You can have different SAML and JSON Web Token (JWT) SSO methods for agents and end users. Each group will have their own remote login pages; however, the authentication method is not segregated. Agents and end users can authenticate by either method because they are both configured to use SSO.
Zendesk redirects unauthenticated users when they click the Sign in link in Help Center or navigate directly to the sign-in page in Zendesk.
Zendesk can only redirect unauthenticated users to one of the two remote login pages. If you have two methods configured, the redirect URL that Zendesk uses is the remote login URL of the SSO method that you Set as primary in Admin Center. For the best customer experience, you should set the SSO method for end users as Primary to ensure they get the benefit of the redirect.
For example, if you configure JWT SSO for end users and SAML SSO for team members (agents, admins) and you set JWT SSO as Primary, then Zendesk will use the JWT SSO remote login URL to redirect users.
The group that must use the other remote login page must navigate to it on their own. Make sure to provide them with the URL. Another solution is asking your web team to add a link on the redirect login page that the group can use to access their login page.
Although Zendesk implements both methods, when you view the security pages for Team members and End users, the Primary configured method will appear for both agents and end users. This is because Zendesk redirects both groups to that method's remote login page.
Example set up
In Admin Center, you set up SAML SSO for your agents and JWT SSO for your end users. Then, you set the JWT SSO as Primary. The JWT remote login page for end users is your company's customer login page. The SAML remote login page for agents is your corporate employee login page.
Although SAML SSO is enabled for Zendesk agents, when you review the authentication settings in Admin Center, JWT appears as the authentication method for both end users and agents. Zendesk redirects both groups to the same JWT remote login page.
End users who try to sign in through your Help Center are redirected to the JWT login page -- your company's customer login page. After signing in, they're redirected back to your Help Center.
Agents who try to sign in through your Help Center are also redirected to the customer login page. From there, they can click an I am an agent link directing them to the corporate employee login page. Your web team is responsible for adding the I am an agent link to the customer login page.
12 Comments
We're having similar problems setting this up as the the advice listed here doesn't seem to work for us either.
It seems that whatever method is set as primary takes precedent, even if you try and navigate to the login url that isn't the primary, it still redirects you to whichever happens to set as primary at the time. Is this actually working for anyone?
Hey @...,
We have a case where we're using JWT for customers and SAML for agent. What we're expecting is, when we register a new end-user, the user gets a verification link. when this verification url is accessed, It does not take the user to be verified, but asks the user to login to my SAML configured SSO page. (Also, my SAML is the primary SSO ) .
How do I avoid this get my user to verify normally and create a new password to access zendesk?
Hi Milton,
I will create a ticket from your comment so that our team can take a closer look at your issue.
Hi Raghav,
When a user is added to a Zendesk account, an automatic email notification will be sent to the user. Because they're authenticated with a non-Zendesk password, the profile is created without a password because they don't need to sign in to Zendesk. Since you've set up external authentication and the users don't use Zendesk credentials to sign in, to avoid any confusion, we recommend to:
- In the Account emails section, deselect Also send a welcome e-mail when a new user is created by an agent or admin
- In Allow users to change their passwords, deselect this option.
Its been half a year since this was updated, so what is the URL to get a valid saml SAMLRequest token when JWT is primary?
Hey Ymeiner,
If I understand your question correctly the URL is your remote SAML server which we pass the user over to. They then login and your SAML server responds back to us with the token.
If this isn't the URL, you're referring to let me know.
Thanks!
Eric
Hi eric, yes i understand that but if saml is not the primary login method - this forward to the iDP will not be created. what is missing is a zendesk link that is allowing us to chose the login method.I don't know any way that MS/AZURE saml can provide a login with relaystate without the valid SAMLRequest in the address.
Yaron
btw, the issue that i am facing is basically described here: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/e6f5d9ee-9ca5-4027-971d-b89735fe2a85/does-azure-support-dynamic-relaystate?forum=WindowsAzureAD
in order to do relaystate correctly we need the request to include the ID and IssueInstant from Zendesk. this is something that no IT person can give us. You are the SP, you are responsible of creating a method for deep linking over specific login method.
Hey Yaron,
Thanks for the clarification. The forward should be created when your agents click the "I am an agent" option at sign in. This will then pass the request to your SAML provider with all necessary parameters. If this isn't happening, feel free to open up a ticket with us and I'd be happy to look over your configuration.
Eric, we have a ticket open alreay, feel free to DM me (ymeiner everywhere) and we can discuss.
Hi,
Is there any update or solution on this issue?
We are experiencing the same issue. JWT is our primary SSO for customers, and SAML is for agents.
Thanks.
we have similar issue. JWT SSO setup as primary, AWS SSO configured as SAML provider for SAML SSO. If our team responsible to add "I am an agent link to the customer login page" where I can find instructions?
Thanks
If JWT SSO is your primary, then Zendesk only knows to redirect all users to the JWT Sign-In URL. This is, naturally, not a Zendesk page, so Zendesk's infrastructure has no control over redirects after this point. Our recommendation is that your web developers add a hyperlink, labelled something to the effect of "I am an Agent," to the JWT Page, which redirects to the SAML Sign-In Page. This will allow your agents to access their sign-in page, while still directing your users to their sign-in page by default.
We don't include instructions for this process, as how the hyperlink is created depends on your JWT Sign-In Page, and how you obtain the SAML Sign-In URL depends on your SAML provider. Thus, any instructions would be personal to your own use-case, and outside of our ability to support.
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