Configuring the SAML integration

This feature is available with the Enterprise licensing plan.

By using SAML configuration in Automation Cloud we enhance both security and efficiency in authentication. Our system uses SAML to enable Single Sign-On (SSO) via secure access tokens, allowing the UiPath platform to connect with any Identity Provider (IdP) that uses the SAML 2.0 standard.

Additionally, our SAML configuration includes Single Logout (SLO) capabilities, which enable simultaneous logouts across all your applications unified under your IdP.

The SAML Integration is designed such that it can be implemented gradually, with no disruption to existing users.

Note:

Switching from the native Azure Active Directory integration to SAML integration

If you are using AAD for authentication, we recommend using our native AAD integration because it is more feature-rich.

If you do decide to switch to SAML integration, you must manually replace role assignation done through directory groups with direct role assignation to the directory accounts so that you do not have to completely recreate your access schema.

Known limitations

• Encrypted SAML assertions from your identity provider are not supported.

• You cannot search users and groups from your identity provider. Only provisioned directory users are available for searching.

• You cannot see directory users at the organization level. Only local users appear at the organization level. Just-in-time provisioning adds directory users, so they do not show up on the Accounts & Groups page in Automation Cloud.

• Viewing API access information, which allows you to authorize API requests using a user key, is not available for directory users that sign in through the SAML integration.

Prerequisites

To set up the SAML integration, you need:

• An Automation Cloud organization with the Enterprise licensing plan.

• Administrator permissions in both the Automation Cloud organization and your third-party identity provider. If you don't have administrator permissions in your identity provider, you can work with an administrator to complete the setup process.

• UiPath® Studio and UiPath Assistant version 2020.10.3 or later, so that you can set them up to use the recommended deployment.

Step 1. Clean up inactive user accounts

If your organization recycles email addresses, it is important to remove all inactive user accounts before you configure the SAML Integration.

When you enable the integration, local accounts present in Automation Cloud can be linked with the directory account in the external identity provider that uses the same email address. This account linking occurs when the directory account user with the email address signs in for the first time. The identity from your identity provider inherits all roles from the local account, so that the transition is seamless. Because of this, with inactive local accounts present in Automation Cloud, there is a risk that local accounts and directory accounts are mismatched, which can lead to unintended elevation of permissions.

To remove inactive user accounts:

1. Log in to Automation Cloud as an organization administrator.
2. Go to Admin, select your organization, and then select Accounts & Groups. The Accounts & Groups page for the organization opens on the Users tab.
3. Select the column header for the Last active column to reorder users so that the ones with the oldest date for last login are shown at the top. The Last active column show the user's last login date. Pending in this column means the user never logged in.
4. Select the Delete icon at the end of the row to remove the local account for that user.
   
   

   

   
   
5. In the confirmation dialog, click Delete to confirm deleting the account from Automation Cloud. The user account is removed from the page.
6. Continue to delete all inactive user accounts in your organization.

Step 2. Configure the SAML integration

Now, you must configure both Automation Cloud and your identity provider (IdP) for the integration.

Step 2.1. Obtain SAML service provider details

1. Log in to Automation Cloud as an organization administrator.
2. Go to Admin, select your organization, and then select Security. The Security Settings page for the organization opens on the Authentication Settings tab.
3. Under Directory configuration for SSO, click Configure SSO. The SSO configuration window opens, describing the advantages and prerequisites for the integration.
4. From the two SSO options, select SAML 2.0. The SAML SSO configuration page opens on the Configure identity provider tab.
5. In the top section of the page, you can find the UiPath information needed to configure your identity provider: Metadata URL, Assertion consumer service URL, Entity ID. Copy and save them for configuring the identity provider.
   Important: We highly recommend using the UiPath metadata URL as part of your identity provider configuration process. This enables automatic updates whenever we initiate rotations for our signing certificates, ensuring uninterrupted operation of the platform.
   
6. The entity ID contains the organization ID by default. You can change the format to use the global identifier (no organization ID) by using the Change entity ID format option. Then, on the Change entity ID format window, in the Entity ID format drop-down, select Org specific identifier to use the format containing the organization id, or Global identifier to use the format that does not contain the organizaiton id. We recommend using the organization specific identifier, because it allows you to enroll multiple UiPath organizations in your identity provider, if you ever want to.

Keep this browser tab open for later.

Step 2.2. Configure your identity provider

You can connect to any third-party identity provider (IdP) that uses the SAML 2.0 standard. While configuration may vary depending on your chosen IdP, we have validated the configuration for using either Okta or PingOne, which you can use as reference to configure the integration.

Setting up Okta as your identity provider.

Setting up PingOne as your identity provider.

For other identity providers, we recommend that you follow their integration documentation.

Step 2.3. Configure Automation Cloud

To enable Automation Cloud as a service provider that recognizes your identity provider, follow the below steps:

1. Return to the SAML SSO configuration tab in Automation Cloud.
2. In the second section of the Configure identity provider page, you can see the fields necessary to configure the identity provider in Automation Cloud. In the Metadata URL field, enter the metadata URL of your identity provider. This enables Automation Cloud to regularly fetch and update data from your identity provider, streamlining the SAML configuration process for the long term.
   Important: We highly recommend using the metadata URL during SAML configuration. This enables UiPath to regularly fetch and update data from your identity provider, streamlining the SAML configuration process in the long run.
   
3. Click Fetch data. When complete, the Sign-on URL, Identity Provider Entity ID, and Signing certificate fields are populated with the IdP information.
4. Even though it's not the recommended method, you can choose to manually enter the SAML details of your identity provider on the Sign-on URL, Identity Provider Entity ID, and Signing certificates fields.
5. To manually enter multiple certificates, paste them into the Signing certificate field in base64 encoding, enclosed by the begin and end certificate indicators, and separated by a new line character. For example, having two certificates, you should use the following format:

   -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
   <base64 encoded certificate retrieved from SAML metadata URL or SAML admin>
   -----END CERTIFICATE-----
   -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
   <base64 encoded certificate retrieved from SAML metadata URL or SAML admin>
   -----END CERTIFICATE-----

   
6. Click Next in the bottom right corner to move to the next step. You are taken to the Map attributes & complete tab. Mapping attributes, referred to as "claims", link user details between your identity provider and Automation Cloud. This ensures user data, like an email or username, matches across both systems.
   
7. In the Map attributes & complete step, select the Enable the custom unique identifier option to set up a unique identifier that's not an email. This is useful, for example, if your users don't all have email accounts or if their email addresses are not unique.
   Warning: Once you've set a Unique Identifier claim name, changing it can result in a loss of previously recognized users, as the system might not be able to identify them anymore. As such, the UI restricts changing the Unique Identifier claim once it's been set. To change it, you need to delete and recreate your entire configuration.
   1. It is mandatory to enter the unique identifier of your users in the Unique identifier field. This is the claim Automation Cloud uses to identify users when they sign in.
   2. In the Display Name field, enter the claim by which your users can be recognized when logging in.
   3. It becomes optional to enter the Email field for your users. You can fill it in as you see fit.
   4. The Allowed email address domains field is grayed out and not available for input. This is because the system doesn't use the email as the unique identifier anymore, making this field irrelevant.
   5. Optionally, add new mappings, by specifying the respective claim from the identity provider and the corresponding attribute in Automation Cloud.
8. By default, the Enable the custom unique identifier option is cleared, meaning the email address is used as the users' identifier. Follow these steps:
   1. The Email field becomes mandatory and you cannot change it.
   2. Fill in the Allowed Domains section with the domains from which you want to allow users to sign in. Enter all of the domains that are supported by the configured identity provider. Separate multiple domains using commas.
   3. Under Attribute Mapping, fill in the Display Name field with the attribute from your IdP that you want to show in Automation Cloud as the name for users. You can use the First Name and Last Name attributes here.
   4. Optionally, add new mappings, by specifying the respective claim from the identity provider and the corresponding attribute in Automation Cloud.
9. Once you've set up the attributes, configure the Allow unsolicited authentication response and SAML binding type fields.
   1. Allow unsolicited authentication response: Enable if you want to be able to navigate to the UiPath platform from the IdP dashboard.
   2. SAML binding type: Select how the SAML configuration should communicate, via the HTTP user agent. Select HTTP redirect to use URL parameters, or HTTP post to use an HTML form with base64-encoded content.
10. If your identity provider requires Automation Cloud to sign all SAML authentication requests, select the Sign Authentication Request option. Check with your identity provider to determine if this feature needs to be enabled. Automation Cloud commonly updates its signing keys. If you have activated the Sign Authentication Request feature, make sure your IdP regularly syncs with Automation Cloud by continually downloading the updated keys from Automation Cloud's metadata URL.
11. Click Test and Save to finish configuring the integration.

Step 2.4. Check that the integration is running

To validate the SAML SSO integration is working properly:

1. Open up an incognito browser window.
2. Navigate to your Automation Cloud organization URL.
3. Check the following:
   1. Are you prompted to sign in with your SAML identity provider?
   2. Are you able to successfully sign in?
   3. If you are signing in with an email address that matches an existing user account, do you have the appropriate permissions?

Step 2.5. Configure provisioning rules (optional)

If you use claims in your IdP, you can leverage them as conditions in a provisioning rule so that users are automatically provisioned with the right licenses and roles when they sign in to Automation Cloud. Provisioning rules are evaluated when a user signs in. If the user account meets the conditions for a rule, it is automatically added to the local UiPath group associated with the rule. For example, an administrator can configure a rule to provision users directly into the Automation Users group using these settings: Claim=group, Relationship=is, Value=Automation User.

2.5.1 Set up provisioning groups

In Automation Cloud, adding an account to a group means the account inherits the licenses, roles, and robot configuration defined for the group, if any.

By grouping similar account types (e.g., developers or testers), you can streamline user onboarding process to Automation Cloud. Just make sure that in the IdP you set up similar accounts in the same way.

This way, you set up the group once, and then replicate the setup by adding accounts to the group when needed. If the setup for a particular group of accounts needs to change, you only need to update the group once and the changes apply for all accounts in the group.

To set up a group for a provisioning rule:

1. Create a new local group in Automation Cloud.

   If you want, you can use one of your existing groups instead of creating a new one.

2. (Optional and requires user license management enabled) If accounts in this group need user licenses, set up license allocation rules for the group.

   If you are using an existing group, check license allocation for the group to make sure the right licenses are being allocated. If not, either change allocations, or consider creating a new group.

3. Assign tenant roles and optionally complete robot setup for the group. For instructions, see Assigning roles to a group .

   If you are using an existing group, check the roles currently assigned to the group to make sure they are adequate for the type of account you will add to the group. If not, either edit the roles assigned to this group, or consider creating a new group.

4. Add the group to folders and assign folder roles, as needed. For instructions, see Managing folder access.

Now you can use this group in a provisioning rule.

2.5.2. Create a provisioning rule for a group

Note:

Ensure the claim associated with the SAML provisioning rule is sent to the SAML payload by configuring it in the SAML application.

After the SAML integration is configured and after you have set up a group:

1. Go to Admin, select your organization, and then select Security.

   The Security Settings page for the organization opens on the Authentication Settings tab.

2. Under the SAML SSO option, click View Provisioning Rules. The SAML SSO Provisioning Rules page opens, where your existing rules are listed.

3. In the top right corner of the page, click Add rule.

   The Add new rule page opens.

4. Under Basic details, fill in the Rule Name field and optionally fill in the Description field.

5. Under Conditions, click Add rule.

   A row of fields for a new condition is added. Together, they define the criteria that an account must meet at sign in to be added to a group (chosen later).

   
   

   

   
   
6. In the Claim field, type the name of the claim, as it appears in the IdP. The field is case-sensitive.

7. From the Relationship list, select how the claim relates to the value. The following options are available:

   Relationship	Condition requirement	Example
   is	exact match, case sensitive	Department is RPA requires that the value for the Department claim be RPA. The condition is not met if the value is RPADev, for example. This relationship works for multi-valued claims. For example, if administrator and developer values are sent under the Group claim, then Group is administrator would be a valid relationship.
   is not	anything except specified value, case sensitive	For Department is not ctr, any account is added to the group unless Department has the value ctr. The condition is met if the department is Ctr or electr.
   contains	includes, does not require an exact match, case sensitive	Department contains RPA requires that the value for the Department claim include RPA. The condition is met if the value is RPADev, xRPAx, or NewRPA, for example.
   not contains	excludes, does not require an exact match, case sensitive	For Department not contains ctr, any account is added to the group unless the Department value includes ctr. Accounts for which the department is ctr or electr, for example, are not added to the group.
   is case insensitive	exact match, not case sensitive	Department is case insensitive RPA requires that the value for the Department claim be rpa, in any capitalization. The condition is met if the value is rpa, for example. The condition is not met if the value is crpa.
   contains case insensitive	includes, does not require an exact match, not case sensitive	Department contains case insensitive RPA requires that the value for the Department claim include RPA, in any capitalization. The condition is met if the value is rpa, cRPA, or rpA, for example.

8. In the Value field, type the value that is needed to meet the condition.

9. If you want to add another condition, click Add rule to add a new condition row.

   When you add multiple conditions, all conditions must be met for the provisioning rule to apply. For example, if you define the rules Department is RPA and Title is Engineer, only users that are both in the RPA department and have the title Engineer are added to the specified groups. An account for which the department is RPA, but the title is QA is not added to the groups.

10. Under Assign to groups, in the Add Groups box, start typing the name of a group and then select a group from the list of results. Repeat to add more groups, if needed.

    When the conditions are met, accounts are automatically added to these groups when they login.

11. Click Save in the bottom right corner to add the rule.

With a rule in place, whenever a user logs in and their account meets the conditions specified for a rule, their account is added to the provisioning groups attached to the rule, and their account is set up to work in Automation Cloud.

Sample SAML payload fragment

<Attribute 
   Name="groups"> 
<AttributeValue 
          xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
          xsi:type="xs:string">ProcessAutomation-Developer</AttributeValue>

SAML attribute mapping

When configuring the SAML directory integration, organization administrators can define which attributes from their IdP should be mapped to the system user attributes. Afterwards, when a user logs in via the SAML directory integration, the system reads the claims that are passed into the ACS payload and map the value to their correspondent system attributes.

Note:

• Your IdP must be configured to pass in these claims in the ACS payload.

• Ensure the attribute names configured in the IdP match the attribute mapping settings in the organization administrator portal.

For example, if this is the user structure in your IdP, an organization administrator can set up the following attribute mapping settings to have this information populated in the system user object.

{  
    "displayname": "John Doe",  
    "fname": "John",  
    "lname": "Doe",  
    "jobtitle": "Hardware Engineer",  
    "dpt": "Engineering",  
    "city": "Phoenix" 
}

When a user in this organization logs in via the SAML directory integration, their user object is updated to reflect this setting.

{  
    "Display Name": "John Doe",  
    "First Name": "John",  
    "Last Name": "Doe",  
    "Job Title": "Hardware Engineer",  
    "Department": "Engineering",  
    "City": "Phoenix" 
}

Step 3. Transition your users to SAML SSO

Make sure you provide your organization-specific URL for the Automation Cloud organization to all your users.

Note:

After switching to SAML integration, the Azure AD integration is disabled. Azure AD group assignments no longer apply, so Automation Cloud group membership and the permissions inherited from Azure AD are no longer respected.

To sign in to Automation Cloud with SAML SSO, users can:

• navigate to your organization-specific URL. The URL must include the organization ID and end in a forward slash, such as https://cloud.uipath.com/orgID.
• navigate to https://cloud.uipath.com, select Continue with SSO on the Login page, then provide their organization-specific URL.

To sign in to UiPath Studio and UiPath Assistant using SAML SSO, users must configure Assistant as follows:

1. In Assistant, open Preferences and select the Orchestrator Connection tab.
2. Click Sign Out.
3. For the connection type, select Service URL.
4. In the Service URL field, add the organization-specific URL.
   The URL must include the organization ID and end in a forward slash, such as https://cloud.uipath.com/orgID. Otherwise, the connection fails saying that the user does not belong to any organization.
5. Sign back in with SAML SSO.

Step 4. Configure permissions and robots

This is only required for new users who have not used Automation Cloud before and therefore did not have a local account set up for them in Automation Cloud when the integration was enabled.

You can add new users to Automation Cloud groups by their email address (as used in the external IdP). Once a user has been assigned to a group or they have signed in, they will be available through search for role assignment across all UiPath services.

Step 5. Discontinue use of local accounts (optional)

After all users have transitioned to SAML SSO and new users are set up, we recommend that you remove all local user accounts that are not administrator accounts. This ensures that users can no longer sign in with their local account credentials and they have to sign in with SAML SSO.

You can identify local user accounts based on their icons.

A local account can be useful:

• To manage SAML integration issues (e.g., updating an expired certificate) or if changing authentication settings - an account with the organization administrator role is recommended.

• For processes depending on API access tokens for request authorizations since the API Access functionality (on Admin > Tenants page) is inaccessible with a SAML SSO account. Alternatively, switch to using OAuth for authorization, which eliminates the need for the API access information.