Configure SSO from Salesforce to Zendesk

Set Up Your Salesforce Org as an Identity Provider

With the My Domain feature, your Salesforce org is enabled as an identity provider. My Domain is required for all orgs. If you don’t like your org’s My Domain name or circumstances warrant a change, you can rename it.

The My Domain feature also creates a certificate and key pair. The certificate establishes trust between your Salesforce org and ADP. Optionally, you can use another self-signed certificate or import a CA-signed certificate.

To download the Salesforce self-signed certificate:

1. From Setup, enter Identity Provider in the Quick Find box, and select Identity Provider.
2. Click Download Certificate.

Configure SAML Settings in Zendesk

1. Log in to your Zendesk account as an administrator.
2. Under Settings, navigate to Security.
3. To enable single sign-on, select Enabled. Select SAML as the SSO authentication mode.

   

4. For SAML SSO URL, enter the identity provider endpoint, for example, https://MyDomainName.my.salesforce.com/idp/endpoint/HttpRedirect.
   

   Note Zendesk displays the ACS URL. You enter this URL later when you configure a Salesforce connected app for Zendesk.

   

5. Optionally, to redirect users after logging out, enter a remote logout URL, for example, https://MyDomainName.my.salesforce.com/secur/logout.jsp. For example, https://identitydemo.my.salesforce.com/secur/logout.jsp.
6. Enter the SHA1 fingerprint of the Salesforce identity provider certificate.

   

7. Save the settings.

Create a Connected App in Salesforce

1. In Salesforce, create a connected app.
   • In Lightning Experience, from Setup, enter App in the Quick Find box, and select App Manager. Click New Connected App.
   • In Salesforce Classic, from Setup, enter Apps in the Quick Find box, and select Apps. Under Connected Apps, click New.
2. Configure the connected app Basic Information settings.
   1. Enter a name for the Zendesk connected app. Salesforce uses this name to populate the API name.
   2. Enter your email address in case Salesforce needs to contact you or your support team.
   3. Optionally, upload or specify a logo and icon to represent your Zendesk application in the Salesforce App Launcher.

   

3. Configure the connected app Web App Settings.
   1. Select Enable SAML.
   2. For Entity Id, enter yourdomain.zendesk.com. For example, https://acme.zendesk.com.
   3. For ACS URL, enter https://yourdomain.zendesk.com/access/saml/. For example, https://acme.zendesk.com/access/saml/.
   4. For Subject Type, choose how users are identified to the identity provider, for example, Federation ID. A federation ID is a unique value assigned to the user across multiple web services and Salesforce orgs.
   5. For Name ID Format, keep the default value.
   6. For Issuer, keep the default value, which is your My Domain login URL.
   7. For IdP Certificate, keep the default (Default IdP Certificate).

      

4. Save the settings.
5. Configure profiles and permission sets for the connected app.
   1. From Setup, enter Apps in the Quick Find box.
      • If you’re using Lightning Experience, select Manage Connected Apps.
      • If you’re using Salesforce Classic, under Manage Apps, select Connected Apps.
   2. Click the name of your connected app for Zendesk. The connected app detail page appears.
   3. Click Manage Profiles or Manage Permission Sets, and add profiles or permission sets for the users who can access this app.
6. In Salesforce, enter the start URL for the connected app.
   1. On the connected app detail page, under SAML Login Information, copy the IdP-initiated login URL.
   2. On the connected app detail page, click Edit Policies.
   3. For Start URL, paste the IdP-initiated login URL.
   4. Save the settings.

Test the SSO Configuration

1. In Salesforce, from the App Launcher, find and open the Zendesk app. If you configured the Zendesk logo and icon for the connected app, the App Launcher displays them. If identity provider–initiated SSO is configured properly, Salesforce creates an application session.

   

2. To test service provider–initiated SSO, enter the service provider–initiated login URL, for example, https://yourdomain.zendesk.com/, where yourdomain is your subdomain. For example, https://acme.zendesk.com/. If SSO is configured properly, you’re prompted to log in to your Salesforce org. After you enter your credentials, Salesforce redirects you to your initial request URL. You’re logged in to your Zendesk account.