Learn how to use Keycloak with Nginx as a reverse proxy. Our Nginx Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

Use Keycloak with Nginx as a Reverse Proxy

Did you know that when we use Keycloak with Nginx as a reverse proxy, it means that Nginx is configured to forward requests to Keycloak and acts as the middle person between the clients and the Keycloak server?

This setup boosts security, manages SSL/TLS termination, and improves performance.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the components involved in a Keycloak Nginx reverse proxy setup:

• Keycloak Server:

  This is the main identity and access management server. It handles user authentication, authorization, and other security-related tasks.
• Nginx Server:

  It serves as a reverse proxy in this scenario. It receives requests from clients and forwards them to the Keycloak server. The responses from Keycloak are then passed back to the clients.
• Reverse Proxy Configuration:
  • Proxy Pass:

    Nginx is configured to forward requests to the Keycloak server using the proxy_pass directive. Hence, this involves specifying the URL of the Keycloak server.
  • SSL/TLS Termination:

    If we are using HTTPS, Nginx can handle the SSL/TLS termination, decrypting the incoming traffic and forwarding it to Keycloak over HTTP. So, this helps offload the SSL/TLS processing from the Keycloak server.
  • Path-based Routing:

    We can configure Nginx to handle different paths differently. For example, requests to /auth might be forwarded to Keycloak, while other requests are served directly by Nginx.
  • Load Balancing:

    In more complex setups, Nginx can be used for load balancing across multiple Keycloak instances.

Here’s an example of an Nginx configuration for Keycloak:


server { listen 80; server_name keycloak.example.com; location / { proxy_pass http://keycloak-server:8080; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } }


Here, Nginx listens on port 80 for requests to keycloak.example.com and forwards them to the Keycloak server running at http://keycloak-server:8080. The proxy_set_header directives pass the original client’s information to Keycloak.

Let us know in the comments if you need further help with using Keycloak with Nginx as a reverse proxy.

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Conclusion

In brief, our Support Experts demonstrated how to use Keycloak with Nginx as a reverse proxy.