OAuth/OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira using AWS Cognito

Jira OAuth/OpenID app gives the ability to enable OAuth/OpenID Single Sign On for Jira Software and Jira Service Desk. Jira Software and Jira Service Desk are compatible with all OAuth/OpenID Providers. Here we will go through a guide to configure SSO between Jira and your OAuth/OpenID Provider. By the end of this guide, users from your OAuth/OpenID Provider should be able to login and register to Jira Software and Service Desk.

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Video Setup Guide

Pre-requisites

Before proceeding with the integration of your OAuth/OpenID Provider and Jira, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:

Ensure that Jira has been installed and configured appropriately.
Enable HTTPS on the Jira Server (optional, but recommended).
Establish admin credentials for Jira.
Obtain a valid Jira Server and Data Center License.

Download and Installation

Now, let’s look at how you can download and install the miniOrange Jira SAML Single Sign On (SSO) plugin for your Jira Data Center.

Log into your Jira instance as an admin.
Navigate to the Settings Menu and click on Manage Apps.
Next, click on Find new apps option on the left-hand menu of the page.
Here, locate miniOrange Jira OAuth/OpenID Connect Single Sign On (SSO) plugin on Atlassian marketplace via search.
Click on Try it free to begin a new trial of the plugin with a temporary license.
When redirected to MyAtlassian, enter your information and click Generate license.
Next, click Apply license.

OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) using OAuth/OpenID Provider, Manage apps menu

Step 1: Set Up AWS Cognito as OAuth Provider

Go to Amazon Console and sign up/log in to your account to Configure AWS Cognito.

AWS Cognito SSO - Login to your AWS Cognito Application

Search for Cognito in the AWS Services search bar as shown below.

AWS Cognito SSO - Search Cognito in App Services

Click on Create a User Pool button to create a new User Pool.

Select the Application type as a Traditional web application. Provide a name for your application and choose the attributes in your user pool to be used during the sign-in process. Select the attributes that you require during the sign-up process from the Required attributes for the sign-up section.

AWS Cognito SSO - Provide User Pool Details

Add callback URL in the Return URL field under the Add a Return URL section. You will get this callback URL from the plugin. Click on the Create button.

Scroll down and click on the Go to Overview button.

AWS Cognito SSO - Click on Go to Overview button

To configure how your user pool sends email messages to users, navigate to the Authentication methods under the Authentication tab and click on Edit under the Email section.

AWS Cognito SSO - Navigate to Authentication Tab

Here you can add email address from which your user pool sends email messages to users. Click on Save Changes.

AWS Cognito SSO - Provide Email to Send message

Navigate to the App Clients tab under the Applications section, and select your App Client. If you don't have an app client, then click on Create app client button.

AWS Cognito SSO - Navigate to App Client Section

Copy the Client ID and Client Secret and keep them handy as they will be used in further steps.

AWS Cognito SSO - Copy Client ID and Secret

Go to the Attribute permissions tab. Click on the Edit and select the attributes that you want during the sign-up process. Click on Save.

AWS Cognito SSO - Select Attributes you want in Shopify

Now go to the Login pages tab and click on the Edit button as shown in the below image.

AWS Cognito SSO - Click on Edit for SSO Configurations

Verify that the Callback URL is added to the URL field under the Allowed Callback URLs section and under the Identity Provider section, the Identity Provider selected is the Cognito user pool, and select Authorization code grant under the OAuth 2.0 grant types. Under the OpenID Connect scopes section the scopes selected are Email, OpenID, and Profile. (Please refer to the images below) Click on the Save Changes button.

AWS Cognito SSO - Select Authorization Code Grant

AWS Cognito SSO - OAuth Grant Type and Scopes

Go to the Users tab under the User Management section, and click Create user.

Enter details such as email address, phone number & password. Click on Create user to save the details.

AWS Cognito SSO - provide email, password

Step 2: Set Up Jira as OAuth Client

Go to Jira Manage Apps -> click Configure under OAuth/OpenID Connect (OIDC) for Jira SSO. Then click on Add New Provider button. Select your preferred IDP. If an IDP is not present, select custom IDP.

Enter Client Id, client secret & AWS Cognito Domain name as {your domain name}.auth.{region name}.amazoncognito.com
Add https://{domainName}/logout?client_id={ClientID}&logout_uri={Sign out URL} in logout endpoint. This endpoint will logout you from cognito when you logout from JIRA. logout_uri will redirect you to Jira login Page.
Scope is required. Configure Scope as openid.
Enter JWKS EndPoint URL or Public Key for signature validation.
Click on Test Configuration for verifying the entered details.

Jira OAuth OpenID SSO using AWS Cognito Configure OAuth

Step 3: User Profile Mapping

Navigate to the User Profile section in the left sidebar to set up user profile attributes for Jira. If your user directory is read-only, disable the User Profile Mapping option in this tab and proceed directly to the Matching a User step.

3.1 Identifying Correct Attributes

Access the SSO Endpoints tab and click on Test Configuration.
In the pop-up that appears, review the table displaying all values returned by your OAuth/OpenID Provider to Jira. If essential attributes like First Name, Last Name, Email, or Username are missing, adjust the settings in your OAuth/OpenID Provider accordingly.
Once you've confirmed all values in the Test Configurationpopup window, proceed to the User Profile tab.

3.2 Configuring Profile Attributes

In the User Profile tab, populate the fields by matching attribute names. For instance, if the Attribute Name in the Test Configuration window is NameID, enter NameID as Username.
It's essential to set up both Username and Email if you allow user registration. Alternatively, you can restrict login to existing users by deselecting the Allow User Creation option in the Advanced SSO Options tab.
You’ll be able to configure these rules in the Redirection Rules section.

3.3 User Attribute Matching

When a user logs into Jira, data or attributes from the OAuth/OpenID provider are used to search for that user in Jira and facilitate login. To match the attributes:

Navigate to the User Profile tab.
Choose either Username or Email as the login for the Jira user account.
Enter the attribute name from the OAuth/OpenID Provider that corresponds to the Username or Email as identified in the Identifying Correct Attributes step.

3.4 Custom Attribute Mapping

You can configure custom attributes received in the OAuth/OpenID response using the Configure User Properties(Extended Attributes) section.

Click on Add Attribute Mapping.
Enter the attribute name( E.g. department) as User Property Key in the Select Jira Attribute to Map field.
For each attribute, input the corresponding value retrieved from the Attributes from IDP tab in the Test Configuration window. For example, if the attribute name in the Test Configuration window is Department, enter Department as the Attribute Value.
Additional attributes, such as location, can be added by selecting the Add Attribute Mapping option.

Step 4: User Group Mapping

As we proceed to configure user group attributes for Jira, you have the option to enable group mapping.

If you wish to do so, please ensure to select Enable Group Mapping in the User Groups tab. Alternatively, you can proceed directly to setting the default group.

4.1 Setting the Default Group

In the User Groups tab, select the default group for users. If no group is mapped, users are automatically added to this group.
Using the Assign Default Group To option, you can assign default groups to all users or new users. Choose None if you prefer not to assign any default group to SSO users.

oauth api, oauth oidc, oauth sso, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira, Default group

4.2 Finding Group Attribute

To identify group attributes, go to the Configure OAuth tab and click on Test Configuration. Review the values returned by your OAuth/OpenID provider to Jira in the table. If group values are missing, adjust the settings in your OAuth provider to include group names.
After reviewing all values in Test Configuration, proceed to the User Groups tab. Enter the Attribute Name of the group under Group Attribute.
Check Disable Group Mapping option if you don't want to update groups of existing users.

4.3 Group Mapping

Group mapping can be done manually or on the fly:

Manual group mapping: If the names of groups in Jira are different than the corresponding groups in OAuth/OpenID Provider, then you should use Manual group mapping.
On-The-Fly group mapping: If the names of groups in Jira and OAuth/OpenID Provider are same, you should use On-The-Fly group mapping.

I. Manual group mapping

Check the Allow User Creation based on Group Mapping option if you want new users to be created only if at least one of the user's OAuth/OpenID Provider groups is mapped to a group in the application.
Select a Jira group from the dropdown list and enter the name of the OAuth/OpenID Provider group to be mapped in the Groups from Applications textbox.
For instance, if you want all users in the 'dev' group of OAuth/OpenID providers to be added to jira-software-users, you will need to select jira-software-users from the dropdown and enter 'dev' against jira-software-users.
You can use the '+' and '+10' buttons to add extra mapping fields, and the '-' button to delete mappings.

oauth client, open id oauth, open authentication oauth, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira, Manual group mapping

II. On-The-Fly group mapping

If the group names in both Jira and the OAuth/OpenID provider match, opt for On-The-Fly group mapping.
Check the Create New Groups option to create new groups from the OAuth/OpenID Provider if not found in Jira.
Preserve existing user groups by selecting the Keep Existing User Groups option. Unticking this option will remove the user from a Jira group if it's not present in the OAuth/OpenID response.
Deselect the Keep Existing User Groups option to prevent On-The-Fly group mapping from affecting locally managed Jira groups. Add those groups to the Exclude Groups field.

saml oauth and openid connect, sso oauth 2.0, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira , provision for on-the-fly group mapping

Step 5: SSO Setting

The configurations within the SSO Settings tab are pivotal in shaping the user experience for Single Sign-On.

5.1 Sign In Settings

Enable Auto Redirect to Application to redirect users to the OAuth/OIDC provider when accessing the Jira login page. You can set a delay before redirection.
Next, toggle the Enable Backdoor Login option for emergency access using a backdoor URL. Restrict access to this URL for specific groups if needed.
You can use Domain Restriction to allow login for specific user domains and configure multiple allowed domains (semicolon-separated).
The Secure Admin Login option ensures the re-authentication of admin users before accessing pages with administrative permissions.

oauth authentication, single sign on login, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira , provision for configuring sign-in settings in the plugin

5.2 Redirection Rules

Redirection rules allow you to redirect users to login pages/providers based on their email domains. This functionality is especially useful with multiple configured providers.
To create a new rule, go to the Redirection Rules tab and click Add Rule.

oauth 2.0 authentication, single sign on authentication, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira, Redirection Rules tab with provision for creating new rule

Next, give the rule a name and set the conditions for redirection. Click Save once you’re done.

saml and oauth, atlassian single sign on, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira, Add Rule window in the Redirection Rules tab

You can also set a default rule if no other rule conditions are met.

oauth authentication, oauth 2.0 authentication, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira, provision for setting a default redirection rule

Once you set a redirection rule, users who fulfill its conditions will be shown a login form, prompting them to input their username/email address. You can set domain-based rules for directing users to specific providers as well.

5.3 Global SSO Settings

You can enable/disable SSO for Jira Software and Service Desk from the Global SSO Settings tab.
If enforcing SSO for Service Desk Agents only, select Enable SSO Only For Service Desk Agents.
You have the option to activate SSO for both Jira software and service desk by selecting Enable SSO for Jira Software and Enable SSO for Jira Service Desk respectively.
The app also gives you options to adjust additional settings like Allow Users to Change Password, Restrict Access to Plugin APIs, and Auto Activate Users on SSO.
To keep users logged in until explicitly logged out, you can enable Remember Me-Cookie in the Session Management tab.

oauth token, oauth api, oauth oidc, OAuth / OpenID Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira, Global SSO Settings tab in the plugin

5.4 Look and Feel

You can customize the appearance of your login page and error messages from the Look and Feel tab.
The plugin has provisions for modifying the default login button text and designing the login page using customisable templates.

open authentication oauth, saml oauth and openid connect, provision for customizing the login page under the Look and Feel tab

You can also set a Custom Logout URL from the Post Logout Configuration tab to redirect users to a specific screen after they logout.
The SSO Error Message section allows you to customize the error message displayed to users.

Look and Feel tab with provision for customizing the error messages

Configure SCIM with SAML

Configure SCIM with SAML for your choosen IDP by following the step by step guide linked here.

Additional Resources

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