Moodle SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) using Shibboleth-2 as IdP | Shibboleth-2 SSO Login

Overview

SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for your Moodle site can be achieved using our miniOrange SAML SSO plugin. Our plugin is compatible with all the SAML compliant Identity providers. Here we will go through a step-by-step guide to configure Single Sign-On (SSO) between Shibboleth-2 as Identity Provider (IdP) and Moodle as Service Provider (SP).

Download Plugin Pricing Plans

Pre-requisites : Download And Installation

To configure Shibboleth-2 as IdP with Moodle, you will need to install the miniOrange Moodle SAML 2.0 SSO plugin

Configuration Steps

1. Setup Shibboleth-2 as IdP

Follow the steps below to configure Shibboleth-2 as an Identity Provider:

Configure Shibboleth-2 as IdP

• In the Plugins tab scroll to Service Provider Metadata section you can find the SP metadata such as SP Entity-ID and ACS (AssertionConsumerService) URL which are required to configure the Identity Provider.

• In conf/relying-party.xml, configure Service Provider like this

            <MetadataProviderxsi:type="InlineMetadataProvider"
            xmlns="urn
:mace:shibboleth:2.0:metadata" id="MyInlineMetadata"> 

              <EntitiesDescriptorxmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata"> 

                <md:EntityDescriptorxmlns:md="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2
.0:metadata"
            entityID="<ENTITY_ID_FROM_PLUGIN>"> 

                  <md:SPSSODescriptorAuthnRequestsSigned="false"

            WantAssertionsSigned="true" protocolSupportEnumeration= 

                      "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol">
            

                    <
                urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1
.1:nameidformat:emailAddress</md:NameIDFormat> 

                        <md:AssertionConsumerService
                Binding="urn
:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:https-POST" 

                          Location="<ACS_URL_FROM_PLUGIN>"
                index="1"/> 

                      </md:SPSSODescriptor> 

                    </md:EntityDescriptor> 

                  </EntitiesDescriptor> 

                </MetadataProvider>
        

• Make sure your Shibboleth server is sending Email Address of the user in Name ID. In attribute-resolver.xml, get the email attribute as Name ID:

            <resolver:AttributeDefinitionxsi:type="ad:Si
mple" id="email"
            sourceAttributeID="mail"> 

               <resolver:Dependency ref="ldapConnector" /> 

               <resolver:AttributeEncoderxsi:type="enc:SAML2
StringNameID"
            nameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1: 

                nameid-format:emailAddress"/> 

            </resolver:AttributeDefinition>
        

• In attribute-filter.xml, release the email attribute:

            <afp:AttributeFilterPolicy id="releaseTransientIdToAnyone"> 

            <afp:PolicyRequirementRulexsi:type="basic:ANY"/> 

              <afp:AttributeRuleattributeID="email"> 

                <afp:PermitValueRulexsi:type="basic:ANY"/> 

              </afp:AttributeRule> 

            </afp:AttributeFilterPolicy>
        

• Restart the Shibboleth Server.
• You need to configure these endpoints in the Service Provider.

IDP Entity ID	https://<your_domain>/idp/shibboleth
Single Login URL	https://<your_domain>/idp/profile/SAML2/Redirect/SSO
X.509 Certificate	The public key certificate of your Shibboleth server

2. Configure Moodle as SP (Service Provider)

• Free
• Premium

In the miniOrange SAML SSO plugin, go to the Plugins tab. There are two ways to configure the plugin:

A. By uploading IDP metadata:

• Enter the IDP Name.
• In the Service Provider Setup section choose Metadata URL/XML from Select the Method dropdown.
• Copy and paste the IdP metadata URL or XML file in IDP Metadata URL/XML input field.
• Click on the Click here to Test the configuration.

B. Manual Configuration:

• Provide the required settings (i.e. IDP Name, IDP Entity-ID or Issuer, SAML Login URL, X.509 Certificate) as provided by your Identity Provider.
• Click on the Click here to Test the configuration.

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

• When the user performs SSO, the NameID value is sent by the Identity Provider. This value is unique for every user.
• For the plugin to access these attributes, assign the values for Username and Email as NameID.

In the miniOrange SAML SSO plugin, scroll down to the Service Provider Setup section of the plugin. There are two ways to configure the plugin:

A. By uploading IDP metadata:

• Provide any IDP Name. For example, my_IDP.
• Choose the value of Select the Method as Metadata URL/XML from dropdown.
• Enter the Metadata URL as
  https://tenant-name.b2clogin.com/tenant-name.onmicrosoft.com/B2C_1A_signup_signin_saml/Samlp/metadata

Note: You will need to replace the tenant-name in above URl with Azure B2C tenant name.

• Scroll to the bottom and click on Save changes button.

B. Manual Configuration:

• Provide the required settings (i.e. Identity Provider Name, IdP Entity ID or Issuer, SAML Login URL, X.509 Certificate) as provided by your Identity Provider.
• Click on the Save changes button to save your configuration.

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

Basic Attribute Mapping

• When the user performs SSO, the NameID value is sent by the Identity Provider. This value is unique for every user.
• For the plugin to access these attribute assign the Email and Username attribute.
• Addtionally user attributes can be mapped (such as Firstname and Lastname).
• Click on the Save changes button to save your configuration.

Custom Attribute Mapping

This feature allows you to map custom attribute sent by the IDP to the Moodle attributes.

• To create a custom attribute, navigate to Site Administration >> Users >> User Profile Fields in the plugin.
• Click on Create a new profile field , select the type of attribute from dropdown and enter the values in required fields.

• Assign the desired value to the created custom attribute.

• Scroll down and click on the Save changes button to save your configurations.

Step 4: Role Mapping

• In the free plugin, you can choose a default role that will be assigned to all the non-admin users when they perform SSO.

Note: Roles will be assigned to new users created by SSO. Existing Moodle users’ roles will not be affected.

• Scroll down to Role Mapping section.
• Select the Default Role and click on the Save changes button to save your configuration.

Step 4: Role Mapping

This feature allows you to assign and manage roles of the users when they perform SSO. Along with the default Moodle roles, this is compatible with any custom roles as well.

• Group/Role attribute will provide a mapping for the field name which contains role-related information sent by the IDP and will be used for Role Mapping.
• Scroll to the Role Mapping section and provide the mappings for the respective roles.
• Select the Default Role from the dropdown if the user role doesn't match with the assigned values.
• For example, If you have a user whose Group/Role attribute value is idp-teacher and you want to assign it to the teacher group then, just provide idp-teacher in the Teacher: field of Role mapping section.

Note: You can assign multiple values separated with semi-colon(;).

• Click on the Save changes button to save your configurations.

Step 5: SSO Settings

• In the plugin, you can add a login widget to enable SP-Initiated SSO on your site.
• Go to the Plugins >> Authentication >> Manage authentication.
• Click on the to enable the plugin visibility.
• Click on the ⬆ to set plugin preference.

Step 5: SSO settings

In the plugin you can add a login widget to enable SP-Initiated SSO on your site.

• Navigate to Site administrator >> Plugins >> Manage authentication.
• Click on the to enable the plugin visibility.
• Click on the ⬆ to set plugin preference.

• To enable auto-redirect from Moodle login page to WordPress site .
• Choose Yes value from the dropdown for Enable Auto-redirect to IDP from Moodle login page field.
• Note down Backdoor URL it will be useful when SSO fails.
• Click on the Save changes button to save your configuration.

You have successfully configured Moodle as SAML SP for achieving Shibboleth-2 SSO login into your Moodle Site.

Related Articles

• Moodle Integrations and Plugins
• Moodle SAML Single Sign On
• Moodle SCIM and Remote User Sync

Why Our Customers choose miniOrange Moodle SAML Single Sign-On Solution?

24/7 Support

Get prompt support from our technical experts, accessible around the clock for direct assistance

 Sign Up

Affordable Pricing

miniorange provides most affordable Secure Moodle Single Sign-on Solutions.

 Pricing

Documentation

Get access to our detailed knowledge base, which includes comprehensive guides and instructional videos.

 Know More

We offer Secure Identity Solutions for Single Sign-On, Two Factor Authentication, Adaptive MFA, Provisioning, and much more. Please contact us at

 +1 978 658 9387 (US) | +91 97178 45846 (India)    samlsupport@xecurify.com