In this updated tutorial, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of running **Keycloak 26** with Docker. We will learn how to deploy Keycloak with Docker and Docker Compose, covering development mode, data persistence and production set up with PostgreSQL. ## Prerequisites * Docker (v20+): install from docker.com or Podman * Docker Compose (v1.29+): optional but recommended * (Production) External database (PostgreSQL recommended) Finally, if you are new to Keycloak, we recommend checking this article which introduces Keycloak with Quarkus: Keycloak Tutorial for Beginners ## Step # 1: Pull the Image The **Keycloak** Docker Image for is available in this repository: **quay.io/repository/keycloak/keycloak** . To pull the latest Docker Image of **Keycloak** you can run from the Command Line: $ docker pull quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:latest The **latest version** of Keycloak with Quarkus **( August 2025 )** is**26.3.2**. ## Step # 2: Run Keycloak Image in Development mode Then, the following command will start a Docker Image of Keycloak in development mode: docker run --name keycloak_dev -p 8080:8080 \ -e KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_USERNAME=admin -e KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin \ quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:latest \ start-dev Please notice that, when using **Keycloak 26** , the variables **KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_USERNAME** and **KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD** deprecate the older KEYCLOAK_ADMIN and KEYCLOAK_ADMIN_PASSWORD Next, verify the connectivity with the Admin Console which is available at `http://localhost:8080` ### How to start Keycloak Docker image on a different Port ? On the other hand, if you want to start **Keycloak** with Docker on a different server port, include the `--http-port` parameter: docker run --name keycloak_dev -p 8180:8180 \ -e KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_USERNAME -e KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin \ quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:latest \ start-dev --http-port=8180 ## Step # 3: Run Keycloak with Docker in Production mode Finally, to start **Keycloak** in production mode with **PostgreSQL** as database, use the following example command: docker run --name keycloak_auto_build -p 8080:8080 \ -e KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_USERNAME=admin -e KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin \ quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:latest \ start \ --auto-build \ --db=postgres --features=token-exchange \ --db-url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/keycloak --db-username=postgres --db-password=postgres \ --https-key-store-file=server.keystore --https-key-store-password=secret Update the Database and Keystore settings accordingly. ## Running Keycloak with Docker compose **Docker compose** is a valuable tool to orchestrate multiple containers and to provide complex configurations to a Container Image. For example, you can use it to **import an existing Realm** when using Keycloak Docker Image. To do that, you have to use the **–import-realm** option at startup. For example, with docker-compose the following file will import the Realm available in the local file **/home/keycloak/realm.json** : services: auth: image: quay.io/keycloak/keycloak ports: - "8080:8080" environment: KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_USERNAME: admin KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD: admin command: - start-dev - --import-realm volumes: - /home/keycloak/realm.json:/opt/keycloak/data/import/realm.json To start **Keycloak** , simply run: docker-compose up Finally, verify that the Realm in realm.json has been imported at start up: Finally, notice how to use **docker-compose exec** to run commands on the Keycloak Docker Image. For example, here is how to login and add a new User: # Login into keycloak with admin credentials docker-compose exec auth /opt/keycloak/bin/kcadm.sh config credentials --server http://localhost:8080 --realm master --user admin --password admin # Add the user test docker-compose exec auth /opt/keycloak/bin/kcadm.sh create users --realm=master -s username=test -s enabled=true -s [email protected] -s emailVerified=true --server http://localhost:8080 # Sets the password for the user test docker-compose exec auth /opt/keycloak/bin/kcadm.sh set-password --realm=master --username test --new-password password --server http://localhost:8080 ### Running Keycloak with Docker compose and PostgreSQL Our Docker compose example uses the built-in H2 Database. In Production, you would need to switch to a solid Database, for example to PostgreSQL. The following sample docker-compose.yml file shows how to kickstart Keycloak with Docker Compose and PostgreSQL by bridging them in the same network: version: '3' volumes: postgres_data: driver: local services: postgres: image: postgres:latest volumes: - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data environment: POSTGRES_DB: keycloak POSTGRES_USER: keycloak POSTGRES_PASSWORD: 123456 healthcheck: test: "exit 0" ports: - 5432:5432 networks: - keycloak_demo keycloak: image: quay.io/keycloak/keycloak command: start-dev environment: KC_DB: postgres KC_DB_URL_HOST: postgres KC_DB_URL_DATABASE: keycloak KC_DB_PASSWORD: 123456 KC_DB_USERNAME: keycloak KC_DB_SCHEMA: public KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_USERNAME: admin KC_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD: password ports: - 8081:8080 depends_on: postgres: condition: service_healthy networks: - keycloak_demo networks: keycloak_demo: driver: bridge ## Conclusion You now have a lean, step‑by‑step setup for running **Keycloak** in Docker—covering quick dev instances, data persistence, Compose orchestration, and a production configuration with PostgreSQL. From here, explore realm customization, secure your instance with SSL, and integrate Keycloak into your applications.

Hi folks, update from me. I got a bit stuck because I haven’t been given access to the sso.meet.coop “master” realm so I can’t access any of the Keycloak admin settings. This is true even from the command line, see: Keycloak: How to add a new User - Mastertheboss I have securely handed over the SSO credentials to ColloCall that were being used on the de.meet.coop server and switched over the domain to point at the ColloCall server. Now we just need ColloCall to spin up the new server. Hopefull...

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