dex

What is dex?

The Dex image packages Dex, an open-source identity service that acts as a bridge between applications that rely on OIDC and various identity providers (IDPs) such as LDAP, SAML, GitHub, or cloud providers like Google and Microsoft.

Dex itself does not manage users but delegates authentication to upstream IDPs, then issues OIDC tokens that applications and Kubernetes clusters can consume. This makes it especially popular in Kubernetes environments, where it is used to provide single sign-on (SSO) and secure access control.

By centralizing identity through a standard protocol, Dex simplifies integrating diverse authentication systems into modern, cloud-native environments.

How to use this image

The Dex image is generally deployed as a service in Kubernetes, configured via a YAML file specifying connectors (e.g., GitHub, LDAP, SAML) and clients (applications relying on Dex for authentication).

Examples:

<code># Run Dex with a mounted config file
docker run --rm -p 5556:5556 \
 -v $PWD/dex-config.yaml:/etc/dex/cfg/config.yaml \
 ghcr.io/dexidp/dex serve /etc/dex/cfg/config.yaml</code>

<code># Verify Dex is running
curl http://localhost:5556/.well-known/openid-configuration</code>

In Kubernetes, Dex is commonly deployed using Helm charts or manifests, often as part of a cluster’s authentication stack.

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Image variants

The Dex image is typically available in a few forms:

dex:<version>

Version-pinned images (e.g., dex:v2.39.0) are recommended for production deployments.

dex:latest

Tracks the most recent stable release. Best for testing but not advised in production.

dex:master / canary

Built from the latest development branch. Useful for contributors or early adopters testing new features, but unstable for production workloads.