Integrate with BookStack

Support level: Community

What is BookStack

BookStack is a free and open-source wiki software aimed for a simple, self-hosted, and easy-to-use platform. It uses the ideas of books to organise pages and store information. BookStack is multilingual and available in over thirty languages. For the simplicity, BookStack is considered as suitable for smaller businesses or freelancers.

-- https://bookstackapp.com

Preparation

The following placeholders are used in this guide:

• bookstack.company is the FQDN of the BookStack installation.
• authentik.company is the FQDN of the authentik installation.

note

This documentation lists only the settings that you need to change from their default values. Be aware that any changes other than those explicitly mentioned in this guide could cause issues accessing your application.

Configuration methods

You can configure Bookstack to use either OIDC or SAML, and this guide explains both options.

Log in with OIDC

authentik configuration

To support the integration of BookStack with authentik, you need to create an application/provider pair in authentik.

Create an application and provider in authentik

1. Log in to authentik as an admin, and open the authentik Admin interface.
2. Navigate to Applications > Applications and click Create with Provider to create an application and provider pair. (Alternatively you can first create a provider separately, then create the application and connect it with the provider.)

• Application: provide a descriptive name, an optional group for the type of application, the policy engine mode, and optional UI settings.
• Choose a Provider type: select OAuth2/OpenID Connect as the provider type.
• Configure the Provider: provide a name (or accept the auto-provided name), the authorization flow to use for this provider, and the following required configurations.
  • Note the Client ID, Client Secret, and slug values because they will be required later.
  • Set a Strict redirect URI to https://bookstack.company/oidc/callback/.
  • Select any available signing key.
• Configure Bindings (optional): you can create a binding (policy, group, or user) to manage the listing and access to applications on a user's My applications page.

3. Click Submit to save the new application and provider.

Bookstack configuration

Once that's done, the next step is to update your .env file to include the following variables:

AUTH_METHOD=oidc
AUTH_AUTO_INITIATE=false # Set this to "true" to automatically redirect the user to authentik.
OIDC_NAME=authentik # The display name shown on the login page.
OIDC_DISPLAY_NAME_CLAIMS=name # Claim(s) for the user's display name. Can have multiple attributes listed, separated with a '|' in which case those values will be joined with a space.
OIDC_CLIENT_ID=<Client ID from authentik>
OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=<Client Secret from authentik>
OIDC_ISSUER=https://authentik.company/application/o/<your-application-slug>
OIDC_ISSUER_DISCOVER=true
OIDC_END_SESSION_ENDPOINT=true

Log in with SAML

authentik configuration

To support the integration of BookStack with authentik, you need to create an application/provider pair in authentik.

Create an application and provider in authentik

1. Log in to authentik as an admin, and open the authentik Admin interface.
2. Navigate to Applications > Applications and click Create with Provider to create an application and provider pair. (Alternatively you can first create a provider separately, then create the application and connect it with the provider.)

• Application: provide a descriptive name, an optional group for the type of application, the policy engine mode, and optional UI settings. Take note of the slug as it will be required later.
• Choose a Provider type: select SAML Provider as the provider type.
• Configure the Provider: provide a name (or accept the auto-provided name), the authorization flow to use for this provider, and the following required configurations.
  • Note the Client ID, Client Secret, and slug values because they will be required later.
  • Set the ACS URL to https://bookstack.company/saml2/acs.
  • Set the Issuer to https://authentik.company.
  • Set the Service Provider Binding to Post.
  • Set the Audience to https://bookstack.company/saml2/metadata.
  • Under Advanced protocol settings, set Signing Certificate to use any available certificate.
• Configure Bindings (optional): you can create a binding (policy, group, or user) to manage the listing and access to applications on a user's My applications page.

3. Click Submit to save the new application and provider.

Obtain the SAML metadata URL

1. In the authentik Admin Interface, nagiate to Applications > Providers and click on the provider tied to the application/provider pair created in the previous step.
2. Under the Related objects section, click Copy download URL. Take note of this value as you will need it later.

Bookstack configuration

Once that's done, the next step is to update your .env file to include the following variables:

AUTH_METHOD=saml2
AUTH_AUTO_INITIATE=true # Set this to "true" to automatically redirect the user to authentik.
SAML2_NAME=authentik # The display name shown on the login page.
SAML2_EMAIL_ATTRIBUTE=email
SAML2_EXTERNAL_ID_ATTRIBUTE=uid
SAML2_USER_TO_GROUPS=true
SAML2_GROUP_ATTRIBUTE=http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/claims/Group
SAML2_DISPLAY_NAME_ATTRIBUTES=http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2008/06/identity/claims/windowsaccountname
SAML2_IDP_ENTITYID=https://authentik.company/api/v3/providers/saml/<your-application-slug>/metadata/?download
SAML2_AUTOLOAD_METADATA=true

Resources

• BookStack Administrator Documentation for OpenID Connect
• Bookstack Administrator Documentation for SAML2
• PeerTube video detailing a setup with authentik (OpenID Connect)

Configuration verification

To confirm that authentik is properly configured with BookStack, visit your BookStack installation, and click Login with authentik.