SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for WordPress using Shibboleth-2 as IDP | Shibboleth-2 WordPress SSO Login

Overview

Shibboleth-2 Single Sign-On (SSO) login for WordPress can be achieved by using our WordPress SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) plugin. Our plugin is compatible with all the SAML compliant Identity Providers (IDPs). Here we will go through a step-by-step guide to configure Shibboleth WordPress login between WordPress site and Shibboleth-2 by considering Shibboleth-2 as IDP (Identity Provider) and WordPress as SP (Service Provider).
You can visit our WordPress SSO plugin to know more about the other features we provide.

Download Plugin

Pricing Plans

Free Trial

Pre-requisites : Download And Installation

To configure Shibboleth-2 as SAML IdP with WordPress, you will need to install the miniOrange WP SAML SP SSO plugin.

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Setup Shibboleth-2 as IdP (Identity Provider)

Follow the following steps to Configure Shibboleth-2 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.

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

You have successfully configured Shibboleth as SAML IDP (Identity Provider) for achieving Shibboleth-2 SSO login into your WordPress (WP) Site.

Step 2: Configure WordPress as SP (Service Provider)

Free

Standard

Premium

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

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.

Single Sign On between two WordPress sites | 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.

Single Sign On between two WordPress sites | Test configuration

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

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.

Single Sign On between two WordPress sites | Login-attribute mapping

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

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

Attribute Mapping feature allows you to map the user attributes sent by the IDP during SSO to the user attributes at WordPress.
In WordPress SAML plugin, 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 WordPress SAML SSO plugin, go to the Service Provider Setup tab of the plugin. There are two ways to configure the WordPress SSO plugin:

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

Single Sign On between two WordPress sites | 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 - SSO between two WordPress sites

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

Step 3: Attribute Mapping

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

Login-attribute mapping - SSO between two WordPress sites

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

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.

Single Sign On between two WordPress sites | Login-role mapping

Step 4: Role Mapping

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.

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 - SSO between two WordPress sites

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.

Single Sign On between two WordPress sites | 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.

Single Sign On between two WordPress sites | 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 Shibboleth-2 SAML Single Sign-On (Shibboleth-2 SSO Login) choosing Shibboleth-2 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 Shibboleth-2 login credentials within minutes.

Contents

SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for WordPress using Shibboleth-2 as IDP | Shibboleth-2 WordPress SSO Login

Overview

Pre-requisites : Download And Installation

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Setup Shibboleth-2 as IdP (Identity Provider)

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:

Related Articles