Keycloak: Open-Source Identity and Access Management for Enterprise Authentication

What is Keycloak?

Keycloak is an open-source identity and access management solution that adds authentication and authorization to applications and services. Built with focus on ease of deployment and comprehensive features, Keycloak provides single sign-on, user federation, and access control without complex systems. Over 100,000 organizations use Keycloak for managing user identity and access across applications.

Unlike Okta ($99-300+/month) where identity management is centralized on Okta servers, Keycloak can be self-hosted providing complete control over user authentication and authorization. Organizations deploy Keycloak on-premises enabling unrestricted user management.

Keycloak serves as the identity management platform. Users authenticate once and access multiple applications. Administrators manage users and permissions centrally. Applications delegate authentication to Keycloak.

Key Features and Capabilities

Authentication

Single Sign-On: Users authenticate once for multiple applications
Social Login: Login with Google, GitHub, Facebook, etc.
LDAP Integration: Authenticate against LDAP directories
Two-Factor Authentication: TOTP and other MFA methods
User Federation: Federate users from other systems

Authorization and Permissions

Role-Based Access Control: Define roles and permissions
Fine-Grained Permissions: Detailed permission management
Policies: Advanced authorization policies
Scope Mapping: Control what data applications access

User Management

User Registration: Self-service user registration
User Profiles: Store additional user information
Password Management: User password reset and change
Account Management: Users manage their own accounts

System Requirements

Server Requirements

OS: Linux, Windows, macOS
Java: Java 11+ required
Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server
RAM: 1GB minimum, 2GB+ recommended

Installation

Docker Installation

docker run -d 
  --name keycloak 
  -p 8080:8080 
  -e KEYCLOAK_ADMIN=admin 
  -e KEYCLOAK_ADMIN_PASSWORD=password 
  quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:latest start-dev

# Access at http://localhost:8080