What is ADFS and how does it work with SAML SSO?

ADFS (Active Directory Federation Services) is Microsoft’s identity solution that enables Single Sign-On (SSO). With the miniOrange SAML SSO plugin, ADFS acts as the Identity Provider (IdP) and WordPress as the Service Provider (SP), allowing users to log in with Active Directory credentials.

Why do users get unexpected authentication prompts (NTLM or forms-based) during ADFS SSO?

This usually happens if the ADFS service is down, endpoints are misconfigured, or DNS settings are incorrect. Check ADFS status, verify federation service DNS, and ensure IdP-initiated login is accessible.

What does 'Time Synchronization' error mean in ADFS SSO?

It means the ADFS server and Service Provider clocks are not in sync, causing SAML assertions to fail. Sync your servers with NTP and keep the time difference within the allowed skew (usually under 10 seconds).

What causes 'Failed to decrypt EncryptedData' when integrating SAML with ADFS?

This error occurs when the Java JDK on the Service Provider has key size restrictions, often limited to 1024-bit. Update Java encryption policies or configure them to support larger keys required by ADFS.

Why do users get 'Authentication negotiation cannot access the ADFS server'?

This happens if server clocks are out of sync or proxy trust fails. Sync time across servers with NTP and check federation trust and external access settings.

Why can't the SP access the ADFS IdP sign-on page?

The SP may be blocked due to DNS errors, network issues, or endpoint misconfigurations. Verify IdP sign-on page access, check ADFS endpoints in the management console, and confirm DNS records are correct.

SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for WordPress using ADFS as IDP | ADFS SSO Login

Overview

ADFS Single Sign-On (SSO) [SAML] login for WordPress can be achieved by using our SSO plugin for WordPress. Our plugin compatible with all the SAML compliant Identity Providers. Here we will go through a step-by-step guide to configure SAML SSO login between WordPress site and ADFS by considering ADFS as IDP (Identity Provider) and WordPress as SP (Service Provider).

Pre-requisites : Download And Installation

To configure ADFS as SAML IDP with WordPress, you will need to install the miniOrange SAML SP SSO plugin.

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Setup ADFS as IDP (Identity Provider)

Follow the following steps to Configure ADFS as IDP:

In the miniOrange SAML SP SSO plugin, navigate to Service Provider Metadata tab. Here, you can find the SP metadata such as SP Entity ID and ACS (AssertionConsumerService) URL which are required to configure the Identity Provider.

On ADFS, search for ADFS Management application.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - Admin_Dashboard

In ADFS Management, select Relying Party Trust and click on Add Relying Party Trust.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - Add Relying Party Trust

Select Claims aware from the Relying Party Trust Wizard and click on Start button.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - Claims Aware

Select Data Source

In Select Data Source, select the data source for adding a relying party trust.

Metadata URL

Metadata XML file

Manual Configuration

Navigate to Service Provider Metadata tab from the plugin and copy the Metadata URL.
Select Import data about the relying party published online or on the local network option and add the metadata URL in Federation metadata address.
Click on Next.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - support for the SAML 2.0 Wizard Metadata

Note: In the next step enter the desired Display Name and click Next.

Choose Access Control Policy

Select Permit everyone as an Access Control Policy and click on Next.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - for SAML 2.0 Wizard Multi-Factor

Ready to Add Trust

In Ready to Add Trust click on Next and then Close.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - SAML 2.0 Wizard Edit Claim

Edit Claim Issuance Policy

In the list of Relying Party Trust, select the application you created and click on Edit Claim Issuance Policy.

In Issuance Transform Rule tab click on Add Rule button.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - for SAML 2.0 Wizard Claim Rule

Choose Rule Type

Select Send LDAP Attributes as Claims and click on Next.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - for SAML 2.0 Configure_LDAP Attributes

Configure Claim Rule

Add a Claim Rule Name and select the Attribute Store as required from the dropdown.
Under Mapping of LDAP Attributes to outgoing claim types, Select LDAP Attribute as E-Mail-Addresses and Outgoing Claim Type as Name ID.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - for the SAML 2.0 Add Transform Claim Rule

Once you have configured the attributes, click on Finish.
After configuring ADFS as IDP, you will need the Federation Metadata to configure your Service Provider.
To get the ADFS Federation Metadata, you can use this URL
https://< ADFS_Server_Name >/federationmetadata/2007-06/federationmetadata.xml

Navigate to Service Provider Metadata tab from the plugin and click on the Download XML metadata button to download the plugin metadata file.
Select Import data about the relying party from a file option and upload the downloaded metadata file.
Click on Next.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - for Wizard_metadata file

Note: In the next step enter the desired Display Name and click Next.

Choose Access Control Policy

Select Permit everyone as an Access Control Policy and click on Next.

Ready to Add Trust

In Ready to Add Trust click on Next and then Close.

Edit Claim Issuance Policy

In the list of Relying Party Trust, select the application you created and click on Edit Claim Issuance Policy.

In Issuance Transform Rule tab click on Add Rule button.

Choose Rule Type

Select Send LDAP Attributes as Claims and click on Next.

Configure Claim Rule

Add a Claim Rule Name and select the Attribute Store as required from the dropdown.
Under Mapping of LDAP Attributes to outgoing claim types, Select LDAP Attribute as E-Mail-Addresses and Outgoing Claim Type as Name ID.

Once you have configured the attributes, click on Finish.
After configuring ADFS as IDP, you will need the Federation Metadata to configure your Service Provider.
To get the ADFS Federation Metadata, you can use this URL
https://< ADFS_Server_Name >/federationmetadata/2007-06/federationmetadata.xml

Navigate to Service Provider Metadata tab of the plugin to get the endpoints to configure Service Provider manually.
In Add Relying Party Trust Wizard select option Enter data about the relying party manually and click on Next.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - SAML 2.0 Wizard_Metadata manual

Specify Display Name

Enter Display Name and Click Next.

Configure Certificate (Premium feature)

Download the certificate from Service Provider Metadata Tab.
Upload the certificate and click on Next.

Configure URL

Select Enable support for the SAML 2.0 WebSSO protocol option and enter ACS URLfrom the plugin's Service Provider Metadata Tab.
Click on Next.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - for the SAML 2.0 Wizard_Enable SAML

Configure Identifiers

In the Relying party trust identifier, add the SP-EntityID / Issuer from the plugin's Service Provider Metadata tab.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - SAML 2.0 Wizard_URL

Choose Access Control Policy

Select Permit everyone as an Access Control Policy and click on Next.

Ready to Add Trust

In Ready to Add Trust click on Next and then Close.

Edit Claim Issuance Policy

In the list of Relying Party Trust, select the application you created and click on Edit Claim Issuance Policy.

In Issuance Transform Rule tab click on Add Rule button.

Choose Rule Type

Select Send LDAP Attributes as Claims and click on Next.

Configure Claim Rule

Add a Claim Rule Name and select the Attribute Store as required from the dropdown.
Under Mapping of LDAP Attributes to outgoing claim types, Select LDAP Attribute as E-Mail-Addresses and Outgoing Claim Type as Name ID.

Once you have configured the attributes, click on Finish.
After configuring ADFS as IDP, you will need the Federation Metadata to configure your Service Provider.
To get the ADFS Federation Metadata, you can use this URL
https://< ADFS_Server_Name >/federationmetadata/2007-06/federationmetadata.xml

You have successfully configured ADFS as SAML IDP (Identity Provider) for achieving ADFS SSO login into your WordPress (WP) Site.

Windows SSO (Optional)

Follow the steps below to configure Windows SSO

Steps to configure ADFS for Windows Authentication

Open elevated Command Prompt on the ADFS Server and execute the following command on it:

setspn -a HTTP/##ADFS Server FQDN## ##Domain Service Account##
FQDN is Fully Qualified Domain Name (Example : adfs4.example.com)
Domain Service Account is the username of the account in AD.
Example : setspn -a HTTP/adfs.example.com username/domain

Open AD FS Management Console, click on Services and go to the Authentication Methods section. On the right, click on Edit Primary Authentication Methods. Check Windows Authentication in Intranet zone.

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - Primary Authentication

Configure ADFS as IDP -SAML Single Sign-On(SSO) for WordPress - ADFS SSO Login - Management Application

Open Internet Explorer. Navigate to Security tab in Internet Options.
Add the FQDN of AD FS to the list of sites in Local Intranet and restart the browser.
Select Custom Level for the Security Zone. In the list of options, select Automatic Logon only in Intranet Zone.

Open the powershell and execute following two commands to enable windows authentication in Chrome browser.


    Set-AdfsProperties -WIASupportedUserAgents ((Get-ADFSProperties | Select -ExpandProperty WIASupportedUserAgents) + "Chrome")


    Get-AdfsProperties | Select -ExpandProperty WIASupportedUserAgents;

You have successfully configured ADFS for Windows Authentication.

Step 2: Configure WordPress as SP (Service Provider)

Free
Standard
Premium

In the SAML SSO plugin for WordPress, go to the IDP Configuration tab of the plugin. There are two ways to configure the SSO Plugin for WordPress:

A. By uploading IDP metadata:

Click on Upload IDP metadata button.
Enter the Identity Provider Name
You can either upload a metadata file and click on Upload button or use a metadata URL and click on Fetch Metadata.

SAML SSO for WordPress | Login-upload metadata

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 and click on the Save button.
Click on Test configuration to check the attributes and values sent by IDP.

SAML SSO for WordPress | Test configuration

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

Note: To configure attribute mapping for multiple identity providers, follow the setup guide here. This feature is available in the Enterprise plan.

In the free plugin, only NameID is supported for Email and Username attributes of the WordPress user.
When a user performs SSO, the NameID value sent by the IDP will get mapped to the email and username of the WordPress user.

SAML SSO for WordPress | Login-attribute mapping

In the SAML SSO plugin for WordPress, go to the Service Provider Setup tab of the plugin. There are two ways to configure the SSO Plugin for WordPress:

A. By uploading IDP metadata:

Click on Upload IDP metadata button.
Enter the Identity Provider Name
You can either upload a metadata file and click on Upload button or use a metadata URL and click on Fetch Metadata.

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 and click on the Save button.
Click on Test configuration to check the attributes and values sent by IDP.

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

Note: To configure attribute mapping for multiple identity providers, follow the setup guide here. This feature is available in the Enterprise plan.

Attribute Mapping feature allows you to map the user attributes sent by the IDP during SSO to the user attributes at WordPress.
In SAML Plugin for WordPress, go to Attribute/Role Mapping tab and fill up the following fields in Attribute Mapping section.

NOTE: If you click on Test Configuration button in Service Provider Setup tab and authenticate with your IDP, you can see a list of attributes sent by the IDP in the Attribute/Role mapping tab. This information can be used to provide the above mapping.

In the SAML SSO plugin for WordPress, go to the Service Provider Setup tab of the plugin. There are two ways to configure the SSO Plugin for WordPress:

A. By uploading IDP metadata:

Click on Upload IDP metadata button.
Enter the Identity Provider Name
You can either upload a metadata file and click on Upload button or use a metadata URL and click on Fetch Metadata.
In the Premium plugin, you can enable auto-sync for the metadata URL which will auto-update the plugin configuration as per the IDP metadata after a set interval of time

SAML SSO for WordPress | Login-enableauto scan

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 and click on the Save button.
Click on Test configuration to check the attributes and values sent by IDP.

Test configuration - SAML SSO for WordPress

In the Premium Plugin, you can provide the SAML Logout URL to achieve Single Logout on your WordPress site.

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

Note: To configure attribute mapping for multiple identity providers, follow the setup guide here. This feature is available in the Enterprise plan.

Attribute Mapping feature allows you to map the user attributes sent by the IDP during SSO to the user attributes at WordPress.
In SAML Plugin for WordPress, go to Attribute/Role Mapping tab and fill up the following fields in Attribute Mapping section.

Login-attribute mapping - SAML SSO for WordPress

Custom Attribute Mapping: This feature allows you to map any attribute sent by the IDP to the usermeta table of WordPress.

Step 4: Role Mapping

Note: To configure role mapping for multiple identity providers, follow the setup guide here. This feature is available in the Enterprise plan.

In the free plugin, you can choose a Default Role which will be assigned to all the non-admin users when they perform SSO.
Go to Attribute/Role mapping tab and navigate to Role Mapping section.
Select the Default Role and click on the Update button.

SAML SSO for WordPress | Login-role mapping

Step 4: Role Mapping

Note: To configure role mapping for multiple identity providers, follow the setup guide here. This feature is available in the Enterprise plan.

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

Go to Attribute/Role mapping tab and navigate to Role Mapping section.
Select the Default Role and click on the Save button.

Step 4: Role Mapping

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

Note: To configure role mapping for multiple identity providers, follow the setup guide here. This feature is available in the Enterprise plan.

From the Attribute Mapping section of the plugin, provide a mapping for the field named Group/Role. This attribute will contain the role related information sent by the IDP and will be used for Role Mapping.
Navigate to role mapping section and provide the mappings for the highlighted roles.

Login-role mapping - SAML SSO for WordPress

For example, If you want a user whose Group/Role attribute value is wp-editor to be assigned as an Editor in WordPress, just provide the mapping as wp-editor in the Editor field of Role Mapping section.

Step 5: SSO settings

In the free plugin you can add a Single Sign-On button by enabling Add a Single Sign-On button on the WordPress Login Page toggle in Option 1.

SAML SSO for WordPress | Login-SSO button

If your WordPress theme supports login widget, you can add a login widget to enable SP-Initiated SSO on your site.
Navigate to Redirection and SSO links tab and follow the given steps given under Option 2: Use a Widget to add a login widget on your site.

SAML SSO for WordPress | Login-sso setting

Step 5: SSO settings

In the Standard plugin you can enable SP-initiated SSO using the following options.

Auto-Redirection from site: If this option is enabled, any unauthenticated user trying to access your site will get redirected to the IDP login page and after successful authentication, they will be redirected back to the same page on your site which they were trying to access.

Steps:

Go to Redirection and SSO Links tab of the plugin and navigate to Option 1: Auto - Redirection from site.
Enable Redirect to IDP if user not logged in [PROTECT COMPLETE SITE]option.

Auto-Redirection from WordPress Login: If this option is enabled, any unauthenticated user trying to access the default WordPress login page will get redirected to the IDP login page for authentication. After successful authentication, they will be redirected back to the WordPress site.

Steps:

Go to Redirection and SSO Links tab of the plugin and navigate to Option 2: Auto- Redirection from WordPress Login.
Enable Redirect to IDP from WordPress Login Page option.

NOTE: Please enable the Backdoor login and note down the backdoor URL. This will allow you to access the WordPress login page in case you get locked out of the IDP.

SSO Links: You can add SSO links anywhere on your site using the Shortcode and Widget provided in Redirection and SSO Links tab > Option 3: SSO Links section of the plugin

Step 5: SSO Settings

In the Premium plugin you can enable SP-initiated SSO using the following options.

Auto-Redirection from site: If this option is enabled, any unauthenticated user trying to access your site will get redirected to the IDP login page and after successful authentication they will be redirected back to the same page on your site which they were trying to access.

Steps:

Go to Redirection and SSO Links tab of the plugin and navigate to Option 1 : Auto-Redirection from site.
Enable Redirect to IDP if user not logged in [PROTECT COMPLETE SITE] option.

Auto-Redirection from WordPress Login: If this option is enabled, any unauthenticated user trying to access the default WordPress login page will get redirected to the IDP login page for authentication. After successful authentication, they will be redirected back to the WordPress site.

Steps:

Go to Redirection and SSO Links tab of the plugin and navigate to Option 2: Auto-Redirection from WordPress Login.
Enable Redirect to IDP from WordPress Login Page option.

NOTE: Please enable the Backdoor login and note down the backdoor URL. This will allow you to access the WordPress login page in case you get locked out of the IDP login.

Login Button: You can add a customized login button anywhere on your site or WordPress login page by navigating to Option 3: Login Button section of Redirection and SSO Links tab.

SSO Links: You can add SSO links anywhere on your site using the Shortcode and Widget provided in Option 4: SSO Links section of Redirection and SSO Links tab.

In this Guide, you have successfully configured ADFS SAML Single Sign-On (ADFS SSO Login) choosing ADFS as IDP and WordPress as SP using miniOrange plugin-SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login.This solution ensures that you are ready to roll out secure access to your WordPress (WP) site using ADFS login credentials within minutes.

Frequently Asked Question

View More FAQs

Why do I get an “SSO certificate expired or mismatch” error during ADFS SSO?

Why do my SAML assertions fail due to time issues (clock skew) when using ADFS with SSO?

Why do I see a generic “we could not sign you in” message after successful ADFS authentication?

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Contents

SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for WordPress using ADFS as IDP | ADFS SSO Login

Overview

Pre-requisites : Download And Installation

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Setup ADFS as IDP (Identity Provider)

Select Data Source

Choose Access Control Policy

Ready to Add Trust

Edit Claim Issuance Policy

Choose Rule Type

Configure Claim Rule

Choose Access Control Policy

Ready to Add Trust

Edit Claim Issuance Policy

Choose Rule Type

Configure Claim Rule

Specify Display Name

Configure Certificate (Premium feature)

Configure URL

Configure Identifiers

Choose Access Control Policy

Ready to Add Trust

Edit Claim Issuance Policy

Choose Rule Type

Configure Claim Rule

Windows SSO (Optional)

Steps to configure ADFS for Windows Authentication

Step 2: Configure WordPress as SP (Service Provider)

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

Step 4: Role Mapping

Step 4: Role Mapping

Step 4: Role Mapping

Step 5: SSO settings

Step 5: SSO settings

Steps:

Steps:

Step 5: SSO Settings

Steps:

Steps:

Frequently Asked Question

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