Manage Federation with Azure

Azure is just one of the supported external identity providers (IdPs) that you can use with CXone. This page guides you, step-by-step, in setting up authentication for your CXone system using Azure.

If you're doing the initial implementation of your CXone system, there are additional steps to consider. We recommend reading the following online help pages which include these considerations:

Complete each of these tasks in the order given.

Before you begin, make sure you have access to the Microsoft Azure ID management console. You will need to create an application.

Create and Configure an Azure Application with SAML 2.0

  1. Login to your Azure AD management account.
  2. Create an application.
    1. Click Enterprise applications > New Application.
    2. Click Create your own application.
    3. Enter a Name (for example, NICE CXone).
    4. Select Integrate any other application you don’t find in the gallery (Non-gallery).
    5. Click Create.
  3. Assign users and groups as appropriate.
  4. Under Set up single sign on, click Get Started and then select SAML.
  5.  On the Basic SAML Configuration panel, click Edit and configure SAML:
    1. Under Identifier (Entity ID), click Add Identifier and enter https://cxone.niceincontact.com/need_to_change. You will change this value to the URL you receive later.
    2. Under Reply URL, click Add reply URL and in the Audience URI field, enter https://cxone.niceincontact.com/need_to_change. You will change this value to the URI you receive later.
  6. Click Save and close the Basic SAML Configuration panel.
  7. In the Attributes & Claims section, select the correct Unique User Identifier. The value you choose will be the Federated Identity in CXone.
  8. Azure AD should automatically create a SAML signing certificate. Download the certificate named Certificate (Base64).
  9. On the SAML Signing Certificate panel, click Edit and then:
    1. Change the Signing Option to Sign SAML response.
    2. Click Save and close the SAML Signing Certificate panel. Keep this file for your CXone configuration.
  10. On the Set up <application name> panel, copy the Login URL value. Keep this for your CXone configuration.
  11. Keep your window open. You will make changes to your Azure application settings based on values you receive in the next task.

Set Up a Login Authenticator with SAML 2.0 in CXone

Required permissions: Login Authenticator Create

  1. Click the app selector and select Admin.
  2. Click Security > Login Authenticator.
  3. Click Create New.
  4. Enter the Name and Description of the login authenticator.
  5. Select SAML2 as the Authentication Type .
  6. Enter the SAML Request Endpoint you received from Azure as the Endpoint URL.
  7. Click Choose File and select the public signing certificate you downloaded from Azure in the previous task. This file must be a PEM file. It will be a text file and the first line will contain BEGIN CERTIFICATE with some additional text.
  8. Click Create Login Authenticator.
  9. Open the login authenticator.

  10. You will notice two additional read-only fields displayed, the Entity ID and the Assertion URL. Make a note of these values. You will need them in the Add CXone Values to Azure task.

Assign Users to the Login Authenticator

  1. Click the app selector and select Admin.

  2. Click Users.

  3. Select the user that you want to assign to the login authenticator, or click Create New to create a new user.

  4. On the General tab, click Edit.

  5. In the Security section, select the login authenticator you made previously from the Login Authenticator drop-down.

  6. Click Done.

Add CXone Values to Azure

  1. Return to your Azure application and on the Basic SAML Configuration panel, click Edit.
  2. For Identifier (Entity ID), enter the Entity ID value from your CXone login authenticator.
  3. For Reply URL, enter the Assertion URL value from your CXone login authenticator.
  4. Click Save and close the Basic SAML Configuration panel.

  5. Ensure that the External Identity for each user that uses the login authenticator is set to the correct value.

    1. Your identity provider determines the value that must be used. The value must match exactly the Unique User Identifier in Azure and the External Identity in CXone.

  6. Have the user log in to CXone. They must use the latest CXone login URL. After entering their username, they will be directed to the external identity provider if needed. CXone does not support an IdP initiated process through Azure.

Verify User Access with Azure Single Sign-On

  1. Ensure that the External Identity for each user who uses the login authenticator is set to the correct value. The value must match exactly the Unique User Identifier in Azure and the Federated Identity in CXone.

  2. Have one or more test users log in using the latest CXone login URL. After entering their username, they will be directed to Azure if needed.

  3. When you're ready, roll out Azure single sign-on to all users.

Configure an Azure Application with OpenID Connect

  1. Log in to your Azure management account.

  2. Under App registrations, click New Registration.

  3. Go to Authentication > Web.

  4. You will need to provide Redirect URIs, which you don't know at this point. Use https://cxone.niceincontact.com/need_to_change as a placeholder.

  5. Click Certificates and secrets.

  6. Select client_secret_basic or client_secret_post as your authentication method. The authentication method, private_key_jwt, is not currently supported in CXone.

  7. In the Client secrets field, select New client secret.

  8. Add a description and select Expires.

  9. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret and paste them to a secure place on your device. You will need to use them when you configure a login authenticator in CXone.

  10. Go to Token Configuration > Optional Claims.

  11. Click Add Optional Claim.

  12. Select ID as your Token type.

  13. Select email and add your email address.

  14. Click Save.

Set Up a CXone Login Authenticator with OpenID Connect

  1. Click the app selector and select Admin.

  2. Click Login Authenticator.

  3. Click Create New or select the login authenticator you want to edit.
  4. Enter the Name and a Description of the login authenticator.
  5. Select OIDC as the Authentication Type.
  6. If you have a discovery endpoint from Azure, click Discover Settings. Enter your discovery endpoint and click Discover. The remaining fields are populated for you. Discover Settings does not work with Salesforce discovery endpoints.
  7. Enter your Client Identifier and Client Password. Re-type the password in Client Confirm Password. The Client Identifier is the login ID assigned to your account by Azure.

  8. If you don't have a discovery endpoint from Azure, enter your Azure-provided Issuer, JsonWebKeySet Endpoint, Authorization Endpoint, Token Endpoint, UserInfo Endpoint, and Revocation Endpoint.

    Field

    Details
    Issuer

    Azure's URL without any parameter.
    JsonWebKeySet Endpoint The URL of Azure's JWK Set.
    Authorization Endpoint The URL of Azure's OAuth 2.0 Authorization Endpoint.
    Token Endpoint The URL of Azure's OAuth 2.0 Token Endpoint.
    UserInfo Endpoint The URL of Azure's UserInfo Endpoint.
    Revocation Endpoint The URL of Azure's Revocation Endpoint.
  9. Select a Client Authentication Method. The method you select must match what you set up in the previous task. It must be an authentication method that Azure supports.
  10. You can select Enable FICAM Profile to turn on United States government-specific settings. This step is for FedRAMP users only.
  11. Click Create Login Authenticator to validate the provided information and to link your CXone account to your Azure account.
  12. Open the login authenticator.

  13. Note the Sign-in Redirect URI and Sign-out Redirect URI. You will need them when you update your Azure settings.

  14. Update your Azure settings, replacing the placeholders used in the previous task with the values you just noted.

  15. Ensure that the CXoneExternal Identity for each user that uses the login authenticator is set to the correct value.

    Azure determines the value that must be used. It can be found in the user's profile in Azure. The value must match exactly what you put in the External Identity field in CXone. The value for this field must be in this format: claim(email):{email configured by your IdP}. For example, if the user's email in the IdP is nick.carraway@classics.com, you would enter claim(email):nickcarraway@classics.com.

  16. Have the user log in to CXone. They must use the latest login URL. After entering their username, they will be directed to Azure if needed.

  17. When Azure asks you to authenticate your own account, do so as the user in Azure you want associated with your currently logged in CXone account.
  18. If your OpenID Connect settings in CXone don't show as validated, use Azure's logs to diagnose the problem.