Reinstalling Teleport on CentOS: Step-by-Step Guide

[pnrao1983]

I wanted to share a reinstall procedure that worked while dealing with CentOS issues. If you’ve encountered challenges when trying to reinstall Teleport, this might help resolve them. I’m posting this in the hope that it could be helpful to others and to get any additional insights or suggestions.

Background:
We ran into some issues where manually removing Teleport files caused problems during a yum reinstall. Additionally, services kept directories open even after stopping them, complicating the process. Here’s the step-by-step approach that eventually worked for us.

Reinstall Procedure:

1. Update CA Certificates
   The first step is to ensure your CA certificates are up-to-date. This can resolve issues related to SSL certificates that might arise during installation.

   bash
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   yum update ca-certificates

2. Remove Existing Teleport Packages
   Rather than manually deleting files, which can cause problems, use yum erase to remove Teleport packages cleanly.

   bash
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   yum erase -y teleport-ent teleport-ent-updater

   Note: Manually removing files can disrupt the yum reinstall process, so using the package manager for this step is better.

3. Kill Running Teleport Processes and Clean Up Files
   To ensure no leftover processes or files cause issues during reinstall, kill any running Teleport processes and remove associated directories and binaries.

   bash
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   pkill teleport
rm -rf /var/lib/teleport
rm -f /etc/teleport.yaml
rm -f /usr/local/bin/teleport /usr/local/bin/tctl /usr/local/bin/tsh

   Tip: Sometimes, services might hold directories open even if they appear down. Make sure all related processes are terminated.

4. Verify and Repeat as Needed
   After performing the above steps, double-check that all Teleport-related files and processes have been removed. If you find anything left behind, repeat the necessary steps to ensure a clean slate.

5. Check SSL and CA Certificates Before Reinstalling
   It’s crucial to verify that your SSL and CA certificates are configured correctly before attempting a reinstall. If these are not in order, you could end up with an unconfigured host.

Conclusion:
After running into several issues, This procedure helped us reinstall Teleport on CentOS. This guide can help others facing similar problems. If anyone has additional tips, alternative methods, or corrections, please share them here!

Thanks, and I am looking forward to any feedback or questions.