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SAML Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira using Okta as IDP

The miniOrange Jira SAML single sign-on (SSO) plugin allows users to access Jira Software and Jira Service Desk by authenticating once through a SAML-compliant Identity Provider (IDP).

This guide will walk you through the steps to configure Okta as a SAML IDP through our plugin.

We’ve also created a comprehensive video tutorial for the setup process, check it out below:

Pre-requisites

To integrate your IDP with Jira, you have to ensure the following prerequisites are met:

You have Jira installed and configured on your system.
Your Jira Server is https-enabled (optional, but recommended for secure communication).
You have your administrative credentials set up in Jira.
You have a valid Jira Server or 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 and Click Manage Apps.
Click Find new apps or Find new add-ons from the left-hand side of the page.
Locate miniOrange Jira SAML SSO plugin.
Click Try free to begin a new trial or Buy now to purchase a license for the plugin.
Enter your information and click Generate license when redirected to MyAtlassian.
Click Apply licence.

Step 1: Configuring the Identity Provider

With the plugin installed, you can move on to setting up Okta as an IDP.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider,Okta SSO Login 1.1: Okta IDP Configuration

Follow the steps provided below:

Log into Okta Admin Console.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login,Add New Application into Okta

For developer account, switch to Classic UI to configure app.
In the left hand menu, go to Applications → Applications and then click on Create App Integration.

Select SAML 2.0 as Sign on method and click Next.

In General Settings, enter the app name and click on Next.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login,Create New SAML 2.0 Application

Set up SAML parameters in the Configure SAML tab. You will find all the required information inside the SP Information tab of your plugin. The table below will help you map the right data to the fields.

Single Sign On URL	Enter ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL from the Service Provider info tab of the plugin.
Audience URI (SP Entity ID)	Enter SP Entity ID/Issuer from the Service Provider info (or SP Information) tab of the module.
Default Relay State	Enter Relay State from the Service Provider info tab of the module.
Name ID Format	Select EmailAddress as the Name ID Format from the dropdown list.
Application Username	Set Application Username to Okta username.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider,Okta SSO Login, Attribute And Group Mapping

Next, scroll down inside the Configure SAML tab and fill out Attribute Statements and Group Attribute Statements (this step is optional).

Here’s how you can populate these fields:

a. For Name, enter "firstName" and select user.firstName from the value dropdown.

b. For Name, enter "lastName" and select user.lastName from the value dropdown.

c. For Name, enter "Email" and select user.email from the value dropdown.

d. Under Group Attribute Statements, enter "groups" for Name and select Matches regex from the Filter dropdown and enter ".*" in the adjacent textbox.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 1.2: Assigning Groups/People

After creating and configuring the app, you will be redirected to the Assignment Tab in Okta.

Here, select the people and groups that you want to be able to log in through the app. You can do this by clicking Assign and selecting Assign to People to give access to specific people.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider,Okta SSO Login, Assign App to People and Groups

You can also select Assign to Groups to give access to a specific group.

Once you’re done assigning people and groups to your app, go to the Sign On tab.
Here, click on View Setup Instructions to get the SAML Login URL (Single Sign on URL), Single Logout URL, IDP Entity ID, and X.509 Certificate. You will need these to configure the Service Provider.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login,IDP Metadata Link

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 1.3: Fetching Metadata URL

One important component you’ll require while setting up your service provider is the metadata URL of your Identity Provider.

You can follow these steps to find the metadata URL for your Okta Application:

Log into your Okta Admin Console
Navigate to Applications → [Your Application Name] → Sign On
You will find the metadata URL under the Metadata details section.

You can either leave this window open in another tab or copy and paste the URL to a note while setting up the service provider.

Quick Setup

Quick Setup streamlines the initial configuration process by automatically handling all essential details required for a basic SSO setup. This allows you to quickly enable SSO functionality and then configure more advanced features at your own pace.

You can follow the steps provided below initiate a Quick Setup:

Click on the Add New IDP button in the Configured IDPs section.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) into Jira, Add an IDP

Next, select the Quick Setup option in the pop-up that appears.

Select your preferred IDP from the list of IDPs displayed. You can also search for an IDP using the search bar.

Jira saml sso plugin into Jira, Add IDP pop-up

SAML SSO for jira using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.1: Service Provider Metadata

After selecting your preferred IDP, you’ll be taken to the Service Provider (SP) Metadata section. Here, you will find the metadata that you need to provide to your IDP.

The setup gives you two ways to add this metadata to your IDP. Let’s explore these two methods in depth:

Atlassian Jira SAML sso using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.1.1: Importing the metadata

SAML Single Sign On SSO for Jira, Quick Setup sp metadata url

If your IDP supports importing of metadata, then you can select By providing a metadata URL/File to the IDP from the dropdown list.
Based on your Identity Provider's requirements, you can either provide the metadata URL or download an XML metadata file. To obtain the XML file, click on Download Metadata.

Single Sign on for Jira using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.1.2: Manually adding the metadata

If you wish to add the metadata manually, then you can select By manually configuring the metadata on your IDP from the dropdown list.
If you select the manual method the screen will provide you with SP Entity ID, ACS URL, and SP Certificate. You will have to provide these details to your IDP.

Jira SAML SSO Plugin, Quick Setup sp metadata url

Click on Proceed once you’re done.

Jira SAML SSO using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2: Configuring your Identity Provider

Let’s explore how you can configure your IDP using the metadata.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.1: Custom IDP name

Our plugin gives you the option to name your IDP through the Custom IDP Name field. This feature is useful if you need to set up multiple IDPs. It will display the custom name on the SSO button on the login page for each configured IDP.
If you do not wish to set a custom name, simply select No from the dropdown menu.

Saml sso jira using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.2: Adding the IDP metadata

Next, you can scroll down on the same page to add IDP metadata. Our plugin provides three ways for you to add your IDP metadata. You can select any one of the three methods using the corresponding dropdown list.

Let’s look at the three options individually:

jira saml plugin using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.2.A: I have the metadata URL for my IDP

If you select this option from the dropdown list, you just need to paste your metadata URL in the Enter Metadata URL field. This is the same URL we fetched before initiating the Service Provider setup step.

saml single sign on sso into Jira, Quick Setup sp metadata url

SAML SSO Plugin jira using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.2.B: I have a file which contains the metadata

If you select this option, you just need to upload the metadata file to the plugin using the Choose File button.

saml single sign on sso jira saml sso, Quick Setup sp metadata url

saml sso plugin jira using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.2.C: I want to manually configure the IDP

Selecting this option requires manually configuring the IDP details. To do so, you will need to obtain the following information from your IDP's metadata:

Single Sign On URL.
IDP Entity ID.
IDP Signing Certificate.

saml single sign on sso jira saml sso using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.3: Testing the configuration

After adding the IDP metadata, click Save. If the IDP was added successfully, you will see a field labeled Test and Get Attributes URL. To verify the configuration, open the URL in an incognito window to Get the Attributes from IDP. This will test if the IDP integration was set up correctly.

Atlassian jira saml sso using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.3: User Profile

With the Identity Provider (IDP) configured, we will now set up the basic user profile attributes for your Service Provider (SP).

Jira saml plugin using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.3.1: Matching a user

During the Jira SSO process, the user's account is identified based on an attribute received from the Identity Provider (ISP).
This attribute value is used to locate the corresponding user account in Jira and log the user into that account. You can select which specific attribute should be used for this user mapping by choosing from the provided dropdown menu.

jira saml sso using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.3.2: Setting profile attributes

Setting up both Username and Email is required if you want to let users register. If the test configuration performed in the previous step was successful, then the inputs for the username and email attributes will be dropdowns.
These dropdowns will contain all of the users’ attribute names sent from the IDP. You will need to select the appropriate options containing the user's username and email.

single sign on sso for jira saml using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.4: User Groups - Default groups

To grant users access to Jira, they must be members of at least one of the default Jira groups. This step allows you to select the default groups that will be automatically assigned to users upon successful SSO authentication. You can set multiple groups as default groups.

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Our plugin gives you the option to enable default groups for All Users, New Users, or Users with No IDP Groups using a dropdown list. If you don't want to assign any default group to SSO users, you can select None.

jira saml sso plugin,saml single sign on sso for jira,saml single sign on sso jira saml sso

This concludes the Quick Setup flow. If you encountered any issues or errors while setting up your Identity Provider (IDP), refer to the Troubleshooting section for guidance or contact our support.

saml sso for jira using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.5: Troubleshooting and Support

Here, you can review the results of a successful test configuration, including the attributes received from your IDP, the SAML request sent, and the SAML response received.

The Quick Setup method establishes basic SSO functionality for your end-users. However, you can further customize your setup by utilizing the full set of features provided by the plugin.

To access advanced configuration options:

Navigate to the Configured IDPs page.
Locate the Edit dropdown menu for your configured IDP.
From here, you can access your SP Metadata and customize settings for User Profile and User Groups.
For detailed information on customizing User Profile and User Groups settings, refer to the Custom Setup section of this guide.

Manual Setup

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.1: Service Provider Metadata

If you intend to customize your IDP setup from the start, you can find the required Service Provider (SP) metadata under the SP Metadata section. It contains essential information about your SP configuration that you will need to provide to your IDP for seamless integration.

There are multiple ways to add this metadata to your IDP:

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.1.1: Importing the metadata

Depending on how your IDP accepts the metadata, you can either provide the metadata URL or you can use the Download Metadata button to download an XML file for the same.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.1.2: Manually add the metadata

If you wish to add the metadata manually, you will find the following information in this section. You will need to provide these details to your IDP.

SP Entity ID
ACS URL
SP Certificate

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2: Configuring Your Identity Provider

The manual setup flow allows you to dive into the complete set of configurations provided by the plugin to add a SAML IDP.

The steps to configure an IDP using the Manual Setup option are:

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.1: Adding IDP Metadata

There are three ways you can configure IDP settings with the information you have been given by your IDP team:

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.1.1: By Metadata URL

Click on the Import from Metadata tab.
Select IDP – Import From Metadata URL.
Enter IDP metadata URL – paste the metadata URL that we fetched before initiating the Service Provider .
If your IDP changes certificates at intervals (Eg. Azure AD), you can refresh your IDP metadata accordingly:

Navigate to the Advanced SSO options from the menu on the left-hand side of the page.
Enter your metadata URL in the Certificate Rollover field.
Toggle the Refresh Certificate periodically option on.
Use the drop-down provided to set the interval for a periodic refresh. We recommend you select five minutes for the best results.

Click Import.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.1.2: By Uploading Metadata XML File

Click on the Import from Metadata tab.
Select IDP: Import from Metadata File.
Upload metadata file.
Click Import.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.2.1.3: Manual Configuration

Go to Manual Configuration tab and enter the following details:

IDP Entity ID.
Single Sign On URL.
Single Logout URL.
X.509 Certificate.

Note: If you need to add an additional X.509 Certificate, you can do so by clicking on the Add button below the textbox.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.3: User Profile

Next we will be setting up user profile attributes for Jira. The settings for this can be found in the User Profile section.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.3.1: Finding correct attributes

Go to the IDP Configuration section. Scroll down and click on Test Configuration.
You will see all the values returned by your IDP to Jira in a table. If you don't see value for First Name, Last Name, Email, or Username, change the required settings in your IDP so that it returns this information.
Once you see all the values in Test Configuration, keep the window open and go back to the User Profile section.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.3.2: Setting profile attributes

In the User Profile section, fill the values by matching the name of the attribute. For instance, if the Attribute Name in the Test Configuration window is NameID, enter NameID against Username.
For user registration, ensure both the Username and Email fields are set up. If you're only allowing existing users to log in, configure the attribute that will match the user in Jira.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.3.3: Matching a user

When a user logs into Jira, one of their attributes from the IDP is used to search for their account. This enables Jira to detect the user and log them into the corresponding account.

You can configure it using the steps given below:

Select Username or Email for the Login user account by option.
Enter the attribute name from IDP which corresponds to Username or Email using Finding Correct Attributes.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.4: User Groups

Now, let's move on to configure user group attributes for Jira. This feature allows you to replicate the user groups present in your IDP within your Service Provider (SP) environment.

You can accomplish this in the following ways:

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.4.1: Setting default group

Select the users' Default Group in the User Groups tab. If no group is mapped, users are added to this group by default.
You can enable default groups for All Users or New Users using the option. Select None if you don't want to assign any default group to SSO users.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.4.2: Finding Group Attribute

Similarly to how you identified the Attribute Names for User Profiles, you will need to locate the attribute name corresponding to group information.

Here’s how you can do this:

Go to the IDP Configuration section. Scroll down and click on Test Configuration.
A table will display all the values returned by your IDP to Jira. If you don't see group information in this table, you'll need to adjust your IDP settings to ensure it returns the appropriate group names.
In the User Groups tab, enter the Attribute Name for groups in the Group Attribute field.
Enter the Attribute Name of the group against Group Attribute.
If you don't want to update groups of existing users, check the Disable Group Mapping option.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.4.3: Group Mapping

Group Mapping can be done in two ways:

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.4.3.1: Manual Group Mapping

If the names of groups in Jira are different from the corresponding groups in IDP, then you should use Manual group mapping.
Check Restrict User Creation Based on Group Mapping option if you want new users to be created only if at least one of the user's IDP groups is mapped to a group in the application.
To do the mapping, first select a Jira group from the dropdown which lists all groups present in Jira and then enter the name of the IDP group to be mapped in the textbox beside.
For example, if you want all users in the 'dev' group in IDP 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.

Use '+1' and '+10' buttons to add extra mapping fields.
Use the '-' button next to each mapping to delete that mapping.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.4.3.2: On-The-Fly Group Mapping

If the names of groups in Jira and IDP are the same, we recommend you use On-The-Fly group mapping.
Check Create New Groups option if you want new groups from IDP to be created if not found in Jira.
If the user is part of some group in Jira and that group is not present in the SAML response returned by IDP, then the user will be removed from that group in Jira.
If you don't want On-The-Fly group mapping to affect Jira groups which are managed locally then add those groups in the Exclude Groups field.

SAML Single Sign On (SSO) using Okta Identity Provider, Okta SSO Login, 2.5: Troubleshooting and Support

You can verify if your SAML SSO configuration is correct by clicking the Test Configuration button on the IDP configuration tab of the plugin.
After a successful test configuration, you will be able to review the results on the Troubleshooting and Support page. This includes the attributes received from your Identity Provider (IDP), the SAML request sent, and the SAML response received.
In case you encounter any issues or errors while setting up your IDP, refer to the Troubleshooting section for guidance on how to contact our support team.

Step 3: Redirection on Login Page

If you have only one IDP configured, then you can use the features provided on the SSO Settings tab and Redirection Rules tab of the plugin to manage the redirection on the login page.
Enable the Auto Redirect to IDP option on the SSO Settings tab if you want to allow users to log in only using IDP.
Use the Emergency/Backdoor Login URL to allow all admins to access the default login page of Jira/Confluence and log in using Jira local credentials. You can also restrict access to this URL for certain users.
Use the settings given on the Redirection Rules tab to redirect users to their specific IDPs based on their email domains, groups, and directories. This feature is particularly useful in instances where you have multiple IDPs configured.

Step 4: Multiple IDPs

Our plugin offers the flexibility to configure multiple identity providers (IDPs) on your service provider (SP), expanding your options for authentication..

Step 4.1: Configuring Multiple IDPs

If you need to configure multiple IDPs on your SP you can do so by going to the Configured IDPs section and clicking on Add New IDP.

atlassian jira saml sso, jira saml plugin, jira saml single sign on sso jira sso

Step 4.2: Managing SSO with Multiple IDPs

If you have multiple IDPs configured, you can choose how you want your end users to use these IDPs to perform SSO.
For instance, you can display individual buttons for different IDPs on the login page and let the users decide which IDP to use for SSO. Additionally, you can force certain users to use a specific IDP based on the domain of their username/email.
You’ll be able to configure these rules in the Redirection Rules section.
The plugin has a default rule that is pre-configured and applied to all the users irrespective of their domains. For instance, if you want to display the login page with SSO buttons for each of the IDPs then your Default Rule will be as follows:

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Based on the default rule mentioned above, the login form will contain buttons for each IDP. Users will have the freedom to choose any of the configured IDPs to initiate SSO.

saml single sign on sso jira saml sso, saml sso for jira, saml sso jira

You can also configure a rule so that your users will be automatically redirected to an IDP based on their email domains.
For instance, if you want users that have example.com as their domain to be redirected to IDP 1, you can add a rule for that as follows:

Click on the Add Rule in the Redirection Rules tab.
Enter a name for your rule in Rule Name.
In the IF statement select Email Domain in the first drop-down.
For the same statement select equals in the second drop-down.
In the last field of the IF statement, enter the email domain(example.com for the purpose of this example)
In the Then Redirect To drop-down, select the IDP you want the users with example.com to be redirected to(IDP 1 in this case)
Click on Save.

saml sso plugin jira, single sign on for jira, single sign on sso for jira saml

When a rule like the one described above is configured, users will see a login form where they will have to input their email address.

Additionally, within the Sign-In Settings, you have the option to configure SSO for administrators, grant access to anonymous pages, and establish an emergency URL for bypassing SSO. These settings can be found in the left-hand side menu bar.