Introduction

The identity federation standard Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 enables the secure exchange of user authentication data between web applications and identity service providers. When you use the SAML 2.0 protocol to enable single sign-on (SSO), security tokens containing assertions pass information about an end user (principal) between a SAML authority - an identity provider (IdP), and a SAML consumer - a service provider (SP). Echoes, acting as the service provider (SP), supports single sign-on through SAML using external identity providers (IdPs) such as Okta, OneLogin and Microsoft Active Directory Federation Service. Echoes is compatible with all external IdPs that support SAML 2.0.

Default membership

Every member who creates a new account via SSO will be put into the global Organization with the default Contributor role.

Configuring SSO/SAML

Step 1: Configure your identity provider

Head to the configuration page to get the Echoes SP information to be set into your IDP:

• Assertion Consumer Service URL: This is the callback that the IdP will send to tell Echoes to log in a user.
• Entity ID/SAML Audience: A URL that describe the entity that is expected to receive the SAML message. In this case, it is the URL for Echoes.
• Metadata: Echoes SP metadata file (XML) can be downloaded. (once the connection has been configured)

Attributes mapping

Those attribute names are expected and mendatory.

• FirstName
• LastName
• Email

Example of attribute assertion:

<saml2:AttributeStatement>
        <saml2:Attribute Name="Email" NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified">
            <saml2:AttributeValue
                xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
                xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="xs:string">john.doe@unknown.com
            </saml2:AttributeValue>
        </saml2:Attribute>
        <saml2:Attribute Name="FirstName" NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified">
            <saml2:AttributeValue
                xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
                xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="xs:string">John
            </saml2:AttributeValue>
        </saml2:Attribute>
        <saml2:Attribute Name="LastName" NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified">
            <saml2:AttributeValue
                xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
                xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="xs:string">Doe
            </saml2:AttributeValue>
        </saml2:Attribute>
    </saml2:AttributeStatement>

SAML2 Identity Providers example

• Okta
  
• Keycloak

Step 2: Enable SSO in Echoes

Head to the configuration page in order to enter the SAML information in order to configure the Echoes SP. Two values are to be set:

• SAML 2.0 Endpoint URL: In most cases it opens your Identity Provider's page where your end-users are to enter their credentials
• Public Key x.509 Certificate: Issued by your Identity Provider

Frequently asked questions