Blackboard SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) | Login into Blackboard using WordPress

Overview

Blackboard is one of the world's fastest growing learning management systems. You can now Single Sign-On (SSO) / Login into Blackboard using WordPress as Identity provider (IdP) with Login using WordPress Users ( WP as SAML IDP ) plugin. Our plugin gives you the ability to use your WordPress (WP) credentials to Single Sign-On (SSO) / Login into Blackboard. Here we will go through a step-by-step guide to configure SSO between Blackboard as SP (Service Provider) and WordPress as IdP (Identity Provider).

Pre-requisites : Download And Installation

• To configure WordPress as SAML IDP and Blackboard as SP with WordPress, you will need to install the miniOrange Login using WordPress Users (WP as SAML IDP).

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Setup Blackboard as SP (Service Provider)

• Go to the WordPress IDP plugin, navigate to the IDP Metadata tab.
• Here, you can find the Identity Provider Metadata URL /XML File or endpoints like IDP Entity ID, SAML Login URL, SAML Logout URL (Premium Feature), Certificate for SP configuration.

• Login to your Blackboard site as Admin.
• Navigate to System Admin and click on Authentication.
• Select Create Provider, click on SAML and then enter the following details.

Name	WordPress
Authentication Provider	Set as Active
User Lookup Method	Username
Restrict by Hostname	Select Use this provider for any host names
Link Text	Type the title for the link as you want it to appear on the Blackboard Learn login page

• Select Save and Configure.
• To configure Service Provider follow the steps given below.

Entity ID	Enter a value that describes this Blackboard Environment (i.e. 'BlackBoardProd')
Enable Automatic SSO	Checked
Single Logout Service Type	Select Post and Redirect

• Click on Generate to download the SP metadata for configuring your WordPress site.
• Select the Compatible Data Sources from the list that this authentication provider should be compatible with. This is important when the authentication provider contains accounts that are shared with existing data sources. If the user exists and is associated with a data source that is not ticked the user will not be successfully authenticated.

• Select the checkbox to have the system automatically create a new account for the user if their information is not found.
• In the Error Message text box, you can provide a custom message for users in case SAML authentication doesn't work as expected.
• Select Point Identity Provider for the Identity Provider Type and enter the following details.

Metadata URL	You can get the Metadata URL from the IDP Metadata of the plugin
Metadata File	Upload the metadata file downloaded from WordPress
Remote User ID	Select NameID as the Remote User ID

You have successfully configured Blackboard as a Service Provider(SP).

Step 2: Configure WordPress (WP) as IdP (Identity Provider)

• In the WordPress IDP plugin, navigate to the Service Provider tab and enter the values corresponding to the information from Blackboard.

Service Provider Name	Blackboard
SP Entity ID or Issuer	Copy and paste the SP-EntityID from Blackboard
ACS URL	Copy and paste the ACS URL from Blackboard
NameID Format	urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress
Assertion Signed	Checked

• Click on the Save button to save your configuration.

Step 3: Attribute Mapping (This is a premium feature)

• In the WordPress IDP plugin, navigate to the Attribute/Role Mapping tab.
• In the User Attributes section, enter the following information and click on Save .
• You can also add more attributes by clicking on + sign to add attributes.

FirstName	first_name
LastName	last_name
Email	user_email
UserName	user_login
DisplayName	display_name

• In Blackboard Service Provider map the following attributes.

Title	Username
First Name	FirstName
Last Name	LastName
Email	Email

You have successfully configured SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) in Blackboard using WordPress (WP) as SAML IdP. Now you can seamlessly login into Blackboard using your WordPress (WP) Login credentials.

Related Articles

• What is Single Sign-On (SSO)?
• What is SAML?
• Login with WordPress
• Additional SAML IDP guides
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)