A Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Keycloak

Preparing the environment for Keycloak installation

If you want to use Keycloak to secure web applications, you must prepare your environment. Although Keycloak runs on almost all platforms, a Linux (or equivalent) server is recommended. It is also helpful to have some familiarity with Linux, since Keycloak is based on Java and requires a web server and a relational database management system (RDBMS).

The first step towards Keycloak installation is to ensure that the latest Java Development Kit (JDK) is installed on the server. Keycloak requires Java 8 or higher as a prerequisite for running. You can install the latest JDK by running the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-8-jdk

If you already have a version of Java installed on your server, check its version by typing the following command:

java -version

This will display the version number, and you can compare this version with the required one (Java 8 or higher).

The next step is to install and configure a web server. Keycloak supports a wide range of web servers, including Apache and Nginx. Apache is recommended for its compatibility with the Keycloak Apache module (mod_auth_openidc). You can install Apache on Ubuntu by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install apache2

After installing Apache, you need to enable the mod_rewrite module and set up a virtual host for Keycloak. This is done through the following commands:

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enmod proxy
sudo a2enmod proxy_http
sudo a2enmod proxy_html
sudo a2enmod headers
sudo a2enmod ssl
sudo systemctl restart apache2

The following commands can be used to create the Keycloak virtual host:

sudo mkdir /var/www/keycloak
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/keycloak.conf

Add the following content to the configuration file:

 <VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName keycloak.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://keycloak.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName keycloak.example.com
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /path/to/cert.pem
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/key.pem

    ProxyRequests Off

    <Location />
        ProxyPass http://localhost:8080/
        ProxyPassReverse http://localhost:8080/
        Order allow,deny
        allow from all
    </Location>
</VirtualHost>

In the configuration file, replace keycloak.example.com with the domain name or IP address of your server. The SSL certificate files should be replaced with the correct paths for your SSL certificate. Save and close the file once you’ve made the changes.

Lastly, you need to install a relational database. Keycloak supports multiple database systems, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle. For example, to install MySQL:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

After installing the database system, create a blank database and a Keycloak user with the appropriate privileges. For example, in MySQL:

mysql> CREATE DATABASE keycloak;
mysql> CREATE USER 'keycloak'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON keycloak.* TO 'keycloak'@'localhost';

Once you’ve completed all of these tasks, you can proceed to install and configure Keycloak itself. This will involve downloading and extracting the Keycloak distribution archive, creating an admin user account, and configuring Keycloak’s settings file to connect to the RDBMS that you’ve installed.

Downloading and Extracting Keycloak

Keycloak is an open-source software product that allows for single sign-on with Identity and Access Management (IAM) functionality. This means that users can log in to multiple systems with a single set of credentials. This software is a great choice for any organization or developer that wants to implement authentication and authorization in their applications. Here, we will guide you through the process of downloading and extracting Keycloak.

Step 1: Visit the official Keycloak website at www.keycloak.org and go to the downloads section. You will see different versions of Keycloak available for download. Choose the appropriate version based on your operating system. For example, if you are using Windows, choose the Windows distribution.

Step 2: Once you have downloaded the appropriate distribution of Keycloak, extract the files to a directory on your system. You can use software like 7-Zip to extract the files.

Step 3: After extracting the files, navigate to the bin directory of the Keycloak installation. In this directory, you will see a few different files that allow you to start Keycloak.

Step 4: Before you can run Keycloak, you need to set up a few environment variables. These variables include the JAVA_HOME variable, which should point to the directory where your Java Development Kit (JDK) is installed. You also need to set the PATH variable, which should include the bin directory of the JDK and Keycloak installations.

Step 5: Once you have set up the required environment variables, you can start Keycloak by running the standalone.bat file on Windows or standalone.sh file on Linux or macOS. This will start the Keycloak server.

Step 6: Finally, access the Keycloak admin console by navigating to http://localhost:8080/auth in your web browser. You will be prompted to set up an admin user account. Once you have set up the admin account, you can start configuring Keycloak to meet your organization’s needs.

Keycloak is a powerful and versatile software solution for managing user authentication and authorization in your applications. By following these simple steps, you can download and extract Keycloak on your system and get started with configuring your user management today!

Configuring Keycloak server and database settings

Keycloak is an open source software that provides both authentication and authorization services for applications and services in a single unified interface. It is easy to install and configure, but before you get started, you need to make sure that your Keycloak server and database settings are properly configured.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to configure your Keycloak server and database settings:

1. Set up your server environment

Before you start installing Keycloak, it’s essential to ensure that your server environment is equipped to handle it. Keycloak requires Java 8 or later to run, so make sure you have the latest version of Java installed on your server. You should also have a running instance of a database server for Keycloak to connect to. Keycloak supports several database servers, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server. Ensure that you have a server environment with these two prerequisites already set up.

2. Download and install Keycloak

Once your server environment is ready, download Keycloak from the official website and install it. Keycloak installation is straightforward, and getting started is quick. Once the installation is complete, start the Keycloak server by running the following command:

$ /path/to/keycloak/bin/standalone.sh

This command will start the Keycloak standalone server, which will be running in the background.

3. Configure the Keycloak server and database settings

After installing Keycloak, you need to configure server and database settings to make Keycloak work. These settings ensure that Keycloak runs correctly, stores data securely, and is highly available.

a. Database settings

Keycloak uses a database to store its configuration, user data, and metadata. You need to set up a database before you start using Keycloak. Before configuring Keycloak server settings, you need to create a database and a database user with sufficient privileges to access and modify the database. You can use any database that Keycloak supports; we recommend using PostgreSQL, which is easy to set up and manage. Once you create your database, get the URL, driver, username, and password. You will need these details in the next step.

b. Keycloak server settings

After configuring the database settings, you can proceed to configure the Keycloak server settings. Open the Keycloak admin console (http://localhost:8080/auth/admin) and log in with the default admin account credentials (username: “admin,” and password: “admin”).

From the admin console, go to the “Servers” tab, then click on the “Server Info” tab. Here, you can see the Keycloak server’s details, including the server state, uptime, configuration directory, and logging settings. You can also configure the server settings, including host, port, and security options. Ensure that you set up the server settings correctly, depending on your environment.

Next, configure the database settings from the admin console. Go to the “Datasources” tab and click on “Add Datasource” to create a new datasource. Input the database URL, username, and password you obtained in the previous step. You can also specify the JDBC driver and connection pool settings. Once you save these settings, Keycloak will use the configured database to store its data.

4. Test your Keycloak installation

Now that you have installed and configured Keycloak, it’s time to test it. Open Keycloak in your browser by going to http://localhost:8080/auth/. You should see the Keycloak login screen. Log in using the default admin account details (username: “admin,” and password: “admin”).

If you can log in successfully, you have set up Keycloak correctly. You can now start configuring roles and permissions for your applications and services. Congratulations! You have successfully installed and configured Keycloak for your environment.

Creating and managing Keycloak users and roles

Keycloak is an open-source software identity and access management system that can manage multiple applications and provide single sign-on (SSO) for them. It provides a user-friendly interface for creating and managing users and roles within the system. This subsection will explain the process of creating and managing Keycloak users and roles.

Creating a user

To create a user in Keycloak, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Keycloak admin console using the admin credentials.
2. Select the realm for which you want to create a user.
3. Click on “Users” from the left-hand menu.
4. Click on the “Add user” button.
5. Fill in the user details, such as first name, last name, email, and username.
6. Set a password for the user or leave it blank to allow Keycloak to generate a password for the user.
7. Click on the “Save” button to create the user.

Managing a user

Once a user is created, Keycloak provides several options for managing the user’s access and settings. Follow these steps to manage a user:

1. Log in to the Keycloak admin console using the admin credentials.
2. Select the realm that contains the user.
3. Click on “Users” from the left-hand menu.
4. Select the user that you want to manage.
5. Click on the “Credentials” tab to reset the user’s password, enable/disable temporary password, and manage TOTP (time-based one-time password) authentication.
6. Click on the “Roles” tab to assign or remove roles for the user.
7. Click on the “Sessions” tab to view the user’s active sessions and log them out.
8. Click on the “Groups” tab to add or remove the user from a group.

Creating a role

Roles are used to define the permissions and access levels for users in Keycloak. To create a role, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Keycloak admin console using your admin credentials.
2. Select the realm for which you want to create a role.
3. Click on “Roles” from the left-hand menu.
4. Click on the “Add role” button.
5. Enter a name and description for the role.
6. Click on the “Save” button to create the role.

Managing a role

Once a role is created, it can be assigned to users or used to define access policies for your application. Follow these steps to manage a role:

1. Log in to the Keycloak admin console using the admin credentials.
2. Select the realm that contains the role.
3. Click on “Roles” from the left-hand menu.
4. Select the role that you want to manage.
5. Click on the “Users” tab to view the users assigned to the role and manage them.
6. Click on the “Default Roles” tab to set the role as a default role for the realm or a client.
7. Click on the “Composite Roles” tab to create a composite role that includes the selected role and additional roles.

By following the above steps, you can easily create and manage both users and roles in Keycloak. Keycloak’s user-friendly interface makes it a great choice for businesses of all sizes, and its open-source nature makes it accessible to everyone. By taking the time to learn and understand the system’s features, you can take full advantage of its capabilities and ensure a secure, streamlined approach to identity and access management.

Integrating Keycloak with web applications and APIs

Keycloak is an open-source identity and access management software that provides advanced security for both web applications and APIs. In this tutorial, we will discuss how to integrate Keycloak with different web applications and APIs.

1. Integrating Keycloak with a web application

To integrate Keycloak with a web application, the first step is to install and configure the Keycloak server. Once the server is set up, we need to create a client in the Keycloak admin console that represents our web application. We can specify the required settings like client ID, redirect URIs, and other security-related configurations. After creating the client, we need to integrate the Keycloak adapter library, which provides the necessary authentication and authorization mechanisms.

The next step is to configure our web application to use the Keycloak adapter library. We can do this by adding some configuration files and adding a dependency on the Keycloak adapter library. After configuring our web application, we need to add some code to authenticate and authorize the users based on the credentials provided by Keycloak.

2. Integrating Keycloak with an API

The process of integrating Keycloak with an API is similar to that of integrating with a web application. We need to create a client in the Keycloak admin console that represents our API. We can specify the necessary configurations like client ID, redirect URIs, and other security-related settings. After creating a client, we need to integrate the Keycloak adapter library into our API’s codebase.

The next step is to secure the API endpoints by adding authentication and authorization mechanisms. We can use the Keycloak adapter library to secure our API endpoints. We can also define different roles and permissions for different API endpoints based on the business logic of our API.

3. Integrating Keycloak with multiple web applications and APIs

The process of integrating Keycloak with multiple web applications and APIs is similar to that of integrating Keycloak with a single web application or API. We need to create multiple clients in the Keycloak admin console, each representing a web application or API. We can specify the configurations and settings required for each client.

The next step is to integrate the Keycloak adapter library into each web application or API’s codebase. After that, we need to configure our web applications and APIs to use the Keycloak adapter library. We can also define different roles and permissions for different web applications or APIs based on their business logic.

4. Securing APIs with Keycloak OAuth2/OpenID Connect

OAuth2 is an authorization framework that allows applications to access protected resources on behalf of a user. OpenID Connect is an authentication layer that sits on top of OAuth2. Keycloak supports both OAuth2 and OpenID Connect protocols.

We can secure our APIs with Keycloak OAuth2 or OpenID Connect by using the Keycloak adapter library. The adapter library provides all the necessary tools to authenticate and authorize the users using OAuth2 or OpenID Connect. We can use the library to secure our APIs with access tokens, refresh tokens, and other OAuth2 or OpenID Connect related mechanisms.

5. Enabling Single Sign-On (SSO) across multiple web applications and APIs

Single Sign-On (SSO) is a feature that allows a user to log in once and access multiple web applications and APIs without having to authenticate again. Keycloak supports SSO across multiple web applications and APIs.

We can enable SSO by creating a realm in the Keycloak admin console that represents our applications and APIs. We can add different clients representing web applications and APIs to the realm and enable SSO for the realm. After enabling SSO, we need to configure our web applications and APIs to use the Keycloak adapter library and integrate with the realm.

Once we have integrated our web applications and APIs into the realm, users can log in once and access all the applications and APIs without having to authenticate again.