Architecture
authentik consists of a handful of components, most of which are required for a functioning setup.
Server
The server container consists of two sub-components, the actual server itself and the embedded outpost. Incoming requests to the server container(s) are routed by a lightweight router to either the Core server or the embedded outpost. This router also handles requests for any static assets such as JavaScript and CSS files.
Core
The core sub-component handles most of authentik's logic, such as API requests, flow executions, any kind of SSO requests, etc.
Embedded outpost
Similar to other outposts, this outpost allows using Proxy providers without deploying a separate outpost.
Persistence
/media
is used to store icons and such, but not required, and if not mounted, authentik will allow you to set a URL to icons in place of a file upload
Background Worker
This container executes background tasks, such as sending emails, the event notification system, and everything you can see on the System Tasks page in the frontend.
Persistence
/certs
is used for authentik to import external certs, which in most cases shouldn't be used for SAML, but rather if you use authentik without a reverse proxy, this can be used for example for the Let's Encrypt integration/templates
is used for custom email templates, and as with the other ones fully optional
PostgreSQL
authentik uses PostgreSQL to store all of its configuration and other data (excluding uploaded files).
Persistence
/var/lib/postgresql/data
is used to store the PostgreSQL database
On Kubernetes, with the default Helm chart and using the packaged PostgreSQL sub-chart, persistent data is stored in a PVC.
Redis
authentik uses Redis as a message-queue and a cache. Data in Redis is not required to be persistent, however you should be aware that restarting Redis will cause the loss of all sessions.
Persistence
/data
is used to store the Redis data
On Kubernetes, with the default Helm chart and using the packaged Redis sub-chart, persistent data is stored in a PVC.