When building modern web applications, managing user authentication and authorization can get complex and time-consuming. That’s where Keycloak comes in — a powerful open-source identity and access management solution that integrates seamlessly with Spring Boot.
Keycloak is an open-source Identity and Access Management (IAM) tool developed by Red Hat. It provides:
With Keycloak, developers can offload the heavy lifting of user management and security, focusing more on application logic.
There are multiple ways to run Keycloak locally. The easiest and most flexible way for developers is using Docker.
Option 1: Using Docker (Recommended)
docker run -p 8080:8080 \
-e KEYCLOAK_ADMIN=admin \
-e KEYCLOAK_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin \
quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:25.0.3 \
start-devAfter starting, access the Keycloak admin console at: http://localhost:8080
Option 2: Using Local Scripts
1. Download Keycloak: Click here
2. Extract and run
./kc.sh start-dev --admin admin --password admin3. Access the admin console at: http://localhost:8080
Other Setup Options
Keycloak supports Kubernetes, Podman, and production deployments via HTTPS and external databases. Explore more: Keycloak Getting Started
For production environments, follow these best practices:
You can also use docker-compose to manage production-like local environments. It’s ideal for simulating multi-service architectures.
version: '3.8'
services:
keycloak:
image: quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:25.0.3
ports:
- "8080:8080"
environment:
- KEYCLOAK_ADMIN=admin
- KEYCLOAK_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin
command: start-devLet’s build a Spring Boot Book Management System that uses Keycloak for authentication and role-based access.
<dependency>
<groupId>org.keycloak</groupId>
<artifactId>keycloak-spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
<version>25.0.3</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
</dependency>application.properties
server.port=8081
keycloak.auth-server-url=http://localhost:8080
keycloak.realm=demo-realm
keycloak.resource=spring-boot-client
keycloak.credentials.secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET
keycloak.ssl-required=none
keycloak.use-resource-role-mappings=true
spring.security.oauth2.resourceserver.jwt.issuer-uri=http://localhost:8080/realms/demo-realm
spring.security.oauth2.resourceserver.jwt.jwk-set-uri=http://localhost:8080/realms/demo-realm/protocol/openid-connect/certsSpring Security Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
public class SecurityConfig {
@Bean
public SecurityFilterChain filterChain(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
http
.authorizeHttpRequests(auth -> auth
.requestMatchers("/books/admin/**").hasRole("ADMIN")
.requestMatchers("/books/user/**").hasRole("USER")
.anyRequest().authenticated()
)
.oauth2ResourceServer(oauth2 -> oauth2.jwt());
return http.build();
}
}Book Controller Example
@RestController
@RequestMapping("/books")
public class BookController {
@GetMapping("/user/list")
public ResponseEntity<String> userBooks() {
return ResponseEntity.ok("Books available for USER role.");
}
@GetMapping("/admin/list")
public ResponseEntity<String> adminBooks() {
return ResponseEntity.ok("Books available for ADMIN role.");
}
}Admin Console is intuitive, supports debugging, monitoring, and secure configuration for authentication flows
Here are more things you can do with Keycloak:
Use OpenID Connect to secure SPA apps (React, Angular) and have SSO with your Spring Boot backend.
Keycloak offers a powerful, flexible, and production-ready solution for authentication and authorization in modern applications. With minimal configuration, you can secure your Spring Boot apps, manage roles, and integrate external identity providers — all from a central admin interface.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Let Keycloak handle your user management so you can focus on building your application.
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