Keycloak SSO: Implement Single Sign-On with OpenID Connect

Implement Single Sign-On with Keycloak and OpenID Connect Authentication

What You'll Learn

  • Set up Keycloak authentication realm with users, clients, and role-based permissions
  • Configure OpenID Connect flow with access tokens and ID tokens for comprehensive authentication
  • Integrate applications like Grafana with Keycloak for seamless single sign-on experience
  • Implement client scopes and mappers to encode role information in authentication tokens
  • Test and troubleshoot authentication flows using Postman and token validation techniques

Description

Master single sign-on implementation using Keycloak and the OpenID Connect authentication protocol. This comprehensive tutorial demonstrates how to set up enterprise-grade authentication that extends beyond simple OAuth by providing both access authorization and detailed user identity information.

Starting with Keycloak installation using Helm charts, you'll create a complete authentication realm that manages users, clients, and permissions. Learn to configure Grafana as a Keycloak client, enabling seamless authentication flow where users are redirected to Keycloak for login and automatically returned to the application with proper access tokens.

The tutorial covers the complete OpenID Connect flow: when users access Grafana, they're redirected to Keycloak for authentication. Upon successful login, Keycloak issues both an access token (granting permission to use the service) and an ID token (containing user identity and role information). This dual-token approach allows applications to not only authorize access but also understand user roles and permissions.

You'll configure advanced features including client scopes and mappers to ensure role information is properly encoded in tokens. Learn to set up realm-level roles and map them to application-specific permissions, enabling Grafana to automatically assign admin, editor, or viewer roles based on Keycloak user attributes.

The hands-on approach includes Postman collection testing for token validation and user info retrieval, ensuring your authentication flow works correctly. You'll troubleshoot common issues and understand how tokens are decoded and validated by applications.

This tutorial applies to any application requiring SSO capabilities - the concepts work equally well with Elastic Search, Chef Automate, or any OpenID Connect-compatible service. By the end, you'll have implemented a production-ready single sign-on solution with role-based access control.