Single sign-on and Control Hub

Single sign-on (SSO) is a session or user authentication process that permits a user to provide credentials to access one or more applications. The process authenticates users for all the applications that they are given rights to. It eliminates further prompts when users switch applications during a particular session.

The Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML 2.0) Federation Protocol is used to provide SSO authentication between the Webex cloud and your identity provider (IdP).

Profiles

Webex App only supports the web browser SSO profile. In the web browser SSO profile, Webex App supports the following bindings:

  • SP initiated POST -> POST binding

  • SP initiated REDIRECT -> POST binding

NameID format

The SAML 2.0 Protocol supports several NameID formats for communicating about a specific user. Webex App supports the following NameID formats.

  • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transient

  • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified

  • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress

In the metadata that you load from your IdP, the first entry is configured for use in Webex.

SingleLogout

Webex App supports the single logout profile. In Webex App, a user can sign out of the application, which uses the SAML single logout protocol to end the session and confirm that sign out with your IdP. Ensure your IdP is configured for SingleLogout.

Integrate Control Hub with SimpleSAML

The configuration guides show a specific example for SSO integration but do not provide exhaustive configuration for all possibilities. For example, the integration steps for nameid-format urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transient are documented. Other formats such as urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified or urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress will work for SSO integration but are outside the scope of our documentation.

Set up this integration for users in your Webex organization (including Webex App, Webex Meetings, and other services administered in Control Hub). If your Webex site is integrated in Control Hub, the Webex site inherits the user management. If you can't access Webex Meetings in this way and it is not managed in Control Hub, you must do a separate integration to enable SSO for Webex Meetings. (See Configure Single Sign-On for Webex for more information in SSO integration in Site Administration.)

Before you begin

For SSO and Control Hub, IdPs must conform to the SAML 2.0 specification. In addition, IdPs must be configured in the following manner:

Download the Webex metadata to your local system

1

From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Management > Organization Settings, and then scroll to Authentication, and then toggle on the Single sign-on setting to start the setup wizard.

2

Choose the certificate type for your organization:

  • Self-signed by Cisco—We recommend this choice. Let us sign the certificate so you only need to renew it once every five years.
  • Signed by a public certificate authority—More secure but you'll need to frequently update the metadata (unless your IdP vendor supports trust anchors).

Trust anchors are public keys that act as an authority to verify a digital signature's certificate. For more information, refer to your IdP documentation.

3

Download the metadata file.

The Webex metadata filename is idb-meta-<org-ID>-SP.xml.

Convert metadata

1

Open the exported Webex metadata file in a text editor.

2

In your browser, open the simpleSAML home page and sign in with your administrator credentials.

The home page location varies, but is typically similar to this example URL: https://yourcompany.yourdomain.com/simplesaml.

3

From the main page, click Federation.

4

Under tools, do an XML to Simple SAML XML convert.

5

Copy the Webex metadata from your text editor, and then paste it in to the XML convert field.

6

Click Parse.

The converted metadata appears. You will add this data to the remote SP text file.

Create remote service provider metadata file

These steps are intended as an example. The metadata directory and IdP host differs depending on your client setup.

Before you begin

Be aware of the attributes that you must pass and mapp accordingly by editing the metadata file saml20-idp-hosted.php. (For example, uid, mail, email, and so on). See the example metadata:

 'authproc' => array(
 // Convert LDAP names to oids.
 3 => array(
 'class' => 'saml:AttributeNameID',
 'attribute' => 'mail',
 'Format' => 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified',
 
 ),
 50 => array(
 'class' => 'core:AttributeMap',
 'attribute' => 'mail',
 'mail' => array('uid', 'email', 'mail'),
 'sn' => 'lastname',
 'givenName' => 'firstname',
 
 ),
 ),
1

In the SimpleSAML configuration on the host, go to metadata directory.

2

Using a text editor, paste the parsed data at the end of saml20-sp-remote.php and save the file.

3

Return to the SimpleSAML front page, click Federation, and then show metadata for the identity provider.

4

Paste the data in to a new text file.

5

Save the updated file to your desktop with a meaningful name such as simplesaml-metadata.xml.

Import the IdP metadata and enable single sign-on after a test

After you export the Webex metadata, configure your IdP, and download the IdP metadata to your local system, you are ready to import it into your Webex organization from Control Hub.

Before you begin

Do not test SSO integration from the identity provider (IdP) interface. We only support Service Provider-initiated (SP-initiated) flows, so you must use the Control Hub SSO test for this integration.

1

Choose one:

  • Return to the Control Hub – certificate selection page in your browser, and then click Next.
  • If Control Hub is no longer open in the browser tab, from the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Management > Organization Settings, scroll to Authentication, and then choose Actions > Import Metadata.
2

On the Import IdP Metadata page, either drag and drop the IdP metadata file onto the page or use the file browser option to locate and upload the metadata file. Click Next.

You should use the More secure option, if you can. This is only possible if your IdP used a public CA to sign its metadata.

In all other cases, you must use the Less secure option. This includes if the metadata is not signed, self-signed, or signed by a private CA.

Okta does not sign the metadata, so you must choose Less secure for an Okta SSO integration.

3

Select Test SSO setup, and when a new browser tab opens, authenticate with the IdP by signing in.

If you receive an authentication error there may be a problem with the credentials. Check the username and password and try again.

A Webex App error usually means an issue with the SSO setup. In this case, walk through the steps again, especially the steps where you copy and paste the Control Hub metadata into the IdP setup.

To see the SSO sign-in experience directly, you can also click Copy URL to clipboard from this screen and paste it in a private browser window. From there, you can walk through signing in with SSO. This step stops false positives because of an access token that might be in an existing session from you being signed in.

4

Return to the Control Hub browser tab.

  • If the test was successful, select Successful test. Turn on SSO and click Next.
  • If the test was unsuccessful, select Unsuccessful test. Turn off SSO and click Next.

The SSO configuration does not take effect in your organization unless you choose first radio button and activate SSO.

What to do next

Use the procedures in Synchronize Okta Users into Cisco Webex Control Hub if you want to do user provisioning out of Okta into the Webex cloud.

Use the procedures in Synchronize Azure Active Directory Users into Cisco Webex Control Hub if you want to do user provisioning out of Azure AD into the Webex cloud.

You can follow the procedure in Suppress Automated Emails to disable emails that are sent to new Webex App users in your organization. The document also contains best practices for sending out communications to users in your organization.