Tutorial: Microsoft Entra SSO integration with Blockbax

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to integrate Blockbax with Microsoft Entra ID. When you integrate Blockbax with Microsoft Entra ID, you can:

  • Control in Microsoft Entra ID who has access to Blockbax.
  • Enable your users to be automatically signed-in to Blockbax with their Microsoft Entra accounts.
  • Manage your accounts in one central location.

Prerequisites

To get started, you need the following items:

  • A Microsoft Entra subscription. If you don't have a subscription, you can get a free account.
  • Blockbax single sign-on (SSO) enabled subscription.

Scenario description

In this tutorial, you configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO in a test environment.

  • Blockbax supports SP and IDP initiated SSO.

  • Blockbax supports Just In Time user provisioning.

To configure the integration of Blockbax into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add Blockbax from the gallery to your list of managed SaaS apps.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > New application.
  3. In the Add from the gallery section, type Blockbax in the search box.
  4. Select Blockbax from results panel and then add the app. Wait a few seconds while the app is added to your tenant.

Alternatively, you can also use the Enterprise App Configuration Wizard. In this wizard, you can add an application to your tenant, add users/groups to the app, assign roles, as well as walk through the SSO configuration as well. Learn more about Microsoft 365 wizards.

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO for Blockbax

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Blockbax using a test user called B.Simon. For SSO to work, you need to establish a link relationship between a Microsoft Entra user and the related user in Blockbax.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Blockbax, perform the following steps:

  1. Configure Microsoft Entra SSO - to enable your users to use this feature.
    1. Create a Microsoft Entra test user - to test Microsoft Entra single sign-on with B.Simon.
    2. Assign the Microsoft Entra test user - to enable B.Simon to use Microsoft Entra single sign-on.
  2. Configure Blockbax SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
    1. Create Blockbax test user - to have a counterpart of B.Simon in Blockbax that is linked to the Microsoft Entra representation of user.
  3. Test SSO - to verify whether the configuration works.

Configure Microsoft Entra SSO

Follow these steps to enable Microsoft Entra SSO.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.

  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Blockbax > Single sign-on.

  3. On the Select a single sign-on method page, select SAML.

  4. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, click the pencil icon for Basic SAML Configuration to edit the settings.

    Edit Basic SAML Configuration

  5. On the Basic SAML Configuration section, perform the following steps:

    a. In the Identifier (Entity ID) text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://login.blockbax.com/saml2/service-provider-metadata/<CustomerName>

    b. In the Reply URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://login.blockbax.com/login/saml2/sso/<CustomerName>

    c. In the Sign on URL text box, type the URL: https://login.blockbax.com/sso

    Note

    These values are not real. Update these values with the actual Identifier and Reply URL. Contact Blockbax support team to get these values. You can also refer to the patterns shown in the Basic SAML Configuration section.

  6. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, In the SAML Signing Certificate section, click copy button to copy App Federation Metadata Url and save it on your computer.

    The Certificate download link

Create a Microsoft Entra test user

In this section, you'll create a test user called B.Simon.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a User Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Users > All users.
  3. Select New user > Create new user, at the top of the screen.
  4. In the User properties, follow these steps:
    1. In the Display name field, enter B.Simon.
    2. In the User principal name field, enter the [email protected]. For example, [email protected].
    3. Select the Show password check box, and then write down the value that's displayed in the Password box.
    4. Select Review + create.
  5. Select Create.

Assign the Microsoft Entra test user

In this section, you'll enable B.Simon to use single sign-on by granting access to Blockbax.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
  2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Blockbax.
  3. In the app's overview page, select Users and groups.
  4. Select Add user/group, then select Users and groups in the Add Assignment dialog.
    1. In the Users and groups dialog, select B.Simon from the Users list, then click the Select button at the bottom of the screen.
    2. If you are expecting a role to be assigned to the users, you can select it from the Select a role dropdown. If no role has been set up for this app, you see "Default Access" role selected.
    3. In the Add Assignment dialog, click the Assign button.

Configure Blockbax SSO

  1. Log in to your Blockbax company site as an administrator.

  2. Go to Settings and expand SSO Settings.

    Screenshot shows the SAML Account

  3. In the Identity provider metadata URL textbox, paste the App Federation Metadata Url value which you copied previously.

  4. Click Add identity provider.

Create Blockbax test user

In this section, a user called Britta Simon is created in Blockbax. Blockbax supports just-in-time user provisioning, which is enabled by default. There is no action item for you in this section. If a user doesn't already exist in Blockbax, a new one is created after authentication.

Test SSO

In this section, you test your Microsoft Entra single sign-on configuration with following options.

SP initiated:

  • Click on Test this application, this will redirect to Blockbax Sign on URL where you can initiate the login flow.

  • Go to Blockbax Sign-on URL directly and initiate the login flow from there.

IDP initiated:

  • Click on Test this application, and you should be automatically signed in to the Blockbax for which you set up the SSO.

You can also use Microsoft My Apps to test the application in any mode. When you click the Blockbax tile in the My Apps, if configured in SP mode you would be redirected to the application sign on page for initiating the login flow and if configured in IDP mode, you should be automatically signed in to the Blockbax for which you set up the SSO. For more information, see Microsoft Entra My Apps.

Next steps

Once you configure Blockbax you can enforce session control, which protects exfiltration and infiltration of your organization’s sensitive data in real time. Session control extends from Conditional Access. Learn how to enforce session control with Microsoft Cloud App Security.