An Overview of Single Sign-On, Federation, Its Benefits, and Basic Procedures for Integrating Applications

Welcome to abc.nih.gov Please Log In Username Password Welcome to ghi.nih.gov Please Log In Username Password GHI’s DB ABC’s DB Welcome to def.nih.gov Please Log In Username Password DEF’s DB

 Under a non-SSO enabled architecture, users must log in to each application or website each time they visit. Logging in to one site does not provide access to others. Welcome to xyz.nih.gov Please Log In Username Password XYZ’s DB Welcome to abc.nih.gov Please Log In Username Password ABC’s DB

 NIH Login ◦ NIH AD and NIH External user name password ◦ HHS issued Personal Identification Verification (PIV) smart card ◦ eRA Commons OID user name password  Federation ◦ InCommon federation credentials  ◦ OpenID Foundation 

 Using NIH Login, users can login once to be granted access to any SSO-enabled application within NIH.

 Applications are no longer required to perform authentication procedures  Users are authenticated by NIH AD, NIH Ext, and eRA Commons.  Login information is passed to the application from NIH Login via HTTP headers Welcome Please Log In Username Password XYZ’s DB Homepage Welcome, Authenticated User!

 As long as the visitor continues using the browser window through which he or she logged in (or a child window), all SSO-enabled applications for which the user is authorized may be accessed. Welcome Please Log In Userna me Passw ord XY Z’s DB App. #1 Welcome Please Log In Userna me Passw ord XY Z’s DB App. #2 Welcome Please Log In Userna me Passw ord XY Z’s DB App. #3 Welcome Please Log In Userna me Passw ord DB App. #4 Welcome

 NIH Login uses CA SiteMinder software  Upon receiving a request, the client web server invokes the web agent.  The web agent checks with the policy server to see whether the site is protected by NIH Login or federation.  If the site is protected and the user is not yet authenticated, the NIH Login or federation screen is shown and login is required Webserver Web Agent Policy Server AD Client SideNIH Login AD

 Using the federation components of NIH Login, external users can be granted access to web applications within NIH using their “home” credentials.

 Applications are no longer required to authenticate and provision external users locally.  Users are authenticated using standards-based assertions/tokens (SAML, OpenID, WS-Federation, etc).  User authentication attributes are passed to the application via HTTP headers Welcome Please Log In Username Password XYZ’s DB Homepage Welcome, Authenticated User!

 Federation also uses CA SiteMinder software  Upon receiving a request, the client web server invokes the web agent.  The web agent checks with the policy server to see whether the site is protected by federation.  If the site is protected and the user is not yet authenticated, the federation screen is shown and the user chooses their “home” organization.  After the user authenticates at their “home” organization, they are returned to their requested NIH application. Web Server Web Agent Policy Server Client Side NIH Login w/ Federation Home Org Home Org Selector Identity Provider

 NIH Login will perform the necessary authentication procedures to verify the credentials of the user  NIH Login can also perform basic authorization ◦ Authorization is based on active directory groups ◦ Groups must exist or be created in the NIH AD for NIH Login and LDAP_ALL for federation

 Your part: In order to use NIH Login, the application’s web server must run an executable known as a web agent. The web agent is available for various operating systems including Windows, Solaris and Linux. The simple installation/configuration process may be performed by your team or by a member of the NIH Login team if granted access to the server.  Our part: The NIH Login team must first configure the NIH Login policy server to expect connections from the web agent. We will then send you technical information to allow you to connect your web agent to the policy server.  Application owners or technical contacts should provide operating system and web server information to the NIH Login team via the NIH Login Request Form (see contact information below for requests).

 Applications integrating with NIH Login will need to remove their existing login procedures. This includes: ◦ Altering HTML to remove login screen ◦ Changing code (e.g. ASP, JSP, ColdFusion) to receive HTTP header information from NIH Login  Values include username, full name, , etc.  These values can be used to populate data that is needed by the application ◦ Using the information received to proceed with your application’s tasks  Code change requirements are usually minimal

 For more information, please contact: ◦ Jeff Erickson – ◦ NIH Login support group –