Edit

Tutorial: Azure Active Directory single sign-on (SSO) integration with 8x8

  • Article
  • 7 minutes to read

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to integrate 8x8 with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). When you integrate 8x8 with Azure AD, you can:

  • Control in Azure AD who has access to 8x8.
  • Enable your users to be automatically signed-in to 8x8 with their Azure AD accounts.
  • Manage your accounts in one central location - the Azure portal.

Prerequisites

To get started, you need the following items:

  • An Azure AD subscription. If you don't have a subscription, you can get a free account.
  • An 8x8 subscription.

Note

This integration is also available to use from Azure AD US Government Cloud environment. You can find this application in the Azure AD US Government Cloud Application Gallery and configure it in the same way as you do from public cloud.

Scenario description

In this tutorial, you configure and test Azure AD SSO in a test environment.

Note

Identifier of this application is a fixed string value so only one instance can be configured in one tenant.

To configure the integration of 8x8 into Azure AD, you need to add 8x8 from the gallery to your list of managed SaaS apps.

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal using either a work or school account, or a personal Microsoft account.
  2. On the left navigation pane, select the Azure Active Directory service.
  3. Navigate to Enterprise Applications and then select All Applications.
  4. To add new application, select New application.
  5. In the Add from the gallery section, type 8x8 in the search box.
  6. Select 8x8 from results panel and then add the app. Wait a few seconds while the app is added to your tenant.

Alternatively, you can also use the Enterprise App Configuration Wizard. In this wizard, you can add an application to your tenant, add users/groups to the app, assign roles, as well as walk through the SSO configuration as well. Learn more about Microsoft 365 wizards.

Configure and test Azure AD SSO for 8x8

Configure and test Azure AD SSO with 8x8 using a test user called B.Simon. For SSO to work, you need to establish a link relationship between an Azure AD user and the related user in 8x8.

To configure and test Azure AD SSO with 8x8, perform the following steps:

  1. Configure Azure AD SSO - to enable your users to use this feature.
    1. Create an Azure AD test user - to test Azure AD single sign-on with B.Simon.
    2. Assign the Azure AD test user - to enable B.Simon to use Azure AD single sign-on.
  2. Configure 8x8 SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
    1. Create 8x8 test user - to have a counterpart of B.Simon in 8x8 that is linked to the Azure AD representation of user.
  3. Test SSO - to verify whether the configuration works.

Configure Azure AD SSO

Follow these steps to enable Azure AD SSO in the Azure portal.

  1. In the Azure portal, on the 8x8 application integration page, find the Manage section and select single sign-on.

  2. On the Select a single sign-on method page, select SAML.

  3. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, click the edit/pen icon for Basic SAML Configuration to edit the settings.

    Edit Basic SAML Configuration

  4. On the Basic SAML Configuration section, perform the following steps:

    a. In the Identifier text box, type a URL: https://sso.8x8.com/saml2

    b. In the Reply URL text box, type a URL: https://sso.8x8.com/saml2

  5. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, in the SAML Signing Certificate section, find Certificate (Base64) and select Download to download the certificate and save it on your computer. You will use the certificate later in the tutorial in the Configure 8x8 SSO section.

    The Certificate download link

  6. On the Set up 8x8 section, copy the URL(s) and you will use these URL values later in the tutorial.

    Copy configuration URLs

Create an Azure AD test user

In this section, you'll create a test user in the Azure portal called B.Simon.

  1. From the left pane in the Azure portal, select Azure Active Directory, select Users, and then select All users.
  2. Select New user at the top of the screen.
  3. In the User properties, follow these steps:
    1. In the Name field, enter B.Simon.
    2. In the User name field, enter the username@companydomain.extension. For example, B.Simon@contoso.com.
    3. Select the Show password check box, and then write down the value that's displayed in the Password box.
    4. Click Create.

Assign the Azure AD test user

In this section, you'll enable B.Simon to use Azure single sign-on by granting access to 8x8.

  1. In the Azure portal, select Enterprise Applications, and then select All applications.

  2. In the applications list, select 8x8.

  3. In the app's overview page, find the Manage section and select Users and groups.

    The "Users and groups" link

  4. Select Add user, then select Users and groups in the Add Assignment dialog.

    The Add User link

  5. In the Users and groups dialog, select B.Simon from the Users list, then click the Select button at the bottom of the screen.

  6. In the Add Assignment dialog, click the Assign button.

Configure 8x8 SSO

The next part of the tutorial depends on what kind of subscription you have with 8x8.

Configure 8x8 Admin Console

  1. To automate the configuration within 8x8, you need to install My Apps Secure Sign-in browser extension by clicking Install the extension.

    My apps extension

  2. After adding extension to the browser, click on Set up 8x8 will direct you to the 8x8 application. From there, provide the admin credentials to sign into 8x8. The browser extension will automatically configure the application for you and automate steps 3-6.

    Setup configuration

  3. If you want to setup 8x8 manually, sign in to 8x8 Admin Console as an administrator.

  4. From the home page click Identity Management.

    Screenshot that highlights the Identity Management tile.

  5. Check Single Sign On (SSO) then select Microsoft Azure AD.

    Screenshot that highlights the Single Sign on (SSO) and Microsoft Azure AD options.

  6. Copy the three URLs and signing certificate from the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page in Azure AD into the Microsoft Azure AD SAML Settings section in 8x8 Admin Console.

    8x8 Admin Console

    a. Copy Login URL to IDP Login URL.

    b. Copy Azure AD Identifier to IDP Issuer URL/URN.

    c. Copy Logout URL to IDP Logout URL.

    d. Download Certificate (Base64) and upload to Certificate.

    e. Click Save.

Configure 8x8 Account Manager

  1. Sign-on to your 8x8 Virtual Office tenant as an administrator.

  2. Select Virtual Office Account Mgr on Application Panel.

    Screenshot that highlights the Virtual Office Account Mgr tile.

  3. Select Business account to manage and click Sign In button.

    Screenshot that highlights the Business option and Sign In button.

  4. Click ACCOUNTS tab in the menu list.

    Screenshot that highlights the ACCOUNTS tab in the menu list.

  5. Click Single Sign On in the list of Accounts.

    Screenshot that highlights the Single Sign On option.

  6. Select Single Sign On under Authentication methods and click SAML.

    Screenshot that highlights the SAML under Single Sign On.

  7. In the SAML Single Sign on section, perform the following steps:

    Configure On App Side

    a. In the Sign In URL textbox, paste Login URL value which you have copied from the Azure portal.

    b. In the Sign Out URL textbox, paste Logout URL value which you have copied from the Azure portal.

    c. In the Issuer URL textbox, paste Azure AD Identifier value which you have copied from the Azure portal.

    d. Click Browse button to upload the certificate which you downloaded from Azure portal.

    e. Click the Save button.

Create 8x8 test user

In this section, you create a user called Britta Simon in 8x8. Work with 8x8 support team to add the users in the 8x8 platform. Users must be created and activated before you use single sign-on.

Test SSO

In this section, you test your Azure AD single sign-on configuration with following options.

SP initiated:

  • Click on Test this application in Azure portal. This will redirect to 8x8 Sign on URL where you can initiate the login flow.

  • Go to 8x8 Sign-on URL directly and initiate the login flow from there.

IDP initiated:

  • Click on Test this application in Azure portal and you should be automatically signed in to the 8x8 for which you set up the SSO

You can also use Microsoft Access Panel to test the application in any mode. When you click the 8x8 tile in the Access Panel, if configured in SP mode you would be redirected to the application sign on page for initiating the login flow and if configured in IDP mode, you should be automatically signed in to the 8x8 for which you set up the SSO. For more information about the Access Panel, see Introduction to the Access Panel.

Next steps

Once you configure 8x8 you can enforce session control, which protects exfiltration and infiltration of your organization’s sensitive data in real time. Session control extends from Conditional Access. Learn how to enforce session control with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps.