ElastiCache Redis

Learn how to add ElastiCache Redis as a resource in StrongDM.

Overview

This guide describes how to add ElastiCache Redis as a datasource in StrongDM using either standard authentication with username and password or AWS IAM authentication.

When the resource is added, StrongDM proxies client connections through a node (gateway, relay, or proxy cluster). This enables centralized access control, credential management, and audit logging. StrongDM supports standard Redis clients and drivers that use the Redis wire protocol.

Use this guide to complete all necessary preparations to add this resource to your StrongDM environment; input the correct properties in the Admin UI, CLI, SDKs, or Terraform provider; and test for a successful connection.

For general information about how to add a database as a resource in StrongDM, see our main guide, Add a Datasource.

Supported Versions and Clients

StrongDM supports AWS ElastiCache for Redis deployments. This includes AWS-managed clusters, as long as installation allows Redis client connectivity via standard ports (for example, 6379). StrongDM is compatible with all standard Redis clients, including:

CLI tools (redis-cli)
SDKs and libraries (redis-py, Jedis, Node Redis)
GUI tools like RedisInsight or connection features in IDEs such as DataGrip

Prerequisites

To add your resource in StrongDM, you need to meet several technical and configuration prerequisites. Please ensure that the following requirements are met.

In StrongDM, you must have the following:

Administrator permission level
At least one operational StrongDM node (gateway, relay, or proxy cluster) with network access to the Redis endpoint
If using secrets management tools for storing your database credentials, a Secret Store configured in StrongDM

To verify that the resource is accessible by the node, log in to the gateway or relay and use Netcat: nc -zv <HOSTNAME> <PORT> (in this example, nc -zv testdb-01.fancy.org 3306). If your gateway server can connect to this hostname, proceed.

Netcat is a tool for checking various hostnames and ports by either sending data (a ping) or checking for listeners on the ports. The command in the aforementioned example use "-z" to check for listeners without sending data and "-v" to show verbose output. If you don't have Netcat, you can install the Netcat package with whatever package manager you are using, such as "apt-get install netcat".

On the ElastiCache Redis side, you must have the following:

Properly configured ElastiCache Redis instance or cluster accessible from your StrongDM node
If authentication is enforced (for example, AUTH token), have a Redis username/token or a Secret Store setup ready
Network configuration (VPC, subnets, security groups) that allows inbound connections from your node to the Redis endpoint

If using AWS IAM authentication, on the AWS side, you must have the following:

An EC2 instance or similar compute node running your StrongDM node (gateway, relay, or proxy cluster), with an attached IAM role that has permissions to access ElastiCache Redis using IAM authentication.
The Redis cache (cluster) endpoint must be reachable from the EC2 instance.
The IAM role should grant the necessary permissions, typically including the following. These permissions allow StrongDM to generate IAM authentication tokens and perform resource health checks.
- elasticache:Connect
- sts:AssumeRole (if you configure a role for StrongDM to assume)
Appropriate role assumption configuration (if used).
- If your environment uses an AssumeRole flow, you must configure a target role that trusts the EC2 instance's IAM role.
- If required by your security policies, include an External ID in the trust relationship.

Resource Management in StrongDM

After all prerequisites and prep work is done, you are ready to add the resource to StrongDM. This section provides instructions for adding the resource in either the StrongDM Admin UI, CLI, Terraform provider, or SDKs.

Set up and Manage With the Admin UI

If using the Admin UI to add Druid as a resource to StrongDM, use the following steps.

Log in to the StrongDM Admin UI.
Go to Resources > Managed Resources.
Click Add Resource.
For Resource Type, select ElastiCache Redis or ElastiCache Redis (IAM).
Complete all required configuration properties for your selected datasource type.
Click Create to save the resource.
Click the resource name to view status, diagnostic information, and setting details.

Set up and Manage With the CLI

This section provides an example of how to add the resource using the StrongDM CLI. For more information and examples, please see the CLI Reference documentation.

# Add ElastiCache Redis datasource
sdm admin datasources add elasticache-redis redis-prod
  --hostname="my-elasticache-cluster.cache.amazonaws.com"
  --port=6379
  --bind-interface="127.0.0.1"
  --egress-filter="tag:env=prod"
  --proxy-cluster-id="n-1a2b345c67890123"
  --secret-store-id="se-e1b2"
  --subdomain="redis-prod"
  --tags="env=production,team=cache"

# Add ElastiCache Redis (IAM) datasource
sdm admin datasources create elasticache-redis-iam
  --display-name "redis-iam-prod"
  --proxy-cluster "my-proxy-cluster"
  --hostname "my-prod-cache.abc123.use1.cache.amazonaws.com"
  --port 6379
  --connectivity-mode "VIRTUAL_NETWORKING"
  --ip-address "100.64.5.10"
  --port-override 6380
  --dns "redis-prod.internal"
  --secret-store "strongdm"
  --username "redis_user"
  --aws-region "us-east-1"
  --role-assumption-arn "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RedisAccessRole"
  --assume-role-external-id "my-external-id"
  --no-tls-required
  --tags "env=prod,team=platform"

Set up and Manage With Terraform

This section provides an example of how to configure and manage the resource using the Terraform provider. For more information and examples, please see the Terraform provider documentation.

# Install StrongDM provider
terraform {
  required_providers {
    sdm = {
      source  = "strongdm/sdm"
      version = "16.5.0"
    }
  }
}

# Configure StrongDM provider
provider "sdm" {
  # Add API access key and secret key from Admin UI
  api_access_key = "njjSn...5hM"
  api_secret_key = "ziG...="
}

# Create ElastiCache Redis resource
resource "sdm_elasticacheredis" "redis_prod" {
  name             = "redis-prod"
  hostname         = "my-elasticache-cluster.cache.amazonaws.com"
  port             = 6379

  bind_interface   = "127.0.0.1"
  egress_filter    = "tag:env=prod"
  proxy_cluster_id = "n-1a2b345c67890123"

  secret_store_id  = "se-e1b2"
  subdomain        = "redis-prod"
  tags = {
    env  = "production"
    team = "cache"
  }
}

# Create ElastiCache Redis (IAM) resource
resource "strongdm_elasticache_redis_iam" "redis_prod" {
  display_name      = "redis-iam-prod"
  proxy_cluster     = "my-proxy-cluster"
  hostname          = "my-prod-cache.abc123.use1.cache.amazonaws.com"
  port              = 6379
  connectivity_mode = "VIRTUAL_NETWORKING"

  # Optional networking details
  ip_address    = "100.64.5.10"
  port_override = 6380
  dns           = "redis-prod.internal"

  # Secret store (optional)
  secret_store = "strongdm"

  # Authentication
  username = "redis_user"
  # OR for external secret stores:
  # username_path = "path/to/secret?key=username"

  aws_region = "us-east-1"

  # Optional IAM role assumption
  role_assumption_arn = "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RedisAccessRole"
  assume_role_external_id = "my-external-id"

  tls_required = true

  tags = {
    env  = "prod"
    team = "platform"
  }
}

Set up and manage with SDKs

In addition to the Admin UI, CLI, and Terraform, you may configure and manage your resource with any of the following SDK options: Go, Java, Python, and Ruby. Please see the following references for more information and examples.

Language

Reference

GitHub

Examples

Java

Python

Ruby

Configuration Properties

The following configuration properties are required to define an ElastiCache Redis datasource in StrongDM. These settings control how StrongDM connects to the database, authenticates the connection, and optionally uses encryption or secret management. Each property must be correctly configured to ensure connectivity and access enforcement through StrongDM.

The following table describes the settings available for ElasticCache Redis.

Property

Requirement

Description

Display Name

Required

Meaningful name to display the resource throughout StrongDM; exclude special characters like quotes (") or angle brackets (< or >)

Resource Type

Required

ElastiCache Redis

Proxy Cluster

Required

Defaults to "None (use gateways)"; if using proxy clusters, select the appropriate cluster to proxy traffic to this resource

Hostname

Required

Hostname for your database resource; must be accessible to a gateway or relay

Port

Required

Port to use when connecting to your resource; default port value is 6379

Connectivity Mode

Required

Select either Virtual Networking Mode, which lets users connect to the resource with a software-defined, IP-based network; or Loopback Mode, which allows users to connect to the resource using the local loopback adapter in their operating system; this field is shown if Virtual Networking Mode enabled for your organization

IP Address

Optional

If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, an IP address value in the configured Virtual Networking Mode subnet in the organization network settings; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, an IP address value in the configured Loopback IP range in the organization network settings (by default, 127.0.0.1); if not specified, an available IP address in the configured IP address space for the selected connectivity mode will be automatically assigned; this field is shown if Virtual Networking Mode and/or multi-loopback mode is enabled for your organization

Port Override

Optional

If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1 and 65535 that is not already in use by another resource with the same IP address; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1024 to 64999 that is not already in use by another resource with the same IP address; when left empty with Virtual Networking Mode, the system assigns the default port to this resource; when left empty for Loopback Mode, an available port that is not already in use by another resource is assigned; preferred port also can be modified later from the Port Overrides settings

DNS

Optional

If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a unique hostname alias for this resource; when set, causes the desktop app to display this resource's human-readable DNS name (for example, k8s.my-organization-name) instead of the bind address that includes IP address and port (for example, 100.64.100.100:5432)

Secret Store

Optional

Credential store location; defaults to Strong Vault; learn more about Secret Store options

Username

Required

Username to utilize when connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the Secret Store type

Password

Required

Password for the user connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the Secret Store type

Username (path)

Required

Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type

Password (path)

Required

Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type

TLS Required

Optional

When selected, requires TLS for connections to this resource

Resource Tags

Optional

Datasource Tags consisting of key-value pairs <KEY>=<VALUE> (for example, env=dev)

The following table describes the settings available for ElasticCache Redis (IAM).

Property

Requirement

Description

Display Name

Required

Meaningful name to display the resource throughout StrongDM; exclude special characters like quotes (") or angle brackets (< or >)

Resource Type

Required

ElastiCache Redis (IAM)

Proxy Cluster

Required

Defaults to "None (use gateways)"; if using proxy clusters, select the appropriate cluster to proxy traffic to this resource

Hostname

Required

Hostname for your database resource; must be accessible to a gateway or relay

Port

Required

Port to use when connecting to your resource; default port value is 6379

Connectivity Mode

Required

IP Address

Optional

Port Override

Optional

DNS

Optional

Secret Store

Optional

Credential store location; defaults to Strong Vault; learn more about Secret Store options

Username

Required

Username to utilize when connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the Secret Store type

Username (path)

Required

Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type

AWS Region

Required

AWS region to connect to (for example, us-east-1)

Role Assumption ARN

Optional

Role ARN, such as arn:aws:iam::000000000000:role/RoleName, that allows users accessing this resource to assume a role using AWS AssumeRole functionality

Assume Role External ID

Optional

External ID to use if leveraging an external ID to users assuming a role from another account; if used, it must be used in conjunction with Assume Role ARN; see the AWS documentation on using external IDs for more information

TLS Required

Optional

When selected, requires TLS for connections to this resource

Resource Tags

Optional

Datasource Tags consisting of key-value pairs <KEY>=<VALUE> (for example, env=dev)

Secret Store options

By default, datasource credentials are stored in StrongDM. However, these credentials can also be saved in a secrets management tool.

Non-StrongDM options appear in the Secret Store dropdown if they are created under Network > Secret Stores. When you select another Secret Store type, its unique properties display. For more details, see Configure Secret Store Integrations.

Resource status

After a resource is created, the Admin UI displays that resource as unhealthy until the healthchecks run successfully. When the resource is ready, the Health icon indicates a positive, green status.

When the resource does not display a positive status, click the resource name to go to the Diagnostics tab and check for errors.

Test the Connection

After you have added your resource in StrongDM, follow these steps to verify that it’s working correctly.

Assign yourself access by ensuring that your user or role has access to the resource. In the StrongDM Admin UI, go to Access > Roles, and verify that the resource is attached to a role you’re in.
In the CLI, run sdm status to list the available datasources. Ensure that the resource appears in your list of accessible datasources.
Start a session to the resource, as in the following example:
```
sdm connect redis-prod
```
Connect using the Redis CLI:
```
redis-cli -h $REDIS_HOST -p $REDIS_PORT
```
If AUTH is required:
```
-a $REDIS_PASSWORD
```
Then run:
```
PING
```
In the StrongDM Admin UI, check Logs > Queries (and Logs > Connections) to confirm that the session and audit logs were captured.

When these steps succeed, you’re ready to connect to your resource through StrongDM.

Help

If you encounter issues, please consult the StrongDM Help Center.

Be prepared to provide the following information to StrongDM Support, so that they can inspect logs and confirm node and resource health:

Resource name or ID
CLI error output or logs
Node name and region

Last updated 4 months ago

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