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SAML Single Sign-On into Joomla using OpenAthens

miniOrange Joomla SAML SP SSO plugin helps you to integrate your Joomla site to OpenAthens using SAML 2.0 protocol. Our user-friendly plugin simplifies the process of setting up Single Sign-on (SSO) with OpenAthens in Joomla, ensuring a secure login experience. This enables users to access various Joomla sites effortlessly using their OpenAthens IDP credentials.

Our plugin is designed to be compatible with Joomla 3, 4 as well as 5 and works seamlessly with all SAML 2.0 compliant Identity Providers. For a detailed overview of the comprehensive features offered by the Joomla SAML SP plugin, please visit our page here. Below, we provide a step-by-step guide on configuring SAML SSO login between your Joomla site and OpenAthens, with OpenAthens serving as the Identity Provider (IDP) and Joomla as the Service Provider (SP).

What is SSO ?

Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication method that enables users to access multiple applications with one-click login and one set of credentials. For example, after users log in to your Joomla site, they can automatically access all resources of the Joomla site. The implementation of SSO involves configuring one system to trust another for user authentication, removing the need for users to log in separately to each system. The system that authenticates users is called an Identity Provider. The system that trusts the Identity Provider for authentication is called the Service Provider.
In this context, the system responsible for authenticating users is referred to as the Identity Provider (IDP), while the system relying on the Identity Provider for authentication is known as the Service Provider (SP). When a user initiates a login attempt, the Service Provider sends a SAML request to the Identity Provider. Upon successful IDP authentication, SAML assertions containing user information are transmitted back to the Service Provider. Subsequently, the Service Provider receives the assertion, verifies it based on the Identity Provider configuration, and grants the user access to your Joomla website.

Pre-requisites: Download And Installation

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Steps to Integrate OpenAthens Single Sign-On (SSO) with Joomla SAML SP

1. Setup Joomla SAML SP plugin

Download the zip file for the miniOrange SAML SP plugin for Joomla.
Login into your Joomla site’s Administrator console.
From left toggle menu, click on System, then under Install section click on Extensions.
Now click on Or Browse for file button to locate and install the plugin file downloaded earlier.

Install the SAML SP Plugin from your computer

Installation of plugin is successful. Now click on Get Started!

Go to the Service Provider Metadata tab and scroll down to copy the SP-EntityID and the ACS URL.

2. Configure OpenAthens as IdP

Login in to the publisher dashboard of OpenAthens.
Access the administration area as the Domain Administrator and navigate to Catalogue.
Switch to Custom tab and click on Add button.
Select SAML option.
Enter the Metadata address of the application or you can upload the metadata file.

Audience URI Audience URI from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
Recipent Recipent URL from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
ACS (Consumer) URL ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
SP Entity ID SP Entity ID from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
Single Logout URL Enter Single Logout URL from Identity Provider Settings tab of the module.

Enter the SAML metadata URL or upload the XML file representing your SAML source.
Click on Create button.

OpenAthens SAML Single Sign-On SSO into Joomla | login using OpenAthens into Joomla, Create

You have successfully configured OpenAthens as SAML IDP (Identity Provider) for achieving OpenAthens SSO login into your Joomla Site.

3. Configure Joomla as Service Provider

In Joomla SAML plugin, go to Service Provider Setup tab. There are three ways to configure the plugin:

By Uploading Metadata File:

In Joomla SAML plugin, go to Service Provider Setup tab, then click on Upload IdP Metadata.

By Metadata URL:

Enter Metadata URL (Copy from IDP app) and click on Fetch button.

Manual Configuration:

Copy SAML Entity ID, SAML Single-Sign-On Endpoint URL and X.509 certificate from Federation Metadata document and paste it in Idp Entity ID or Issuer, Single Sign-on URL, X.509 Certificate fields respectively in the plugin.

IdP Entity ID or Issuer SAML Entity ID in the Federation Metadata document
Single Sign-On URL SAML Single-Sign-On Endpoint URL in the Federation Metadata document
X.509 Certificate Value X.509 Certificate in the Federation Metadata document

Click on Save button and then Test Configuration button.

Once the test configuration is successful you will get the following window.

Congratulations you have successfully configured Joomla SAML Service Provider.

4. Attribute Mapping - This is Premium feature.

Attributes are user details that are stored in your Identity Provider.
Attribute Mapping helps you to get user attributes from your Identity Provider (IDP) and map them to Joomla user attributes like firstname, lastname, address, phone etc.
While auto registering the users in your Joomla site these attributes will automatically get mapped to your Joomla user details.
Go to Attribute Mapping tab and fill in all the fields.

Username: Name of the username attribute from IdP (Keep NameID by default)
Email: Name of the email attribute from IdP (Keep NameID by default)
Name: Name of the name attribute from IdP

You can check the Test Configuration Results under Service Provider Setup tab to get a better idea of which values to map here.
Note: You can see how Attribute Mapping works here.

Step 5. Group Mapping - This is Premium feature.

Group/Role mapping helps you to assign specific roles to users of a certain group in your Identity Provider (IdP).
While auto registering, the users are assigned roles based on the group they are mapped to.

Note: You can see how Group/Role Mapping works here.

Step 6. Redirection & SSO Links.

Go to Login Settings tab. You can add login Url to Perform SAML SSO in your Joomla site by following the steps below.
There are multiple features available in this tab like Auto redirect the user to Identity Provider and Enable Backend Login for Super Users. To use these features, click on the respective checkboxes.

Joomla Single Sign On SSO SAML SP Signin Settings

Click on the Upgrade tab to check out our complete list of features and various licensing plans. OR you can click here to check features and licensing plans.
In case, you are facing some issue or have any question in mind, you can reach out to us by sending us your query through the Support button in the plugin or by sending us a mail at joomlasupport@xecurify.com.

Additional Resources.

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If you don't find what you are looking for, please contact us at joomlasupport@xecurify.com or call us at +1 978 658 9387.

Contents

SAML Single Sign-On into Joomla using OpenAthens

What is SSO ?

Pre-requisites: Download And Installation