Quickstart: Azure Active Directory Seamless Single Sign-On - Microsoft Entra (2023)

FAQs

Does Azure AD provide single sign-on? ›

Single sign-on with Azure AD

Enabling SSO with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) means users can sign-in once to access their Microsoft apps and other cloud, SaaS, and on-premises apps with the same credential.

Single sign on (SSO) is an authentication method that lets you use a single username and password to access multiple applications. Seamless SSO occurs when a user is automatically signed into their connected applications when they're on corporate desktops connected to the corporate network.

Within the Azure Active Directory overview menu, choose Enterprise Applications > All applications. Select New application to add an application. In the Add from the gallery section, type AWS Single-Account Access in the search box. Select AWS Single-Account Access from results panel and then add the app.

Check status of feature

Ensure that the Seamless SSO feature is still Enabled on your tenant. You can check the status by going to the Azure Active Directory > Azure AD Connect pane in the Azure portal. Click through to see all the AD forests that have been enabled for Seamless SSO.

With federated single sign-on, Azure AD authenticates the user to the application by using their Azure AD account. This method is supported for SAML 2.0, WS-Federation, or OpenID Connect applications. Federated SSO is the richest mode of SSO.

Azure AD licensing - SSO for pre-integrated enterprise applications is free. However, the number of objects in your directory and the features you wish to deploy may require more licenses.

Azure AD decrypts the Kerberos key, using a key which is shared with Azure AD when Azure AD Seamless SSO is initially configured. If the ticket is valid, Azure AD grants access and returns an authentication token to the browser. The user can now log into the business application without re-entering a password.

Some of the key benefits of SSO authentication for IT administrators and other IT team members include user adherence to password rules, user password reset call reduction, and administrative ability to track and control application access.

Azure AD: Enterprise cloud IdP that provides SSO and Multi-factor authentication for SAML apps. It synchronizes, maintains, and manages identity information for users while providing authentication services to relying applications.

What is the difference between Active Directory and Azure AD? ›

Azure AD provides managed identities to run other workloads in the cloud. The lifecycle of these identities is managed by Azure AD and is tied to the resource provider and it can't be used for other purposes to gain backdoor access. Active Directory doesn't natively support mobile devices without third-party solutions.

So, the short answer to the question of whether you need both AD and SSO is no — you don't specifically need both AD and an SSO solution.

Seamless Single Sign-on (SSSO) is a feature of Azure AD Connect which can be used in conjunction with password hash synchronization (PHS) or pass-through authentication (PTA). Each of these alone provides “same sign-on”, but with SSO in use as well, users will often experience true single sign on.

Disabling your configuration

If you disable your SSO configuration, users can access your organization without SSO authentication. Select the ellipsis (… ​) next to your active configuration. Select Disable.

What is Microsoft Entra? Microsoft Entra a family of products that encompasses all identity and access capabilities. Within the Entra family are products such as Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Microsoft Entra Verified ID, and Microsoft Entra Permissions Management.

SSO implementation revolves around a central server. All applications trust this main server and use it to access your login credentials. When you first log in, the server creates a cookie with your details. When you access a new application, you get redirected to this central server.

Azure AD Free offers basic SSO functionality that's essential for organizations using AD to access Microsoft's portfolio of cloud services.

Does Azure SSO use LDAP? ›

To communicate with your Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS) managed domain, the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is used. By default, the LDAP traffic isn't encrypted, which is a security concern for many environments.

Yes. Azure AD Multi-Factor Authentication is required at sign-in.

It's important to note that if you want to use the device management features to join your computers to Azure AD, you'll need to have a Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise or Education edition device, and you need to run the Azure AD Join process on each device.

Licensing requirements

Paid or trial subscription for Azure AD Premium P1 and above. Paid or trial edition of Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Office 365 Enterprise E3 or Office 365 A3 or Office 365 GCC G3 or Office 365 E3 for GCCH or Office 365 E3 for DOD and above.

With SSO, a user logs in once, and gains access to all systems without being prompted to log in again at each of them. Active Directory (AD) is a directory service that provides a central location for network administration and security.

Azure AD's SSO feature enables users to login to multiple applications via a single pane, which includes both SaaS and on-premises applications. The SSO feature makes it easier for administrators to add new users and services without needing to set up credentials or security groups for each application or service.

Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication method that enables users to securely authenticate with multiple applications and websites by using just one set of credentials.

The user experience of single sign-on (SSO), two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a much smoother and more secure experience for users. SSO allows users to log in to multiple sites and applications with just one set of credentials.

The key difference between SSO and FIM is while SSO is designed to authenticate a single credential across various systems within one organization, federated identity management systems offer single access to a number of applications across various enterprises.

If a user successfully logs in via SSO and falls prey to a phishing attack, there is not always a simple solution. The attacker gets access to all the endpoints of the external applications within the cloud that the user is provisioned for. If the attack is detected, the user account can be disabled.

Is SSO better for security? ›

With SSO, passwords are never reused between accounts, and token-based authentication ensures that the secure tokens are only valid for each individual session, making it impossible for hackers to leverage previously compromised credentials to attack other areas of the network in future.

Unlike Hybrid Join, Azure AD Seamless SSO flips things around, and essentially provides the ability for Azure AD to participate in Active Directory, not from an authentication provider perspective, but as a member computer object.

Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) provides services to enable single sign-on for end users in enterprise application integration (EAI) solutions. The SSO system maps Microsoft Windows accounts to back-end credentials. SSO simplifies the management of user IDs and passwords, both for users and administrators.

Security and compliance benefits of SSO

SSO reduces the number of attack surfaces because users only log in once each day and only use one set of credentials.

Single sign-on (SSO) is an identification method that enables users to log in to multiple applications and websites with one set of credentials. SSO streamlines the authentication process for users.

What is the difference between SSO and LDAP? SSO is a convenient authentication method that allows users to access multiple applications and systems using just one login. LDAP is the protocol or communication process that will enable users to access a network resource through a directory service.

SAML is the standard through which SPs and IdPs communicate with each other to verify credentials. SSO is an authentication process intended to simplify access to multiple applications with a single set of credentials. SAML improves security by unburdening SPs from having to store login credentials.

SAML supports Single Sign-On while also supporting authorization by the Attribute Query route. OAuth is focused on authorization, even if it is frequently coerced into an authentication role, for example when using social login such as “sign in with a Facebook account”. Regardless, OAuth2 does not support SSO.

Simply, no. Azure AD cannot fully replace Active Directory. The cloud-specific Azure AD can work for organizations with zero on-premises infrastructure, but not without losing security.

What are the different types of Azure Active Directory? ›

Azure Active Directory comes in four editions—Free, Office 365 apps, Premium P1, and Premium P2. The Free edition is included with a subscription of a commercial online service, e.g. Azure, Dynamics 365, Intune and Power Platform.

Integration: LDAP will usually be more recognizable to users across different applications. For example, using an SSO system will allow a user to access multiple platforms with web portals. LDAP, however, might be a key technology that syncs email contacts in an email client.

Both Microsoft tools share SSO-like properties, and they each need to work in tandem with on-prem Active Directory (although Azure AD could possibly be used without). The key difference is that AAD is an identity and access management (IAM) solution while AD FS is a security token service (STS).

Create a dedicated access rule for the user/IP so that SSO authentication cannot be triggered. 2. Add SSO Service/Address bypass object under Users | Settings | Configure SSO | Enforcement tab.

Azure Active Directory Seamless single sign-on (Azure AD Seamless SSO) automatically signs users in when they are on their corporate devices connected to your corporate network. When enabled, users don't need to type in their passwords to sign in to Azure AD, and usually, even type in their usernames.

Seamless SSO can be combined with either the Password Hash Synchronization or Pass-through Authentication sign-in methods.

Create an ASP.NET app that uses Azure AD for single sign-on

To change that to Azure AD, you click a Change Authentication button. Select Organizational Accounts, enter your domain name, and then select Single Sign On. You can also give the app read or read/write permission for directory data.

Azure Active Directory supports two modes for single sign-on, which are federation-based and password-based.

With password-based SSO, users sign in to the application with a username and password the first time they access it. After the first sign-on, Azure AD provides the username and password to the application.

Azure AD is designed to manage access to cloud-based applications and servers using modern authentication protocols such as SAML 2.0, OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, and WS-Federation. Azure AD Single Sign-On (SSO) is an Azure AD feature that allows users to conveniently log into SaaS applications.

How does Active Directory work with SSO? ›

In AD Mode, to get the user credentials, the SSO Agent makes a NetWkstaUserEnum call to the client computer over TCP port 445. The SSO Agent then uses the information it gets to authenticate the user for SSO. The SSO Agent uses only the first answer it gets from the computer.

For example, if the email address retrieved during the SSO process is abc@somesite.com, the same should be in the service application. The most straightforward way to test this is to use a set of valid and invalid account information and use SSO to sign in.

Open Settings, and then select Accounts. Select Access work or school, and then select Connect. On the Set up a work or school account screen, select Join this device to Azure Active Directory. On the Let's get you signed in screen, type your email address (for example, alain@contoso.com), and then select Next.

You only need to set up single sign-on (SSO) between your on-premises directory and Azure AD. As long as you access your cloud applications through Azure AD, the service automatically drives your users to correctly authenticate with their on-premises credentials.

You need to disable the "Anonymous Authentication" and Enable the "Windows Authentication". and right click your application -> Manage Application -> Browse. Here you need to give your windows user name and password. (the credentials you're given when you log in to your machine).

AD FS and SSO, however, are very similar. Both solutions federate on-prem identities to cloud applications, filling a great need in modern identity management. Their core differences lie in the fact that AD FS exists on-prem while most modern SSO tools now live almost exclusively on the web.