How to setup and integrate Microsoft Sign-in as Social Login/Passwordless Authentication for Web Application

Question

Please I need to integrate Microsoft sign-in as social sign-in on a web application that my team is currently working on. I tried setting up Basic SAML Configuration for this but seems I need a guide on how to populate these fields:

1. Identifier (Entity ID)
2. Reply URL (Assertion Consumer Service URL)
3. Sign on URL
4. Relay State (Optional)
5. Logout Url (Optional) What do they mean? or is there an alternative to integrate a Microsoft Auth sign-in into node.js web project?

Answer 1

Integrating Microsoft sign-in into your Node.js web application is a great way to provide users with a familiar and secure authentication option. I'll explain the fields in the Basic SAML Configuration and then provide an overview of an alternative approach using OAuth 2.0, which is often used for Microsoft authentication in Node.js applications.

Basic SAML Configuration Fields

1. Identifier (Entity ID): This is a unique identifier for your application in the SAML protocol. It's often a URL, but it doesn't have to be an actual working link. It should match the identifier used in your SAML request.
2. Reply URL (Assertion Consumer Service URL): This is the URL where your application expects to receive SAML assertions after a successful authentication. It's where the Microsoft identity platform sends the authentication response.
3. Sign-on URL: This is the URL where users will be sent for sign-in. This URL initiates the SAML authentication request.
4. Relay State (Optional): A parameter used to identify the specific resource the user will access after authentication. It's optional and not always needed.
5. Logout URL (Optional): The URL where the user will be redirected after they log out from your application.

Alternative Approach: OAuth 2.0 with Node.js

For a Node.js web application, you might find it easier to use OAuth 2.0 with OpenID Connect for Microsoft authentication. This method is widely adopted due to its simplicity and robustness. Here's a high-level overview:

1. Register Your Application: Go to the Azure Portal, and register your application in Azure Active Directory to obtain your Client ID and Client Secret.
2. Install a Suitable Library: Use npm to install a library like passport with passport-azure-ad for handling OAuth with Azure AD.
3. Set Up Middleware: Configure the passport middleware with your Client ID, Client Secret, and other necessary parameters.
4. Implement Routes: Create routes for redirecting users to the Microsoft login page and for handling the callback with the authentication token.
5. Handle User Authentication: Use the token received in the callback to authenticate the user and establish a session.

Example Code Snippet

const passport = require('passport');
const OIDCStrategy = require('passport-azure-ad').OIDCStrategy;

passport.use(new OIDCStrategy({
    clientID: YOUR_CLIENT_ID,
    clientSecret: YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET,
    identityMetadata: `https://login.microsoftonline.com/${TENANT_ID}/v2.0/.well-known/openid-configuration`,
    responseType: 'code id_token',
    responseMode: 'form_post',
    redirectUrl: YOUR_REDIRECT_URI,
    allowHttpForRedirectUrl: true,
    scope: ['profile', 'offline_access', 'https://graph.microsoft.com/mail.read']
}, (iss, sub, profile, accessToken, refreshToken, done) => {
    // Handle user profile and tokens
}));

In this approach, the passport-azure-ad library simplifies the process of integrating Microsoft authentication into your Node.js app.

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