SAML Single Sign-On into Joomla using Google Apps

There are a couple of reasons why this can happen:

1. Caching is enabled on the website.
When auto-redirect is enabled, the user is redirected to the IDP login page and after logging in back to the main site but as caching is enabled it redirects to the IDP login page hence a loop.

2. HTTP/HTTPS discrepancy:
This happens when HTTPS is not enforced on the site but is configured on the IDP side with an HTTPS URL. This can be solved by enforcing HTTPS on the site by defining a redirect rule in the .htaccess file or at the Apache level.

3. Cookie adulteration:
The cookie created by the plugin after logging in the user is altered by another plugin which causes the user to not log in to the Joomla site but the session is created on IDP.

In Joomla SAML plugin, when an extension is not enabled after installing the plugin, after clicking on ‘Test Configuration’ it takes you to your own site instead of redirecting you to IDP. To resolve it, you need to enable all the extensions of the plugin after installing it.

Please follow the below steps to resolve this issue:

1. In the Joomla admin interface, go to Extensions -> Manage -> Manage.
2. Search for ‘miniorange’.
3. Enable all the extensions of the plugins.

Here are some frequent errors that can occur:

INVALID_ISSUER: This means that you have NOT entered the correct Issuer or Entity ID value provided by your Identity Provider. You’ll see in the error message what was the expected value (that you have configured) and what actually found in the SAML Response.
INVALID_AUDIENCE: This means that you have NOT configured Audience URL in your Identity Provider correctly. It must be set to https://base-url-of-your-joomla-site/plugins/authentication/miniorangesaml/ in your Identity Provider.
INVALID_DESTINATION: This means that you have NOT configured Destination URL in your Identity Provider correctly. It must be set to https://base-url-of-your-joomla-site/plugins/authentication/miniorangesaml/saml2/acs.php in your Identity Provider.
INVALID_SIGNATURE: This means that the certificate you provided did not match the certificate found in the SAML Response. Make sure you provide the same certificate that you downloaded from your IdP. If you have your IdP’s Metadata XML file then make sure you provide certificate enclosed in X509 Certificate tag which has an attribute use=’ signing’.
INVALID_CERTIFICATE: This means that the certificate you provided is not in a proper format. Make sure you have copied the entire certificate provided by your IdP. If copied from IdP’s Metadata XML file, make sure that you copied the entire value.

This is possible only when a certificate coming in SAML Response does not match with the certificate configured in the plugin. Copy the certificate value shown in the Test Configuration window and paste it in X.509 Certificate field in the Service Provider tab in the plugin.

Please follow the steps to the export configuration:
1) Go to the miniOrange SAML SP plugin and navigate to the Service Provider Setup tab.
2) Then click on the Import/Export button at the bottom of the page and then click on the Export Configuration button.
3) Navigate to System >> Manage and search miniOrange in the search bar. Then uninstall all miniOrange extensions.

Please follow the steps to import configuration:
1) Install the latest plugin and log in with your miniOrange credentials in the plugin.
2) Navigate to the Service Provider Setup tab and click on Import/Export button.
3) Upload the downloaded configuration file and then click on the Import Configuration button.

While updating Joomla SAML Plugin, if table or column is not added to the database then you will get a missing table error. This issue generally arises when a table or column is not added to the database while updating the plugin.
You can reinstall the plugin to resolve this issue, please follow the below steps:

Uninstall the existing plugin (Take the backup of the existing plugin before uninstalling the plugin)
– Go to Extensions -> Manage -> Manage
– Search for miniOrange
– Select all the extensions and click ‘Uninstall’.
Now install the plugin again and configure it.

A Joomla site can be either used as a Service Provider or an Identity Provider using the relevant SP or IDP plugin. You are facing this error probably because you have installed both the plugins on the same site.
In order to resolve this issue, please follow the below-mentioned steps: Delete the following folders from your Joomla directory:

1. /libraries/miniorangejoomlaidpplugin
2. /libraries/miniorangesamlplugin
3. /plugins/system/samlredirect
Now you should be able to log into your Joomla site.

Remove the remaining extensions:

1. In your Joomla site administrator console, go to Extensions -> Manage -> Manage.
2. Search for ‘miniorange’
3. Select all extensions and click Uninstall

The redirection issue occurs while using the Admin Tools plugin for Joomla SAML SSO, where the Admin Tools plugin makes changes in the .htaccess file and adds certain rules that prevent redirection from the site.

You can solve the above issue by following the steps given below:

1. Navigate to Admin tools >> Control Panel then click on the .htaccess maker option.
2. Then disable the option ‘Protect against common file injection attacks’.
Then clear the cache for your site and test for Single Sign-On.

SAML Tracer Logs:

1. Download SAML tracer add-on : Firefox: [ Link ] | Chrome:[ Link ] 2. Open the SAML tracer from the Browser toolbar.
3. Keep the SAML tracer window open.
4. Perform SSO/Test configuration and reproduce the issue.
5. Go to SAML tracer window.
6. You will get the option to Export SAML Tracer Log in a file (On top menu bar). Save the logs to a file, choose ‘None‘ when prompted and send us this file.

It seems that your Identity Provider is sending an error in the SAML Response. To troubleshoot this, please go to the Service Provider Setup tab of the SAML SP Plugin. Click on the Test Configuration and review the configuration result window. Ensure that the Attribute Mapping has been done correctly and verify that the X.509 Certificate Value is accurate.