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Tutorial: Microsoft Entra SSO integration with Zest

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

  • Control in Microsoft Entra ID who has access to Zest.
  • Enable your users to be automatically signed-in to Zest 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.
  • Zest single sign-on (SSO) enabled subscription.

Scenario description

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

  • Zest supports IDP initiated SSO.

To configure the integration of Zest into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add Zest 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 Zest in the search box.
  4. Select Zest 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 Zest

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Zest 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 Zest.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Zest, 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 Zest SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
    1. Create Zest test user - to have a counterpart of B.Simon in Zest 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 > Zest > 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 Basic SAML Configuration section, perform the following steps:

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

    Identifier
    http://my.zestbenefits.com/idp/identity/AuthServices
    http://my.zestbenefits.com/idp/identity/AuthServices?<SSOPortalId>

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

    Reply URL
    https://my.zestbenefits.com/idp/identity/AuthServices/Acs
    https://<CustomDomain>/idp/identity/AuthServices/Acs

    Note

    These values are not real. Update these values with the actual Identifier and Reply URL. Contact Zest 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, find Certificate (Base64) and select Download to download the certificate and save it on your computer.

    The Certificate download link

  7. On the Set up Zest section, copy the appropriate URL(s) based on 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 Zest.

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

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

Create Zest test user

In this section, you create a user called Britta Simon in Zest. Work with Zest support team to add the users in the Zest 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.

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

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

Next steps

Once you configure Zest 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 Cloud App Security.