SAML Single Sign-on (SSO) into Freshdesk using Joomla SAML IDP

Single Sign-On in Freshdesk using Joomla IDP allows users to log in to Freshdesk using Joomla by configuring Freshdesk as a Service Provider (SP) and Joomla as a SAML Identity Provider (IDP). This guide will take you through a step-by-step process to configure SSO between the two platforms.

What is Freshdesk?
Freshdesk is a special cloud-based software designed to facilitate and improve customer support. Its excellent and cost-effective features are quite popular among online enterprises for enhancing the customers' self-service and their support teams' overall productivity.

Pre-requisites: Download And Installation

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Install Joomla IDP Plugin

• Download the zip file for the miniOrange Joomla IDP plugin.
• Log into your Joomla site’s administrator console.
• From left toggle menu, click on System, then under Install section click on Extensions.

• Upload the downloaded zip file to install the Joomla IDP plugin.

• Installation of the plugin is successful. Now click on Start Using miniOrange SAML IDP Plugin to configure miniOrange Joomla IDP plugin.

Steps to configure Freshdesk SSO with Joomla as IDP.

1. Configure Freshdesk as Service Provider

• Go to the miniOrange Joomla IDP plugin, navigate to the Identity Provider tab.
• Here, you can find the Identity Provider Metadata XML URL/File or endpoints like IDP Entity ID, SAML Login URL, SAML Logout URL (Premium Feature), and Certificate for SP configuration. Download the XML Metadata by clicking on the button as shown below.

• Log into the FreshDesk Admin Portal as a System Admin. From the dashboard go to security icon from left menu bar.

• In Account section go to Security, for configuring SSO for Freshdesk users.

• In Login Settings section click on Configure Freshworks SSO, to activate the SSO login.

• In Signing in to Freshworks section click on SSO Login under the Default Login Methods.

• Now enable the SSO Login.

• Select the SAML , under Idp of your choice section.

• Click on Download Metadata, to get metadata of freshdesk.

• Enter the all details of Joomla IDP, then click on Configure SSO.

  Entity ID	Enter IDP-EntityID / Issuer from the Identity Provider tab of the Joomla plugin.
  SAML SSO URL	Enter SAML Login URL from the Identity Provider tab of the Joomla plugin.
  Security Certificate	Copy the Certificate downloaded from the Identity Provider tab of the Joomla plugin.

2. Configure Joomla as Identity Provider

• Now go to Components miniOrange Joomla IDP Service Provider

• Navigate to the Service Provider tab and complete the fields for Service Provider Name, SP Entity ID or Issuer, ACS URL, and NameID Format. Refer to this step to get Service Provider details. Fill in the other fields according to your requirements. Click on Save.

Enter the following values:

Service Provider Name	Choose appropriate name according to your choice.
SP Entity ID or Issuer	Service Provider Entity ID.
ACS URL	SP Assertion Consumer Service URL.
X.509 Certificate (optional) [For Signed Request]	Paste certificate value you copied from the Metadata file.
NameID Format	Select urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress.
Assertion Signed	Checked.


• Now click on Advance Mapping tab. Select the NameID Attribute and then click on Save Button.


You have successfully completed your miniOrange SAML 2.0 IDP configurations.

3. Attribute Mapping (Premium Feature)

• In the miniOrange Joomla IDP plugin, navigate to the Advance Mapping tab.
• Here, you can configure Custom attribute mapping and also add additional User Attributes.

You have successfully configured Single Sign-On with Freshdesk as Service Provider and Joomla as Identity Provider. If you require any further support or, if you are facing any difficulty please mail us on joomlasupport@xecurify.com

Free Trial

If you would like to test out the plugin to ensure your business use case is fulfilled, we do provide a 7-day trial. Please drop us an email at joomlasupport@xecurify.com requesting a trial. You can create an account with us using this link.

Additional Resources.

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