OIDC Provider Configuration

This manual explains how to configure a custom OIDC provider to use with Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform (KKP).

Default Configuration

When nothing is configured, KKP uses https://<domain>/dex as the OIDC provider URL, which by default points to Dex. The domain is taken from the KubermaticConfiguration.

When redirecting users to the OIDC provider for login into the KKP dashboard, KKP adds the following parameters to the base URL:

  • &response_type is set to id_token
  • &client_id is set to kubermatic
  • &redirect_uri is set to https://<domain>/projects which is root view of the KKP dashboard
  • &scope is set to openid email profile groups
  • &nonce is randomly generated, 32 character string to prevent replay attacks

Custom Configuration

The default configuration can be changed as KKP supports other OIDC providers as well. This involves updating the KKP dashboard and API using the KubermaticConfiguration CRD on the master cluster. The used configuration can be retrieved using kubectl:

kubectl -n kubermatic get kubermaticconfigurations
#NAME         AGE
#kubermatic   2h

kubectl -n kubermatic get kubermaticconfiguration kubermatic -o yaml
#apiVersion: kubermatic.k8c.io/v1
#kind: KubermaticConfiguration
#metadata:
#  finalizers:
#  - operator.kubermatic.io/cleanup
#  name: kubermatic
#  namespace: kubermatic
#spec:
#  auth:
#    issuerClientSecret: abcd1234
#    issuerCookieKey: wxyz9876
#    serviceAccountKey: 2468mnop
#  ...

There are two sections to update.

API Configuration

The KKP API validates the given token for authentication and therefore needs to be able to find the new token issuer. The relevant fields are under spec.auth and the following snippet demonstrates the default values:

spec:
  auth:
    clientID: kubermatic
    issuerClientID: kubermaticIssuer
    issuerClientSecret: ""
    issuerCookieKey: ""
    issuerRedirectURL: https://<domain>/api/v1/kubeconfig
    serviceAccountKey: ""
    skipTokenIssuerTLSVerify: false
    tokenIssuer: https://<domain>/dex

The tokenIssuer needs to be updated, the rest can be left out if the default values are used. This gives us:

spec:
  auth:
    tokenIssuer: 'https://keycloak.kubermatic.test/auth/realms/test'

UI Configuration

The KKP dashboard needs to know where to redirect the user to in order to perform a login. This can be set by setting a spec.ui.config field, containing JSON. This is where various UI-related options can be set, among them:

  • oidc_provider_url to change the base URL of the OIDC provider
  • oidc_provider_scope to change the scope of the OIDC provider (the scope URL parameter)

A configuration of a custom OIDC provider may look like this:

spec:
  ui:
    config: |
      {
        "oidc_provider_url": "https://keycloak.kubermatic.test/auth/realms/test/protocol/openid-connect/auth",
        "oidc_provider_scope": "openid email profile roles"
      }      

Applying the Changes

Edit the KubermaticConfiguration either directly via kubectl edit or apply it from a YAML file by using kubectl apply. The KKP Operator will pick up on the changes and reconfigure the components accordingly. After a few seconds the new pods should be up and running.

If you are using Keycloak as a custom OIDC provider, make sure that you set the option Implicit Flow Enabled: On on the kubermatic and kubermaticIssuer clients. Without this option, you won’t be properly redirected to the login page.