DNN SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) using Salesforce as IDP

DNN SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) module gives the ability to enable SAML Single Sign-On for your DotNetNuke applications. Using Single Sign-On you can use only one password to access your DotNetNuke application and services. Our module is compatible with all the SAML-compliant identity providers. Here we will go through a step-by-step guide to configure Single Sign-On (SSO) between DotNetNuke and Salesforce considering Salesforce as IdP.

Pre-requisites: Download And Installation

• Download the package for DNN SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) module.
• Upload the installation package dnn-saml-single-sign-on_xxx_Install by going in Settings > Extension > Install Extension.

Steps to configure DNN Single Sign-On (SSO) using Salesforce as IDP

1. Add module on DNN page

• Open any of the page on your DNN site (Edit mode) and Click on Add Module.

• Search for DNNSAMLSSO and click on the DNNSAMLSSO. Drag and drop the module on the page where you want.

• You have finished with the Installation of the module on your DNN site.

2. Setup Salesforce as Identity Provider

• Select your identity provider Salesforce from the list shown below.

• There are two ways detailed below with which you can get the SAML SP metadata to configure onto your identity provider end.

A] Using SAML metadata URL or metadata file:

• Under Service Provider Settings, you can find the metadata URL as well as the option to download the SAML metadata.
• Copy metadata URL or download the metadata file to configure the same on your identity provider end.
• You may refer to the screenshot below:


B] Uploading metadata manually:

• Under the Service Provider Settings section, you can manually copy the service provider metadata like Base URL, SP Entity ID, ACS URL and share it with your identity provider for configuration.
• You may refer to the screenshot below:

• Log into your Salesforce account as admin.
• Switch to Salesforce Lightning mode from profile menu and then go to the Setup page by clicking on setup button.

• From the left pane, select Settings Tab and click on Identity Provider.

• Click on Enable Identity Provider.

• In the Service Provider section, click on the link to create the Service Provider using Connected Apps.


• Enter Connected App Name, API Name and Contact Email.

Connected App Name	Provide a name for Connected App
API Name	Provide a API name
Contact Email	Provide a Contact Email


• Under the Web App Settings, check the Enable SAML checkbox and enter the following values:

Enable SAML	Checked
Entity ID	SP-EntityID / Issuer from Service Provider Metadata tab of the Plugin
ACS URL	ACS (AssertionConsumerService) URL from Service Provider Metadata tab of the Plugin
Subject Type	Username
Name ID Format	urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:unspecified


• Click on Save to save the configuration.
• Now from the left pane, under Platform Tools section select Connected Apps.
• Then select Manage Connected Apps and click on the app you just created.

• In the Profiles section click Manage Profiles button.
• Assign the Profiles you want to give access to log in through this app.

• Under SAML Login Information, click on Download Metadata.

• Keep this metadata handy for configuring the Service Provider.

You have successfully configured Salesforce as SAML IdP (Identity Provider) for achieving Salesforce SSO login into your DotNetNuke (DNN) Site.

3. Configure DotNetNuke SAML Module as Service Provider

There are two ways detailed below with which you can configure your SAML identity provider metadata in the module.

A] Upload metadata using the Upload IDP Metadata button:

• If your identity provider has provided you with the metadata URL or metadata file (.xml format only), then you can simply configure the identity provider metadata in the module using the Upload IDP Metadata option.
• You may refer to the screenshot below:

• You can choose any one of the options according to the metadata format you have available.

B] Configure the identity provider metadata manually:

• After configuring your Identity Provider, it will provide you with IDP Entity ID, IDP Single Sign On URL and SAML X509 Certificate fields respectively.
• Click Update to save your IDP details.

4. Testing SAML SSO

• Click the Test Configuration button to verify if you have configured the plugin correctly.
• On successful configuration, you will get Attribute Name and Attribute Values in the Test Configuration window.

5. Attribute Mapping

• Attributes are user details that are stored in your Identity Provider.
• Attribute Mapping helps you to get user attributes from your IdP and map them to DotNetNuke user attributes like firstname, lastname etc.
• While auto registering the users in your DotNetNuke site these attributes will automatically get mapped to your DotNetNuke user details.
• Go to DNNSAMLSSO Settings >> Advanced settings >> Attribute Mapping.

6. Adding Login/SSO Widget on DNN Page

• For Adding Button on the DNN page on beside the module settings click on the Add Item (Pencil Icon).

• Add Button name and click on Save.

• You can see login button on the page after saving item. (If you are already logged in your site, you will see a "Logout" link).
• Note: If you want to Enable this button on every page of the DNN site follow below steps:
• Go to the Settings >> Module Settings >> Advanced Settings and Enable option for Display Module On All Page.

• Warning: You will lose all your configuration for the module after enabling this option. You can re-configure the module or it is better to enable this option before configuring the module.

7. Role mapping (It is Optional to fill this)

• DotNetNuke uses a concept of Roles, designed to give the site owner the ability to control what users can and cannot do within the site.
• DotNetNuke has five pre-defined roles: Administrators, Subscribers, Registered Users, Translator (en-US) and Unverified Users.
• Role mapping helps you to assign specific roles to users of a certain group in your IdP.
• While auto registering, the users are assigned roles based on the group they are mapped to.

You can even configure the ASP.NET SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) module with any identity provider such as ADFS, Azure AD, Bitium, centrify, G Suite, JBoss Keycloak, Okta, OneLogin, Salesforce, AWS Cognito, OpenAM, Oracle, PingFederate, PingOne, RSA SecureID, Shibboleth-2, Shibboleth-3, SimpleSAML, WSO2 or even with your own custom identity provider. To check other identity providers, click here.

Additional Resources

• DNN SAML Single Sign-On (SSO)
• DNN OAuth Single Sign-On (SSO)
• ASP.NET SAML Single Sign-On (SSO)
• nopCommerce SAML Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Umbraco SAML Single Sign-On (SSO)