OpenID Connect: JWT access token authentication - Plugin

JWT access token authentication

Configure the OpenID Connect plugin with JWT access token authentication.

Here’s how JWT access token auth works:

 
sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant client as Client 
(e.g. mobile app)
    participant kong as API Gateway 
(Kong)
    participant httpbin as Upstream 
(upstream service,
 e.g. httpbin)
    activate client
    activate kong
    client->>kong: Service with
access token
    deactivate client
    kong->>kong: load access token
    kong->>kong: verify signature
    kong->>kong: verify claims
    activate httpbin
    kong->>httpbin: request with
access token
    httpbin->>kong: response
    deactivate httpbin
    activate client
    kong->>client: response
    deactivate kong
    deactivate client

In this example, the plugin will only accept a bearer token sent in a query string, but you can also set the bearer_token_param_type parameter to body, header, or any combination of these values.

For a complete example of authenticating with a JWT access token using Keycloak, see the tutorial for configuring OpenID Connect with JWT authentication.

Note: Setting config.client_auth to client_secret_post lets you easily test the connection to your IdP, but we recommend using a more secure auth method in production. You can use any of the supported client auth methods.

Prerequisites

A configured identity provider (IdP)

Environment variables

ISSUER: The issuer authentication URL for your IdP. For example, if you’re using Keycloak as your IdP, the issuer URL looks like this: http://localhost:8080/realms/example-realm
CLIENT_ID: The client ID that the plugin uses when it calls authenticated endpoints of the IdP.
CLIENT_SECRET: The client secret needed to connect to your IdP.

Set up the plugin

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: openid-connect
    config:
      issuer: ${{ env "DECK_ISSUER" }}
      client_id:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_ID" }}
      client_secret:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_SECRET" }}
      client_auth:
      - client_secret_post
      auth_methods:
      - bearer
      bearer_token_param_type:
      - query

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "bearer"
        ],
        "bearer_token_param_type": [
          "query"
        ]
      }
    }
    '

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "bearer"
        ],
        "bearer_token_param_type": [
          "query"
        ]
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.

See the Konnect API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongClusterPlugin
metadata:
  name: openid-connect
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
  labels:
    global: 'true'
config:
  issuer: '$ISSUER'
  client_id:
  - '$CLIENT_ID'
  client_secret:
  - '$CLIENT_SECRET'
  client_auth:
  - client_secret_post
  auth_methods:
  - bearer
  bearer_token_param_type:
  - query
plugin: openid-connect
" | kubectl apply -f -

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_openid_connect" "my_openid_connect" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    issuer = var.issuer
    client_id = [var.client_id]
    client_secret = [var.client_secret]
    client_auth = ["client_secret_post"]
    auth_methods = ["bearer"]
    bearer_token_param_type = ["query"]
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
}

This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "client_secret" {
  type = string
}

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: openid-connect
    service: serviceName|Id
    config:
      issuer: ${{ env "DECK_ISSUER" }}
      client_id:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_ID" }}
      client_secret:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_SECRET" }}
      client_auth:
      - client_secret_post
      auth_methods:
      - bearer
      bearer_token_param_type:
      - query

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

serviceName|Id: The id or name of the service the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/services/{serviceName|Id}/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "bearer"
        ],
        "bearer_token_param_type": [
          "query"
        ]
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

serviceName|Id: The id or name of the service the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/services/{serviceId}/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "bearer"
        ],
        "bearer_token_param_type": [
          "query"
        ]
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.
serviceId: The id of the service the plugin configuration will target.

See the Konnect API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: openid-connect
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
config:
  issuer: '$ISSUER'
  client_id:
  - '$CLIENT_ID'
  client_secret:
  - '$CLIENT_SECRET'
  client_auth:
  - client_secret_post
  auth_methods:
  - bearer
  bearer_token_param_type:
  - query
plugin: openid-connect
" | kubectl apply -f -

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource by annotating the service resource:

kubectl annotate -n kong service SERVICE_NAME konghq.com/plugins=openid-connect

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_openid_connect" "my_openid_connect" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    issuer = var.issuer
    client_id = [var.client_id]
    client_secret = [var.client_secret]
    client_auth = ["client_secret_post"]
    auth_methods = ["bearer"]
    bearer_token_param_type = ["query"]
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
  service = {
    id = konnect_gateway_service.my_service.id
  }
}

This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "client_secret" {
  type = string
}

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: openid-connect
    route: routeName|Id
    config:
      issuer: ${{ env "DECK_ISSUER" }}
      client_id:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_ID" }}
      client_secret:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_SECRET" }}
      client_auth:
      - client_secret_post
      auth_methods:
      - bearer
      bearer_token_param_type:
      - query

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

routeName|Id: The id or name of the route the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/routes/{routeName|Id}/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "bearer"
        ],
        "bearer_token_param_type": [
          "query"
        ]
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

routeName|Id: The id or name of the route the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/routes/{routeId}/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "bearer"
        ],
        "bearer_token_param_type": [
          "query"
        ]
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.
routeId: The id of the route the plugin configuration will target.

See the Konnect API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: openid-connect
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
config:
  issuer: '$ISSUER'
  client_id:
  - '$CLIENT_ID'
  client_secret:
  - '$CLIENT_SECRET'
  client_auth:
  - client_secret_post
  auth_methods:
  - bearer
  bearer_token_param_type:
  - query
plugin: openid-connect
" | kubectl apply -f -

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource by annotating the httproute or ingress resource:

kubectl annotate -n kong httproute  konghq.com/plugins=openid-connect

kubectl annotate -n kong ingress  konghq.com/plugins=openid-connect

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_openid_connect" "my_openid_connect" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    issuer = var.issuer
    client_id = [var.client_id]
    client_secret = [var.client_secret]
    client_auth = ["client_secret_post"]
    auth_methods = ["bearer"]
    bearer_token_param_type = ["query"]
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
  route = {
    id = konnect_gateway_route.my_route.id
  }
}

This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "client_secret" {
  type = string
}

OpenID Connect

JWT access token authentication

Prerequisites

Environment variables

Set up the plugin

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