SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) into Tableau using Joomla IDP Plugin

Overview

Single Sign-On in Tableau using Joomla IDP allows users to log in to Tableau using Joomla by configuring Tableau 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 Tableau?
Tableau is a powerful business intelligence tool used for data visualization in the form of charts, graphs, and more, to gain business insights for better company development. It is an interactive tool that helps business managers and team leaders make quicker and more appropriate decisions. Non-technical staff can also create customized dashboards for their work using Tableau's drag-and-drop interface.

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Install Joomla SAML IDP 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 Start Using miniOrange SAML IDP Plugin to configure miniOrange Joomla IDP plugin.

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.

Configuration Steps

In this setup, Joomla serves as the repository for storing users i.e. it will act as the IDP while Tableau is where users will log in using their credentials from Joomla where Joomla SAML IDP SSO Plugin will be installed.

Step 1: Configure Tableau as SP (Service Provider)

Log in to your Tableau Dashboard as Admin.
Click on Settings in the sidebar menu and then go to the Authentication tab.

Go to Authentication Tab ins Tableau Dashboard

Under Authentication types, select Enable an additional authentication method and select SAML from the dropdown menu.

Note down the Tableau Entity ID and Assertion Consumer Service URL (ACS URL) which will be needed to configure the plugin, or directly download the metadata by clicking on Export Metadata and later upload it in the configuration of the Joomla IDP plugin.

Tableau Entity ID and Assertion Consumer Service URL (ACS URL)

Please upload the Joomla IDP Metadata file that you downloaded in the above step to the Import metadata file section. Then, click on the Apply button to upload the Metadata file.

In order to resolve this error the localhost environment of the Joomla should be opened using https and not http, and then download the idp metadata from there.

Step 2: Configure Joomla as IDP (Identity Provider)

Now go to Components -> miniOrange Joomla IDP -> Service Provider.

miniOrange Joomla IDP Service Provider tab

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 Joomla SAML 2.0 IDP configurations.

Step 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.

Go to the Map Attributes section in Tableau Online and match the attributes of Joomla IDP with that in Tableau Online. Select First and last name option in Display Name. Click on Save Changes.

Go to the Users tab in Tableau and click on the three dots on the right of Display Name under Action of the user you wish to modify. Select Authentication and under it select SAML. Click Update.

Note: In the Manage Users’ section, a new user has to be created other than the admin, and the same user should be created with same credentials in Joomla.

Step 4: Test SSO

Go back to the Import Metadata file into Tableau Online section and click on Test Connection. Upon successful connection, you will see the following message on your screen.

Step 5: Embedded Views (Optional)

After following the above steps to Single Sign On (SSO) in Tableau, select Default Authentication Type of Embedded Views to Authenticate using an inline frame from Authentication Settings.