dex/Documentation/connectors-configuration.md

Configuring Connectors

Connectors connect dex to authentication providers. dex needs to have at least one connector configured so that users can log in.

Configuration Format

The dex connector configuration format is a JSON array of objects, each with an ID and type, in addition to whatever other configuration is required, like so:

[
    {
        "id": "local",
        "type": "local"
    }, {
        "id": "Google",
        "type": "oidc",
        ...<<more config>>...
    }
]

The additional configuration is dependent on the specific type of connector.

local connector

The local connector allows email/password based authentication hosted by dex itself. It is special in several ways:

• There can only be one local connector in your configuration.
• The id must be local
• No other configuration is required

When the local connector is present, users can authenticate with the "Log in With Email" button on the authentication screen.

The configuration for the local connector is always the same; it looks like this:

    {
        "id": "local",
        "type": "local"
    }

oidc connector

This connector config lets users authenticate with other OIDC providers. In addition to id and type, the oidc connector takes the following additional fields:

• issuerURL: a string. The base URL for the OIDC provider. Should be a URL with an https scheme.
• clientID: a string. The OIDC client ID.
• clientSecret: a string. The OIDC client secret.
• trustedEmailProvider: a boolean. If true dex will trust the email address claims from this provider and not require that users verify their emails.

In order to use the oidc connector you must register dex as an OIDC client; this mechanism is different from provider to provider. For Google, follow the instructions at their developer site. Regardless of your provider, registering your client will also provide you with the client ID and secret.

When registering dex as a client, you need to provide redirect URLs to the provider. dex requires just one:

https://$DEX_HOST:$DEX_PORT/auth/$CONNECTOR_ID/callback

$DEX_HOST and $DEX_PORT are the host and port of your dex installation. $CONNECTOR_ID is the id field of the connector for this OIDC provider.

Here's what a oidc connector looks like configured for authenticating with Google; the clientID and clientSecret shown are not usable. We consider Google a trusted email provider because the email address that is present in claims is for a Google provisioned email account (eg. an @gmail.com address)

    {
        "type": "oidc",
        "id": "google",
        "issuerURL": "https://accounts.google.com",
        "clientID": "$DEX_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID",
        "clientSecret": "$DEX_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET",
        "trustedEmailProvider": true
    }

github connector

This connector config lets users authenticate through GitHub. In addition to id and type, the github connector takes the following additional fields:

• clientID: a string. The GitHub OAuth application client ID.
• clientSecret: a string. The GitHub OAuth application client secret.

To begin, register an OAuth application with GitHub through your, or your organization's account settings. To register dex as a client of your GitHub application, enter dex's redirect URL under 'Authorization callback URL':

https://$DEX_HOST:$DEX_PORT/auth/$CONNECTOR_ID/callback

$DEX_HOST and $DEX_PORT are the host and port of your dex installation. $CONNECTOR_ID is the id field of the connector.

Here's an example of a github connector; the clientID and clientSecret should be replaced by values provided by GitHub.

    {
        "type": "github",
        "id": "github",
        "clientID": "$DEX_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID",
        "clientSecret": "$DEX_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET"
    }

The github connector requests read only access to user's email through the user:email scope.

bitbucket connector

This connector config lets users authenticate through Bitbucket. In addition to id and type, the bitbucket connector takes the following additional fields:

• clientID: a string. The Bitbucket OAuth consumer client ID.
• clientSecret: a string. The Bitbucket OAuth consumer client secret.

To begin, register an OAuth consumer with Bitbucket through your, or your teams's management page. Follow the documentation at their developer site. NOTE: When configuring a consumer through Bitbucket you must configure read email permissions.

To register dex as a client of your Bitbucket consumer, enter dex's redirect URL under 'Callback URL':

https://$DEX_HOST:$DEX_PORT/auth/$CONNECTOR_ID/callback

$DEX_HOST and $DEX_PORT are the host and port of your dex installation. $CONNECTOR_ID is the id field of the connector.

Here's an example of a bitbucket connector; the clientID and clientSecret should be replaced by values provided by Bitbucket.

    {
        "type": "bitbucket",
        "id": "bitbucket",
        "clientID": "$DEX_BITBUCKET_CLIENT_ID",
        "clientSecret": "$DEX_BITBUCKET_CLIENT_SECRET"
    }

ldap connector

The ldap connector allows email/password based authentication hosted by dex, backed by a LDAP directory. The connector can operate in two primary modes:

1. Binding against a specific directory using the end user's credentials.
2. Searching a directory for a entry using a service account then attempting to bind with the user's credentials.

User entries are expected to have an email attribute (configurable through "emailAttribute"), and optionally a display name attribute (configurable through "nameAttribute").

NOTE: Dex currently requires user registration with the dex system, even if that user already has an account with the upstream LDAP system. Installations that use this connector are recommended to provide the "--enable-automatic-registration" flag.

In addition to id and type, the ldap connector takes the following additional fields:

• host: a string. The host and port of the LDAP server in form "host:port".
• useTLS: a boolean. Whether the LDAP Connector should issue a StartTLS after successfully connecting to the LDAP Server.
• useSSL: a boolean. Whether the LDAP Connector should expect the connection to be encrypted, typically used with ldaps port (636/tcp).
• certFile: a string. Optional path to x509 client certificate to present to LDAP server.
• keyFile: a string. Key associated with x509 client cert specified in certFile.
• caFile: a string. Filename for PEM-file containing the set of root certificate authorities that the LDAP client use when verifying the server certificates. Default: use the host's root CA set.
• baseDN: a string. Base DN from which Bind DN is built and searches are based.
• nameAttribute: a string. Entity attribute to map to display name of users. Default: cn
• emailAttribute: a string. Required. Attribute to map to Email. Default: mail
• searchBeforeAuth: a boolean. Perform search for entryDN to be used for bind.
• searchFilter: a string. Filter to apply to search. Variable substititions: %u User supplied username/e-mail address. %b BaseDN. Searches that return multiple entries are considered ambiguous and will return an error.
• searchScope: a string. Scope of the search. base|one|sub. Default: one
• searchBindDN: a string. DN to bind as for search operations.
• searchBindPw: a string. Password for bind for search operations.
• bindTemplate: a string. Template to build bindDN from user supplied credentials. Variable subtitutions: %u User supplied username/e-mail address. %b BaseDN. Default: uid=%u,%b.

Example: Authenticating against a specific directory

To authenticate against a specific LDAP directory level, use the "bindTemplate" field. This string describes how to map a username to a LDAP entity.

    {
        "type": "ldap",
        "id": "ldap",
        "host": "127.0.0.1:389",
        "baseDN": "cn=users,cn=accounts,dc=auth,dc=example,dc=com",
        "bindTemplate": "uid=%u,%d"
    }

"bindTemplate" is a format string. %d is replaced by the value of "baseDN" and %u is replaced by the username attempting to login. In this case if a user "janedoe" attempts to authenticate, the bindTemplate will be expanded to:

uid=janedoe,cn=users,cn=accounts,dc=auth,dc=example,dc=com

The connector then attempts to bind as this entry using the password provided by the end user.

Example: Searching the directory

The following configuration will search a directory using an LDAP filter. With FreeIPA

    {
        "type": "ldap",
        "id": "ldap",
        "host": "127.0.0.1:389",
        "baseDN": "cn=auth,dc=example,dc=com",

        "searchBeforeAuth": true,
        "searchFilter": "(&(objectClass=person)(uid=%u))",
        "searchScope": "sub",

        "searchBindDN": "serviceAccountUser",
        "searchBindPw": "serviceAccountPassword"
    }

"searchFilter" is a format string expanded in a similar manner as "bindTemplate". If the user "janedoe" attempts to authenticate, the connector will run the following query using the service account credentials.

(&(objectClass=person)(uid=janedoe))

If the search finds an entry, it will attempt to use the provided password to bind as that entry.

NOTE: Searches that return multiple entries will return an error.

Setting the Configuration

To set a connectors configuration in dex, put it in some temporary file, then use the dexctl command to upload it to dex:

dexctl -db-url=$DEX_DB_URL set-connector-configs /tmp/dex_connectors.json