    ╚═╝      ╚═╝   ╚══════╝╚═════╝ ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚══════╝╚══════╝
   
   Version 3.8.0 has started on port 8080 🚀
   
   

   Now you have Bytebase running in Docker.

2. Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080, you should see the Bytebase Signup page. The first registration user will be granted as the Workspace Admin.

3. Go into Bytebase console, click IAM & Admin > Users & Groups on the left sidebar, add a new dev user, giving it a Project Developer role which will apply to all projects.

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Step 2 - No access to production database

As a developer user, you will not have the access to query the production database by default.

1. Login as the developer user you created in Step 1, click Select Project on the top sidebar, choose Sample Project.

2. Click Database > Databases on the left bar, you should see two databases listed: hr_prod and hr_test.

3. Click hr_prod, you will see the SQL Editor icon is greyed out, which means you don’t have access to this database in SQL Editor. Even you click SQL Editor button on the top bar to navigate to the SQL Editor page, you still don’t have access to this database.

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Step 3 - DBA assign you access to the production database (Community and Pro Plan)

In Bytebase Community and Pro Plan, the Admin/DBA can assign you access to the production database.

1. Login as the Admin user, go into Sample Project, click Manage > Members on the left sidebar.

2. Find the developer user you created in Step 1, click Edit pen button and then click Grant Access button.

3. In the Grant Access modal, select the SQL Editor User role, then set 1 day Expiration, and click Confirm button. Here you may notice in Community and Pro Plan, you can only set access to all databases in the project.

4. After the access is granted, login as the developer user again, you should see the SQL Editor icon is no longer greyed out, which means you have access to the production database in SQL Editor. After one day, the access will expire automatically.

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Step 4 - Request a JIT access to the production database (Enterprise Plan)

In Bytebase Enterprise Plan, you can request a JIT access to the production database.

1. Login as Admin user, go into Sample Project and revoke the developer user’s access to the production database.

2. Upgrade to the Enterprise Plan. You may request a 14-day trial from here.

3. Click CI/CD > Custom Approval on the left sidebar. Assign licenses to the instances to enable this feature.

4. Scroll down to Request Querier Role section, add high risk an approval flow Project Owner.

5. Click CI/CD > Risk Center on the left sidebar. Define a High risk policy for Request Querier Role which triggers when the environment is Prod.

6. Login as the developer user again, then go to SQL Editor page. Click Connect to a database or Select a database to start. You should see the hr_prod and hr_test databases listed, click Request query to request a JIT access.

7. Another way is to go to Database > Databases page, click Request Querier Role.

8. In the Request Querier Role modal, choose Manually select, then employee salary and title under hr_prod database, and click OK button. Here you may also specify the expiration time which can be a specific time, or relative time from now.

9. An request issue will be created, switch to the project owner (the admin user), go to Issue page, you should see the request issue. Click Approve button to approve the request.

10. Switch back to the developer user, go to SQL Editor page, you should be able to query from these three tables. If you query from other tables, you will get errors and suggest to request a JIT access.

11. After the developer user get the access, he can solve the incident. The admin user can revoke the access directly from the Manage > Members page or wait for the access expiration.

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Conclusion

In this tutorial, we demonstrated how to set up Just-in-Time (JIT) access using the Bytebase GUI. In the next tutorial, we will explore automating JIT access via Slack, utilizing Bytebase webhooks and API. Stay tuned!