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Overview

This guide describes how to use Spring Security SAML to add support for Okta (via SAML) to Java applications that use the Spring framework. In this guide, you will learn how to install and configure an Okta SAML application.

This guide assumes that you are familiar with the basics of Java software development: editing text files, using the command line, and running Tomcat, Maven or Gradle.

If you're already familiar with Okta and Spring, you can skip to the section titled "Configuring Spring Security SAML to work with Okta".

Note: The Spring security SAML toolkit you download is not Okta's toolkit and is not supported by Okta.

Requirements

Please make sure the following are installed before starting installation:

Java 1.6+ SDK - Check using the command below

java -version

Apache Maven - Check using the command below

mvn --version

Installation

This section covers what you need to do to install and configure Tomcat from scratch on Mac OS X. If you already have Tomcat on your system, you can skip to Step 2 below.

How to install the Spring Security SAML sample Okta application on Mac OS X:

  1. Installing Tomcat

  2. Downloading the Spring SAML Extension

    • Use git clone to clone the extention locally

      git clone https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security-saml.git

  3. Downloading sample application

    • Use git clone to clone this repository locally

      git clone https://github.com/nshobayo/okta-SpringSAML.git

    • Use the command below to copy the sample Okta application into the Extension's "src" folder

      rm -rf spring-security-saml/sample/src/main
cp -r okta-SpringSAML/src/main spring-security-saml/sample/src

  4. Compilation

    • Make sure your working directory is the sample subdirectory of the spring-security-saml directory

      cd spring-security-saml/sample

    • To compile

      ../gradlew build install

    This task compiles, tests, and assembles the code into a .war file.

    Asuccessfulbuildshouldlooksomethinglikethis:successful build

    • Your compiled war archive file, spring-security-SAML2-sample.war, can be found in directory build/libs/

  5. Deployment

    • Assuming your current directory is spring-security-saml/sample Use the command below to copy the compiled spring-security-SAML2-sample.war file to the Tomcat directory you set up in step one

    cp build/libs/spring-security-SAML2-sample.war /Library/Tomcat/webapps/

  6. Starting Tomcat

    • Use the command below to start Tomcat

    /Library/Tomcat/bin/startup.sh

  7. Starting Application

    • Load the Spring SAML application by opening this Link: http://localhost:8080/spring-security-saml2-sample/saml/discovery?entityID=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8080%2Fspring-security-saml2-sample%2Fsaml%2Fmetadata&returnIDParam=idp
    • Note: Links on app will not be functional as of yet because we have not yet configured any IDPs. Full app functionality will be completed after the "Configuring Spring Security SAML to work with Okta" section.

    Here'swhatitshouldlooklike:App Running

Configuring Okta to work with Spring Security SAML

Before we can configure Spring Security SAML we need to set up an application in Okta that will connect to Spring Security SAML.

In SAML terminology, what we are doing here is configuring Okta, our SAML Identity Provider (SAML IdP), with the details of Spring Security SAML, the new SAML Service Provider (SAML SP) that you will be creating next.

Here is how to configure Okta:

  1. Log in to your Okta organization as a user with administrative privileges.

    If you don't have an Okta organization, you can create a free Okta Developer Edition organization here: https://developer.okta.com/signup/

2.Clickontheblue"Admin"button

3.Clickonthe"AddApplications"shortcutAdd Applications

4.Clickonthegreen"CreateNewApp"buttonCreate New App

  1. In the dialog that opens, select the "SAML 2.0" option, then click thegreen"Create"buttonCreate a New Application Integration

  2. In Step 1 "General Settings", enter "Spring Security SAML" in the "Appname"field,thenclickthegreen"Next"button.General Settings

  3. In Step 2 "Configure SAML", Paste the URL below into the "Single sign on URL" field:

    http://localhost:8080/spring-security-saml2-sample/saml/SSO

    Then paste the URL below into the "Audience URI (SP Entity ID)" field:

    http://localhost:8080/spring-security-saml2-sample/saml/metadata

    Attributes of the user to be sent in each SAML assertion can be added under "Attribute Statements" during this step if desired. Theses attribute values can be derived and used from the SP side.

    Thenclickthegreen"Next"buttonSAML Settings

  4. In Step 3 "Feedback", click the checkbox next to the text "This is an internal application that we created", then click the green "Finish"button.App type

  5. You will now see the "Sign On" section of your newly created "Spring Security SAML" application.

  6. Keep this page open it a separate tab or browser window. You will need to return to this page later in this guide and copy the "Identity Provider metadata" link. (To copy the that link, right clickonthe"IdentityProvidermetadata"linkandselect"Copy")Sign on methods

  7. Right-click on the "People" section of the "Spring Security SAML" application and select "Open Link In New Tab" (so that you can come back to the "Sign On" section later).

    Inthenewtabthatopens,clickonthe"AssignApplication"buttonAssign Application

  8. A dialog titled "Assign Spring Security SAML to up to 500 people" will open. Type your username into the search box, select the checkboxnexttoyourusername,thenclickthegreen"Next"buttonPeople search box

  9. You will be prompted to "Enter user-specific attributes". Just click thegreen"ConfirmAssignments"buttontokeepthedefaults.Enter user attributes

  10. You are now ready to proceed to the next section. Make sure that the link you copied in step #9 is still in your clipboard, as you will need it in the next section.

Configuring Spring Security SAML to work with Okta

Now that you have configured a "Spring Security SAML" application, you are ready to configure Spring Security SAML to work with Okta. In this section we will use the "Identity Provider metadata" link from the section above to configure Spring Security SAML. Once you've completed these steps, you'll have a working example of connecting Okta to Spring.

  1. Open the securityContext.xml file in your favorite text editor. If you followed the instructions above for "Installing the Spring Security SAML sample application" on Mac OS X, this file will be located here at /Library/Tomcat/webapps/spring-security-saml2-sample/WEB-INF/securityContext.xml (Normally, you would do this step before running Maven or Gradle to create the .war file you deploy to Tomcat. In this case, I'm having you edit the file in the Tomcat path directly, since it's easier to make small changes and test them this way).

  2. Once you've opened the securityContext.xml file, add the XML below to the end of the tag identified by this CSS selector syntax: #metadata > constructor-arg > list.

    <bean class="org.opensaml.saml2.metadata.provider.HTTPMetadataProvider">
  <!-- URL containing the metadata -->
  <constructor-arg>
	<!-- This URL should look something like this: https://{yourOktaDomain}/app/abc0defghijK1lmN23o4/sso/saml/metadata -->
	<value type="java.lang.String">{metadata-url}</value>
  </constructor-arg>
  <!-- Timeout for metadata loading in ms -->
  <constructor-arg>
	<value type="int">5000</value>
  </constructor-arg>
  <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
</bean>

  3. Make sure to replace the contents of {metdata-url} with the link that you copied in step #9 of the "Configuring Okta to work with Spring Security SAML" instructions above!**

  4. Save the securityContext.xml file, then restart Tomcat

  5. If you are using Mac OS X, you can restart Tomcat using the commands below:

     /Library/Tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh
 /Library/Tomcat/bin/startup.sh

Test the SAML integration

Now that you've set up an application in Okta and configured the Spring Security SAML example application to use that application, you're ready to test it out.

There are two ways to test a SAML application: Starting from the Spring application ("SP initiated") and starting from Okta ("IdP initiated"). You will be testing both methods. In both cases, you will know of the testworkedwhenyouseeascreenthatlooksliketheonebelow:Authenticated user

  1. Login from the Spring Security SAML sample application (This is known as an "SP initiated" login)

    • Open the sample application in your browser: http://localhost:8080/spring-security-saml2-sample

    • Select the Okta IdP from the list It will be a URL that starts with "http://www.okta.com/"

    -Clickthe"Startsinglesign-on"button.Start single sign-on

  2. Login from Okta (This is known as an "IdP initiated" login)

    • Log in to your Okta organization

    • Click the button for the application you created in the "Configuring Okta to work with Spring Security SAML" section above:Spring Security SAML

If you're able to get to the "Authenticated User" page using both of the methods above, then you're done.

Congratulations on getting Okta working with Spring!

Next Steps

At this point you should be familiar with setting up SAML enabled application to work with an Okta organization and how to configure Spring Security SAML to work with Okta.

After you have Okta working with the example Spring Security SAML application, the next step is to take the example code and move it to your production application. The specifics of how this works is different depending on how your application is set up. Pay special attention to the securityContext.xml which allows you to add more IDPs to the app as well as control page redirects. Before any changes are made to the securityContext.xml file, you should consider reading the Spring Security SAML reference documents which provides a detailed overview of all the components and features of Spring Security SAML.

If you want to learn more about configuring in SAML and what to consider when writing a SAML application, Okta's in-depth SAML guidance is great place to learn more.