Edit

Tutorial: Microsoft Entra integration with Absorb LMS

  • Article

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to integrate Absorb LMS with Microsoft Entra ID. When you integrate Absorb LMS with Microsoft Entra ID, you can:

  • Control in Microsoft Entra ID who has access to Absorb LMS.
  • Enable your users to be automatically signed-in to Absorb LMS with their Microsoft Entra accounts.
  • Manage your accounts in one central location.

Prerequisites

To configure Microsoft Entra integration with Absorb LMS, you need the following items:

  • A Microsoft Entra subscription. If you don't have a Microsoft Entra environment, you can get a free account.
  • Absorb LMS single sign-on enabled subscription.

Note

This integration is also available to use from Microsoft Entra US Government Cloud environment. You can find this application in the Microsoft Entra US Government Cloud Application Gallery and configure it in the same way as you do from public cloud.

Scenario description

In this tutorial, you configure and test Microsoft Entra single sign-on in a test environment.

  • Absorb LMS supports IDP initiated SSO

Note

Identifier of this application is a fixed string value so only one instance can be configured in one tenant.

To configure the integration of Absorb LMS into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add Absorb LMS from the gallery to your list of managed SaaS apps.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > New application.
  3. In the Add from the gallery section, type Absorb LMS in the search box.
  4. Select Absorb LMS from results panel and then add the app. Wait a few seconds while the app is added to your tenant.

Alternatively, you can also use the Enterprise App Configuration Wizard. In this wizard, you can add an application to your tenant, add users/groups to the app, assign roles, as well as walk through the SSO configuration as well. Learn more about Microsoft 365 wizards.

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO for Absorb LMS

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Absorb LMS using a test user called B.Simon. For SSO to work, you need to establish a link relationship between a Microsoft Entra user and the related user in Absorb LMS.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Absorb LMS, perform the following steps:

  1. Configure Microsoft Entra SSO - to enable your users to use this feature.
    1. Create a Microsoft Entra test user - to test Microsoft Entra single sign-on with B.Simon.
    2. Assign the Microsoft Entra test user - to enable B.Simon to use Microsoft Entra single sign-on.
  2. Configure Absorb LMS SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
    1. Create Absorb LMS test user - to have a counterpart of B.Simon in Absorb LMS that is linked to the Microsoft Entra representation of user.
  3. Test SSO - to verify whether the configuration works.

Configure Microsoft Entra SSO

Follow these steps to enable Microsoft Entra SSO.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.

  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Absorb LMS > Single sign-on.

  3. On the Select a single sign-on method page, select SAML.

  4. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, click the pencil icon for Basic SAML Configuration to edit the settings.

    Edit Basic SAML Configuration

  5. On the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page, click Edit button to open Basic SAML Configuration dialog.

    If you are using Absorb 5 - UI use the following configuration:

    a. In the Identifier text box, type a URL using the following pattern:: https://<SUBDOMAIN>.myabsorb.com/account/saml

    b. In the Reply URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern:: https://<SUBDOMAIN>.myabsorb.com/account/saml

    If you are using Absorb 5 - New Learner Experience use the following configuration:

    a. In the Identifier text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://<SUBDOMAIN>.myabsorb.com/api/rest/v2/authentication/saml

    b. In the Reply URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern: : https://<SUBDOMAIN>.myabsorb.com/api/rest/v2/authentication/saml

    Note

    These values are not real. Update these values with the actual Identifier and Reply URL. Contact Absorb LMS Client support team to get these values. You can also refer to the patterns shown in the Basic SAML Configuration section.

  6. The following screenshot shows the list of default attributes, where as nameidentifier is mapped with user.userprincipalname.

    image

  7. On the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page, in the SAML Signing Certificate section, click Download to download the Federation Metadata XML from the given options as per your requirement and save it on your computer.

    The Certificate download link

  8. On the Set up Absorb LMS section, copy the appropriate URL(s) as per your requirement.

    Copy configuration URLs

Create a Microsoft Entra test user

In this section, you'll create a test user called B.Simon.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a User Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Users > All users.
  3. Select New user > Create new user, at the top of the screen.
  4. In the User properties, follow these steps:
    1. In the Display name field, enter B.Simon.
    2. In the User principal name field, enter the username@companydomain.extension. For example, B.Simon@contoso.com.
    3. Select the Show password check box, and then write down the value that's displayed in the Password box.
    4. Select Review + create.
  5. Select Create.

Assign the Microsoft Entra test user

In this section, you'll enable B.Simon to use single sign-on by granting access to Absorb LMS.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Absorb LMS.
  3. In the app's overview page, select Users and groups.
  4. Select Add user/group, then select Users and groups in the Add Assignment dialog.
    1. In the Users and groups dialog, select B.Simon from the Users list, then click the Select button at the bottom of the screen.
    2. If you are expecting a role to be assigned to the users, you can select it from the Select a role dropdown. If no role has been set up for this app, you see "Default Access" role selected.
    3. In the Add Assignment dialog, click the Assign button.

Configure Absorb LMS SSO

  1. In a new web browser window, sign in to your Absorb LMS company site as an administrator.

  2. Select the Account button at the top right.

    The Account button

  3. In the Account pane, select Portal Settings.

    The Portal Settings link

  4. Select the Manage SSO Settings tab.

    The Users tab

  5. On the Manage Single Sign-On Settings page, do the following:

    The single sign-on configuration page

    a. In the Name textbox, enter the name like Microsoft Entra Marketplace SSO.

    b. Select SAML as a Method.

    c. In Notepad, open the certificate that you downloaded. Remove the ---BEGIN CERTIFICATE--- and ---END CERTIFICATE--- tags. Then, in the Key box, paste the remaining content.

    d. In the Mode box, select Identity Provider Initiated.

    e. In the Id Property box, select the attribute that you configured as the user identifier in Microsoft Entra ID. For example, if nameidentifier is selected in Microsoft Entra ID, select Username.

    f. Select Sha256 as a Signature Type.

    g. In the Login URL box, paste the User Access URL from the application's Properties page.

    h. In the Logout URL, paste the Sign-Out URL value that you copied from the Configure sign-on window.

    i. Toggle Automatically Redirect to On.

  6. Select Save.

    The Only Allow SSO Login toggle

Create Absorb LMS test user

For Microsoft Entra users to sign in to Absorb LMS, they must be set up in Absorb LMS. In the case of Absorb LMS, provisioning is a manual task.

To configure user provisioning, perform the following steps:

  1. Sign in to your Absorb LMS company site as an administrator.

  2. In the Users pane, select Users.

    The Users link

  3. Select User tab.

    The Add New drop-down list

  4. On the Add User page, do the following:

    The Add User page

    a. In the First Name box, type the first name, such as Britta.

    b. In the Last Name box, type the last name, such as Simon.

    c. In the Username box, type a full name, such as Britta Simon.

    d. In the Password box, type user password.

    e. In the Confirm Password box, retype the password.

    f. Set the Is Active toggle to Active.

  5. Select Save.

    The Only Allow SSO Login toggle

    Note

    By Default, User Provisioning is not enabled in SSO. If the customer wants to enable this feature, they have to set it up as mentioned in this documentation. Also please note that User Provisioning is only available on Absorb 5 - New Learner Experience with ACS URL-https://company.myabsorb.com/api/rest/v2/authentication/saml

Test SSO

In this section, you test your Microsoft Entra single sign-on configuration with following options.

  • Click on Test this application, and you should be automatically signed in to the Absorb LMS for which you set up the SSO.

  • You can use Microsoft My Apps. When you click the Absorb LMS tile in the My Apps, you should be automatically signed in to the Absorb LMS for which you set up the SSO. For more information about the My Apps, see Introduction to the My Apps.

Next steps

Once you configure Absorb LMS you can enforce session control, which protects exfiltration and infiltration of your organization’s sensitive data in real time. Session control extends from Conditional Access. Learn how to enforce session control with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps.