SAML2 Delegated Authentication

The following settings and properties are available from the CAS configuration catalog:

The configuration settings listed below are tagged as Required in the CAS configuration metadata. This flag indicates that the presence of the setting may be needed to activate or affect the behavior of the CAS feature and generally should be reviewed, possibly owned and adjusted. If the setting is assigned a default value, you do not need to strictly put the setting in your copy of the configuration, but should review it nonetheless to make sure it matches your deployment expectations.

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].keystore-password=
  • The password to use when generating the SP/CAS keystore.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].keystore-path=
  • Location of the keystore to use and generate the SP/CAS keystore.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].private-key-password=
  • The password to use when generating the private key for the SP/CAS keystore.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].service-provider-entity-id=https://apereo.org/cas/samlsp
  • The entity id of the SP/CAS that is used in the SP metadata generation process.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

    The configuration settings listed below are tagged as Optional in the CAS configuration metadata. This flag indicates that the presence of the setting is not immediately necessary in the end-user CAS configuration, because a default value is assigned or the activation of the feature is not conditionally controlled by the setting value. In other words, you should only include this field in your configuration if you need to modify the default value or if you need to turn on the feature controlled by the setting.

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml=
  • Settings that deal with having SAML2 IdPs as an external delegated-to authentication provider.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.Pac4jDelegatedAuthenticationProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].accepted-skew=PT300S
  • Maximum skew in seconds between SP and IDP clocks. This skew is added onto the NotOnOrAfter field in seconds for the SAML response validation.

    This settings supports the java.time.Duration syntax [?].

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].all-signature-validation-disabled=
  • Whether the signature validation should be disabled. Never set this property to true in production.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].assertion-consumer-service-index=-1
  • Allows the SAML client to select a specific ACS url from the metadata, if defined. A negative value de-activates the selection process and is the default.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].attribute-consuming-service-index=
  • AttributeConsumingServiceIndex attribute of AuthnRequest element. The given index points out a specific AttributeConsumingService structure, declared into the Service Provider (SP)'s metadata, to be used to specify all the attributes that the Service Provider is asking to be released within the authentication assertion returned by the Identity Provider (IdP). This attribute won't be sent with the request unless a positive value (including 0) is defined.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].authn-context-class-ref=
  • Requested authentication context class in authn requests.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].authn-context-comparison-type=exact
  • Specifies the comparison rule that should be used to evaluate the specified authentication methods. For example, if exact is specified, the authentication method used must match one of the authentication methods specified by the AuthnContextClassRef elements. AuthContextClassRef element require comparison rule to be used to evaluate the specified authentication methods. If not explicitly specified "exact" rule will be used by default. Other acceptable values are minimum, maximum, better.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].auto-redirect-type=NONE
  • Auto-redirect to this client. Available values are as follows:

    • SERVER: Redirect on the server side, typically making CAS invisible.
    • CLIENT: Redirect on the client side using browser redirects, etc.
    • NONE: Do nothing and let the selection take place manually.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].blocked-signature-signing-algorithms=
  • Collection of signing signature blocked algorithms, if any, to override the global defaults.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].callback-url=
  • Callback URL to use to return the flow back to the CAS server one the identity provider is successfully done. This may be used at the discretion of the client and its type to build service parameters, redirect URIs, etc. If none is specified, the CAS server's login endpoint will be used as the basis of the final callback url.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].callback-url-type=QUERY_PARAMETER
  • Determine how the callback url should be resolved. Default is CallbackUrlTypes#QUERY_PARAMETER. Available values are as follows:

    • PATH_PARAMETER: Path parameter callback url. The client name is added to the path of the callback URL.
    • QUERY_PARAMETER: Query parameter callback url. The client name is added to the path of a query parameter.
    • NONE: No callback url. No name is added to the callback URL to be able to distinguish the client.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].certificate-expiration-days=7300
  • Define the validity period for the certificate in number of days. The end-date of the certificate is controlled by this setting, when defined as a value greater than zero.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].certificate-name-to-append=
  • A name to append to signing certificates generated. The named part appended can be useful to identify for which clientName it was generated If no name is provided the default certificate name will be used.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].certificate-signature-alg=SHA1WithRSA
  • Certificate signature algorithm to use when generating the certificate.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].client-name=
  • Name of the client mostly for UI purposes and uniqueness. This name, with 'non-word' characters converted to '-' (e.g. "This Org (New)" becomes "This-Org--New-") is added to the "class" attribute of the redirect link on the login page, to allow for custom styling of individual IdPs (e.g. for an organization logo).

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].css-class=
  • CSS class that should be assigned to this client.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].destination-binding=urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-Redirect
  • The destination binding to use when creating authentication requests.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].display-name=
  • Indicate the title or display name of the client for decoration and client presentation purposes. If left blank, the client original name would be used by default.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].enabled=true
  • Whether the client/external identity provider should be considered active and enabled for integration purposes.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].force-auth=
  • Whether authentication requests should be tagged as forced auth.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].force-keystore-generation=
  • Force generation of the keystore.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].logout-request-binding=urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-Redirect
  • The destination binding to use when creating logout requests.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].logout-response-binding-type=
  • Control the logout response binding type during logout operations as invoked by an external IdP and in response to logout requests.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].mapped-attributes=
  • Describes the map of attributes that are to be fetched from the credential (map keys) and then transformed/renamed using map values before they are put into a profile. An example might be to fetch givenName from credential and rename it to urn:oid:2.5.4.42 or vice versa. Note that this setting only applies to attribute names, and not friendly-names. List arbitrary mappings of claims. Uses a "directed list" where the allowed syntax would be givenName->urn:oid:2.5.4.42.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].maximum-authentication-lifetime=PT3600S
  • Once you have an authenticated session on the identity provider, usually it won't prompt you again to enter your credentials and it will automatically generate a new assertion for you. By default, the SAML client will accept assertions based on a previous authentication for one hour. You can adjust this behavior by modifying this setting. The unit of time here is seconds.

    This settings supports the java.time.Duration syntax [?].

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].message-store-factory=org.pac4j.saml.store.EmptyStoreFactory
  • Factory implementing this interface provides services for storing and retrieval of SAML messages for e.g. verification of retrieved responses. The default factory is an always empty store. You may choose org.pac4j.saml.store.HttpSessionStore instead which allows SAML messages to be stored in a distributed session store specially required for high availability deployments and validation operations.

    Available options are:
    • EMPTY: Uses the EmptyStoreFactory
    • SESSION: Uses the HttpSessionStore
    • Fully-qualified class name of the message store implementation.

    Also note that the message store implementation can be supplied and configured at runtime as a Spring @Bean with the type SAMLMessageStoreFactory which, if found in the available application context, will override all other options.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].name-id-attribute=
  • The attribute name that should be used and extracted from the SAML2 response to identify and build a NameID value, when the response is processed and consumed.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].name-id-policy-allow-create=TRUE
  • Flag to indicate whether the allow-create flags for nameid policies should be set to true, false or ignored/defined. Available values are as follows:

    • TRUE: Constant to represent the true state.
    • FALSE: Constant to represent the false state.
    • UNDEFINED: Constant to represent the undefined state.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].name-id-policy-format=
  • NameID policy to request in the authentication requests.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].partial-logout-as-success=true
  • Logouts are only successful if the IdP was able to inform all services, otherwise it will respond with PartialLogout. This setting allows clients such as CAS to ignore such server-side behavior. If the IdP reports back a partial logout, this setting instructs CAS whether it should accept or deny that response.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].passive=
  • Whether authentication requests should be tagged as passive.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].principal-id-attribute=
  • The attribute found in the identity provider response that may be used to establish the authenticated user and build a profile for CAS.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].provider-name=
  • Provider name set for the saml authentication request. Sets the human-readable name of the requester for use by the presenter's user agent or the identity provider.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].request-initiator-url=
  • When generating SAML2 metadata, configure and set the request initiator location attribute.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].requested-attributes.friendly-name=
  • Attribute friendly name.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlServiceProviderRequestedAttribute.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].requested-attributes.name=
  • Attribute name.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlServiceProviderRequestedAttribute.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].requested-attributes.name-format=urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:uri
  • Attribute name format.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlServiceProviderRequestedAttribute.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].requested-attributes.required=
  • Whether this attribute is required and should be marked so in the metadata.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlServiceProviderRequestedAttribute.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].response-binding-type=
  • The SAML2 response binding type to use when generating metadata. This ultimately controls the binding type of the assertion consumer service in the metadata. Default value is typically urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-POST.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].response-destination-mandatory=true
  • When validating the response, ensure it has a value set for the Destination attribute.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].saml2-attribute-converter=
  • Controls the way SAML2 attributes are converted from the authentication response into pac4j attributes. By default, values of complex types are serialized into a single attribute. To change this behaviour, a converter class implementing the { AttributeConverter } interface. </p>

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

    </div></td> </tr>
  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].sign-authn-request=
  • Whether or not the authnRequest should be signed.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].sign-service-provider-logout-request=
  • Whether or not the Logout Request sent from the SP should be signed.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].sign-service-provider-metadata=
  • Whether or not SAML SP metadata should be signed when generated.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].signature-algorithms=
  • Collection of signing signature algorithms, if any, to override the global defaults.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].signature-canonicalization-algorithm=
  • The signing signature canonicalization algorithm, if any, to override the global defaults.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].signature-reference-digest-methods=
  • Collection of signing signature reference digest methods, if any, to override the global defaults.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].single-logout-service-url=
  • When generating SAML2 metadata, configure and set the single logout service URL attribute.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].supported-protocols=urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol
  • When generating SAML2 metadata, configure and set the list of supported protocols in the metadata.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].use-name-qualifier=true
  • Whether name qualifiers should be produced in the final saml response.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].wants-assertions-signed=
  • Whether metadata should be marked to request sign assertions.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

  • cas.authn.pac4j.saml[0].wants-responses-signed=
  • Whether a response has to be mandatory signed.

    org.apereo.cas.configuration.model.support.pac4j.saml.Pac4jSamlClientProperties.

    How can I configure this property?

    Configuration Metadata

    The collection of configuration properties listed in this section are automatically generated from the CAS source and components that contain the actual field definitions, types, descriptions, modules, etc. This metadata may not always be 100% accurate, or could be lacking details and sufficient explanations.

    Be Selective

    This section is meant as a guide only. Do NOT copy/paste the entire collection of settings into your CAS configuration; rather pick only the properties that you need. Do NOT enable settings unless you are certain of their purpose and do NOT copy settings into your configuration only to keep them as reference. All these ideas lead to upgrade headaches, maintenance nightmares and premature aging.

    YAGNI

    Note that for nearly ALL use cases, declaring and configuring properties listed here is sufficient. You should NOT have to explicitly massage a CAS XML/Java/etc configuration file to design an authentication handler, create attribute release policies, etc. CAS at runtime will auto-configure all required changes for you. If you are unsure about the meaning of a given CAS setting, do NOT turn it on without hesitation. Review the codebase or better yet, ask questions to clarify the intended behavior.

    Naming Convention

    Property names can be specified in very relaxed terms. For instance cas.someProperty, cas.some-property, cas.some_property are all valid names. While all forms are accepted by CAS, there are certain components (in CAS and other frameworks used) whose activation at runtime is conditional on a property value, where this property is required to have been specified in CAS configuration using kebab case. This is both true for properties that are owned by CAS as well as those that might be presented to the system via an external library or framework such as Spring Boot, etc.

    :information_source: Note

    When possible, properties should be stored in lower-case kebab format, such as cas.property-name=value. The only possible exception to this rule is when naming actuator endpoints; The name of the actuator endpoints (i.e. ssoSessions) MUST remain in camelCase mode.

    Settings and properties that are controlled by the CAS platform directly always begin with the prefix cas. All other settings are controlled and provided to CAS via other underlying frameworks and may have their own schemas and syntax. BE CAREFUL with the distinction. Unrecognized properties are rejected by CAS and/or frameworks upon which CAS depends. This means if you somehow misspell a property definition or fail to adhere to the dot-notation syntax and such, your setting is entirely refused by CAS and likely the feature it controls will never be activated in the way you intend.

    Validation

    Configuration properties are automatically validated on CAS startup to report issues with configuration binding, specially if defined CAS settings cannot be recognized or validated by the configuration schema. Additional validation processes are also handled via Configuration Metadata and property migrations applied automatically on startup by Spring Boot and family.

    Indexed Settings

    CAS settings able to accept multiple values are typically documented with an index, such as cas.some.setting[0]=value. The index [0] is meant to be incremented by the adopter to allow for distinct multiple configuration blocks.

    Metadata Management

    Please see this guide.

    Per Service Customizations

    Th configuration for the external SAML2 identity provider is typically done at build time via CAS configuration settings and applies to all applications and relying parties. You may override certain aspects this configuration on a per application basis by assigning dedicated properties to the service definition.

    The following properties are available and recognized by CAS for various modules and features:

    Name Default Value Type Group
    forceAuthn BOOLEAN DELEGATED_AUTHN
    passiveAuthn BOOLEAN DELEGATED_AUTHN
    AuthnRequestBindingType STRING DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    AssertionConsumerServiceIndex LONG DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    AttributeConsumingServiceIndex LONG DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    ComparisonType STRING DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    NameIdPolicyFormat STRING DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    NameIdPolicyAllowCreate BOOLEAN DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    ProviderName STRING DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    IssuerFormat STRING DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    UseNameQualifier BOOLEAN DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    AuthnContextClassRefs SET DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    NameIdAttribute STRING DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    WantsAssertionsSigned BOOLEAN DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    WantsResponsesSigned BOOLEAN DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2
    MaximumAuthenticationLifetime LONG DELEGATED_AUTHN_SAML2

    A sample JSON file follows:

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    {
      "@class" : "org.apereo.cas.services.CasRegisteredService",
      "serviceId" : "^https://app.example.org",
      "name" : "Example",
      "id" : 1,
      "properties" : {
        "@class" : "java.util.HashMap",
        "AuthnContextClassRefs" : {
          "@class" : "org.apereo.cas.services.DefaultRegisteredServiceProperty",
          "values" : [ "java.util.HashSet", [ "https://refeds.org/profile/mfa" ] ]
        },
        "WantsAssertionsSigned" : {
          "@class" : "org.apereo.cas.services.DefaultRegisteredServiceProperty",
          "values" : [ "java.util.HashSet", [ "false" ] ]
        }
      }
    }
    

    See registered service properties for more details.

    Identity Provider Discovery Service

    Please see this guide.

    Troubleshooting

    To enable additional logging, modify the logging configuration file to add the following:

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    <Logger name="org.opensaml" level="debug" additivity="false">
        <AppenderRef ref="casConsole"/>
        <AppenderRef ref="casFile"/>
    </Logger>
    
    <Logger name="PROTOCOL_MESSAGE" level="debug" additivity="false">
        <AppenderRef ref="casConsole"/>
        <AppenderRef ref="casFile"/>
    </Logger>