Setting up SAML Single Sign-on for Help Center

Setting up SAML Single Sign-on for Help Center

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is a mechanism used for exchanging authentication and authorization data between applications, in particular an identity provider (IdP) such as OneLogin, Okta, PingIdentity and a service provider (such as Zoho Desk). You can configure SAML-based single sign-on (SSO) for end users so they can access your Help Center without being prompted to enter separate login credentials. 

Notes: 
  • You can set up SAML single sign-on on both Professional and Enterprise editions of Zoho Desk. 
  • Only users with Administrator profiles will be able to manage the SAML settings. 
  • SAML authentication will only apply to end user accounts and not to your agent accounts. 
  • You can set up either remote authentication or SAML for single sign-on, but not both at the same time. 
  • End users cannot self-signup or change their account password on a SAML-enabled Help Center. 

How SAML Works 
SAML single sign-on authentication involves a service provider, in this case, Zoho Desk, and an identity provider. When you've enabled SAML, end-user management and authentication are handled through your company's identity provider (IDP). An end user who requests access to the Zoho Desk's Help Center will be redirected to your identity provider for authentication. The identity provider authenticates the end user and in return generates an authentication assertion, which indicates that a user has been authenticated. On receiving the assertion, the end user is redirected back to your Help Center and then signed in seamlessly. Being a single point of authentication that happens with your trusted identity provider, SAML ensures that your end-user credentials are secure within your company's firewall boundary. 

Setting up SAML SSO 
The third-party identity provider provides the configuration details for the SAML. Note that you must log in with administrator credentials to set up SAML single sign-on in your Zoho Desk. 
  1. Click the  Setup  icon  (   ) in the top bar. 
  2. Click Help Center under the Channels menu. 
  3. Click Help Center SAML under the Help Center sub-menu. 
  4. On the Help Center SAML page, provide the following details: 
    • Remote Login URL : Enter the remote login URL of your IdP where Zoho Desk will redirect your end users when they log in to the Help Center. 
    • Remote Logout URL : Enter the remote logout URL of your IdP that Zoho Desk will redirect your end users when they attempt to log out of the Help Center. 
    • Reset Password URL : Enter the reset password URL of your IdP where Zoho Desk will redirect your end users when they try to change their password for the Help Center. 
    • Public Key : Upload the Public X.509 certificate in the text format. We will use the public key contained in the certificate to verify that your identity provider has issued all received SAML authentication requests. 
    • Algorithm : Select an algorithm between RSA and DSA using which your IdP generated the public keys and certificates. 
  5. Click Save . 
Before clicking Save , you'll see new fields (like Help Center SAML Request URL, etc.) and values listed. Copy those values over to your identity provider to ensure that your IdP is capable of communication with your SAML-enabled Zoho Desk. 

Disabling SAML SSO 
You may go back to using Zoho Desk's built-in authentication, or switch to a different identity provider (IdP), by disabling the SAML configuration. Once you disable SAML, end users will need a Zoho Desk account password to log in to your Help Center. Please keep the following implications in mind as you disable SAML for single sign-on: 
  • End users who had a password on your Help Center account before enabling SAML single sign-on can use that to log in. 
  • End users who signed up for your Help Center after enabling SAML single sign-on will need to reset their password when they log in the next time. 

To disable SAML single sign-on: 
  1. Click the  Setup  icon  (   ) in the top bar. 
  2. Click Help Center under the Channels menu. 
  3. Click Help Center SAML under the Help Center sub-menu. 
  4. On the Help Center SAML page, click Disable in the upper-right corner of the screen. 
  5. Click Continue to confirm your action. 

Configuring the Identity Provider 
Find the provider-specific instructions listed here, or look up instructions with the identity provider you use. 

This section describes how to configure Zoho Vault to provide SSO for your Zoho Desk Help Center. 
  1. Log in to your Zoho Vault account. 
  2. Navigate to  Apps  >>  Manage Apps . 
  3. Click Add  Custom App 
  4. In the  Application Settings tab ,  provide the following details: 
    • Application Name : Provide a name for the application. For example, Zoho Desk. 
    • Assertion Consumer Service URL -  Paste the value for SAML Response URL that you copied from the Help Center SAML screen in Zoho Desk. 
    • Audience URI (SP Entity ID) - Enter your Zoho Desk Help Center instance URL (it has the patternhttps://support.mycompany.com/ ). 
  5. Click Next . 
  6. You now need to provide the details of Zoho Vault (IdP) to Zoho Desk (SP). 
  7. In the  IdP Details  tab, do the following: 

    • Copy the Identity Provider Single Sign-On URL and paste it into the Remote Login URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the Identity Provider Single Logout URL and paste it into the Remote Logout URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the Identity Provider Issuer and paste it into the Reset Password URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the Identity Provider Certificate and save it to a .txt file. Then upload the file into Public Key field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
  8. Click Next . 
  9. In the  Manage App Access  tab, select the list of users to whom you wish to give access to the SAML-enabled Help Center. 
  10. Click Save. 

This section describes how to configure Okta to provide SSO for your Zoho Desk Help Center. 
  1. Log in to your Okta account with administrative privileges. 
  2. Click the Applications tab. 
  3. Click Add Application  and then click Create New App . 
  4. On the pop-up window, select the SAML 2.0 option and then click Create . 
  5. In the General Settings page, provide a name for the application. For example, Zoho Desk. 
  6. Click Next to continue. 
  7. In the Configure SAML page, do the following: 
    • Single sign on URL  - Paste the value for SAML Response URL that you copied from the Help Center SAML screen in Zoho Desk. 
    • Audience URI (SP Entity ID) - Paste the value of  SAML Response URL  here as well. 
    • Default RelayState - Paste the value for Default Relay State that you copied from the Help Center SAML screen in Zoho Desk. 
    • Name ID format - Specify as EmailAddress . 
  8. Click Next to continue. 
  9. In the Feedback page, select I’m an Okta customer adding an internal app , and check the  This is an internal app that we have created option. 
  10. Click Finish . 
    The     Sign On section of your newly created application appears.
  11. Click View Setup Instructions on the Sign On tab. It opens a new window to the IdP settings. 
  12. On the IdP Settings window, do the following: 
    • Copy the Identity Provider Single Sign-On URL and paste it into the Remote Login URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the Identity Provider Issuer and paste it into the Remote Logout URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the Identity Provider Single Sign-On URL and paste it into the Reset Password URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the X.509 Certificate and save it to a .txt file. Then upload the file into Public Key field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
  13. Click Save . 
  14. Now you must  select the users to whom you wish to give access to the SAML-enabled Help Center. To do this: 
    • Click the  Applications  tab and select your newly created application on Okta. 
    • Click on the Assignments section of the application. 
    • Click Assign and then select Assign to People . 
    • In the pop-up window, type your username into the search box and then click  Assign next to your username. 
      Repeat this step to add more users. 
  15. Click Done to exit the assignment wizard. 
  16. Back in Zoho Desk, check the Enable Signup option on the Help Center SAML page to allow the new user to log in for the first time and then click Save . 

This section describes how to configure OneLogin to provide SSO for your Zoho Desk Help Center. 
  1. Log in to your OneLogin account. 
  2. Go to Apps >> Add Apps in the OneLogin administrator dashboard. 
  3. Search for ' SAML Test Connector ' and select the first result from the search results. 
    It should be     SAML Test Connector (IdP) .
  4. When the Configuration tab appears, provide a name for the application. For example, Zoho Desk. 
  5. Click Save . 
    Now, additional tabs appear, and you land on the     Info tab.
  6. Click the Configuration tab and enter the following details: 
    • RelayState - Paste the value for Default Relay State that you copied from the Help Center SAML screen in Zoho Desk. 
    • Recipient - Paste the value for SAML Response URL that you copied from the Help Center SAML screen in Zoho Desk. 
    • ACS (Consumer) URL Validator - Paste the value of  SAML Response URL  here as well. 
    • ACS (Consumer) URL - Paste the value of  SAML Response URL  here as well. 
  7. Once done, click the SSO tab and do the following: 
    • Copy the SAML 2.0 Endpoint (HTTP) URL and paste it into the Remote Login URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the  SAML 2.0 Endpoint (HTTP) URL and paste it into the Reset Password URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • Copy the  SLO Endpoint (HTTP) URL and paste it into the Remote Logout URL field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
    • In the X.509 Certificate field, click View Details and save the contents to a .txt file. Then upload the file into Public Key field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page. 
  8. Now you must  select the users to whom you wish to give access to the SAML-enabled Help Center. To do this: 
    Click the     Users tab and then click All Users  to add the app to individual user accounts.
  9. Click Save . 
  10. Back in Zoho Desk, check the Enable Signup option on the Help Center SAML page to allow the new user to log in for the first time and then click Save . 

This section describes how to configure Auth0 to provide SSO for your Zoho Desk Help Center. 
  1. Log in to your Auth0 account. 
  2. Go to Dashboard >> Applications. 
  3. Click the + CREATE APPLICATION button on the right. 
  4. In the Name field, enter a name for the application. For example, Zoho Desk. 
  5. Select the type of Application you want to create. 
  6. Click Save. 
  7. Go back to Dashboard >>  Applications. 
  8. Find the application you just created in Step 4, and click the Gear icon corresponding to it. 
  9. Scroll down and click on the Advanced Settings link. 
  10. In the expanded window, click Download Certificate button under the Certificates section. 
    The downloaded certificate will be a     .pem file. You'll need to convert the certificate file's format to .txt.
  11. Now scroll back up and click on the Addons tab. Then enable the SAML2 WEB APP option. 
    You will see a screen asking you to provide additional configuration information.
  12. On the Settings section of the screen, enter the following details: 
    • Application Callback URL - Paste the value for SAML Response URL that you copied from the Help Center SAML screen in Zoho Desk. 
    • Settings - Paste the below SAML configuration into this field. 
      {
"mappings": {
"email": "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress",
"given_name": "User.FirstName",
"family_name": "User.LastName"
},
"createUpnClaim": false,
"passthroughClaimsWithNoMapping": false,
"mapUnknownClaimsAsIs": false,
"mapIdentities": false,
"nameIdentifierFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress",
"nameIdentifierProbes": [
"http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress"
]
}
    • Click Save.
  13. In the Addon SAML2 Web App popup, click the Usage tab and do the following:
    • Copy the Identity Provider Login URL and paste it into the Remote Login URL, Remote Logout URL and the Reset Password URL fields in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page.
    • Upload the certificate you saved in Step 10 into the  Public Key field in Zoho Desk Help Center SAML page.
  14. When done, click Save in Zoho Desk. 
    Your end users will now be redirected to the Auth0's sign-in page when signing in to the Help Center.

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