We've been through a number of iterations of FileMaker 19 now and the latest release, 19.4, introduces some changes to the Execute FileMaker Data API script step that we explored back in September 2020. So, let's find out what's new...
In our last article we set up two factor authentication to make access to our database file more secure - one factor is your username/password and the second factor is the authenticator app on your mobile device. But, we can go another direction too, utilzing something like a YubiKey for password-less authentication. Let's check out how...
Now that we have configured Keycloak to allow us to authenticate to a FileMaker database, we can take advantage of other features of Keycloak to further secure our database. Two factor authentication is popular nowadays and we're going to implement that in this article.
In our last article we configured Keycloak with a realm, client, users and more, ready for it to act as our authentication server for our FileMaker database. In the final stretch of our epic Keycloak journey, we turn our attention to FileMaker and the items we need to take care of there to bring this all together. We're almost there, let's get stuck in!
So far in our Keycloak series we have been setting up the infrastructure for our server to run on, but now that's done we can actually configure Keycloak to act as our authentication server for FileMaker. We'll be using the Keycloak Administrator Console to do this, so let's get logged in and get things set up.
If you've been following our Keycloak series and have survived the previous SSL certificate article, congratulations. We're close to actually getting stuck into Keycloak itself, but we have one last installation item to take care of. Out of the box, Keycloak comes with a relational database called H2, but this is primarily intended for development and testing purposes and is not designed for high concurrency environments. So, we need to set up Keycloak to connect to a more solid database, for which we are going to use MySQL.
So far in our adventure into the depths of setting up an authentication server, we've installed Ubuntu, installed Keycloak and completed some initial configuration to allow us to log in to the software. We must remember that what we're trying to achieve here is better security and as such having our authentication server be secure is critical. So, we're going to need to have encryption, which means installing a SSL certificate. Let's do this!
In our previous blog post, we installed Ubuntu on a virtual machine and then applied OS updates, ready for us to install Keycloak which is going to be our authentication server for our users to access our FileMaker database. So, next up, downloading and installing Keycloak. Let's dig in...
In part one of our Keycloak series, we jump straight in with getting our operating system of choice installed on a virtual machine, ready for Keycloak to be installed. As explained in our introduction blog post, we've chosen to use Ubuntu and Hyper-V on Windows 10, so let's get started on our epic journey!
Data breaches are already far too common and the IT security industry is ever evolving to combat unauthorized access to systems. So, how can we as FileMaker developers and deployers embrace modern security practices? One way is to utilize an Identity and Access Management solution, such as Keycloak, and in this multi-part series we'll be looking at how to install, configure and connect Keycloak to authenticate users to a FileMaker database.
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