How-To

This is a quick how-to or setup guide to use Authentik and setup a simple Proxy Provider with traefik using the Embedded Outpost to use as a Traefik forwardauth.
This guide is created with Authentik 2025.2.1.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes you’re using Traefik as your Reverse Proxy / Ingress provider. Please ensure that you can access your domain properly with Ingress before attempting any further steps.

Authentik Chart Setup

Chart Values

All of the defaults are fine to start off, only the .Values you need to set are password and the ingress settings.

ingress:
  main:
    enabled: true
    hosts:
      - host: auth.domain.com
      - host: "*.domain.com"
        paths:
          - path: /outpost.goauthentik.io
            pathType: Prefix
    integrations:
      traefik:
        enabled: true
      certManager:
        enabled: true
        certificateIssuer: domain-0-le-prod

authentik:
  credentials:
    email: [email protected]
    password: secretpassword

Authentik GUI Setup

Browse to https://auth.domain.com

Default username is akadmin and password is whatever you entered in the chart .Values.

Once logged in enter the Admin Interface

Applications-Screen

Create an User

Create an user or more

New-User-1 New-User-2

Set the users password

New-User-3

Create Application based upon subdomain-level access control `Forward auth (single application)`

If you want to use subdomain-level access control, you have to make per subdomain a Provider and an Application. The example uses https://sonarr.domain.com/, make sure your app is reachable and uses a valid certificate beforehand.

First step is to create an Application for use with authentik.

Create-Application

Specific the Name and Slug and press Next.

New-Application-1

Choose a Provider Proxy Provider and press Next.

New-Application-2

Configure Proxy Provider by select Forward auth (single application) and fill your External host.
Select the preffered Authorization flow
When you scroll down you can enable Send HTTP-Basic Authentication under Authentication settings and complete the correct keys for your service here. Don’t use a basicAuth middleware in the apps’ ingress settings. Only use this if your app has build in basic auth support. More information upstream here. In this how_to we don’t use this.
press Next

New-Application-2

Choose Bind existing policy/group/user to assign an user(s), which are allowed to access. If you assign nothing all users are allowed to access. Press Save Binding

New-Application-4

Review the Application and submit.

New-Application-5

Create Application based upon domain access control `Forward auth (domain level)`

If you want no controll per sub domain. You can choose at step 4 above Forward auth (domain level).
Once there you enter the main ingress URL you use to access authentik and the cookie domain as the main domain you use.
Call it for example as Application name All and as provider name Provider Domain.

New-Application-Domain

Review Provider

If everything was done properly above, you should have the Provider you created assigned to your Application

Providers

Set Embedded Outpost

Go to Outposts and check directly the healthcheck.

Outposts

Next step is simply attaching your application with the authentik Embedded Outpost that has been created automatically. Click the Edit button under Actions

Update-Outposts

Traefik ForwardAuth Setup

Once authentik is setup and running, you must create a forwardAuth inside Traefik in order to use authentication with Traefik. For my purposes auth is what I used but as long as you remember it you’re fine.

middlewares:
  forwardAuth:
    - name: auth
      address: http://authentik-http.authentik.svc.cluster.local:10230/outpost.goauthentik.io/auth/traefik
      authResponseHeaders:
        - X-authentik-username
        - X-authentik-groups
        - X-authentik-email
        - X-authentik-name
        # - authorization      # According to previous how_to to pass the HTTP-Basic headers from `authentik` to you application  (NOT TESTED)
      trustForwardHeader: true

## Other Available authResponseHeaders according upstream documentation: https://docs.goauthentik.io/docs/add-secure-apps/providers/proxy/server_traefik
# - X-authentik-entitlements
# - X-authentik-uid
# - X-authentik-jwt
# - X-authentik-meta-jwks
# - X-authentik-meta-outpost
# - X-authentik-meta-provider
# - X-authentik-meta-app
# - X-authentik-meta-version

Add Traefik forwardAuth to Charts

Once that is done all you need to add the middleware to your Charts under the Ingress section, as in my case it’s called auth.

ingress:
  main:
    enabled: true
    integrations:
      traefik:
        enabled: true
        middlewares:
          - name: auth
            namespace: traefik

Verification it works

Simply visit any URL that you have Traefik + the forwardAuth middleware enabled

Verify

Verify2

Support

You can also reach us using Discord for real-time feedback and support
If you found a bug in our chart, open a Github issue but generally it’s advised to contact us on Discord first in most cases.