---
type: reference
---

# Smartcard authentication **(PREMIUM ONLY)**

GitLab supports authentication using smartcards.

## Authentication methods

GitLab supports two authentication methods:

- X.509 certificates with local databases.
- LDAP servers.

### Authentication against a local database with X.509 certificates

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/726) in
[GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 11.6 as an experimental
feature. Smartcard authentication against local databases may change or be
removed completely in future releases.

Smartcards with X.509 certificates can be used to authenticate with GitLab.

To use a smartcard with an X.509 certificate to authenticate against a local
database with GitLab, `CN` and `emailAddress` must be defined in the
certificate. For example:

```text
Certificate:
    Data:
        Version: 1 (0x0)
        Serial Number: 12856475246677808609 (0xb26b601ecdd555e1)
    Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
        Issuer: O=Random Corp Ltd, CN=Random Corp
        Validity
            Not Before: Oct 30 12:00:00 2018 GMT
            Not After : Oct 30 12:00:00 2019 GMT
        Subject: CN=Gitlab User, emailAddress=gitlab-user@example.com
```

### Authentication against an LDAP server

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/7693) in
[GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 11.8 as an experimental
feature. Smartcard authentication against an LDAP server may change or be
removed completely in future releases.

GitLab implements a standard way of certificate matching following
[RFC4523](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4523). It uses the
`certificateExactMatch` certificate matching rule against the `userCertificate`
attribute. As a prerequisite, you must use an LDAP server that:

- Supports the `certificateExactMatch` matching rule.
- Has the certificate stored in the `userCertificate` attribute.

## Configure GitLab for smartcard authentication

**For Omnibus installations**

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

   ```ruby
   gitlab_rails['smartcard_enabled'] = true
   gitlab_rails['smartcard_ca_file'] = "/etc/ssl/certs/CA.pem"
   gitlab_rails['smartcard_client_certificate_required_port'] = 3444
   ```

1. Save the file and [reconfigure](../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure)
   GitLab for the changes to take effect.

---

**For installations from source**

1. Configure NGINX to request a client side certificate

   In NGINX configuration, an **additional** server context must be defined with
   the same configuration except:

   - The additional NGINX server context must be configured to run on a different
     port:

     ```
     listen *:3444 ssl;
     ```

   - The additional NGINX server context must be configured to require the client
     side certificate:

     ```
     ssl_verify_depth 2;
     ssl_client_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/CA.pem;
     ssl_verify_client on;
     ```

   - The additional NGINX server context must be configured to forward the client
     side certificate:

     ```
     proxy_set_header    X-SSL-Client-Certificate    $ssl_client_escaped_cert;
     ```

   For example, the following is an example server context in an NGINX
   configuration file (eg. in `/etc/nginx/sites-available/gitlab-ssl`):

   ```
   server {
       listen *:3444 ssl;

       # certificate for configuring SSL
       ssl_certificate /path/to/example.com.crt;
       ssl_certificate_key /path/to/example.com.key;

       ssl_verify_depth 2;
       # CA certificate for client side certificate verification
       ssl_client_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/CA.pem;
       ssl_verify_client on;

       location / {
           proxy_set_header    Host                        $http_host;
           proxy_set_header    X-Real-IP                   $remote_addr;
           proxy_set_header    X-Forwarded-For             $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
           proxy_set_header    X-Forwarded-Proto           $scheme;
           proxy_set_header    Upgrade                     $http_upgrade;
           proxy_set_header    Connection                  $connection_upgrade;

           proxy_set_header    X-SSL-Client-Certificate    $ssl_client_escaped_cert;

           proxy_read_timeout 300;

           proxy_pass http://gitlab-workhorse;
       }
   }
   ```

1. Edit `config/gitlab.yml`:

   ```yaml
   ## Smartcard authentication settings
   smartcard:
     # Allow smartcard authentication
     enabled: true

     # Path to a file containing a CA certificate
     ca_file: '/etc/ssl/certs/CA.pem'

     # Port where the client side certificate is requested by NGINX
     client_certificate_required_port: 3444
   ```

1. Save the file and [restart](../restart_gitlab.md#installations-from-source)
   GitLab for the changes to take effect.

### Additional steps when authenticating against an LDAP server

**For Omnibus installations**

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

   ```ruby
   gitlab_rails['ldap_servers'] = YAML.load <<-EOS
   main:
     # snip...
     # Enable smartcard authentication against the LDAP server. Valid values
     # are "false", "optional", and "required".
     smartcard_auth: optional
   EOS
   ```

1. Save the file and [reconfigure](../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure)
   GitLab for the changes to take effect.

**For installations from source**

1. Edit `config/gitlab.yml`:

   ```yaml
   production:
     ldap:
       servers:
         main:
           # snip...
           # Enable smartcard authentication against the LDAP server. Valid values
           # are "false", "optional", and "required".
           smartcard_auth: optional
   ```

1. Save the file and [restart](../restart_gitlab.md#installations-from-source)
   GitLab for the changes to take effect.

### Require browser session with smartcard sign-in for Git access

**For Omnibus installations**

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

   ```ruby
   gitlab_rails['smartcard_required_for_git_access'] = true
   ```

1. Save the file and [reconfigure](../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure)
   GitLab for the changes to take effect.

**For installations from source**

1. Edit `config/gitlab.yml`:

   ```yaml
   ## Smartcard authentication settings
   smartcard:
     # snip...
     # Browser session with smartcard sign-in is required for Git access
     required_for_git_access: true
   ```

1. Save the file and [restart](../restart_gitlab.md#installations-from-source)
   GitLab for the changes to take effect.

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