Introduction to JWT Settings in Nginx
Hello friends! Today we are going to talk about one of the Nginx modules called ngx_http_auth_jwt_module. This module allows us to perform authentication using JWT (JSON Web Token) tokens for HTTP requests. JWT tokens help us securely pass user information around and ensure that the user is authorized.
The auth_jwt_header_set module enables us to configure specific headers for JWT authentication. When a user makes a request to the server, this module checks the JWT headers and, if valid, accepts the request. In other words, this module helps us control access to resources using JWT tokens.
Using this module is quite simple. You first need to include the JWT module in Nginx and then implement the necessary configurations. Here is a simple example of how to use this module and the JWT headers:
Let's take a look at the code below to show how we can utilize the JWT header:
server {
listen 80;
server_name example.com;
location / {
auth_jwt "Private Area";
auth_jwt_key_file /etc/nginx/secrets/jwt.key;
auth_jwt_header_set Authorization;
}
}
Code Explanation
Here, let's break down the code line by line:
server {
This line indicates that we are defining a new server block.
listen 80;
This line tells Nginx to listen for requests on port 80.
server_name example.com;
This specifies the domain name for which the server will respond.
location / {
This is defining a location block for requests coming to the root of the domain.
auth_jwt "Private Area";
This activates JWT authentication and names the protected area "Private Area".
auth_jwt_key_file /etc/nginx/secrets/jwt.key;
This specifies the key file used for verifying the JWT tokens.
auth_jwt_header_set Authorization;
This specifies the header to be used for sending the JWT token.
}
This closes the `location` block.
}
This closes the `server` block.