Let's get acquainted with JWT and ngx_http_auth_jwt_module
The ngx_http_auth_jwt_module in Nginx provides you with the ability to use JWT tokens for authentication in requests. Due to their reputable structure and the signatures they carry, JWT tokens have become quite popular. This module gives you the capability to easily identify your users with the use of these tokens and provide access to various resources.
One of the main features of this module is pulling JWT keys, which can help improve performance. The system pulling keys means that instead of fetching the key from your database or an external source each time, you can reuse the key and reduce the fetching time.
Using cached keys for JWT is particularly beneficial in scenarios where many users are making requests simultaneously. This caching can include both public and private keys used for token signing. This topic can increase the speed of server response and can significantly affect the overall performance of your system.
Now, let's look at the necessary configurations for using cached JWT keys. These configurations will provide you with the ability to control the dimensions and duration of storing data in the cache, and also to specify where keys will be cached from.
http {
auth_jwt "Protected";
auth_jwt_key_cache auth_jwt_cache;
auth_jwt_key "your_secret_key";
auth_jwt_key_cache_timeout 10m;
}
Code Description
http {
This line begins a control block for all HTTP configurations.auth_jwt "Protected";
This line specifies that this path uses JWT for authentication.auth_jwt_key_cache auth_jwt_cache;
Here, we configure the JWT key cache namedauth_jwt_cache.auth_jwt_key "your_secret_key";
This line specifies your secret key for signing the JWT token.auth_jwt_key_cache_timeout 10m;
Here, the caching duration is set to10 minutes.}
This marks the end of the HTTP block.