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Version: vNext (upcoming release)

Hosted Authenticate Service

Pomerium's Hosted Authenticate Service provides a hosted alternative to the self-hosted authenticate service.

Introduced in Pomerium v0.22, the hosted authenticate service is available for open-source Pomerium, Pomerium Zero, and Pomerium Enterprise.

How the hosted authenticate service works​

Pomerium's hosted authenticate service includes a Hosted Authenticate Service URL and a Hosted Identity Provider that handle authentication and authorization using OAuth 2.0 and OIDC protocols.

Pomerium Zero, Core, and Enterprise configurations that do not include the self-hosted authenticate service URL or identity provider settings default to the hosted authenticate service settings. See Configure the hosted authenticate service section for more information.

Why use the hosted authenticate service​

The hosted authenticate service offers a quicker way for users to deploy and test Pomerium.

No configuration​

The hosted authenticate service doesn't require an authenticate service URL or identity provider settings to use.

Less time to deploy​

Pomerium's hosted authenticate service removes the tedium of configuring your own identity provider (IdP) and authenticate service URL so you can deploy Pomerium in less time.

Faster proof of concept​

If you're testing Pomerium for the first time, run Pomerium with Docker using our hosted authenticate service – you can run Pomerium Core in under 5 minutes with minimal setup.

Pomerium Enterprise

Pomerium users who are interested in Pomerium Enterprise can test out the Docker Enterprise quickstart using our hosted authenticate service as well.

Configure the hosted authenticate service​

The hosted authenticate service requires no configuration to use.

Add the following route and policy to your configuration file:

routes:
  - from: https://verify.localhost.pomerium.io
    to: http://verify:8000
    policy:
      - allow:
          or:
            - email:
                is: user@example.com
    pass_identity_headers: true

This minimal configuration is all you need to connect to an upstream service with Pomerium's hosted services.

If you want, you can still include the hosted URL in your configuration:

authenticate_service_url: https://authenticate.pomerium.app

routes:
  - from: https://verify.localhost.pomerium.io
    to: http://verify:8000
    policy:
      - allow:
          or:
            - email:
                is: user@example.com
    pass_identity_headers: true

If you use the hosted URL and include your own IdP settings, Pomerium will override your IdP configuration and use the hosted IdP instead:

authenticate_service_url: https://authenticate.pomerium.app

idp_provider: google
idp_client_id: my_client_id
idp_client_secret: my_client_secret

routes:
  - from: https://verify.localhost.pomerium.io
    to: http://verify:8000
    policy:
      - allow:
          or:
            - email:
                is: user@example.com
    pass_identity_headers: true

Limitations​

Limited sign-in options

Currently, you can only authenticate with Google single-sign on or with email and password credentials.

Session management

The hosted authenticate service is separate from your Pomerium installation. This means you can't refresh session tokens, so users must re-authenticate after roughly one hour.

Uptime commitment

We make no commitments to uptime for our free hosted authenticate service.

Privacy considerations​

Users that take advantage of our hosted authenticate service should review the Terms of Service agreement.

Specifically, you should be aware that by using our hosted services, you agree to Pomerium collecting the following data:

  • IP address
  • OS version
  • Internal domain name
  • Session details (email, name, and domain)

We collect this information to better understand how our users interact with and use Pomerium's services.