Skip to content

Configuration

Before start configuring, make sure that the config setting ckan.saml_custom_base_path is set if your config file is not stored at /etc/ckan/default/saml directory.

Copy the saml folder from ckanext-saml into the directory where your CKAN config file is placed:

cp -R saml_example/saml YOUR_CONFIG_DIRECTORY/saml

Open the settings.json file that is in your copied saml folder in order to modify it.

You can also set them in the CKAN configuration file (e.g. ckan.ini or production.ini) using with prefix ckanext.saml.settings.substitution or using the admin configuration page.

Configure main settings file

The main sections that should be updated within the file aresp and idp.

SP modifications (CKAN):

  1. Modify entityId with the domain name of your portal.

  2. Modify url in assertionConsumerService with the domain name of your portal plus adding /saml/ at the end. This is the URL where IdP will send back the reponse with User Data. Make sure the the slash is present in the end of the URL.

IdP modifications

  1. Modify entityId by filling it with the entityID that should be present in the idp_metadata.xml file (name of the file can be different) that is been sent to you by the IdP.

  2. Modify url in singleSignOnService. You can find this url in idp_metadata.xml at SingleSignOnService section, it should have Location attribute where the url is specified.

  3. Modify x509cert by filling it with the X509Certificate that should be present in idp_metadata.xml. Make sure this set as a single line string.

Note: singleLogoutService is not implemented.

Other modifications

advanced_settings.json is used for additional configurations such as security. It also needed to modify the contactPerson and organization sections in it if your are going to provide your SP data to your IdP.

After updating all mentioned values in settings.json, at DOMAIN_NAME/saml/metadata URL you can find the sp.xml generated, which you can provide to the IdP for configuration on their side.

The main infomation that is needed for the IdP is the AssertionConsumerService(ACS) which should be set on their APP for SAML. AssertionConsumerService should match to what you have in your settings.json and IdP APP, otherwise errors might appear.

Configuration options

There is a number of configuration options available for the extension. You can set them in the CKAN configuration file (e.g. ckan.ini or production.ini).

Config SSO path

ckanext.saml.sso_path [optional]

Set path to single sign-on.

Type: str

Default: /sso/post

Config SLO path

ckanext.saml.slo_path [optional]

Set path to single logout.

Type: str

Default: /slo/post

Config static host

ckanext.saml.static_host [optional]

Set the name of static host for SSO.

Type: str

Default: None

IdP metadata url

ckanext.saml.metadata.url [optional]

Set the URL to IdP remote metadata.

Type: str

Default: None

Login button text

ckanext.saml.login_button_text [optional]

Provides an ability to customize login button text.

Legacy: ckan.saml_login_button_text

Type: str

Default: SAML Login

Mapper filename

ckan.saml_custom_attr_map [optional]

Used to modify mapper filename.

Type: str

Default: mapper.py

NameID as an email

ckan.saml_use_nameid_as_email [optional]

Set to true if you want to use NameID as an email for the User in order not to claim it additionally from the IdP.

Type: bool

Default: false

Path to error TPL

ckanext.saml.error_template [optional]

Set path to custom template for errors rendering.

Type: str

Default: None

Path to SAML config files

ckanext.saml.metadata.base_path [optional]

Provides custom path where saml settings files/folders will be searched.

Legacy: ckan.saml_custom_base_path

Type: str

Default: /etc/ckan/default/saml

Reactivate deleted account

ckanext.saml.reactivate_deleted_account [optional]

Change the state of a deleted account status to active.

Type: bool

Default: false

RelayState path

ckan.saml_relaystate [optional]

Set a custom RelayState path.

Type: str

Default: None

Session TTL

ckanext.saml.session.ttl [optional]

Set the time a user can remain idle before the session is terminated and the user must log in again.

Type: str

Default: 30 * 24 * 3600

Use HTTPS

ckan.saml_use_https [optional]

Used to send data while https, set on to enable it.

Options: on, off

Type: bool

Default: off

Using ckan.root_path

ckan.saml_use_root_path [optional]

This needs to be set to true if you run your portal using the ckan.root_path.

Type: bool

Default: false

Use dynamic

ckanext.saml.settings.dynamic [optional]

Use dynamic Single Sign-On (SSO) URLs rather than pre-defined static SSO URLs.

Type: bool

Default: false

Use remote IdP

ckanext.saml.metadata.remote_idp [optional]

Use remote identity provider.

Type: bool

Default: false

Use forwarded host

ckanext.saml.use_forwarded_host [optional]

Use HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST when there is a proxy (or multiple proxies) between the browser and your server.

Type: bool

Default: false

Use unconditional login

ckanext.saml.unconditional_login [optional]

Use unconditional login for single sign-on.

Type: bool

Default: false

SP metadata

As mentioned above, you can find SP metadata at DOMAIN_NAME/saml/metadata URL after configuring advanced_settings.json. This URL is accessible only to sysadmins and presented in XML format. Additional tab on /ckan-admin/ is added, that leads to this page.

Data encryption

In order to encrypt the coming data from the IdP use advanced_settings.json file. In security section, you can enable encryption for NameId and all other data that will be returned to the SP.

If you enable one of authnRequestsSigned,logoutRequestSigned,logoutResponseSigned, wantAssertionsEncrypted, wantNameIdEncrypted (you can find description of each option here), you will have to create x509 certificate in you SP. Cerificate should be created in certs folder, files should be named as sp.crt and sp.key (private key). After creating it, your sp.xml will show you public key ds:X509Certificate that should be delivered to your IdP in order to configure encryption.

Extras

ckanext-saml has interface ICKANSAML which has two hooks that can be used for User data modificaiton and Organization memberships logic while login.

  • after_mapping - Used after Users data is being mapped, but before the User is being created.

  • roles_and_organizations - Used for adding custom logic for Organization membership that is going to be applied to the User. There is no default logic for this, so should be added in your custom extension using this hook.