Install Keycloak with MariaDB and NGINX Reverse Proxy (SSL Termination)

This guide shows how to install Keycloak behind NGINX with SSL termination using Let’s Encrypt, and an existing MariaDB server. Keycloak will run as a non-system user and be configured for production.

Prerequisites

An Ubuntu 24.04 server
A public domain name pointing to your server (e.g., keycloak.maksonlee.com)
Existing MariaDB server
Existing NGINX installation
Ports 80 and 443 open

Create Keycloak Database and User in MariaDB

sudo mysql -u root -p

Inside MariaDB shell:

CREATE DATABASE keycloak;
CREATE USER 'keycloak'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON keycloak.* TO 'keycloak'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Install Java 21

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openjdk-21-jdk -y
java -version

Download and Install Keycloak

wget https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak/releases/download/26.2.0/keycloak-26.2.0.tar.gz
tar -xvzf keycloak-26.2.0.tar.gz
sudo mv keycloak-26.2.0 /opt/keycloak
sudo useradd -m keycloak
sudo chown -R keycloak:keycloak /opt/keycloak

Add MariaDB JDBC Driver

sudo wget https://downloads.mariadb.com/Connectors/java/connector-java-3.5.3/mariadb-java-client-3.5.3.jar -O /opt/keycloak/providers/mariadb.jar
sudo chown keycloak:keycloak /opt/keycloak/providers/mariadb.jar

Configure Keycloak

sudo su - keycloak

Edit /opt/keycloak/conf/keycloak.conf:

db=mariadb
db-username=keycloak
db-password=your_secure_password
db-url=jdbc:mariadb://localhost:3306/keycloak

hostname=keycloak.maksonlee.com
http-enabled=true
http-host=127.0.0.1
proxy-headers=xforwarded

Build Keycloak

cd /opt/keycloak
bin/kc.sh build
exit

Add NGINX Config (No SSL Yet)

Before running Certbot, create a simple config:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name keycloak.maksonlee.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;

        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 http;
    }
}

Save as:

/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/keycloak

Then reload NGINX:

sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Get SSL Certificate via Certbot

sudo certbot --nginx -d keycloak.maksonlee.com

Certbot will automatically update the NGINX config with SSL.

Final NGINX Config (With SSL + Headers)

Verify your final config looks like this:

server {
    server_name keycloak.maksonlee.com;

    listen 443 ssl;
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/keycloak.maksonlee.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/keycloak.maksonlee.com/privkey.pem;
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;

        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 https;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Port 443;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;

        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Connection "";
    }
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name keycloak.maksonlee.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

Start Keycloak with Temporary Admin User

sudo su - keycloak
export KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
export KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin
export JAVA_OPTS="-Xms128m -Xmx128m"
cd /opt/keycloak
bin/kc.sh start

You can now visit:

https://keycloak.maksonlee.com

Run Keycloak as a Systemd Service

Create a unit file:

sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/keycloak.service

Paste the following:

[Unit]
Description=Keycloak Server
After=network.target

[Service]
User=keycloak
Group=keycloak
WorkingDirectory=/opt/keycloak
ExecStart=/opt/keycloak/bin/kc.sh start --http-host=127.0.0.1
Restart=always
Environment=JAVA_OPTS=-Xms128m -Xmx128m

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable keycloak
sudo systemctl start keycloak

Your Keycloak is now running securely behind NGINX with SSL termination and using MariaDB as backend storage.

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