Keystone is an identity service that provides authentication, authorization, and service discovery mechanisms for OpenStack cloud infrastructure.
Keystone solves the problem of managing identity and access control across distributed cloud systems. It operates as an HTTP interface that can front existing identity systems such as LDAP, allowing organizations to integrate their current directory services with OpenStack deployments. The service issues tokens to authenticated users, maintains role-based access control policies, and publishes a service catalog that enables other OpenStack components to discover and communicate with one another.
Keystone is essential for anyone deploying OpenStack infrastructure, as it serves as the foundational identity layer for the entire ecosystem. It suits organizations that need to integrate cloud identity management with existing enterprise directory systems or that require multi-tenant isolation across cloud resources. The project provides a canonical Python client library for programmatic access and comprehensive documentation for both developers and cloud administrators.
The project maintains active coordination through regular team meetings and IRC channels. Development work is tracked through multiple systems including a specifications repository for design proposals, a Launchpad instance for bug and feature tracking, and a release notes system documenting changes across versions. The team encourages community contribution through documented guidelines and maintains source code on a dedicated development platform separate from this GitHub mirror.
