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+date = 2023-10-11T02:53:29+00:00
+title = "Self-Hosting Authelia"
+description = "A simple tutorial to get Authelia running on a self-hosted server."
++++
+
+## Overview
+
+[Authelia](https://www.authelia.com/) is an open-source authentication service 
+that allows you to place a portal between end users on the internet and 
+self-hosted services on your server.
+
+You can require one factor (username+password) or two factor authentication for 
+any such user before allowing them to access a specific service on your domain.
+
+This guide will walk through a standard installation of Authelia for 
+`example.com`, using `auth.example.com` as Authelia's authentication domain and 
+`teddit.example.com` as the website we want to protect behind the authentication 
+portal.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+This guide assumes you have the following already set-up:
+
+- A registered domain with DNS pointing to your server.
+- A subdomain for Authelia (`auth.example.com`) and a subdomain to protect via 
+Authelia (`app.example.com`).
+- A working Nginx web server.
+- Docker and docker-compose installed.
+
+## Installation
+
+This guide will walk through each installation step one-by-one, starting with 
+the container and finishing by cleaning up external access via an Nginx reverse 
+proxy.
+
+### Docker-Compose
+
+To start, create a directory for Authelia and create a `docker-compose.yml` 
+file.
+
+```sh
+mkdir ~/authelia
+nano ~/authelia/docker-compose.yml
+```
+
+Within this file, paste the following content. If you prefer a different local 
+port, modify the port on the left side of the colon on the `9091:9091` line. Be 
+sure to modify the `TZ` variable to your timezone.
+
+```yml
+version: '3.3'
+
+services:
+  authelia:
+    image: authelia/authelia
+    container_name: authelia
+    volumes:
+      - ./config:/config
+    ports:
+      - 9091:9091
+    environment:
+      - TZ=America/Chicago
+```
+
+Start the container with docker-compose:
+
+```sh
+sudo docker-compose up -d
+```
+
+After the first start, the container will automatically exit and require you to 
+modify the app's configuration files before continuing. Read on to learn more.
+
+### Authelia Configuration
+
+To configure Authelia before we restart the container, we need to open the 
+`config` directory and modify the files. Start by editing the 
+`configuration.yml` file, where all of Authelia's settings are stored.
+
+My personal preference is to copy the original configuration file to a backup 
+file and edit a fresh copy.
+
+```sh
+sudo cp ~/authelia/config/configuration.yml ~/authelia/config/configuration.yml.bk
+sudo nano ~/authelia/config/configuration.yml
+```
+
+Within the blank `configuration.yml` file, paste the following information. You 
+will need to make quite a few updates, so be sure to read each line carefully 
+and modify as necessary.
+
+The major required changes are:
+
+- Any instances of `example.com` should be replaced by your domain.
+- `jwt_secret` - Use the `pwgen 40 1` command to generate a secret for yourself.
+- `access_control` - Set the Authelia domain to bypass here, as well as any 
+subdomains you want to protect.
+- `session` > `secret` - Use the `pwgen 40 1` command to generate a secret for 
+yourself.
+- `regulation` - Set the variables here to restrict login attempts and bans.
+- `storage` > `encryption_key` - Use the `pwgen 40 1` command to generate a 
+secret for yourself.
+- `smtp` - If you have access to an SMTP service, set up the information here to 
+active outgoing emails.
+
+```yml
+# yamllint disable rule:comments-indentation
+---
+###############################################################################
+#                           Authelia Configuration                            #
+###############################################################################
+
+theme: dark 
+jwt_secret: aiS5iedaiv6eeVaideeLeich5roo6ohvaf3Vee1a # pwgen 40 1
+
+default_redirection_url: https://example.com
+
+server:
+  host: 0.0.0.0
+  port: 9091
+  path: ""
+  read_buffer_size: 4096
+  write_buffer_size: 4096
+  enable_pprof: false
+  enable_expvars: false
+  disable_healthcheck: false
+  tls:
+    key: ""
+    certificate: ""
+
+log:
+  level: debug
+
+totp:
+  issuer: example.com
+  period: 30
+  skew: 1
+
+authentication_backend:
+  disable_reset_password: false
+  refresh_interval: 5m
+  file:
+    path: /config/users_database.yml
+    password:
+      algorithm: argon2id
+      iterations: 1
+      key_length: 32
+      salt_length: 16
+      memory: 1024
+      parallelism: 8
+
+access_control:
+  default_policy: deny
+  rules:
+    - domain:
+        - "auth.example.com"
+      policy: bypass
+    - domain: "teddit.example.com"
+      policy: one_factor
+
+session:
+  name: authelia_session
+  secret: aiS5iedaiv6eeVaideeLeich5roo6ohvaf3Vee1a # pwgen 40 1
+  expiration: 3600
+  inactivity: 300
+  domain: example.com
+
+regulation:
+  max_retries: 5
+  find_time: 10m
+  ban_time: 12h
+
+storage:
+  local:
+    path: /config/db.sqlite3 
+  encryption_key: aiS5iedaiv6eeVaideeLeich5roo6ohvaf3Vee1a # pwgen 40 1
+
+notifier:
+  disable_startup_check: true
+  smtp:
+    username: user@example.com
+    password: password
+    host: smtp.example.com
+    port: 465
+    sender: user@example.com
+    identifier: example.com
+    subject: "[Authelia] {title}"
+    startup_check_address: user@example.com
+    disable_require_tls: false
+    disable_html_emails: true
+    tls:
+      skip_verify: false
+      minimum_version: TLS1.2
+...
+```
+
+### Authelia Users
+
+Next, create the users file for authentication.
+
+```sh
+sudo nano ~/authelia/config/users_database.yml
+```
+
+Within the file, you will need to create an entry for each user that needs 
+access to Authelia. The `my_username` entry will be the username used on the 
+login page.
+
+To generate the password, go to [Argon2 Hash Generator](https://argon2.online), 
+generate a random salt, and make sure the rest of the settings match the 
+`authentication_backend` section of `configuration.yml` file.
+
+```yml
+users:
+  my_username:
+    displayname: "My User"
+    # Generated at https://argon2.online/ -- match the settings in 
+    # the `authentication_backend` section of configuration.yml
+    password: "" 
+    email: email@example.com
+    groups:
+      - admins
+      - dev
+```
+
+Once the app is configured, restart the container from scratch.
+
+```sh
+cd ~/authelia
+sudo docker-compose down && sudo docker-compose up -d
+```
+
+### Nginx: Authelia Domain
+
+Once the container is running and configured, the final step is to configure 
+external access to the server via Nginx reverse proxy.
+
+Start by creating the Authelia domain.
+
+```sh
+sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/auth
+```
+
+Within this file, paste the following information and be sure to update 
+`example.com` to your domain. Make sure the `$upstream_authelia` variable 
+matches the location of your Authelia container.
+
+```conf
+server {
+	if ($host ~ ^[^.]+\.example\.com$) {
+		return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
+	}
+
+	listen [::]:80;
+	listen 80;
+	server_name auth.example.com;
+	return 404;
+}
+
+server {
+	listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
+	listen 443 ssl http2;
+	server_name auth.example.com;
+	access_log  /var/log/nginx/auth.access.log;
+	error_log   /var/log/nginx/auth.error.log;
+
+	ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
+	ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;
+	include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
+	ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
+
+	location / {
+		set $upstream_authelia http://127.0.0.1:9091;
+		proxy_pass $upstream_authelia;
+		client_body_buffer_size 128k;
+
+		proxy_next_upstream error timeout invalid_header http_500 http_502 http_503;
+
+		send_timeout 5m;
+		proxy_read_timeout 360;
+		proxy_send_timeout 360;
+		proxy_connect_timeout 360;
+
+		proxy_set_header Host $host;
+		proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $http_host;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Uri $request_uri;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl on;
+		proxy_redirect  http://  $scheme://;
+		proxy_http_version 1.1;
+		proxy_set_header Connection "";
+		proxy_cache_bypass $cookie_session;
+		proxy_no_cache $cookie_session;
+		proxy_buffers 64 256k;
+	}
+
+}
+```
+
+Next, symlink the file and restart Nginx. If there are errors, be sure to 
+resolve those before moving on.
+
+```sh
+sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/auth /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/auth
+sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
+```
+
+### Nginx: Protected Domain(s)
+
+Now that Authelia is accessible externally, you need to configure the domain you 
+intend to protect with Authelia. In this example, I'm protecting 
+`teddit.example.com`.
+
+Similar to the process above, paste the content and update the relevant 
+variables.
+
+```sh
+sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/teddit
+```
+
+```conf
+server {
+	if ($host ~ ^[^.]+\.example\.com$) {
+		return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
+	}
+
+	listen [::]:80;
+	listen 80;
+	server_name teddit.example.com;
+	return 404;
+}
+
+server {
+	listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
+	listen 443 ssl http2;
+	server_name teddit.example.com;
+	access_log  /var/log/nginx/teddit.access.log;
+	error_log   /var/log/nginx/teddit.error.log;
+
+	add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";
+	add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
+	add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY";
+	add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains";
+	add_header Referrer-Policy "no-referrer";
+
+	ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
+	ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;
+	include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
+	ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
+
+	location /authelia {
+		internal;
+		set $upstream_authelia http://127.0.0.1:9091/api/verify;
+		proxy_pass_request_body off;
+		proxy_pass $upstream_authelia;
+		proxy_set_header Content-Length "";
+
+		proxy_next_upstream error timeout invalid_header http_500 http_502 http_503;
+		client_body_buffer_size 128k;
+		proxy_set_header Host $host;
+		proxy_set_header X-Original-URL $scheme://$http_host$request_uri;
+		proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $http_host;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Uri $request_uri;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl on;
+		proxy_redirect  http://  $scheme://;
+		proxy_http_version 1.1;
+		proxy_set_header Connection "";
+		proxy_cache_bypass $cookie_session;
+		proxy_no_cache $cookie_session;
+		proxy_buffers 4 32k;
+
+		send_timeout 5m;
+		proxy_read_timeout 240;
+		proxy_send_timeout 240;
+		proxy_connect_timeout 240;
+	}
+
+	location / {
+		set $upstream_teddit http://127.0.0.1:8686;
+		proxy_pass $upstream_teddit;
+
+		auth_request /authelia;
+		auth_request_set $target_url https://$http_host$request_uri;
+		auth_request_set $user $upstream_http_remote_user;
+		auth_request_set $email $upstream_http_remote_email;
+		auth_request_set $groups $upstream_http_remote_groups;
+		proxy_set_header Remote-User $user;
+		proxy_set_header Remote-Email $email;
+		proxy_set_header Remote-Groups $groups;
+
+		error_page 401 =302 https://auth.example.com/?rd=$target_url;
+
+		client_body_buffer_size 128k;
+
+		proxy_next_upstream error timeout invalid_header http_500 http_502 http_503;
+
+		send_timeout 5m;
+		proxy_read_timeout 360;
+		proxy_send_timeout 360;
+		proxy_connect_timeout 360;
+
+		proxy_set_header Host $host;
+		proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
+		proxy_set_header Connection upgrade;
+		proxy_set_header Accept-Encoding gzip;
+		proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $http_host;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Uri $request_uri;
+		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl on;
+		proxy_redirect  http://  $scheme://;
+		proxy_http_version 1.1;
+		proxy_set_header Connection "";
+		proxy_cache_bypass $cookie_session;
+		proxy_no_cache $cookie_session;
+		proxy_buffers 64 256k;
+	}
+}
+```
+
+Same as before, symlink the file and restart Nginx.
+
+```sh
+sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/teddit /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/teddit
+sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
+```
+
+## Results
+
+When visiting the protected domain, you will now be redirected to your 
+authentication domain and presented with the Authelia login portal.
+
+![Authelia Portal](https://img.0x4b1d.org/blog/20231010-authelia/authelia_portal.png "Authelia Portal")
+
+Once you've successfully authenticated, you can visit your authentication domain 
+directly and see that you're currently authenticated to any domain protected by 
+Authelia.
+
+![Authelia Success](https://img.0x4b1d.org/blog/20231010-authelia/authelia_success.png "Authelia Success")