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Tutorial: Microsoft Entra single sign-on (SSO) integration with Workplace by Meta

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

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

Note

Meta has two products, Workplace Standard (free) and Workplace Premium (paid). Any Workplace Premium tenant can configure SCIM and SSO integration with no other implications to cost or licenses required. SSO and SCIM are not available in Workplace Standard instances.

Scenario description

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

  • Workplace by Meta supports SP initiated SSO.
  • Workplace by Meta supports just-in-time provisioning.
  • Workplace by Meta supports automatic User Provisioning.
  • Workplace by Meta Mobile application can now be configured with Microsoft Entra ID for enabling SSO. In this tutorial, you configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO in a test environment.

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

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Workplace by Meta 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 Workplace by Meta.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Workplace by Meta, 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 Workplace by Meta SSO - to configure the Single Sign-On settings on application side.
    1. Create Workplace by Meta test user - to have a counterpart of B.Simon in Workplace by Meta 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 > Workplace by Meta application integration page, find the Manage section and select 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, enter the values for the following fields:

    a. In the Sign on URL (found in WorkPlace as the Recipient URL) text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://.workplace.com/work/saml.php

    b. In the Identifier (Entity ID) (found in WorkPlace as the Audience URL) text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://www.workplace.com/company/

    c. In the Reply URL (found in WorkPlace as the Assertion Consumer Service) text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://.workplace.com/work/saml.php

    Note

    These values are not the real. Update these values with the actual Sign-On URL, Identifier and Reply URL. See the Authentication page of the Workplace Company Dashboard for the correct values for your Workplace community, this is explained later in the tutorial.

  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 Workplace by Meta 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 Workplace by Meta.

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

  1. In a different web browser window, sign in to your Workplace by Meta company site as an administrator

    Note

    As part of the SAML authentication process, Workplace may utilize query strings of up to 2.5 kilobytes in size in order to pass parameters to Microsoft Entra ID.

  2. Navigate to Admin Panel > Security > Authentication tab.

    Admin Panel

    a. Check the Single-sign on(SSO) option.

    b. Select SSO as default for new users.

    c. Click on +Add new SSO Provider.

    Note

    Make sure you check the Password login checkbox too. Admins may need this option for login while doing the certificate rollover in order to stop themselves getting locked out.

  3. In the Single Sign-On (SSO) Setup pop-up window, perform the following steps:

    Authentication Tab

    a. In the Name of the SSO Provider, enter the SSO instance name like Azureadsso.

    b. In SAML URL textbox, paste the value of Login URL.

    c. In SAML Issuer URL textbox, paste the value of Microsoft Entra Identifier.

    d. Open the downloaded Certificate (Base64) into Notepad, copy the content of it into your clipboard, and then paste it to the SAML Certificate textbox.

    e. Copy the Audience URL for your instance and paste it in Identifier (Entity ID) textbox in Basic SAML Configuration section.

    f. Copy the Recipient URL for your instance and paste it in Sign on URL textbox in Basic SAML Configuration section.

    g. Copy the ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL for your instance and paste it in Reply URL textbox in Basic SAML Configuration section.

    h. Scroll to the bottom of the section and click the Test SSO button. This results in a pop-up window appearing with Microsoft Entra login page presented. Enter your credentials in as normal to authenticate.

    Troubleshooting: Ensure the email address being returned back from Microsoft Entra ID is the same as the Workplace account you are logged in with.

    i. Once the test has been completed successfully, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button.

    j. All users using Workplace will now be presented with Microsoft Entra login page for authentication.

  4. SAML Logout Redirect (optional) -

    You can choose to optionally configure a SAML Logout URL, which can be used to point at Microsoft Entra ID's logout page. When this setting is enabled and configured, the user will no longer be directed to the Workplace logout page. Instead, the user will be redirected to the URL that was added in the SAML Logout Redirect setting.

Configuring reauthentication frequency

You can configure Workplace to prompt for a SAML check every day, three days, week, two weeks, month or never.

Note

The minimum value for the SAML check on mobile applications is set to one week.

You can also force a SAML reset for all users using the button: Require SAML authentication for all users now.

Create Workplace by Meta test user

In this section, a user called B.Simon is created in Workplace by Meta. Workplace by Meta supports just-in-time provisioning, which is enabled by default.

There is no action for you in this section. If a user doesn't exist in Workplace by Meta, a new one is created when you attempt to access Workplace by Meta.

Note

If you need to create a user manually, Contact Workplace by Meta Client support team.

Test SSO

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

  • Click on Test this application, this will redirect to Workplace by Meta Sign-on URL where you can initiate the login flow.

  • Go to Workplace by Meta Sign-on URL directly and initiate the login flow from there.

  • You can use Microsoft My Apps. When you click the Workplace by Meta tile in the My Apps, this will redirect to Workplace by Meta Sign-on URL. For more information about the My Apps, see Introduction to the My Apps.

Test SSO for Workplace by Meta (mobile)

  1. Open Workplace by Meta Mobile application. On the sign in page, click on LOG IN.

    The sign in

  2. Enter your business email and click CONTINUE.

    The email

  3. Click JUST ONCE.

    The once

  4. Click Allow.

    The Allow

  5. Finally after successful sign in, the application homepage will be displayed.

    The Home page

Next steps

Once you configure Workplace by Meta 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.