Multi-Tenant Identity Server 4 with RavenDB

As software developers, we often have to build applications that require authentication and authorization features. One of the most popular solutions for this is Identity Server 4, an open-source framework for implementing authentication and authorization for web, APIs, and mobile applications. In this article, we will explore how to configure and implement a multi-tenant Identity Server 4 using RavenDB for data store and cache.

Multi-tenant architecture refers to the ability of an application to serve multiple clients, or tenants, using a single instance of the application. In the context of Identity Server 4, this means that we can have multiple clients with their own set of users and permissions, all using the same instance of Identity Server 4. This approach has several advantages, including reduced maintenance costs and easier scalability.

RavenDB is a document-oriented database that is designed to work well with .NET applications. It is a NoSQL database, meaning that it does not use traditional relational tables to store data. Instead, it stores data in JSON format, making it highly flexible and adaptable to changing data structures.

To get started, we need to set up a RavenDB instance and create a new database for our Identity Server 4 application. RavenDB provides a client library for .NET that we can use to interact with the database. We will use this library to store and retrieve user data and other configuration settings.

Next, we need to configure Identity Server 4 to use RavenDB for data store and cache. This involves creating a new implementation of the IConfigurationDbContext and IPersistedGrantDbContext interfaces that will use RavenDB as the data store. We will also need to configure the Identity Server 4 middleware to use RavenDB as the cache for storing authentication tokens and other session data.

Once we have completed the configuration, we can start implementing the authentication and authorization features of our application. This involves defining the different clients and scopes that our application will support, as well as defining the users and roles for each tenant. We can use the Identity Server 4 administration UI to manage these settings.

Overall, building a multi-tenant Identity Server 4 with RavenDB for data store and cache is a powerful and flexible solution for implementing authentication and authorization in web and mobile applications. With RavenDB's flexible data model and Identity Server 4's robust authentication and authorization features, we can create secure and scalable applications that meet the needs of our clients.