Configuring federated authentication
Federated authentication (also known as claim-based authentication) allows users to access applications or websites by authenticating them against a certain set of rules, known as claims. When federated authentication is configured, users are validated across multiple applications, websites or IT systems via authentication tickets or their token.
During federated authentication, authorization is performed by acquiring the identity-related information of users both for on-premises and cloud-based products. Based on the predefined claims to identify the users trying to access the applications or websites, a single token is created for each user. This security token is used to identify the user type after the user is successfully identified.
Active Roles supports federated authentication using the WS-Federation protocol as well as SAML 2.0 authentication, allowing users to access websites or sign in to an application once with the single sign-on (SSO) option.
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CAUTION: Due to RSTS connection limitations, federated authentication must be enabled for only one Active Roles instance. If you try to configure federated authentication for multiple Active Roles instances, the connection to the Active Roles database will break in the previously configured Active Roles instance. |
NOTE: To use SAML 2.0 authentication, you must have a valid SSL/TLS certificate configured for Active Roles.
NOTE: After an Active Roles upgrade, to ensure that Active Roles automatically refreshes expired certificates:
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in case of using WS-Federation, in the Active RolesConfiguration Center, in Web Interface > Authentication, reconfigure federated authentication.
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in case of using SAML 2.0 authentication, in the Active RolesConfiguration Center, in Web Interface > Authentication, make sure to load the federation metadata from URL (instead of loading it from file) when configuring the federated authentication.
NOTE: Federated authentication is not supported and does not work on a standalone Active Roles Web Interface instance.
To configure the federated authentication settings, in the Active Roles Configuration Center, in Site authentication settings, configure the identity provider and claims.
You can configure Windows authentication using the Site authentication settings wizard of the Active Roles Configuration Center.
To configure Windows authentication in the Active Roles Configuration Center
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In the Active Roles Configuration Center main window, click Web Interface.
The Web Interface page displays all the Active RolesWeb Interface sites that are deployed on the web server running the Active RolesWeb Interface.
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To configure the authentication settings, click Authentication.
The Site authentication settings page appears.
NOTE: By default, the Windows authentication setting is configured.
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To configure Windows authentication, select Windows authentication, then click Modify and Finish.
You can configure WS-Federation authentication using the Site authentication settings wizard of the Active Roles Configuration Center.
To configure WS-Federation authentication in the Active Roles Configuration Center
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In the Active Roles Configuration Center main window, click Web Interface.
The Web Interface page displays all the Active RolesWeb Interface sites that are deployed on the web server running the Active RolesWeb Interface.
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To configure the authentication settings, click Authentication.
The Site authentication settings page appears.
NOTE: By default, the Windows authentication setting is configured.
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To configure WS-Federated authentication, select WS-Federated authentication, then click Next.
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To configure the identity provider, in Configure Provider, set the following settings.
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(Optional) If your identity provider implementation requires HTTPS, select Require HTTPS.
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(Optional) If your identity provider implementation and service provider require token matching, select Token encryption.
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(Optional) If your identity provider implementation and service provider require matching certificates, select Certificate chain validation.
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Enter the Federated metadata URL.
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(Optional) To test the connection, click Test metadata. If the connection is successful, a confirmation message appears.
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(Optional) If you selected Token encryption, manually enter the Certificate thumbprint. If Token encryption is not selected, this field is not available.
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Enter the Realm of the requesting realm.
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Enter the Reply URL to send a response.
NOTE: Reply URL is a URL that identifies the address at which the relying party (RP) application receives replies from the Security Token Service (STS).
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Click Next.
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In Configure Claims, click Add.
IMPORTANT: By default, the priority of the claim is set based on the order the claims are created. The claim created first has the highest priority, the claim created next has the second highest, and so on. However, you can move the claims based on the required priority.
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Select your Claim type: GUID, SID, UPN, or EMAIL.
IMPORTANT:Active Roles supports 4 claim types for WS-Federation: GUID, SID, UPN and EMAIL.
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Select the Claim value you would like to use from your federation provider.
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To save your settings, click Save.
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Click Modify.