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Tutorial: Microsoft Entra integration with Brightspace by Desire2Learn

  • Article

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to integrate Brightspace by Desire2Learn with Microsoft Entra ID. When you integrate Brightspace by Desire2Learn with Microsoft Entra ID, you can:

  • Control in Microsoft Entra ID who has access to Brightspace by Desire2Learn.
  • Enable your users to be automatically signed-in to Brightspace by Desire2Learn with their Microsoft Entra accounts.
  • Manage your accounts in one central location.

Prerequisites

To get started, you need the following items:

  • A Microsoft Entra subscription. If you don't have a subscription, you can get a free account.
  • Brightspace by Desire2Learn single sign-on enabled subscription.

Note

This integration is also available to use from Microsoft Entra US Government Cloud environment. You can find this application in the Microsoft Entra 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 Microsoft Entra single sign-on in a test environment.

  • Brightspace by Desire2Learn supports IDP initiated SSO.

To configure the integration of Brightspace by Desire2Learn into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add Brightspace by Desire2Learn from the gallery to your list of managed SaaS apps.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > New application.
  3. In the Add from the gallery section, type Brightspace by Desire2Learn in the search box.
  4. Select Brightspace by Desire2Learn 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 Microsoft Entra SSO for Brightspace by Desire2Learn

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Brightspace by Desire2Learn using a test user called B.Simon. For SSO to work, you need to establish a link relationship between a Microsoft Entra user and the related user in Brightspace by Desire2Learn.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Brightspace by Desire2Learn, perform the following steps:

  1. Configure Microsoft Entra SSO - to enable your users to use this feature.
    1. Create a Microsoft Entra test user - to test Microsoft Entra single sign-on with B.Simon.
    2. Assign the Microsoft Entra test user - to enable B.Simon to use Microsoft Entra single sign-on.
  2. Configure Brightspace by Desire2Learn SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
    1. Create Brightspace by Desire2Learn test user - to have a counterpart of B.Simon in Brightspace by Desire2Learn that is linked to the Microsoft Entra representation of user.
  3. Test SSO - to verify whether the configuration works.

Configure Microsoft Entra SSO

Follow these steps to enable Microsoft Entra SSO.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.

  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Brightspace by Desire2Learn > Single sign-on.

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

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

    Edit Basic SAML Configuration

  5. On the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page, perform the following steps:

    a. In the Identifier text box, type one of the URL using the following patterns:

    https://<companyname>.tenants.brightspace.com/samlLogin
https://<companyname>.desire2learn.com/shibboleth-sp

    b. In the Reply URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://<companyname>.desire2learn.com/d2l/lp/auth/login/samlLogin.d2l

    Note

    These values are not real. Update these values with the actual Identifier and Reply URL. Contact Brightspace by Desire2Learn Client support team to get these values. You can also refer to the patterns shown in the Basic SAML Configuration section.

  6. On the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page, in the SAML Signing Certificate section, click Download to download the Federation Metadata XML from the given options as per your requirement and save it on your computer.

    The Certificate download link

  7. On the Set up Brightspace by Desire2Learn section, copy the appropriate URL(s) as per your requirement.

    Copy configuration URLs

Create a Microsoft Entra test user

In this section, you'll create a test user called B.Simon.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a User Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Users > All users.
  3. Select New user > Create new user, at the top of the screen.
  4. In the User properties, follow these steps:
    1. In the Display name field, enter B.Simon.
    2. In the User principal 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. Select Review + create.
  5. Select Create.

Assign the Microsoft Entra test user

In this section, you'll enable B.Simon to use single sign-on by granting access to Brightspace by Desire2Learn.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Brightspace by Desire2Learn.
  3. In the app's overview page, select Users and groups.
  4. Select Add user/group, then select Users and groups in the Add Assignment dialog.
    1. In the Users and groups dialog, select B.Simon from the Users list, then click the Select button at the bottom of the screen.
    2. If you are expecting a role to be assigned to the users, you can select it from the Select a role dropdown. If no role has been set up for this app, you see "Default Access" role selected.
    3. In the Add Assignment dialog, click the Assign button.

Configure Brightspace by Desire2Learn SSO

To configure single sign-on on Brightspace by Desire2Learn side, you need to send the downloaded Federation Metadata XML and appropriate copied URLs from the application configuration to Brightspace by Desire2Learn support team. They set this setting to have the SAML SSO connection set properly on both sides.

Create Brightspace by Desire2Learn test user

In this section, you create a user called Britta Simon in Brightspace by Desire2Learn. Work with Brightspace by Desire2Learn support team to add the users in the Brightspace by Desire2Learn platform. Users must be created and activated before you use single sign-on.

Note

You can use any other Brightspace by Desire2Learn user account creation tools or APIs provided by Brightspace by Desire2Learn to provision Microsoft Entra user accounts.

Test SSO

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

  • Click on Test this application, and you should be automatically signed in to the Brightspace by Desire2Learn for which you set up the SSO.

  • You can use Microsoft My Apps. When you click the Brightspace by Desire2Learn tile in the My Apps, you should be automatically signed in to the Brightspace by Desire2Learn for which you set up the SSO. For more information about the My Apps, see Introduction to the My Apps.

Next steps

Once you configure Brightspace by Desire2Learn 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.