Auth Backend

WORK IN PROGRESS

This is the backend part of the auth plugin.

It responds to auth requests from the frontend, and fulfills them by delegating to the appropriate provider in the backend.

Local development

Choose your OAuth Providers, replace x with actual value and then start backend: Example for Google OAuth Provider at root directory:

export AUTH_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=x
export AUTH_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=x
yarn --cwd packages/backend start
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Google

export AUTH_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=x
export AUTH_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=x
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GitHub

Creating a GitHub OAuth application

Follow this link, Create new OAuth App.

1. Set Application Name to backstage-dev or something along those lines.
2. You can set the Homepage URL to whatever you want to.
3. The Authorization Callback URL should match the redirect URI set in Backstage.
   1. Set this to http://localhost:7007/api/auth/github/handler/frame for local development.
   2. Set this to http://{APP_FQDN}:{APP_BACKEND_PORT}/api/auth/github/handler/frame for non-local deployments.

export AUTH_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=x
export AUTH_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=x
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For GitHub Enterprise:

export AUTH_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=x
export AUTH_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=x
export AUTH_GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_INSTANCE_URL=https://x
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GitLab

Creating a GitLab OAuth application

Follow this link, Add new application.

1. Set Application Name to backstage-dev or something along those lines.
2. The Authorization Callback URL should match the redirect URI set in Backstage.
   1. Set this to http://localhost:7007/api/auth/gitlab/handler/frame for local development.
   2. Set this to http://{APP_FQDN}:{APP_BACKEND_PORT}/api/auth/gitlab/handler/frame for non-local deployments.
   3. Select the following scopes from the list:
      • [x] read_user Grants read-only access to the authenticated user's profile through the /user API endpoint, which includes username, public email, and full name. Also grants access to read-only API endpoints under /users.
      • [x] read_repository Grants read-only access to repositories on private projects using Git-over-HTTP (not using the API).
      • [x] write_repository Grants read-write access to repositories on private projects using Git-over-HTTP (not using the API).
      • [x] openid Grants permission to authenticate with GitLab using OpenID Connect. Also gives read-only access to the user's profile and group memberships.
      • [x] profile Grants read-only access to the user's profile data using OpenID Connect.
      • [x] email Grants read-only access to the user's primary email address using OpenID Connect.

export GITLAB_BASE_URL=https://gitlab.com
export AUTH_GITLAB_CLIENT_ID=x  # GitLab calls this the Application ID
export AUTH_GITLAB_CLIENT_SECRET=x
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Creating a GitLab Enterprise OAuth application

If you have GitLab Enterprise, perform the steps above, replacing gitlab.example.com in the following with the domain of your GitLab Enterprise host:

Create new application at: https://gitlab.example.com/profile/applications.

export GITLAB_BASE_URL=https://gitlab.example.com
export AUTH_GITLAB_CLIENT_ID=x  # GitLab calls this the Application ID
export AUTH_GITLAB_CLIENT_SECRET=x
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Okta

Add a new Okta application using the following URI conventions:

Login redirect URIs: http://localhost:7007/api/auth/okta/handler/frame Logout redirect URIs: http://localhost:7007/api/auth/okta/logout Initiate login URIs: http://localhost:7007/api/auth/okta/start

Then configure the following environment variables to be used in the app-config.yaml file:

export AUTH_OKTA_AUDIENCE=https://example.okta.com
export AUTH_OKTA_CLIENT_ID=x
export AUTH_OKTA_CLIENT_SECRET=x
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Auth0

export AUTH_AUTH0_DOMAIN=x
export AUTH_AUTH0_CLIENT_ID=x
export AUTH_AUTH0_CLIENT_SECRET=x
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Microsoft

Creating an Azure AD App Registration

An Azure AD App Registration is required to be able to sign in using Azure AD and the Microsoft Graph API. Click here to create a new one.

• Click on the New Registration button.
• Give the app a name. e.g. backstage-dev
• Select Accounts in this organizational directory only under supported account types.
• Enter the callback URL for your backstage backend instance:
  • For local development, this is likely http://localhost:7007/api/auth/microsoft/handler/frame
  • For non-local deployments, this will be https://{APP_FQDN}:{APP_BACKEND_PORT}/auth/microsoft/handler/frame
• Click Register.

We also need to generate a client secret so Backstage can authenticate as this app.

• Click on the Certificates & secrets menu item.
• Under Client secrets, click on New client secret.
• Add a description for the new secret. e.g. auth-backend-plugin
• Select an expiry time; 1 Year, 2 Years or Never.
• Click Add.

The secret value will then be displayed on the screen. You will not be able to retrieve it again after leaving the page.

Starting the Auth Backend

cd packages/backend
export AUTH_MICROSOFT_CLIENT_ID=x
export AUTH_MICROSOFT_CLIENT_SECRET=x
export AUTH_MICROSOFT_TENANT_ID=x
yarn start
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SAML

To try out SAML, you can use the mock identity provider:

./scripts/start-saml-idp.sh
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Authentication providers

How to add an auth provider

Token issuers

Configuring token issuers

Links

• The Backstage homepage

Configuring Token Expiration in App Config

If you need to change Backstage token expiration from the default value of one hour you can do so through configuration. Note that this is not the session duration, but rather the duration that the short-term cryptographic tokens are valid for. The expiration can not be set lower than 10 minutes or above 24 hours.

This is what the configuration looks like:

auth:
   backstageTokenExpiration: { minutes: <user_defined_value> }
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