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Authentication guide - SAML

Note: This guide was written before the renaming. Just replace HackMD with HedgeDoc in your mind 😃 thanks!

The basic procedure is the same as the case of OneLogin which is mentioned in OneLogin-Guide. If you want to match your IdP, you can use more configurations as below.

  • If your IdP accepts metadata XML of the service provider to ease configuration, use this url to download metadata XML: {{your-serverurl}}/auth/saml/metadata
    Note: If not accessible from IdP, download to local once and upload to IdP.
  • Change the value of issuer, identifierFormat to match your IdP.

    • issuer: A unique id to identify the application to the IdP, which is the base URL of your HedgeDoc as default
    • identifierFormat: A format of unique id to identify the user of IdP, which is the format based on email address as default. It is recommend that you use as below.
      • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress (default)
      • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified
    • config.json:
      {
        "production": {
          "saml": {
            /* omitted */
            "issuer": "myhedgedoc"
            "identifierFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified"
          }
        }
      }
      
    • environment variables
      CMD_SAML_ISSUER=myhedgedoc
      CMD_SAML_IDENTIFIERFORMAT=urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified
      
  • Change mapping of attribute names to customize the displaying user name and email address to match your IdP.

    • attribute: A dictionary to map attribute names
    • attribute.id: A primary key of user table for your HedgeDoc
    • attribute.username: Attribute name of displaying user name on HedgeDoc
    • attribute.email: Attribute name of email address, which will be also used for Gravatar
      • Note: Default value of all attributes is NameID of SAML response, which is email address if identifierFormat is default.
    • config.json:
      {
        "production": {
          "saml": {
            /* omitted */
            "attribute": {
              "id": "sAMAccountName",
              "username": "displayName",
              "email": "mail"
            }
          }
        }
      }
      
    • environment variables
      CMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_ID=sAMAccountName
      CMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_USERNAME=nickName
      CMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_EMAIL=mail
      
  • If you want to control permission by group membership, add group attribute name and required group (allowed) or external group (not allowed).

    • groupAttribute: An attribute name of group membership
    • requiredGroups: Group names array for allowed access to HedgeDoc. Use vertical bar to separate for environment variables.
    • externalGroups: Group names array for not allowed access to HedgeDoc. Use vertical bar to separate for environment variables.
      • Note: Evaluates externalGroups first
    • config.json:
      {
        "production": {
          "saml": {
            /* omitted */
            "groupAttribute": "memberOf",
            "requiredGroups": [ "hedgedoc-users", "board-members" ],
            "externalGroups": [ "temporary-staff" ]
          }
        }
      }
      
    • environment variables
      CMD_SAML_GROUPATTRIBUTE=memberOf
      CMD_SAML_REQUIREDGROUPS=hedgedoc-users|board-members
      CMD_SAML_EXTERNALGROUPS=temporary-staff