How to import/export Realm in Keycloak

Security is now in the driving seat of any software development process. Organizations are adopting shift-left strategies to integrate security into every phase of software development. As security has become imperative, developers are looking for newer tools to enable secured development. Identity and Access Management is one of the areas where platforms like Keycloak make integration of security simple and easy. Keycloak is a single sign-on software for web apps and RESTful web services that provides customizable user interfaces for login, administration, registration, and account management. Moreover, it includes security features tailored to the organization’s requirements.

Keycloak has made it possible to import and export the entire database from one environment to another or migrate to a different database. Import and export in Keycloak are triggered at server boot time, and parameters are passed in through Java system properties. In this blog, I will explain step-by-step how you can import/export Realm, a database by MongoDB, in Keycloak. But first, let’s see why you may need to export/import Realm in Keycloak.

Why do we need to import/export Realm?

Realm performs the task of managing a set of users, roles, credentials, and groups. Realm databases are usually isolated and can only manage and authenticate the users they control. The primary reason to export/import Realm is to keep a backup of the current setting. With the assistance of this feature, you can back up the current setting and restore it whenever required. You can also track the older settings using this functionality. Moreover, these backed-up settings can be shared with other users for initial setup. You can store/share/upload the export settings of the Realm on Git for global use.

Keycloak Installation

There are multiple ways to install Keycloak 15.0.2; you can use Dockerized Keycloak or download a RAR file and run it on the server. Here is a guide to Keycloak installation and customizing the login pages in Keycloak.

Now let’s see how you can export and import Realm in Keycloak.

• Export Realm

After logging in, click on the export button present in the left corner.

After clicking Export, you can see the following options:

• Export groups and roles: To add available groups and roles in your exported file.
• Export clients: To add available clients in your exported file.

Now, turn on the Export groups and roles and Export clients…read more.