Setting up SAML 2.0 Single Sign-On (SSO) on Microsoft Azure is a common task for enabling secure, federated identity management across different applications. SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) 2.0 is a standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between security domains. Here’s a general overview of how to set up SAML 2.0 SSO in Azure, focusing on using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) as the identity provider:
Prerequisites
- Azure Subscription: You need an Azure subscription where you can access Azure Active Directory.
- Azure AD Premium: Some features of Azure AD related to SAML may require a premium license.
- Application to Integrate: The external application you wish to integrate must support SAML 2.0 for SSO.
Steps to Configure SAML 2.0 SSO in Azure AD
1. Register the Application in Azure AD
- Azure Portal: Go to the Azure portal and find Azure Active Directory.
- Enterprise Applications: Go to "Enterprise applications" and select "New application".
- Add an Application: You can either add an application from the gallery (if it's a known application like Salesforce, Dropbox, etc.) or create a non-gallery application if your application isn't listed.
2. Configure SAML Settings
- Single Sign-On: For the application you've added, navigate to the "Single sign-on" section and choose SAML.
- Basic SAML Configuration: Here you’ll input the necessary SAML configuration details:
- Identifier (Entity ID): The unique identifier of the application which expects the SAML assertions in a specific format.
- Reply URL (Assertion Consumer Service URL): The URL where the SAML assertion is sent by Azure.
- Sign on URL: URL where the user will be redirected to start the login process (optional).
3. Set Up Azure AD as Identity Provider
- Download Federation Metadata XML: Azure AD allows you to download the Federation Metadata XML which contains all the required details like the login URL and the public key that the application needs to validate SAML responses from Azure AD.
- Certificates: Optionally, you can manage the signing certificates. Azure AD rotates these periodically.
4. Configure the Application to Use Azure AD as SSO
- Upload the Azure Metadata to the Application: The application must be configured to recognize Azure AD as the identity provider by importing the Federation Metadata XML.
- Map User Attributes & Claims: Configure how user attributes and claims from Azure AD are mapped and sent in the SAML response to the application. Azure AD allows customization of these claims.
5. Test SSO
- Test Configuration: It's essential to test the SSO configuration to ensure that users can authenticate seamlessly via Azure AD into the application.
6. (Optional) Advanced Configuration
- Group-based Access: You can configure group-based access for the application, which allows only users from specified groups in Azure AD to access the application.
- Conditional Access Policies: Azure AD supports setting conditional access policies that require users to meet certain criteria before they can access the application, such as requiring Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
This setup ensures that your users can use their Azure AD credentials to log into external applications, improving security by centralizing user management and enabling features like MFA.