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Step 1: Gather Information from Your Identity Provider

Step 1: Gather Information from Your Identity Provider

During a SAML single sign-on (SSO) flow where you use Salesforce as a service provider, your identity provider sends a SAML response to Salesforce, which Salesforce then validates. To make sure that Salesforce can recognize and validate the SAML response, gather SAML information from your identity provider so that you can share it with Salesforce.

Required Editions

Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience

Federated Authentication is available in: All Editions

Delegated Authentication is available in: Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, Developer, and Database.com Editions

Authentication Providers are available in: Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions

User Permissions Needed
To view the settings: View Setup and Configuration
To edit the settings:

Customize Application

AND

Modify All Data

Tip
Tip To set up SSO, on the Single Sign-On Settings page, import SAML 2.0 settings from an XML file or from a URL pointing to the file. Get the XML file from your identity provider.

For more information about how SAML SSO works, see SAML Single Sign-On Flows.

  1. Gather SAML configuration information from your identity provider as appropriate. This list includes an identifier and several SAML assertion parameters. Some identity providers give you all these parameters, and others give you a subset of this list.
    • The unique identifier of the identity provider, known as the issuer ID
    • The SAML user ID type
    • The SAML user ID location
    • Attribute Name
    • Attribute URI
    • Name ID format
    Attribute Name, Attribute URI, and Name ID format are only necessary if the SAML User ID location is in an Attribute element, and not in the NameIdentifier element of a Subject statement. For more information, see Step 2: Create a SAML Single Sign-On Setting in Salesforce.
    Salesforce requires the identity provider to sign either the response body or the assertion, but it’s not necessary to sign both. Salesforce first validates the signature in the response body. If the signature is missing or invalid, Salesforce then validates the signature in the assertion.
  2. Get your identity provider’s authentication certificate. Store it where you can access it from your browser. You upload it to Salesforce when you configure SAML settings.
  3. If you have a Request Signing Certificate that you want to use, upload it to Salesforce. See Certificates and Keys in Salesforce Help.
 
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