Introduction

Integrating Keycloak with Gitlab SAML makes it easier to manage users in an organization from a central point. You could manage separate accounts on Gitlab, but for us it makes sense to utilize Keycloak as we are already using it for other applications.

Setting up Keycloak

The first step is to create a Gitlab SAML client in the Keycloak dashboard. With the correct realm selected, navigate to the Clients configuration page and click the create button to add a new client.

If you’re at all like me, you every now and then find yourself thrown out of your comfort zone, when you should actually be in it.

The pattern usually goes something like this:

1. It’s something simple. I’ll fix it in a couple of minutes and document it for others. I know my stuff. 

2. Hmm, this seems to be a bit stubborn. I need to take a closer look.

3. Still doesn’t work. I need to run this in a debugging set up and break it into pieces, to see where the problem is.