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Tutorial: Microsoft Entra SSO integration with CyberArk SAML Authentication

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In this tutorial, you'll learn how to integrate CyberArk SAML Authentication with Microsoft Entra ID. When you integrate CyberArk SAML Authentication with Microsoft Entra ID, you can:

  • Control in Microsoft Entra ID who has access to CyberArk SAML Authentication.
  • Enable your users to be automatically signed-in to CyberArk SAML Authentication 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.
  • CyberArk SAML Authentication single sign-on (SSO) enabled subscription.
  • Along with Cloud Application Administrator, Application Administrator can also add or manage applications in Microsoft Entra ID. For more information, see Azure built-in roles.

Scenario description

In this tutorial, you configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO in a test environment.

  • CyberArk SAML Authentication supports SP and IDP initiated SSO.

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 CyberArk SAML Authentication into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add CyberArk SAML Authentication 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 CyberArk SAML Authentication in the search box.
  4. Select CyberArk SAML Authentication 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 CyberArk SAML Authentication

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with CyberArk SAML Authentication 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 CyberArk SAML Authentication.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with CyberArk SAML Authentication, perform the following steps:

  1. Configure Microsoft Entra SSO - to enable your users to use this feature.
  2. Configure CyberArk SAML Authentication SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
  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 > CyberArk SAML Authentication > 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.

    Screenshot shows to edit Basic S A M L Configuration.

  5. On the Basic SAML Configuration section, perform the following step:

    In the Reply URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://<PVWA DNS or IP>/passwordvault/api/auth/saml/logon

  6. Click Set additional URLs and perform the following step if you wish to configure the application in SP initiated mode:

    In the Sign-on URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://<PVWA DNS or IP>/PasswordVault/v10/logon/saml

    Note

    These values are not real. Update these values with the actual Reply URL and Sign-On URL. Contact your CyberArk Administration team to get these values. You can also refer to the patterns shown in the Basic SAML Configuration section.

  7. 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.

    Screenshot shows the Certificate download link.

  8. On the Set up CyberArk SAML Authentication section, copy the appropriate URL(s) based on your requirement.

    Screenshot shows to copy configuration appropriate U R L.

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 CyberArk SAML Authentication.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > CyberArk SAML Authentication.
  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 CyberArk SAML Authentication SSO

To configure single sign-on on CyberArk SAML Authentication side, you need to send the downloaded Certificate (Base64) and appropriate copied URLs from the application configuration to your CyberArk Administration team. They set this setting to have the SAML SSO connection set properly on both sides.

Create CyberArk SAML Authentication test user

In this section, you create a user called B.Simon in CyberArk SAML Authentication. Work with your CyberArk Administration team to add the users in the CyberArk SAML Authentication platform. Users must be created and activated before you use single sign-on.

Test SSO

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

SP initiated:

  • Click on Test this application, this will redirect to CyberArk SAML Authentication Sign on URL where you can initiate the login flow.

  • Go to CyberArk SAML Authentication Sign-on URL directly and initiate the login flow from there.

IDP initiated:

  • Click on Test this application, and you should be automatically signed in to the CyberArk SAML Authentication for which you set up the SSO.

You can also use Microsoft My Apps to test the application in any mode. When you click the CyberArk SAML Authentication tile in the My Apps, 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 CyberArk SAML Authentication 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 CyberArk SAML Authentication 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.