Integrating Python Apps with Centralised Identity Management Systems

Fraser Tweedale
https://kiwi.pycon.org/schedule/presentation/86/
Most Python web developers are familiar with authentication and
authorisation on the open web, but the requirements and technologies
used inside companies and large organisations are different:

* Identities and groups are probably stored in an external identity
management system's directory rather than in an application's
database tables.

* Authorisation decisions will be based on group membership and
policies that are defined outside the application.

* Users may be expected or required to use a *single sign-on*
technology such as Kerberos or SAML to authenticate to
applications.

This talk will familiarise the audience with these technologies and
demonstrate how Python web applications can be integrated with an
identity management system to meet business requirements while
providing a positive user experience. Particular technologies
covered will include:

* [FreeIPA](https://www.freeipa.org): an open-source identity
management solution, for defining users, groups and authorisation
policies

* [mod_auth_gssapi](https://github.com/modauthgssapi/mod_auth_gssapi) /
mod_auth_kerb: Apache modules for Kerberos authentication

* [mod_lookup_identity](http://www.adelton.com/apache/mod_lookup_identity/): Apache
module to retrieve user information from a directory

The talk will conclude with discussion about upcoming Kerberos
features, techniques for dealing with multiple authentication
methods, and progress in making identity management integration
easier for Python (and in particular, Django) developers.

People developing or deploying Python web applications in business
environments or for large open source projects with centralised
identity management will get the most out of this talk.