<#import "/templates/guide.adoc" as tmpl>
<#import "/templates/kc.adoc" as kc>
<#import "/templates/links.adoc" as links>

<@tmpl.guide
title="Configure the Hostname"
summary="Learn how to configure the frontend and backchannel endpoints exposed by Keycloak."
includedOptions="hostname-* proxy">

When running Keycloak in environments such as Kubernetes, OpenShift, or on-premise, you want to protect the internal URLs from exposure to the public facing internet. You want to use your public hostname. This guide describes how to configure Keycloak to use the right hostname for different scenarios.

== Keycloak API Endpoint categories
As this section explains, Keycloak exposes three API endpoint categories: frontend, backend, and administrative.  Each category uses a specific base URL. 

=== Frontend Endpoints
Frontend endpoints are used to externally access Keycloak. When no hostname is set, the base URL used for the frontend is taken from the incoming request. This choice has some major disadvantages. For example, in a high availability scenario, you may have multiple Keycloak instances. The choice of URL should not depend on the instance where the request lands. The URL should be used for all instances, so they are seen as one system from the outside.

To set the hostname part of the frontend base URL, enter the `kc.start` command in this format:

<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=<value>"/>

=== Backend Endpoints
Backend endpoints are used for direct communication between Keycloak and applications. Examples of backend endpoints are the Token endpoint and the User info endpoint. Backend endpoints are also taking the base URL from the request by default. To override this behavior, set the `hostname-strict-backchannel` configuration option by entering the `kc.start` command in this format:

<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=<value> --hostname-strict-backchannel=true"/>

When all applications connected to Keycloak communicate through the public URL, set `hostname-strict-backchannel` to true. Otherwise, leave this parameter as false to allow internal applications to communicate with Keycloak through an internal URL.

=== Administrative Endpoints
When the Admin Console is exposed on a different hostname, use `--hostname-admin` to link to it.  Enter the `kc.start` command in this format:

<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=<hostname> --hostname-admin=<adminHostname>"/>

When `hostname-admin` is configured, all links and static resources used to render the Admin Console are served from the value you enter for `<adminHostname>` instead of the value for `<hostname>`.

To reduce attack surface, the administration endpoints for Keycloak and the Admin Console should not be publicly accessible. Therefore, you can secure them by using a reverse proxy. For more information about which paths to expose using a reverse proxy, see the <@links.server id="proxy"/> Guide.

== Overriding the hostname path
When running Keycloak behind a reverse proxy, you may expose Keycloak using a different context path such as `myproxy.url/mykeycloak`. To perform this action, you can override the hostname path to use the path defined in your reverse proxy:

<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=myurl --hostname-path=mykeycloak"/>

The `hostname-path` configuration takes effect when a reverse proxy is enabled. For details, see the <@links.server id="proxy"/> Guide.

== Using the hostname in development mode
You run Keycloak in development mode by using `start-dev`. In this mode, the hostname setting is optional. When it is omitted, the incoming request headers are used.

=== Example: Hostname in development mode
.Keycloak configuration:
<@kc.startdev parameters=""/>

.Invoked command:
[source, bash]
----
curl GET "https://localhost:8080/realms/master/.well-known/openid-configuration" | jq .
----

.Result:
[source, bash]
----
# Frontend endpoints: request://request:request -> http://localhost:8080
# Backend endpoints: request://request:request -> http://localhost:8080
----

In this example of using a curl GET request, the result shows the current OpenID Discovery configuration. All base URLS are taken from the incoming request, so `http://localhost:8080` is used for all endpoints.

== Example Scenarios
The following are more example scenarios and the corresponding commands for setting up a hostname.

=== Assumptions for all scenarios
* Keycloak is set up using HTTPS certificates and Port 8443.
* `intlUrl` refers to an internal IP/DNS for Keycloak.
* `myUrl` refers to an exposed public URL
* Keycloak runs in production mode using the `start` command.

=== Example 1: Hostname configuration without reverse proxy
.Keycloak configuration:
<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=myurl"/>

.Invoked command:
[source, bash]
----
curl GET "https://intUrl:8443/realms/master/.well-known/openid-configuration" | jq .
----

.Result:
[source, bash]
----
# Frontend Endpoints: request://myurl:request -> https://myurl:8443
# Backend Endpoints: request://request:request -> https://internal:8443
----

=== Example 2: Hostname configuration without reverse proxy - strict backchannel enabled

.Keycloak configuration:
<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=myurl --hostname-strict-backchannel=true"/>

.Invoked command:
[source, bash]
----
curl GET "https://intUrl:8443/realms/master/.well-known/openid-configuration" | jq .
----

.Result:
[source, bash]
----
# Frontend: request://myurl:request -> https://myurl:8443
# Backend: request://myurl:request -> https://myurl:8443
----

=== Example 3: Hostname configuration with reverse proxy
.Keycloak configuration:
<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=myurl --proxy=passthrough"/>

.Invoked command:
[source, bash]
----
curl GET "https://intUrl:8443/realms/master/.well-known/openid-configuration" | jq .
----

.Result:
[source, bash]
----
# Frontend Endpoints: request://myurl ->  https://myurl
# Backend Endpoints: request://request:request -> https://internal:8443
----

=== Hostname configuration with reverse proxy and different path
.Keycloak configuration:
<@kc.start parameters="--hostname=myurl --proxy=passthrough --hostname-path=mykeycloak"/>

.Invoked command:
[source, bash]
----
curl GET "https://intUrl:8443/realms/master/.well-known/openid-configuration" | jq .
----

.Result:
[source, bash]
----
# Frontend Endpoints: request://myurl ->  https://myurl/mykeycloak
# Backend Endpoints: request://request:request -> https://internal:8443
----

</@tmpl.guide>