SAML Single Sign-On into Joomla using OpenAthens
Overview
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. 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).
Configuration Steps
In this setup, OpenAthens serves as the repository for storing users i.e. it will act as the IDP while Joomla is where users will log in using their credentials from OpenAthens where Joomla SAML SP SSO Plugin will be installed.
Step 1: Install Joomla SAML SP Plugin
- 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.
- 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.
Step 2: Configure OpenAthens as IDP (Identity Provider)
- 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.
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Audience URI
Audience URI from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
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Recipent
Recipent URL from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
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ACS (Consumer) URL
ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
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SP Entity ID
SP Entity ID from step1 of plugin under Configure tab.
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Single Logout URL
Enter Single Logout URL from Identity Provider Settings tab of the module.
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- Enter the SAML metadata URL or upload the XML file representing your SAML source.
- Click on Create button.
You have successfully configured OpenAthens as SAML IDP (Identity Provider) for achieving OpenAthens SSO login into your Joomla Site.
Step 3: Configure Joomla as SP (Service Provider)
In Joomla SAML plugin, go to Service Provider Setup tab. There are three ways to configure the plugin:
A. By uploading IDP metadata:
- In Joomla SAML plugin, go to Service Provider Setup tab, then click on Upload IdP Metadata.
B. By Metadata URL:
- Enter Metadata URL (Copy from IDP app) and click on Fetch button.
C. 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 |
Step 4: Attribute Mapping - 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 - 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.
- 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.
- 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.
