SAML Single Sign-On into Joomla using PingFederate

Overview

miniOrange Joomla SAML SP SSO plugin helps you to integrate your Joomla site to PingFederate using SAML protocol. The miniOrange Joomla SAML SP Single Sign-on (SSO) plugin is simple to set up PingFederate SSO into Joomla and enable secure login into Joomla. As a result, users can access multiple Joomla applications with one login after authenticating with their PingFederate IDP credentials.

Our plugin is compatible with Joomla 3 as well as Joomla 4 with all the SAML 2.0 compliant Identity Providers. Here we will go through a step-by-step guide to configure SAML SSO login between the Joomla site and PingFederate by considering PingFederate as IDP (Identity Provider) & Joomla as SP (Service Provider).

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Configuration Steps

In this setup, PingFederate 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 PingFederate 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 PingFederate as IDP (Identity Provider)

Login to your PingFederate User Admin dashboard.
Click on the Identity Provider in the left navigation menu.
Under SP CONNECTION, click on Create New button.

You will get the following screen. Click on Create App Integration button.

Select the Browser SSO Profiles connection template on the Connection Type tab and click Next.

Select Browser SSO on the Connection Options tab and click Next.

Select File as the method for importing metadata and click Choose file to choose the miniOrange SSO plugin’s metadata on the Import Metadata tab. Click Next.

Review the information on the Metadata Summary tab and click Next.
In the General Info tab ensure that the Service Provider’s Entity ID, Connection Name, and Base URL fields pre-populate based on the metadata. Click Next.
Navigate to the Browser SSO tab and click on the Configure Browser SSO. You will be redirected to Browser SSO Setup wizard.
Select the IdP-Initiated SSO and SP-Initiated SSO options on the SAML Profiles tab and click Next.

Enter your desired assertion validity time from on the Assertion Lifetime tab and click Next. By default, it is configured 5 minutes for both.
Navigate to the Assertion Creation and click on the Configure Assertion Creation. You will be redirected to the assertion creation setup wizard.

In the Identity Mapping tab select STANDARD and click Next.
Select a Subject Name Format for the SAML_SUBJECT on the Attribute Contract tab and click Next.
Click Map New Adapter Instance on the Authentication Source Mapping.

Select an Adapter Instance and click Next. The adapter must include the user’s email address.

Select the Use only the adapter contract values in the SAML assertion option on the Mapping Method tab and click Next.
Select your adapter instance as the Source and the email as the Value on the Attribute Contract Fulfillment tab and click Next.

(Optional) Select any authorization conditions you would like on the Issuance Criteria tab and click Next.
Click Done on the Summary.
Click Next on the Authentication Source Mapping tab.
Click Done on the Summary tab.
Click Next on the Assertion Creation.

Navigate to the Protocol Settings tab of the Browser SSO wizard and click on the Configure Protocol settings.
Select POST for Binding and specify the single sign-on endpoint URL in the Endpoint URL field on the Assertion Consumer Service URL Click Next.

Select POST on the Allowable SAML Bindings tab and click Next.
Select your desired signature policies for assertions on the Signature Policy tab and click Next.

Select your desired encryption policy for assertions on the Encryption Policy tab and click Next.
Click Done on the Protocol Settings Summary tab.
Click Done on the Browser SSO Summary.
Navigate to the Credentials and click on the Configure Credentials. You will be redirected to the Credentials setup wizard.
Select the Signing Certificate to use with the Single Sign-On service and select Include the certificate in the signature element in the Digital Signature Settings tab. Click Done.

Click Done on the Summary.
Click Next on the Credentials.
Select Active for the Connection Status on the Activation & Summary tab and click Save.
Now, navigate to the Ping Federate User Admin dashboard Identity Provider.
Click Manage All under SP Connections.
Click Export Metadata for the desired service provider connection.
Click Export on the Export & Summary tab and click Done.

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.

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