Microsoft Entra SSO integration with SURFconext

In this article, you'll learn how to integrate SURFconext with Microsoft Entra ID. SURF connected institutions can use SURFconext to log in to many cloud applications with their institution credentials. When you integrate SURFconext with Microsoft Entra ID, you can:

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

You'll configure and test Microsoft Entra single sign-on for SURFconext in a test environment. SURFconext supports SP initiated single sign-on and Just In Time user provisioning.

Note

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

Prerequisites

To integrate Microsoft Entra ID with SURFconext, you need:

• A Microsoft Entra user account. If you don't already have one, you can Create an account for free.
• One of the following roles: Application Administrator, Cloud Application Administrator, or Application Owner.
• A Microsoft Entra subscription. If you don't have a subscription, you can get a free account.
• SURFconext single sign-on (SSO) enabled subscription.

Add application and assign a test user

Before you begin the process of configuring single sign-on, you need to add the SURFconext application from the Microsoft Entra gallery. You need a test user account to assign to the application and test the single sign-on configuration.

Add SURFconext from the Microsoft Entra gallery

Add SURFconext from the Microsoft Entra application gallery to configure single sign-on with SURFconext. For more information on how to add application from the gallery, see the Quickstart: Add application from the gallery.

Create and assign Microsoft Entra test user

Follow the guidelines in the create and assign a user account article to create a test user account called B.Simon.

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, and assign roles. The wizard also provides a link to the single sign-on configuration pane. Learn more about Microsoft 365 wizards..

Configure Microsoft Entra SSO

Complete the following steps to enable Microsoft Entra single sign-on.

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

2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > SURFconext > 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, select the pencil icon for Basic SAML Configuration to edit the settings.

   

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

   a. In the Identifier textbox, type one of the following URLs:

   Environment	URL
   Production	https://engine.surfconext.nl/authentication/sp/metadata
   Staging	https://engine.test.surfconext.nl/authentication/sp/metadata

   b. In the Reply URL textbox, type one of the following URLs:

   Environment	URL
   Production	https://engine.surfconext.nl/authentication/sp/consume-assertion
   Staging	https://engine.test.surfconext.nl/authentication/sp/consume-assertion

   c. In the Sign on URL textbox, type one of the following URLs:

   Environment	URL
   Production	https://engine.surfconext.nl/authentication/sp/debug
   Staging	https://engine.test.surfconext.nl/authentication/sp/debug

6. SURFconext application expects the SAML assertions in a specific format, which requires you to add custom attribute mappings to your SAML token attributes configuration. The following screenshot shows the list of default attributes.

   

   Note

   You can remove or delete these default attributes manually under Additional claims section, if it is not required.

7. In addition to above, SURFconext application expects few more attributes to be passed back in SAML response, which are shown below. These attributes are also pre populated but you can review them as per your requirements.

   Name	Source Attribute
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:cn	user.displayname
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:displayName	user.displayname
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonPrincipalName	user.userprincipalname
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:givenName	user.givenname
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:mail	user.mail
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:preferredLanguage	user.preferredlanguage
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:sn	user.surname
   urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:uid	user.userprincipalname
   urn:mace:terena.org:attribute-def:schacHomeOrganization	user.userprincipalname

8. To perform Transform operation for urn:mace:terena.org:attribute-def:schacHomeOrganization claim, select Transformation button as a Source under Manage claim section.

9. In the Manage transformation page, perform the following steps:

   

   1. Select Extract() from the dropdown in Transformation field and click After matching button.

   2. Select Attribute as a Parameter 1 (Input).

   3. In the Attribute name field, select user.userprinciplename from the dropdown.

   4. Select @ value from the dropdown.

   5. Click Add.

10. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, in the SAML Signing Certificate section, click copy button to copy App Federation Metadata Url and save it on your computer.

    

Configure SURFconext SSO

To configure single sign-on on SURFconext side, you need to send the App Federation Metadata Url to SURFconext support team. They set this setting to have the SAML SSO connection set properly on both sides.

Create SURFconext test user

In this section, a user called B.Simon is created in SURFconext. SURFconext supports just-in-time user provisioning, which is enabled by default. There's no action item for you in this section. If a user doesn't already exist in SURFconext, a new one is commonly created after authentication.

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 SURFconext Sign-on URL where you can initiate the login flow.

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

• You can use Microsoft My Apps. When you click the SURFconext tile in the My Apps, this will redirect to SURFconext Sign-on URL. For more information, see Microsoft Entra My Apps.

Additional resources

• What is single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID?
• Plan a single sign-on deployment.

Next steps

Once you configure SURFconext 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.