Set Up SAML Authentication
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Set Up SAML Authentication

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Set Up SAML Authentication

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is an XML-based, open-standard data format used to exchange authentication and authorization data between parties, specifically between an identity provider (IdP) and a service provider. SAML is a product of the OASIS Security Services Technical Committee.
  1. Create a server profile.
    The server profile identifies the external authentication service and instructs the firewall on how to connect to that authentication service and access the authentication credentials for your users.
    The following steps describe how you can import a SAML metadata file from the IdP so that the firewall can automatically create a server profile and populate the connection, registration, and IdP certificate information. If the IdP does not provide a metadata file, select
    Device
    Server Profiles
    SAML Identity Provider
    , and then
    Add
    a server profile manually.
    1. Export the SAML metadata file from the IdP to an endpoint that the firewall can access.
      Refer to your IdP documentation for instructions on how to export the file.
    2. Select
      Device
      Server Profiles
      SAML Identity Provider
      .
    3. Import
      the metadata file onto the firewall.
    4. Enter a
      Profile Name
      to identify the server profile, such as
      GP-User-Auth
      .
    5. Browse
      for the metadata file.
    6. (
      Recommended
      ) Select
      Validate Identity Provider Certificate
      (default) so that the firewall validates the IdP certificate.
      Validation occurs only after you assign the server profile to an authentication profile and
      Commit
      the changes. The firewall uses the certificate profile within the authentication profile to validate the certificate.
    7. Enter the
      Maximum Clock Skew
      , which is the allowed system time difference (in seconds) between the IdP and the firewall when the firewall validates IdP messages. The default value is 60 seconds, and the range is 1 to 900 seconds.If the difference exceeds this value, authentication fails.
    8. Click
      OK
      to save the server profile.
  2. (
    Optional
    ) Create an authentication profile.
    The authentication profile specifies the server profile that the portal or gateways use when they authenticate users. On a portal or gateway, you can assign one or more authentication profiles to one or more client authentication profiles. For more information on how an authentication profile within a client authentication profile supports granular user authentication, see Configure a GlobalProtect Gateway and Set Up Access to the GlobalProtect Portal.
    SAML authentication supports Remote Access VPN with Pre-Logon with GlobalProtect app 5.0 and later releases.
    1. Select
      Device
      Authentication Profile
      , and then
      Add
      a new authentication profile.
    2. Enter a
      Name
      for the authentication profile.
    3. Set the
      Authentication
      Type
      to
      SAML
      .
    4. Select the SAML
      IdP Server Profile
      that you created in step 1.
    5. Configure the following options to enable certificate authentication between the firewall and the SAML identity provider. Refer to SAML 2.0 Authentication for more details.
      • The
        Certificate for Signing Requests
        that the firewall uses to sign messages that it sends to the IdP.
      • The
        Certificate Profile
        that the firewall uses to validate the IdP certificate.
    6. Specify the username and admin role formats.
      • Specify the
        Username Attribute
        and
        User Group Attribute
        .
      Unlike other external authentication types, the SAML authentication profile does not have a
      User Domain
      attribute.
      • (
        Optional
        ) If you plan to use this profile to authenticate the administrative accounts that you manage in the IdP identity store, specify the
        Admin Role Attribute
        and
        Access Domain Attribute
        .
    7. On the
      Advanced
      tab,
      Add
      an
      Allow List
      to select the users and groups that are allowed to authenticate with this profile. The
      all
      option allows every user to authenticate with this profile. By default, the list has no entries, which means no users can authenticate.
      Make sure the username in the
      Allow List
      matches the username returned from the SAML IdP server.
    8. Click
      OK
      .
  3. Commit
    the configuration.
  4. (
    Chromebooks only
    ) Enable SAML SSO for Chromebooks.
    These steps allow you to set up SAML SSO for the GlobalProtect app for Android on Chromebooks.
    1. Sign in to the Google Admin Console and select
      Security
      .
    2. Select
      Set up single sign-on (SSO)
      .
    3. (
      Optional
      ) If you want to set up SSO with any other provider besides Google, select
      Setup SSO with third party identity provider
      and specify the
      Sign-in page URL
      and
      Sign-out page URL
      and upload a valid
      Verification certificate
      .
    4. Configure the SAML identity provider in GlobalProtect.
      1. In the GlobalProtect console, select
        Device
        Server Profiles
        SAML Identity Provider
        .
      2. Match the values you entered for the IdP in the Google Admin Console.

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