Install authd and brokers for cloud identity providers¶

This project consists of two components:

authd: The authentication daemon responsible for managing access to the authentication mechanism.
identity broker: The services that handle the interface with an identity provider. There can be several identity brokers installed and enabled on the system.

authd is delivered as a Debian package for Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server.

System requirements¶

Distribution: Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 LTS or Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS
Architectures: amd64, arm64

Install authd¶

You can install authd from the stable PPA.

To add this PPA to your system’s software sources, run the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-enterprise-desktop/authd
sudo apt update

Note

The stable PPA release of authd can be used today as an authentication service. This project is under active development and the release of authd to the official archive is planned for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.

Then install authd and any additional Debian packages needed for your system of choice:

Ubuntu Desktop

sudo apt install authd gnome-shell yaru-theme-gnome-shell

Ubuntu Server

sudo apt install authd

Install brokers¶

The brokers are provided as Snap packages and are available from the Snap Store.

Google IAM

To install the Google IAM broker, run the following command:

sudo snap install authd-google

At this stage, you have installed the main service and an identity broker to authenticate against Google IAM.

Microsoft Entra ID

To install the MS Entra ID broker, run the following command:

sudo snap install authd-msentraid

At this stage, you have installed the main service and an identity broker to authenticate against Microsoft Entra ID.