Managing authorization for Keycloak service accounts via realm roles

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Managing authorization for service accounts in Keycloak involves several steps. Service accounts in Keycloak are associated with clients, and are typically used for server-to-server communication where the service account represents an automated service rather than an individual user.

In Pulumi, with the Keycloak provider, you can manage the realm roles of a service account linked to a client using the `keycloak.openid.ClientServiceAccountRealmRole` resource. This operation assigns realm-level roles to a service account, thereby granting it specific permissions within the realm.

Below I'll provide you with a Pulumi TypeScript program that demonstrates how to manage a Keycloak service account's authorization by assigning realm roles to it. The program will include:

- Creation of a realm.
- Creation of a client (this automatically creates a service account tied to the client in Keycloak).
- Creation of a realm role.
- Association of the realm role with the service account.

Here's a detailed look at how the Pulumi Keycloak provider can be used to script this configuration:

```typescript
import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as keycloak from "@ryanholland/keycloak";

// Create a new Keycloak realm.
const realm = new keycloak.Realm("exampleRealm", {
    realm: "example",
    enabled: true,
});

// Create a new Keycloak client within our realm. 
// A service account is created automatically for each new client.
const client = new keycloak.openid.Client("exampleClient", {
    clientId: "example-client",
    realmId: realm.id,
    secret: "very-secret-client-secret",
    enabled: true,
    clientAuthenticatorType: "client-secret",
});

// Create a new role within our realm.
const role = new keycloak.Role("exampleRole", {
    name: "example-role",
    realmId: realm.id,
});

// Retrieve the service account user tied to our client.
const serviceAccountUser = keycloak.openid.ClientServiceAccountUser.get("exampleClientServiceAccountUser", client.id);

// Associate the role we created with the service account.
const serviceAccountRole = new keycloak.openid.ClientServiceAccountRealmRole("exampleClientServiceAccountRealmRole", {
    role: role.name,
    realmId: realm.id,
    serviceAccountUserId: serviceAccountUser.then(u => u.id),
});

// Export the client ID and the service account user ID.
export const clientId = client.id;
export const serviceAccountUserId = serviceAccountUser.then(u => u.id);
```

This program starts by importing the necessary Pulumi and Keycloak modules. It then proceeds to:

1. **Create a realm**: A realm in Keycloak is a way to manage a set of users, credentials, roles, and groups. Each realm can be isolated from one another.
2. **Create a client**: A client in Keycloak represents an application that is going to interact with the realm. A service account is automatically created for each client.
3. **Create a role**: A role defines a type of user in Keycloak. Roles can be assigned to users in a realm or to the service account associated with a client.
4. **Get the service account user**: For each client, Keycloak creates a service account user. Here, we fetch that user as we'll need their ID to assign a role to them.
5. **Associate the realm role with the service account**: We create a resource that represents the binding of the role to the service account user. This grants the service account the permissions associated with the role.

The `serviceAccountRole` uses the `keycloak.openid.ClientServiceAccountRealmRole` resource to assign the created role to the service account user. The exported client and service account user IDs can be used for further management or integration with other systems.

Ensure you have the Keycloak provider installed and configured with the correct credentials before running this Pulumi program. The actual program is sensitive to the context of your Keycloak setup, so you may need to adjust realm names, client configurations, role names, and other parameters to match your specific Keycloak environment.