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User Management

Control access to your APIs and documentation.


Introduction

In Traefik Hub, Users are granted access to your APIs with Groups. Users can belong to multiple Groups.

The Identity Provider is the source of truth for Users and Groups. It is responsible for authenticating the users and telling Traefik Hub what groups they belong to. You can choose between the Traefik Hub (Internal IdP) embedded Identity Provider, LDAP, Keycloak, Okta, or any generic OIDC mechanism to manage authentication.

Traefik Hub uses the embedded IdP as default.

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Throughout the documentation, the term Users refers to people browsing the Portal, and the term Consumers refers to the machine to machine consumption of APIs.

Users can have many Consumers attached to their accounts.


Consuming APIs & Authorizations

APICatalogItem define which APIs are visible on the developer portal. On the portal, a user can create an Application. What an Application can consume is then defined by a ManagedSubscription, which specifies access to specific APIs. Alternatively, users can also utilize a Self-Service subscription to request access.

Group NameVisible APIs (via CatalogItem)
Group ABAPI A & API B
Group CAPI C

For example, if an Application is associated with both Group AB and Group C, it will see API A, API B, and API C on the portal.

Consuming APIs - API Keys & JWT

When configuring the authorization system with API keys, users will generate keys from the Portal. Consumers will send that key to authenticate themselves.

When configuring the authorization system with JWT. Consumers won't need API keys but will need to reference the User ID (which is acting on behalf on) in the token.


Users

From the Dashboard, you can see known users. Known users are, depending on your configuration:

  • Users who have connected to the Portal (OIDC use case)
  • Synchronized Users (Keycloak / Okta use case)
  • LDAP-authenticated Users (LDAP use case)
  • Every User (Internal IdP use case)
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Synchronized Users (Keycloak / Okta / LDAP) will be listed in the Traefik Hub after a first successful login (online mode only).

https://hub.traefik.io/users

API Management User Overview.

Each User contains the following information:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email Address
  • Company
  • Group(s)

Add a User

Select Users, here you will see all existing user, and you can validate and adjust their permissions and groups.

Select Add user in the right top corner to add a new user.

https://hub.traefik.io/users

Select user management.

Fill out the form, all fields are required.

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email
  • Company
  • Groups
https://hub.traefik.io/users/new

User form.

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Every user has to be part of a user group, it is not possible to assign an individual user to an API or API collection.

You can assign the user to an already existing user group, or you can create a new one.

https://hub.traefik.io/users/new

Choose existing user group.

Choose an existing user group and select Save.

If you want to create a new user group, choose Create new User Group.

https://hub.traefik.io/users/new

Choose create new user group.

Fill out the name of the new user group and select Create.

Create new user group

Now you will see that the new user is part of the user group, select Save to finish the process.

https://hub.traefik.io/users/new

User is part of a user group.

Edit a User

To change user details—such as a user’s email, or contact information—edit the user account.

Select Users, here you will see all existing user, and you can validate and adjust their permissions and groups.

Select the user you want to edit.

https://hub.traefik.io/users

User is part of a user group.

This will show you the overview about the user. Now select Edit in the top right corner.

https://hub.traefik.io/users/12345

User is part of a user group.

Adjust the settings and select Save.

https://hub.traefik.io/users/12345

Adjust settings.

Delete a User

To delete a user.

Select Users, here you will see all existing user, select the user you want to delete.

https://hub.traefik.io/users

Choose the user you want to delete.

Now select Delete User in the left bottom.

https://hub.traefik.io/users/12345

Choose the user you want to delete.

Confirm the removal by selecting Yes, delete it.

Choose the user you want to delete

Reset a User Password

Select Users, here you will see all existing user, select the user where you want to reset the password.

Select Reset password


User Groups

https://hub.traefik.io/users

API Management User Group Overview.

Groups don't carry additional information, they are a means of categorizing users and referencing these categories later in API Catalog Item.

LDAP Groups

When using LDAP authentication, groups are synchronized from your LDAP directory server.

How LDAP Groups Work

LDAP groups are retrieved using the memberOf attribute:

  • Static Group Retrieval: Groups are read directly from the user's memberOf attribute in LDAP
  • No Nested Groups: Traefik Hub does not perform nested group lookups or dynamic queries
  • Automatic Synchronization: In online mode, groups are synchronized when users authenticate to the portal
  • Group-Based Access: Portal and API access can be controlled using LDAP group memberships

LDAP Group Configuration

LDAP groups are configured in the APIPortalAuth resource:

apiVersion: hub.traefik.io/v1alpha1
kind: APIPortalAuth
metadata:
name: ldap-portal-auth
namespace: apps
spec:
ldap:
groups:
memberOfAttribute: memberOf
# ... other LDAP configuration

LDAP Group Synchronization

Online Mode:

  • Groups are synchronized from LDAP when users log in to the portal
  • Group memberships are updated with each user authentication
  • Groups appear in the Traefik Hub Dashboard after first user login
  • You can view LDAP-synchronized groups in the Groups section

Offline Mode:

  • Groups are used for authentication but not synchronized to the platform
  • Group information is not visible in the Dashboard
  • Access control still works based on LDAP group membership

LDAP Group Format

LDAP groups are typically stored as Distinguished Names (DNs) in the memberOf attribute:

memberOf: cn=developers,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=org
memberOf: cn=managers,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com

Traefik Hub extracts the Common Name (CN) from the group DN for display and access control:

  • cn=developers,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=orgdevelopers
  • cn=managers,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=commanagers

Using LDAP Groups for Access Control

LDAP groups can be referenced in APICatalogItem to control API visibility:

apiVersion: hub.traefik.io/v1alpha1
kind: APICatalogItem
metadata:
name: internal-api-catalog
namespace: apps
spec:
title: "Internal APIs"
groups:
- developers
- managers
apis:
- name: internal-api
namespace: apps

Users who belong to the developers or managers LDAP groups will see these APIs in the portal.

Differences Between IdP Group Handling

FeatureLDAPKeycloak/Okta (Direct Integration)OIDC (Generic)Internal IdP
Group SourceLDAP memberOf attributeIdP group claimsIdP group claimsManually created in Hub
Nested GroupsNot supportedDepends on IdPDepends on IdPN/A
Group CreationAutomatic from LDAPAutomatic from IdP syncOn login onlyManual only
Offline ModeAuthentication only (no sync)Supported (self-hosted IdP)Supported (self-hosted IdP)Not supported (no platform connection)
Group UpdatesOn each loginPeriodic sync + loginOn login onlyManual only

Troubleshooting LDAP Groups

Groups not appearing in Dashboard:

  • Verify you're running in online mode (offline mode doesn't sync groups)
  • Check that the user has logged in at least once
  • Ensure the memberOfAttribute is correctly configured in APIPortalAuth
  • Verify the LDAP user has the memberOf attribute populated

Users can't access APIs despite being in the correct LDAP group:

  • Check the APICatalogItem references the correct group name (CN only, not full DN)
  • Verify the user has logged in since joining the group (re-authentication may be required)
  • Ensure the APIPortalAuth is correctly configured and active

Group names appear as full DNs:

  • This may indicate the memberOf attribute contains nested groups or is misconfigured
  • Verify your LDAP schema and memberOf overlay configuration (OpenLDAP)
  • Check that groups use standard LDAP naming conventions

Create a Group

Select Groups, here you will see an overview about all user groups.

To create a new user group, select Add group on the right top corner.

https://hub.traefik.io/groups

User groups.

Delete a Group

It is only possible to remove empty groups!

Select the trash icon on the right site to remove a group.

https://hub.traefik.io/groups

Delete group.

Delete group