Adding AuthN to HAPI FHIR with OAuth2 Proxy, Nginx and Keycloak

Details

The post provides a technical tutorial on implementing secure access for HAPI FHIR by integrating Keycloak as the core identity management system, further protected by OAuth2 Proxy and Nginx. Keycloak is highlighted as an Identity and Access Management solution supporting standards like OpenID Connect (OIDC) and OAuth 2.0. A critical aspect discussed is the necessity of using TLS (Transport Layer Security) for all production communications, preventing exposure via HTTP. The guide details practical operational steps, including implementing a health check mechanism to ensure service readiness and configuring dependencies so that OAuth2 Proxy waits until Keycloak is fully initialized (`condition: service_healthy`). These detailed configurations cover everything from container setup (Docker Compose), environment variable management (.env file), to the initial import and export of development realms. The content serves as an in-depth technical guide for implementing modern authentication standards in healthcare IT infrastructure.