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How to add SSO with OpenID Connect

Availability

Introduction

In this guide we will do a deep dive on the Single-Sign-On (SSO) using the OpenID Connect protocol and connect it with Okta as IdP. Unleash supports other identity providers and protocols, have a look at all available Single-Sign-On options

Basic configuration

Step 1: Sign-in to Unleash

In order to configure SSO you will need to log in to the Unleash instance with a user that have "Admin" role. If you are self-hosting Unleash then a default user will be automatically created the first time you start Unleash:

  • username: admin
  • password: unleash4all

Step 2: Navigate to SSO configuration

Unleash enterprise supports multiple authentication providers, and we provide in depth guides for each of them. To find them navigate to "Admin" => "Single-Sign-On" section.

admin-authentication

Step 3: Okta with OpenID Connect

Open a new tab/window in your browser and sign in to your Okta account. We will need to create a new Application which will hold the settings we need for Unleash.

a) Create new Okta application

Navigate to “Admin/Applications” and click the “Add Apps” button.

Okta: Add Apps

Then click “Create Application” and choose a new “OIDC - OpenID Connect” application, and choose application type "Web Application" and click create.

Okta: Create Apps

b) Configure Application Integration

Give you application a name. And set the Sign-in redirect URI to:

https://[region].app.unleash-hosted.com/[instanceName]/auth/oidc/callback

(In a self-hosted scenario the URL must match your UNLEASH_URL configuration)

You can also configure the optional Sign-out redirect URIs: https://[region].app.unleash-hosted.com/[instanceName]/

Okta: Configure OpenID Connect

Save your new application and you will get the required details you need to configure the Unleash side of things:

Okta: Configure OpenID Connect

c) Configure OpenID Connect provider in Unleash

Navigate to Unleash and insert the details (Discover URL, Client Id and Client Secret) into Unleash.

Please note that the Discover URL must be a valid URL and must include the https:// prefix. For example: https://dev-example-okta.com is a valid discovery URL.

You may also choose to “Auto-create users”. This will make Unleash automatically create new users on the fly the first time they sign-in to Unleash with the given SSO provider (JIT). If you decide to automatically create users in Unleash you must also provide a list of valid email domains. You must also decide which root Unleash role they will be assigned (Editor role will be the default).

Unleash: Configure OpenID Connect

Step 4: Verify

Log out of Unleash and sign back in again. You should now be presented with the "Sign in with OpenID Connect" option. Click the button and follow the sign-in flow. If all goes well you should be successfully signed in to Unleash.

(If something is not working you can still sign-in with username and password).

Verify SSO

Success!

Configuration via Environment variables (Since Unleash Enterprise 6.1.0)

Beware, configuring OIDC through environment variables will disable editing settings in the Administration GUI. If you want to fallback to the GUI, make sure the OIDC_ENABLED is not set and then restart Unleash.

Step 1 Setup required variables for OIDC (minimal setup)

Variable namePurposeRequiredExample values
OIDC_ENABLEDTells Unleash to use environment variables for configuring OIDCyestrue / false (false will turn off OIDC login)
OIDC_DISCOVER_URLURL used to dynamically retrieve the OIDC configurationyeshttps://myoidchost.azure.com/.well-known/openid-configuration
OIDC_CLIENT_IDThe OIDC client ID of this application.yesFB87266D-CDDB-4BCF-BB1F-8392FD0EDC1B
OIDC_CLIENT_SECRETShared secret from OpenID server. Used to authenticate login requestsyesqjcVfeFjEfoYAF3AEsX2IMUWYuUzAbXO

Once these are configured OIDC should be working.

Step 2 (optional) - Auto create users from specific email domains

Variable namePurposeRequiredExample values
OIDC_AUTO_CREATETells Unleash to auto create users from the specific domains in OIDC_AUTO_CREATE_EMAIL_DOMAINSnotrue / false
OIDC_AUTO_CREATE_EMAIL_DOMAINSA comma separated list of domains to auto-create users for, if not set accepts all domainsnogetunleash.io,getunleash.ai

Step 3 (optional) Enable group syncing

Variable namePurposeRequiredExample values
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OIDC_ENABLE_GROUP_SYNCINGTell Unleash to setup group syncing from OIDC login requests (defaults to false)Notrue or false
OIDC_GROUP_JSON_PATHa json path expression telling where in the response Unleash can find the group membership informationNogroups
OIDC_ADD_GROUPS_SCOPETells Unleash to add the groups access scope to the request (defaults to false)Notrue / false
OIDC_DEFAULT_ROOT_ROLEWhich role to grant users auto created from SSO, defaults to ViewerNo'Viewer', 'Editor', 'Admin'

Step 4 (optional) - Further customizations

Variable namePurposeRequiredExample values
OIDC_ACR_VALUESAuthentication Context Class Reference, used to request extra values in the acr claim returned from the server. If multiple values are required, they should be space separated.no
OIDC_ID_TOKEN_SIGNING_ALGORITHMOnly use this if your provider is failing with unsupported algorithm, the default should be fine hereNoRS256, RS384, RS512
OIDC_ENABLE_SINGLE_SIGN_OUTShould Unleash call the single signout of the OIDC endpoint (defaults to false)Notrue / false