SAML Single Sign-on into Joomla using keycloak

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 org, they can automatically access all apps from the App Launcher. When you set up SSO, you configure one system to trust another to authenticate users , eliminating users' need to log in to each system separately. The system that authenticates users is called an Identity provider. The system that trusts the identity provider for authentication is called the Service provider.

SAML allows exchanging of information between Service Provider and Identity provider, SAML is integration between SP and IDP. When a user tries to log in, your identity provider sends SAML assertions containing facts about the user to Identity Provider. Identity Provider receives the assertion, validates it against your Identity Provider configuration, and allows the user to access your org.

Jboss keycloak Single Sign On (SSO) For Joomla miniOrange provides a ready to use solution for Joomla. This solution ensures that you are ready to roll out secure access to your Joomla site using Jboss Keycloak within minutes.

Step 1: Configuring Jboss keycloak as Identity Provider (IdP)

In your Keycloak admin console, select the realm that you want to use.

keycloak SSO, Joomla Jboss Keycloak configuration

Click on the Clients from the left navigation bar.

Click on create button at the top right corner and enter the following values to create a new client/application.

Client ID	SP-EntityID/Issuer from Service Provider Metadata
Client protocol	SAML
Client SAML Endpoint (optional)	The ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL from Service Provider Metadata

keycloak SSO , Joomla Jboss Keycloak new client application

keycloak SingleSignOnService, Joomla Jboss Keycloak new client/application

Click on Save.

Configure the following:

Client ID	The SP-EntityID / Issuer from Service Provider Metadata
Name	Provide a name for this client (Eg. Joomla)
Description (optional)	Provide a description
Enabled	ON
Consent Required	OFF
Client Protocol	SAML
Include AuthnStatement	NO
Sign Documents	NO
Optimize Redirect signing key lookup	OFF
Sign Assertions	NO
Signature Algorithm	RSA_SHA256
Encrypt Assertion	OFF
Client Signature Required	OFF
Client Signature Required	EXCLUSIVE
Force Name ID Format	NO
Name ID Format	Email
Root URL	Leave empty or Base URL of Service Provider
Valid Redirect URIs	The ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL from Service Provider Metadata

Under Fine Grain SAML Endpoint Configuration, configure the following:

Assertion Consumer Service POST Binding URL	The ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL from Service Provider Metadata
Logout Service Redirect Binding URL	The Single Logout URL from Service Provider Metadata

Click on Save.

keycloak, Joomla Jboss Keycloak Saml Endpoint Add Mappers

Add the following attributes in the Mappers tab.
Click on Add Built-in and add the following option.

Joomla Jboss Keycloak Mappers tab Keycloak SSO

miniorange Add User

Click on the Users from the left nav bar.
Add a new user/view all users.

keycloak single-sign-on-sso,Joomla Jboss Keycloak user tab

Enter the username, valid email address and check on User Enabled.

keycloak single-sign-on-sso,Joomla Jboss Keycloak User Enabled

Click on Save.
Click on the Realm Settings from the left nav bar and open SAML 2.0 Identity Provider Metadata.

keycloak single-sign-on-sso,Jboss keycloak Realm Setting

Go to, https://<YOUR_DOMAIN>/auth/realms/{YOUR_REALM}/protocol/saml/descriptor.These will open an XML in the browser.

keycloak SSO, Jboss keycloak XML browser

In miniOrange’s Joomla SAML SP plugin, go to Service Provider Setup Tab. Enter the following values:

Identity Provider Name	Provide an Identity Provider name (For Example: Keycloak).
IdP Entity ID or Issuer	Search for the entityID from IDP Metadata.Enter the Value in the Entity ID textbox.
SAML Login URL	Search for SingleSignOnService Binding ”urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-Redirect” from IDP Metadata.Enter the location value in the SAML Login URL textbox.
SAML Logout URL (Optional)	Search for SingleLogoutService Binding”urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-Redirect” from IDP Metadata.Enter the location value in the SAML Login URL textbox.
X.509 Certificate (Optional)	Search for the X.509 Certificate from IDP Metadata.Enter the tag value in Certificate textbox.
Enable login with SAML	Checked
Signed SSO and SLO Requests	Unchecked

Configuration of Joomla 3
Configuration of Joomla 4

Configuration of Joomla 3

Step 2: Configuring Joomla as Service Provider (SP)

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

By Metadata URL :

Click on Upload IDP Metadata.

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

By Uploading Metadata File:

Click on Upload IDP Metadata.

Choose metadata file and click on Upload.

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 Service 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 Service URL	SAML Single-Sign-On Endpoint URL in the Federation Metadata document
X.509 Certificate	x.509 Certificate in the Federation Metadata document

Add a button on your site login page with the following URL:

Step 3: Attribute Mapping (It is Optional to fill this). 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 etc.
While auto registering the users in your Joomla site these attributes will automatically get mapped to your Joomla user details.

In Joomla SAML plugin, 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)
Group/Role:	Name of the Role attribute from Identity Provider(IdP)

You can check the Test Configuration Results under Service Provider Setup tab to get a better idea of which values to map here.

Step 4: Group Mapping (It is Optional to fill this). This is Premium feature.

Joomla uses a concept of Roles, designed to give the site owner the ability to control what users can and cannot do within the site.
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.

Step 5: Redirection & SSO Links.

Go to Login Settings tab. There are multiple features availabe in this tab like Auto redirect the user to Identity Provider and Enable Backed Login for Super Users. To use these features, click on the respective checkboxes.

You have successfully completed your miniOrange SAML 2.0 SP configurations. Still, if you are facing any difficulty please mail us on joomlasupport@xecurify.com .

Configuration of Joomla 4