[opensourcedex]

Werbot is a free, open source network security project written in Go and released under a custom open-source licence. It has 170 GitHub stars, 10 forks and 18 open issues, and was last pushed 2 months ago. On this registry it ranks #7 of 7 tracked projects in Network Security, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available.

What is Werbot?

What it is

Werbot is a self-hosted server access management platform written in Go and packaged as Docker containers that run as microservices. It gives a team a single place from which to grant, control and audit access to servers, databases, web applications, desktops, containers and clouds, using single sign-on rather than shared passwords or scattered private keys. The project lives in the Go and container ecosystem, with supporting components for a web dashboard, enterprise functions, an install script, Windows and Unix agents, and a Pluggable Authentication Module for native two-factor authentication on *nix platforms.

The problem it addresses is the way credentials and server access are usually handled: keys and passwords kept unsafely, access rights that are hard to manage, work on servers that nobody supervises, unwanted connections, and monitoring tools that are either expensive or limited in scope. Werbot's answer is that users connect to every server they are entitled to through one sign-on with their login and private key, and that all work performed on connected servers is logged and recorded as a screencast. Because the platform spans SSH, Telnet, RDP and VNC, along with Docker and Kubernetes, it can cover a mixed fleet in one account instead of one provider's estate.

Key capabilities

  • Connects to dedicated, VPS and cloud servers, and manages servers from different providers inside one account.
  • Speaks SSH, Telnet, RDP and VNC, so terminal, remote desktop and console sessions all pass through the same control plane.
  • Imports servers quickly from AWS, Google, Amazon and Azure.
  • Reaches Docker and Kubernetes workloads as well as traditional hosts, alongside MySQL, Maria, PostgresQL, Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch and other databases.
  • Records every server session as a screencast and collects logs for later review.
  • Provides single sign-on for users, requiring no additional agent to be installed on the server itself.
  • Ships as Go microservices in Docker containers, so it asks for little processing power and scales easily.

Who uses it and how

  • DevOps teams that need one audited entry point for infrastructure spread across several cloud providers and on-premise hosts.
  • Teams replacing shared root credentials with per-user sign-on and a recorded session trail.
  • Organisations that must gather evidence for security certification compliance, using collected logs and session recordings.
  • Administrators importing existing cloud inventory from AWS, Google,
project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

Werbot is a single sign-on solution for easy and secure sharing of servers, databases or app access

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  What is Werbot?

Werbot is an open-source solution allowing users to securely share access to servers, data bases, web applications, desktops, containers and clouds; providing full-fledged options for controlling and auditing of the work performed on them.

⚠️  Current major version is zero (v0.x.x) to accommodate rapid development and fast iteration while getting early feedback from users. Please keep in mind that Werbot is still under active development and therefore full backward compatibility is not guaranteed before reaching v1.0.0.

🏆  Features

  • Werbot works with dedicated, VPS, and cloud servers
  • Manages servers from different providers in one account
  • Doesn’t require any additional agent to be installed on the server
  • Records every server session and collects logs
  • Provides a single sign-on

Werbot is written in golang, runs in Docker containers, and works as microservices. It requires little processing power, scales easily, and can be implemented in the workflow of any company within 1 hour.

Supported technology:

  • Protocols - SSH, Telnet, RDP, VNC
  • Providers - all providers + fast import from AWS, Google, Amazon, Azure
  • Containers - Docker, Kubernetes
  • Databases - MySQL, Maria, PostgresQL, Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and other

🔥  Why Werbot?

Problem
  • Unsafely kept server access, passwords, and keys
  • Difficult server access management
  • Uncontrolled work on servers
  • Unwanted connections on servers
  • Expensive and limited in functionality server monitoring tools
Solution

Werbot users connect to all accessible servers with a single sign-on using their login and private key. All work performed on servers connected to Werbot is logged and recorded as a screencast.

Competition

Identity and Access Management solutions existing today can have limited functionalities or work with only one server provider, and support few protocols.

There are also complex Enterprise solutions that are quite expensive solutions and not suitable for everyone.

🚀  Why did we build Werbot?

The prototype of Werbot was developed for internal use firstly. Over time, the prototype was refined and developed into a full-fledged platform available to everyone.

SaaS version is currently working on the site werbot.com. There we are offering a ready-made solution that is suitable for most companies and does not need to be configured by a specialist, so it can be used even without the involvement of cybersecurity specialists.

Werbot covers 3 of the most important cybersecurity challenges:

  • Helps to manage server access
  • Helps to control users’ activity on servers
  • Gathers evidence to show security certification compliances

Recently we decided to rewrite the code of the SaaS version and make it open source. We are currently working on this.

🧬  Project components

Here is a list of modules that are included within the Werbot.

Component Description
web 🖥 Werbot web dashboard
ee 🏭 Werbot Enterprise functions
install 🚀 The script for installing Werbot
agent.windows 👮‍♂️ Windows agent
agent.unix 👮‍♂️ Unix agent
pam 🔐 Pluggable Authentication Module for native two factor authentication agents for *nix platforms

📚  Documentation

Documentation for Werbot is available in the docs/ directory. Currently available:

Additional documentation is being actively developed. For the latest updates, please check the docs/ directory.

🏁  Installation

Prerequisites

  • Docker and Docker Compose
  • Domain name with DNS access (Cloudflare recommended)
  • Go 1.25+ (for development)
  • Make (for build automation)

Quick Start

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/werbot/werbot.git
cd werbot

  2. Configure environment:

    • Copy .env.example to .env (if available) or create .env file
    • Configure required environment variables:
      • GEOLITE_LICENSE - Geolite key for downloading the latest geolite database
      • DOMAIN - Second-level domain in format *.domain.com
      • DNS_CLOUDFLARE_EMAIL - Your Cloudflare email
      • DNS_CLOUDFLARE_API_KEY - Your Cloudflare API key

  3. Set up DNS records:

    • Add DNS A records pointing to your server:
      • api.domain.com → Your server IP
      • app.domain.com → Your server IP

  4. Initialize the environment:

    make init

    This script will:

    • Validate DNS configuration
    • Generate secure passwords for PostgreSQL and Redis
    • Generate encryption keys
    • Create necessary configuration files

  5. Start services:

    cd docker
docker-compose up -d

Development Setup

  1. Install development tools:

    make tools

  2. Build the project:

    make build

    This will build all services into the bin/ directory.

  3. Run database migrations:

    make migration

  4. Update GeoLite database:

    make geolite

Available Make Commands

  • make help - Show all available commands
  • make init - Initialize development environment
  • make build [service] - Build project or specific service
  • make tools - Install/update development tools
  • make migration - Run database migrations
  • make geolite - Update GeoLite database
  • make clean - Clean up temporary files and containers
  • make key - Generate encryption keys
  • make protos - Generate protobuf files

Docker Services

The project runs as microservices in Docker containers:

  • taco - Main API service

readme truncated — read the full docs on github

Frequently asked questions

Is Werbot free to use?

Werbot is open source. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does Werbot do?

Secure, scalable server access management for DevOps

What is Werbot written in?

Werbot is primarily written in Go. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/werbot/werbot, and it has 170 GitHub stars.