ZLI Reference Manual
Last updated
Last updated
Moving forward, we are natively rebuilding BastionZero’s technology as Cloudflare’s service.
The BastionZero zli is an exec level command line interface (CLI) that provides users the ability to connect to their targets. Administrators may also manage aspects of their BastionZero organization through the zli, such as creating and updated policy.
The zli is an open-source project licensed under the Apache License, version 2.0. Details on how to download are available .
The following tables list all the zli commands and their functions.
You can run zli help at any time to list all the available commands in the zli.
View and manage your agents
Yes
Attach to an open connection
No
List, create, and remove authorized Github Actions
Yes
Close an open connection
No
Generate zli auto-completion script
No
Return the configuration path for the zli
No
Connect to one or more targets
No
Update the default target group used when connecting to a Kubernetes cluster
No
Disconnect a zli daemon (db, web, kube)
No
Generate a configuration file to use with the zli (i.e., for installing the BastionZero agent with Bash or updating your SSH configuration file or kubeConfig)
No
kubectl wrapper
No
List all agents (filters available) [aliases: la]
Yes
List all open shell and db connections [aliases: lc]
No
List all daemons running on your local machine [aliases: ld]
No
List targets available to you (filters available) [aliases: lt]
No
Log in to the zli through your identity provider
No
Log out of the zli
No
List, update, and create policies
Yes
Start an interactive onboarding session to add your SSH hosts to BastionZero. Note: you must be running OpenSSH <= v. 8.8
No
Send zli, daemon, and target logs to BastionZero
No
List, create, update, and configure functionality for BastionZero service accounts
Yes
Run zli generate ssh-proxy to generate the SSH proxy configuration
No
View and manage your targets
No
The zli includes a few global options that can be used with any command.
--version
Show zli version number
--debug
Show debug events
-s, --silent
Silence all zli output messages
--help
Show command help
Use zli help for general command guidance or zli <command> --help if you need additional information on a specific command.
Command arguments key:
<arg> is required
[arg] is optional or in certain cases, may be required
agentThe agent command allows administrators to directly view and manage the agent software running on resources secured by BastionZero.
The agent list command lists all the organization's agents. Optional result filters can be applied by passing in flags as described below. The returned table includes the type, name, environment, and version of all agents by default, but other data can be shown.
Alias: la
--by: Group agents by a specific attribute; defaults to type. Use zli la --help to see full list of attributes.
--desc: Reverse the sorting applied with --by
--range: Display a subset of results (e.g. 1-100). The first result has an index of 1. End index is inclusive.
-t, --type: Filter on one or more agent types. Use zli la --help to see full list of valid agent types.
-e, --env: Filter on environment name, including substring match.
-n, --name: Filter on agent name, including substring match.
--status: Filter on one or more agent statuses. Use zli la --help to see full list of valid statuses.
--uuid: Filter on one or more agent UUIDs.
-d, --detail: Returns extra detail in the output. The additional information includes the agent's status and region.
-i, --showId: Display the agent's UUID in the output.
-j, --json: Output the list of agents in JSON format.
zli la -t windows linux - List all Windows and Linux agents
zli la -i - List all agents and show unique ids
zli la -n ubuntu --status online terminated - List all agents whose name contains the string "ubuntu" that are online or terminated
zli la --by region List all agents grouped by region
zli la --by region --range 100-200 List all agents grouped by region. Only display the 100th to 200th agent
zli la -e prod --json --silent - List all agents in prod, output as json, pipeable
Description
The agent restart command causes an agent to gracefully shut down and restart itself. This can be used as a failsafe measure in case the agent is still communicating with BastionZero but is not accepting user connections.
zli agent restart myLinuxAgent- Restart the agent called "myLinuxAgent"
The agent configure admin-only command can be used to modify an agent's loglevel. After you configure a new log level, you will need to restart the agent for the changes to take effect (zli agent restart <agent name>).
I'm an admin and I want to set the log level of bzero-agent to trace. I would run:
zli agent configure bzero-agent loglevel trace
zli agent restart bzero-agent
attachThe attach command attaches to an open zli connection. All connections are created when using the connect command.
authorized-actionAuthorized-action is an admin only command that manages the authorized Github Actions that can approve a JIT policy.
zli authorized-actions create <githubActionId> authorizes the specified Github Action to be able to grant temporary access.
The Github Action ID structure follows the format: repo:{Github organization name}/{Github repository name}:ref:refs/heads/{Github branch}. For example, zli authorized-action create repo:bastionzero/circle-ci-sa-example:ref:refs/heads/custom-runner allows an action that lives in the Github organization bastionzero, in the Github repository circle-ci-sa-example, in the branch custom-runner to create expiring JIT policies.
close-a, --all: Closes all shell, db, and kube connections
-t, --type: Filter for specific connection type when using the --all flag
completionThe completion command will generate an auto-completion script for the user to put into their shell configuration. The script will provide the user with installation commands that they may use. For example, if the user is using a zsh shell, the outputted script will look like the following:
Then run the following commands:
zli completion >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
If tab completion does not take effect after running the commands above, restart your terminal.
Pressing tab will attempt to complete the command, subcommand, or optional/required flags
If no command or flag exists with the specified prefix, then nothing happens
If there is more than one command or flag with the specified prefix, I.e the user enters zli log and hits tab, then all options that start with log will be presented to the user (zli login and zli logout). By continuing to press tab, the user will infinitely rotate through the presented options. Press space to pick one.
If the user enters zli li, then it will autocomplete zli list- because both commands have this in common. Then, hitting tab again will list zli list-connections and zli list-targets
When just zli[space] is entered, hitting tab will then show the commands alphabetically and rotate through them as the user keeps hitting tab.
configureThe configure command returns the file path of both the zli's configuration directory and the logs kept as part of normal client operation. These files do not need to be modified by a user.
zli configure default-targetuser [targetUser] [--reset] allows the user to set a default target user for shell, SSH, and SCP.
For shell connections, if a target user is not set in the target string (i.e bzerotarget.environment), and the user configures a default target user using this command, then the zli will automatically use the set target user.
For SSH and SCP, you will need to run this command in conjunction with zli generate sshConfig. If you have a default target user set, then when you run zli generate sshConfig, it will overwrite the User field for all your configurations with the default configuration. To undo this or revert to original configuration, reset the default target user using zli configure default-targetuser --reset and then run zli generate sshConfig.
In all cases, if you set a target user in the target string (i.e someuser@bzerotarget.environment), then you will connect with this target user and not the default.
You must exclusively set the targetUser or use the --reset option. You cannot do both or neither.
-r, --reset: Reset the local default target user for shell, SSH, and SCP
zli configure get [key] allows the getting of values from the zli's internal store.
These values are not verified against expected keys. When encountering an unknown or known but unset key, the resulting value will be undefined.
zli configure set [key] [value] allows the setting of values to the zli's internal store.
For users wishing to use a static callback port when launching the login page from the zli on zli login, can set it using the following command:
zli configure set callbackPort [port]
connectThe connect command opens a connection to any type of target as indicated by the targetString. The exact behavior depends on the target's type; connecting to a Shell target spawns an interactive terminal window, while other target types open a portforwarding connection that integrates with other client applications (kubectl, RDP, SSMS, etc).
You can connect to all available targets of a given type by omitting the targetString and specifying a --targetType. Currently this is only supported for Kubernetes targets (see examples).
In addition to the connect features listed in the following sections, the targetString can specify the environment of the destination target. This argument is optional and is meant to allow a user to distinguish between two targets with the same name that are in different environments.
The targetString can be in the format targetName.environmentName or targetName.environmentId.
targetName: The name of the target. (Name of Linux/Windows target, Kubernetes cluster, Web target, or Db target)
environmentId/environmentName: The ID or name of the destination target's environment.
Other options to disambiguate targets: The user can use the --targetType flag to disambiguate targets with the same name of different types. The user can also use the corresponding target ID instead of the target name. To list targets with their target IDs, run the command zli lt -i.
The logged-in zli user must still have the appropriate policies in place in order to connect. For Kubernetes, the user must have a Kubernetes policy that covers this targetUser and target combination. For Web and Db targets, the user must have a Proxy policy that covers this targetName.
The targetString must be in the format targetUser@targetName:
targetName: The name of the Kubernetes cluster.
The logged-in zli user must have a Kubernetes policy that covers this targetUser and target combination.
Connecting to all Kubernetes targets in a single command:
When connecting with zli connect -t kubernetes, the ZLI attempts to open a connection to every Kubernetes target you can access according to your organization's policies. For each target, a unique connection is opened for every available target user. You can switch between connections by updating your current Kube context.
The targetString must be in the format targetName:
targetName: The name of the Web or DB or RDP target.
For Web or DB targets, the logged-in zli user must have a Proxy policy that covers this targetName.
For RDP targets, the logged-in zli user must have a TargetConnect policy that allows the RDP verb.
For Windows users, connecting to an RDP or SQL Server target automatically launches an appropriate desktop application to facilitate the connection. This default behavior can be disabled with zli configure set noAppStart true.
-t, --type [dynamic, kubernetes, linux, windows, web, db]: Specifies the type of target the connection is for.
--namespace: For Kubernetes connections only, specifies the default namespace to use when creating the Kubernetes context for this connection. Certain Kubernetes tools, such as kubectl, support this parameter and use it as the default namespace before issuing any requests to a cluster. If unspecified, default is used as the default namespace.
--customPort: Forces the bctl daemon to run on a specific port.
--noAppStart: Connect to the target without launching a related application (applicable to Windows users making RDP and SQL Server connection)
zli connect admin@my-target - Connect as UNIX user admin to the Linux target my-target.
zli connect -t kubernetes - Connect as all available users to all available Kubernetes targets.
zli connect my-target - Connects as a default UNIX user if only exactly one is allowed by policy to the target my-target.
zli connect my-rdp-target - Creates an RDP connection if one is allowed by policy to the target my-rdp-target.
zli connect john@1d3a89b0-1c99-46c2-b411-e5e21261e40f - Connect as UNIX user john to a target by referring to its unique UUID.
zli connect alice@my-cluster --targetGroup system:masters - Start the bctl daemon and connect it to my-cluster as Kubernetes RBAC user alice and RBAC group system:masters.
zli connect ec2-user@bzero-target.environmentName- Connects as UNIX user ec2-user to the target bzero-target in the environment environmentName.
zli connect bzero-target.1d3a89b0-1c99-46c2-b411-e5e21261e40f - Connects as default UNIX user to the target bzero-target in the environment 1d3a89b0-1c99-46c2-b411-e5e21261e40f.
default-targetgroupdisconnectThe disconnect command closes a zli daemon (db, web or kube, rdp). You may specify closing a specific daemon type by using the targetType positional with a value of kube, db, rdp, or web. By default, this command will close all open zli daemons.
generateThe generate command generates files for Kubernetes or SSH
zli generate kubeConfig (Access):
The zli generate kubeConfig command is not required in order to connect. When you run zli connect to your Kubernetes targets, the zli automatically updates your kubeconfig file for you. The generate kubeConfig command exists in case you've accidentally modified a BastionZero-managed entry in your kubeconfig and you want to reset it to its original declaration (zli generate kubeConfig --update), or if you need to output a kubeconfig containing only BastionZero-managed contexts (useful when interacting with Kubernetes SDKs).
zli generate kubeYaml <clusterName> (Registration):
zli generate sshConfig:
zli generate bash:
zli generate bash generates a bash script that is used to autodiscover a Linux target. The script should be executed on the target machine to connect with BastionZero.
zli generate powershell:
zli generate powershell generates a Powershell script that is used to autodiscover a Windows target. The script should be executed on the target machine to connect with BastionZero.
zli generate ssh-proxy:
This command only needs to be executed once, with the user taking the actions as specified in the output of the command to modify their ssh_config ($HOME/.ssh/config) file. After doing so, the user may utilize SSH tunneling by using ssh and specifying the correct hostname prefix (i.e., bzero-*).
zli generate certificate:
zli generate certificate configures one or more database targets for SplitCert access. A new certificate with a corresponding split private key is created, and one of the key shards is distributed to the proxy targets linked to each database target. The proxy target must be online for this to work. The user is warned if any of the database targets they try to configure is unavailable.
Note that executing this command creates at most one certificate, shared by every database target specified by the user. If the command is run multiple times, a new certificate and split key are created. Any database target affected by multiple generate certificate calls will only be accessible using the most recent certificate created for that database.
For example, suppose there are two database targets, A and B. If the user runs zli generate certificate --all, both databases will be accessible using the same certificate. If the user subsequently runs zli generate certificate --targets A, then target B will be accessible using the first certificate, but target A will only be accessible using the second certificate.
--update: Updates the user's existing kubeconfig file (defaults to $HOME/.kube/config unless KUBECONFIG is set). Requires kubectl to be installed on the user's machine and exist in their $PATH.
--force: Force generates new Kube daemon security settings. WARNING: Disconnects any running Kube daemons
--environmentName: Sets the BastionZero environment this cluster should be added to once registered.
--mySshPath: (only used with generate sshConfig) specify an alternate location for your personal SSH config file
--bzSshPath: (only used with generate sshConfig) specify an alternate location for the BastionZero config file to be written
-e, --environment: If used with bash, specifies the environment the target will belong to once registered. Defaults to the Default environment if this flag is not provided. If used with certificate, optionally disambiguates a database target name
--beta: (only used with generate bash) Use the latest beta release of the agent, instead of the latest production release
-o, --outputFile: (only used with generate bash) Writes the bash script to a file on the user's machine.
--targetNameScheme: (only used with generate bash) Configures the target name from a specific source. Defaults to the hostname source if this flag is not provided.
do: If the target machine is a DigitalOcean droplet, the target name will be set to the droplet's name.
aws: If the target machine is an AWS EC2 machine, the target name will be set to the instance's ID.
--targets: (only used with generate certificate) One or more database target names or IDs to which the certificate will authenticate
--all: (only used with generate certificate) if set, the certificate will authenticate to all of your current database targets. If any targets cannot be configured, you will be asked whether to only configure the available targets
-y, --yes: If set along with --all, automatically respond affirmatively if prompted
--selfHosted: (only used with generate certificate) if set, the server cert and server private key will be returned; you will use these when configuring your database
--agentKey: (only used with generate certificate) if set, returns a copy of the RSA key shard sent to the targets; you can use this data to configure other proxy targets to access the database
--outputDir: only used with generate certificate) Provide a directory into which all output files will be written. If none provided, will create a unique directory in the current working directory
zli generate kubeYaml testcluster
zli generate kubeYaml --labels testkey:testvalue
zli generate kubeConfig
zli generate kubeConfig --update kube config - Defaults KUBECONFIG to $HOME/.kube/config
zli generate sshConfig - Create and link an ssh config file based on your organization's policies
zli generate sshConfig --mySshPath path/to/config --bzSshPath path/to/bz-config - Optionally specify filepaths (defaults to $HOME/.ssh/config and $HOME/.ssh/bz-config respectively)
zli generate bash --targetNameScheme time
zli generate bash -o script.sh - Writes the script to a file "script.sh" in the current directory
zli generate certificate --all --selfHosted - Generate a root certificate and configure all available database targets; returns extra data to configure any self-hosted targets
zli generate certificate --targets target1 target2 - Generate a root certificate and configure target1 and target2
kubeThe user should not run this command unless the following requirements have been met:
kubectl must be installed on the user's machine and exist in their $PATH.
list-agentslist-connectionsThe list-connections command lists open shell, db, and Kube connections the logged-in zli user has made across all their machines.
Alias: lc
-j, --json: Output the list of connections in JSON format.
-t, --type: Filter for a specific connection type.
list-daemonsThe list-daemons command lists all daemons running on this machine.
By default, all types of daemons are displayed. Appending the target type after list-daemons filters for a specific daemon type.
Alias: ld
list-targetsloginThe login command authenticates a user to the BastionZero service. When executed, a new window is opened in the user's default browser. The user may then select their SSO provider and authenticate by supplying their username and password. This is accomplished using the Open ID Connect (OIDC) specification.
-m, --mfa: MFA code to pass to BastionZero if the organization has required MFA.
logoutpolicyThe policy commands allow the user to list existing policies and their BastionZero users, SSO groups, target users and target groups, update these fields for a specific policy, and create a new cluster, target connect, session recording, or proxy policy.
zli policy list [--type <policyType>] returns the existing policies in the user's organization. These policies can also be filtered by type using the --type flag.
zli policy describe-cluster-policy <clusterName> returns detailed information about what policies apply to the <clusterName> cluster.
If you desire to author or modify a policy with spaces in the name, you must wrap the name in double quotes.
zli policy create-cluster [name][users][groups][clusters][environments][targetUsers][targetGroups] creates a new cluster policy.
zli policy create-tconnect [name][users][groups][targets][environments][targetUsers][verbs] creates a new target connect policy.
zli policy create-recording [name][users][groups][recordInput] creates a new session recording policy.
zli policy create-proxy [name][users][groups][targets][targetUsers][environments] creates a new proxy policy.
zli policy userszli policy users returns the BastionZero users in the organization. The returned table includes the user's name, the user's <idpEmail>, role in BastionZero (admin or user), and time of last login.
zli policy add-user <policyName> <idpEmail> adds the specified SSO user to the specified policy.
zli policy delete-user <policyName> <idpEmail> deletes the specified SSO user from the specified policy.
zli policy groupszli policy groups returns the organization's SSO groups. The returned table includes all of the organization's groups by name.
zli policy add-group <policyName> <groupName> adds the specified SSO group to the specified policy.
zli policy delete-group <policyName> <groupName> deletes the specified SSO group from the specified policy.
zli policy targetuserszli policy add-targetuser <policyName> <targetUser> adds the specified target user to the specified policy.
zli policy delete-targetuser <policyName> <targetUser> deletes the specified target user from the specified policy.
zli policy targetgroupszli policy add-targetgroup <policyName> <targetGroup> adds the specified target user to the specified policy.
zli policy delete-targetgroup <policyName> <targetGroup> deletes the specified target user from the specified policy.
-j, --json: Output the list of policies, users, groups, target users, or target groups in JSON format. Not applicable to describe-cluster-policy.
zli policy list --json --silent | jq - List all policies. Output as JSON. Pipe into jq for pretty formatting.
zli policy list --type kubernetes - List all Kubernetes policies. Regular table output.
zli policy describe-cluster-policy test-cluster - List all existing policies for test-cluster. Regular table output.
zli policy create-cluster -n policy_name -u user@random.com -c test_cluster --targetUsers ec2-user - Create a new cluster policy with the specified arguments.
zli policy create-tconnect -n policy_name -u user@random.com -t bzero-target --targetUsers ec2-user -v shell - Create a new target connect policy with the specified arguments.
zli policy create-tconnect -n policy_name -u user@random.com -t rdp-target -v rdp - Create a new target connect policy with the specified arguments.
zli policy create-recording -n policy_name -u user@random.com -g Engineering Legal -r true - Create a new session recording policy with the specified arguments.
zli policy create-proxy -n policy_name -u user@random.com -g Engineering Legal -e test-environment - Create a new proxy policy with the specified arguments.
zli policy users --json --silent | jq - List all of the organization's users. Output as JSON. Pipe into jq for pretty formatting.
zli policy add-user my-policy alice@org.com - Adds SSO user with email alice@org.com to the my-policy policy.
zli policy delete-user my-policy bob@org.com - Removes SSO user with email bob@org.com from the my-policy policy.
zli policy groups --json --silent | jq - List all of the organization's groups. Output as JSON. Pipe into jq for pretty formatting.
zli policy add-group my-policy Engineering - Adds SSO group with name Engineering to the my-policy policy.
zli policy delete-group my-policy Engineering - Removes SSO group with name Engineering from the my-policy policy.
zli policy targetusers my-policy -j - List all of the target users for a specific policy. Output as JSON, pipeable.
zli policy add-targetuser my-policy ec2-user - Adds a new target user ec2-user to the my-policy policy.
zli policy delete-targetuser my-policy ec2-user - Removes the target user with name ec2-user from the my-policy policy.
zli policy targetgroups my-policy -j - List all of the target groups for a specific policy. Output as JSON, pipeable.
zli policy add-targetgroup my-policy system:masters - Adds a new target group with name system:masters to the my-policy policy.
zli policy delete-targetgroup my-policy system:masters - Removes the target group with name system:masters from the my-policy policy.
quickstartThe quickstart command is only compatible with OpenSSH <= v. 8.8.
-c, --sshConfigFile: Path to ssh_config file. Defaults to $HOME/.ssh/config if this flag is not provided.
send-logsThe send-logs compresses your local zli and daemon logs and sends them to BastionZero. This command also supports sending logs from a kube, linux, or windows target to BastionZero by using the target or all flags and entering the target's name or id. This command is useful if you are debugging an issue and need assistance.
We will receive all logs dating back to the previous day at 12:00am.
-t, --target: Send logs for the specified kube, linux, or windows target. You can refer to the target using its name or id.
-a, --all: Send logs for the specified kube, linux, or windows target in conjunction with your local zli and daemon logs.
service-accountAn admin only command to list, create, update and configure functionality for service accounts.
zli service-account list <providerCreds> [--bzeroCreds] creates a new service account in the user's organization. Use <providerCreds> to provide the relative/absolute path to your provider credentials json file. Optionally, provide [--bzeroCreds] to specify the path where the output BastionZero credentials will be stored. If not specified, the current path will be used. (Admin Only)
zli service-account configure [--target] [--all] [--serviceAccount] configures one or more of your targets to be accessible by the specified service account. Also adds the pattern of the JWKS URL of this service account to the specified target(s). This way service accounts from the same domain will be pre-configured so you do not need to configure them as well. (Admin Only)
When configuring a service account, the following flags are required:
[--serviceAccount]: Email of the service account that will be added in the target(s)
[--all] OR [--target]: Targets that will be configured (must exclusively provide one of the flags). The [--target] flag expects one or more comma separated target names or target IDs
zli service-account disable <serviceAccountEmail> disables the specified service account so it cannot log in or take any other action. (Admin Only)
zli service-account disable <serviceAccountEmail> enables the specified service account so it can log in again and take other actions. (Admin Only)
zli service-account list [--detail] lists all service accounts in the user's organization. Use [--detail] to see a detailed view of them, including their externalId, JWKS URL, JWKS URL Pattern and enabled status. (Admin Only)
zli service-account login [--providerCreds] [--bzeroCreds] log in as the specified service account in the provider credentials file. Provide the path to your two roots of trust using the [--providerCreds] flag to provide your relative/absolute path to your provider credentials json file and the [--bzeroCreds] flag to provide your relative/absolute path to your BastionZero credentials json file.
zli service-account rotate-mfa <serviceAccountEmail> rotates the MFA secret that is used as the specified service account's BastionZero credentials. Optionally, provide [--bzeroCreds] to specify the output path for the new BastionZero credentials. If not specified, the current path will be used. (Admin Only)
zli service-account set-role <role> <serviceAccountEmail> changes the role of the specified service account. Acceptable values are admin and user. (Admin Only)
zli service-account create cool-service-account.json - Create a new service account based off the provider credentials in cool-service-account.json and output a bzero-credentials.json file in the current directory.
zli service-account create cool-service-account.json --bzeroCreds /mySecureFolder/my-bzero-creds.json - Create a new service account based off the provider credentials in cool-service-account.json and output a my-bzero-creds.json file in the mySecureFolder directory.
zli service-account configure --target my-cool-target --serviceAccount cool-service-account-email - Configure agent my-cool-target to allow access to service accounts that follow the jwksUrl pattern of cool-service-account-email.
zli service-account disable cool-service-account-email - Disable service account cool-service-account-email. Applicable only if previously enabled.
zli service-account enable cool-service-account-email - Enable service account cool-service-account-email. Applicable only if previously disabled.
zli service-account list - List all service accounts, as regular table output.
zli service-account list --json - List all service accounts, output as json, pipeable.
zli service-account list --detail - List all service accounts, show all extra information.
zli service-account login --providerCreds /path/to/providerCreds.json --bzeroCreds /path/to/bzeroCreds.json - Login using a service account.
zli service-account rotate-mfa cool-service-account-email - Rotate the mfa shared secret of service account cool-service-account-email. Outputs a bzero-credentials.json file in the current directory.
zli service-account rotate-mfa cool-service-account-email --bzeroCreds /mySecureFolder/my-bzero-creds.json - Rotate the mfa shared secret of service account cool-service-account-email. Outputs a my-bzero-creds.json file in the mySecureFolder directory.
zli service-account set-role admin cool-service-account-email - Change the role of service account cool-service-account-email to admin. Allowed only if not an admin already.
ssh-proxyInternal use only. This is not a user-facing command and is used by the BastionZero service to create SSH connections. When using SSH with BastionZero, you should always use native commands (ssh, scp, sftp).
<hostString> includes the target's name or UUID in the case there are two or more targets with the same name. <userName> is the UNIX username to log in as. <portNumber> refers to the port number on the target running the sshd daemon. <identityFile> refers to the private SSH key generated by the zli.
The logged-in zli user must have a Target Connect policy that covers this userName and target combination. The Tunnel action must be enabled in the policy.
To provide a seamless experience when using BastionZero for SSH workflows, BastionZero creates and maintains its own IdentityFile and KnownHostsFile. These files are no longer needed for security due to BastionZero's security model, but they are still necessary to conform to the SSH protocol.
By maintaining a BastionZero-specific copy of the KnownHostsFile, BastionZero can rotate credentials frequently (no more long-lived credentials!) without requiring users to edit this file manually. In fact, as part of the BastionZero protocol, the KnownHostsFile is overwritten during every connection. The IdentityFile is based on your current session with the zli.
targetThe target list command lists all targets that are available to you based on configured policy. If you are an admin, it lists all the targets in your organization unless you include the -u option with a given user's email address. Optional result filters can be applied by passing in flags as described below. The returned table of targets includes the type, name, and environment by default, but other data can be shown.
Alias: lt
--by: Group targets by a specific attribute; defaults to type. Use zli lt --help to see full list of attributes.
--desc: Reverse the sorting applied with --by
--range: Display a subset of results (e.g. 1-100). The first result has an index of 1. End index is inclusive.
-u, --user: Admin-only option. Filter targets based on targets that a particular user in your organization has access to via policy. A valid user email address must be provided. To help find the email address of any user in your organization you can use zli user to list all users.
-t, --targetType: Filter on one or more target types. Use zli lt --help to see full list of valid target types.
-e, --env: Filter on environment name, including substring match.
-n, --name: Filter on target name, including substring match.
--status: Filter on one or more target statuses. Use zli lt --help to see full list of valid statuses.
--uuid: Filter on one or more target IDs
-i, --showId: Display the target's UUID in the output.
-j, --json: Output the list of targets in JSON format.
zli lt -i -t kubernetes - List all Kubernetes cluster targets. Display the target's UUID.
zli lt --by type --desc List all targets by type in descending order
zli lt --by type --desc --range 100-200 List all targets by type in descending order. Only display the 100th to 200th target
zli lt --json --silent | jq - List all targets. Output as JSON. Pipe into jq for pretty formatting.
zli lt --user roleaccount@bastionzero.com - Lists all targets that roleaccount@bastionzero.com has access to through policy
The following section documents each zli command listed in the .
See .
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The close command closes an open shell, db, or Kube connection. A connection that has been closed can no longer be .
See .
There are two ways to connect to targets that were named before and contain one or more periods:
targetUser: The Kubernetes to as. All Kubernetes API calls forwarded by the bctl daemon will authenticate as this user and assume that user's role and cluster bindings.
See for more details and helpful tips on connecting to Kubernetes targets.
For Kubernetes, Web, DB and RDP targets, this command spawns the daemon on an available port of the user's machine. The daemon interacts with the target specified by the targetString. Once executed, users can interact with their target using various tools (e.g. kubectl, psql, , Microsoft Remote Desktop etc.)
--targetGroup system:masters: For Kubernetes connections only, comma separated list of Kubernetes to impersonate as. In addition to authenticating as the specified targetUser, the bctl daemon will authenticate as these groups and assume their role and cluster bindings. The logged-in zli user must have a Kubernetes Access policy that covers this list of groups and cluster target.
zli connect ec2-user@my-dat-config --targetType dynamic - Connect to a DAT backed by the my-dat-config .
The default-targetgroup command updates a value that specifies the default target groups to use when executing . If no argument is provided, this command displays what is currently set as the default targetGroup.
--set: Comma separated list of Kubernetes . Pass no value in order to remove any default target groups set (i.e. zli default-targetgroup -set). This will reset your default target group and no default will be assigned.
See .
zli generate kubeConfig creates the file that sets up the user's local Kubernetes tools (e.g. kubectl, ) to communicate with a registered Kubernetes cluster. The generated kubeconfig contains a context entry (bzero-{role}@{clusterName}) for each open Kube connection running on the user's machine. The contexts allow for local Kubernetes tools to talk with the daemon. The bctl daemon forwards all Kubernetes API calls to the respective Kubernetes cluster depending on which context is selected as the current one.
zli generate kubeYaml <clusterName> creates a Kubernetes file that can be applied via kubectl apply to a cluster the user wishes to register with BastionZero.
zli generate sshConfig creates an based on the targets to which you have SSH tunnel and file transfer access, so that your connection to those targets can be proxied through BastionZero. Specifically, it will write to a new file (stored by default in $HOME/.ssh/bzero-bz-config), and link it to your existing configuration (by default in $HOME/.ssh/config) via the Include keyword. After this file is generated, you will not need to provide an identity file or proxy command when SSHing to your BastionZero targets.
zli generate ssh-proxy generates an ssh configuration block to be added to the user's file. The generated configuration block allows the ssh command to tunnel SSH connections to SSM targets by calling the zli's command behind the scenes.
--labels: Comma separated list of Kubernetes to add to the deployment that is installed when registering a cluster with BastionZero.
--namespace: Sets the namespace for all -related Kubernetes objects that are created during registration and used during the lifetime of the agent.
time: The target name will be set to target-%m%d-%H%M%S, where the variables are formats. The formatted timestamp is the time the script is executed on the target machine.
hostname: The target name will be set to the machine's .
The kube command passes all the supplied <kubeCtlArg> arguments to the CLI tool.
The daemon must be running and connected to a Kubernetes cluster (see command).
The user's configured in their file should be set to a BastionZero-managed context (see or for more information).
See .
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The logout command de-authenticates the client. The user must run again to be able to run other zli commands.
See .
BastionZero supports connecting to Linux targets using the IdP username as the target user through the use of substitution parameters. For information on how to set up substitution parameters in target connect policies, navigate to our . For information on how to connect to your Linux targets using IdP username as the target user, navigate to our .
zli policy targetusers <policyName> returns the target users for a specific policy. Target users determine what UNIX users or Kubernetes are permissible to use in the and commands respectively.
zli policy targetgroups <policyName> returns the target groups for a specific policy. Target groups determine which Kubernetes are permissible to use in the command. This command only applies to Kubernetes Access policies.
The quickstart command starts an interactive onboarding session that adds the user's SSH hosts, as specified by the the file, to BastionZero.
See .
The ssh-proxy command allows for proxying an SSH connection to a target. The captured SSH connection can be an interactive shell or a .
Users should typically not use this command directly. Instead, they should let ssh call it via the directive.
See for more information.
See .
-d, --detail: Returns extra detail in the output. The additional information includes the target's agent version, status, region, and suitable target users to use in the user portion of the and syntax.
See .