Configuring SAML SSO for Microsoft Entra ID users

These steps will guide you through setting up SAML SSO for Microsoft Entra ID (formerly known as Azure AD) users, using ADSelfService Plus as the identity provider (IdP) and Microsoft Entra ID as the service provider (SP).

Steps to link Microsoft Entra ID and on-premises AD user accounts

1. Using Microsoft Entra Connect

   • GUID as sourceAnchor: If you have Microsoft Entra Connect, then use it to update the sourceAnchor attribute in Office 365 with AD’s GUID attribute value.
   • Other unique AD attribute as sourceAnchor: If you have already assigned a different attribute value other than GUID for the sourceAnchor attribute, then use the Account Linking option in ADSelfService Plus to map it with the corresponding attribute in AD.

2. Using a third-party GUID to ImmutableID converter tool

   • Convert GUID to ImmutableID: If you don’t have Microsoft Entra Connect, then you can download a third-party tool that converts GUID to ImmutableID. Use the tool to convert the GUID value of each user to ImmutableID values and update them in Microsoft Entra ID.
   • Update the ImmutableID value in Microsoft Entra ID: Once you have converted the GUID to ImmutableID, you need to update the value in Microsoft Entra ID for each user using the PowerShell commands given below.

     Command to update ImmutableID attribute for existing users

     Set-Msoluser -UserPrincipalName "<user_mailID>" -ImmutableID “<immutable_id> ”

     Command to update ImmutableID attribute while creating new users

     $cred = Get-Credential
     Connect-MsolService -Credential $cred
     New-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName "user01@mycompany.com" -ImmutableId "<immutable_id>" -DisplayName "user 01" -FirstName "user" -LastName "01" -LicenseAssignment "<service_pack>" -UsageLocation "<location>"

     Note: You can check whether the update was successful using this command: Get-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName "<user_mailID>" | select userprincipalname, Immutableid

Prerequisite

1. Login to ADSelfService Plus as an administrator.

2. Navigate to  Configuration → Self-Service → Password Sync/Single Sign On → Add Application, then select Microsoft 365/Azure from the applications displayed.
   Note: You can also find Microsoft 365/Azure application that you need from the search bar located in the left pane or the alphabet wise navigation option in the right pane.
3. Click IdP details in the top-right corner of the screen.

4. In the pop-up that appears, copy the Entity ID, Login URL and Logout URL and download the SSO certificate by clicking on the Download Certificate.

Microsoft Entra ID configuration steps to be used as an SP

1. Open PowerShell with administrator rights.

2. Connect with MsolService using the following command.

   Connect-MsolService
   Get-MsolDomain

   This command will show a list of domains.

3. Enter the domain for which you would like to enable SSO.

   $dom = "selfservice.com"

4. Enter the Login URL and Entity ID values from step 4 of the Prerequisites for $url and $uri commands, and the Logout URL value for $logouturl command.

   $url = "<login URL value>"
   For example, $url = "https://selfservice.com:9251/iamapps/ssologin/office365/1352163ea82348a5152487b2eb05c5adeb4aaf73"
   $uri = "<entity ID value>"
   For example, $uri = "https://selfservice.com:9251/iamapps/ssologin/office365/1352163ea82348a5152487b2eb05c5adeb4aaf73"
   $logouturl = "<logout URL value>"
   For example, $logouturl = "https://selfservice.com:9251/iamapps/ssologout/office365/1352163ea82348a5152487b2eb05c5adeb4aaf73"

5. Now copy the SSO Certificate file content from step 5 of the Prerequisites and paste it as the value for the below command.

   $cert = "MIICqjCCAhOgAwIBAgIJAN..........dTOjFfqqA="

   
   

6. Run the below command to enable SSO in Microsoft Entra ID.

   Set-MsolDomainAuthentication -DomainName $dom -FederationBrandName $dom -Authentication Federated -PassiveLogOnUri $url -SigningCertificate $cert -IssuerUri $uri -LogOffUri $logouturl -PreferredAuthenticationProtocol SAMLP

7. To test the configuration, use the following command.

   Get-MSolDomainFederationSettings -DomainName $dom | Format-List *

   
   
Note:

If you have already enabled Microsoft Entra ID SSO using another IdP or want to update ADSelfService Plus' SSO settings, then you must first disable SSO in Microsoft Entra ID, and then follow the steps given in this guide. To disable SSO in Microsoft Entra ID, use the command given below:

$dom = "selfservice.com"
Set-MsolDomainAuthentication -DomainName $dom -FederationBrandName $dom -Authentication Managed

Please note that the above change may take some time to get implemented in Microsoft Entra ID.

ADSelfService Plus configuration steps to be used as an IdP

1. Now, switch to ADSelfService Plus’ Microsoft 365/Azure configuration page
2. Enter the Application Name and Description.
3. In the Domain Name field, enter the domain name you used in step 4 of the Microsoft Entra ID configuration steps.
4. In the Assign Policies field, select the policies for which Azure AD SAML SSO needs to be enabled.
   Note:ADSelfService Plus allows you to create OU- and group-based policies for your AD domains. To create a policy, go to Configuration → Self-Service → Policy Configuration → Add New Policy.
5. Select the SAML tab and check the Enable Single Sign-On checkbox.
6. Choose the Name ID format that has to be sent in the SAML response. The Name ID format will specify the type of value sent in the SAML response for user identity verification.

Note: Use Unspecified as the default option if you are unsure about the format of the login attribute value used by the application

7. Click Add Application

Note: ADSelfService Plus supports SP- and IdP-initiated SAML SSO flows for Microsoft Entra ID.