Exact Synergy Enterprise

How-to: Setting up Exact Lightweight Integration Server (ELIS) using federated identity

Note:

This document is only relevant to the controlled release participants.
This is not available for Exact Cloud customers.

Introduction

This document describes the steps to configure Exact Lightweight Integration Server (ELIS) and a client (product or endpoint) using the federated identity. The usage of ELIS with SQL Azure is also described.

Scope

This document describes the following:

Prerequisites
Overview of ELIS with federated identity configuration
Retrieving federated identity configuration details
Configuring ELIS using federated identity
Connecting ELIS to SQL Azure

Note: Some of the information and screens in this document refer to external websites, such as the “Manage Azure and Auth0” portals.

Prerequisites

ELIS management console
Endpoint package (Exact Synergy Enterprise and Exact Globe+ only)

Overview of ELIS with federated identity configuration

To use federated identity with ELIS, the following configuration details must be made available in ELIS depending on the identity provider:

Identity provider: Auth0

SAML Issuer Name
JWT Issuer Name
Allowed Audience
Metadata
Thumbprint
Authority
Client ID
Auth0 connection

The configuration details stated must be entered in the Federated Identity Configurator, to generate the federated identity configuration files for ELIS.

Retrieving federated identity configuration details

To retrieve your Auth0 or WAAD configuration details, log in to your Auth0 or WAAD account and view the Auth0 or WAAD application or client that you have configured for ELIS.

For more information on how to retrieve these details, see How-to: Retrieving information for Windows Azure Active Directory and Auth0.

Note: All values are case-sensitive; you should use the exact value, including any symbols. You are advised to always use lowercase to avoid a mismatch of the values.

Configuring ELIS using federated identity

Configure the federated identity configuration files for ELIS using Auth0

To configure ELIS to use Auth0 as the authentication provider, the web application must have the following files configured for the token-based authentication:

XMD\Exact.ELISVersion.config
XMD\Exact.EntityServiceIdentity.config

These files should be configured and generated by the Federated Identity Configurator.

Start the Federated Identity Configurator, by starting FIDConfigurator.exe in the Cab folder of the Exact Globe+ or Exact Synergy Enterprise installation folder. The tool requires read and write access to the installed folders of Exact software. Therefore, it is recommended the tool be used with Administrator privileges.
Select Exact Lightweight Integration Server from the Products menu on the left.
Type or select the installation directory of Exact Lightweight Integration Server at Installation Folder. When a path is specified, the tool will validate the path. If the path is validated successfully, the configuration section and buttons will be enabled.
Select Auth0 at the Identity Provider field.
Define the following fields:
- SAML Issuer Name
- JWT Issuer Name
- Allowed Audience
- Metadata
- Thumbprint
- Authority (this value will be used only for validation, and will not be stored in the configuration files)
- Client ID (this value will be used only for validation and will not be stored in the configuration files)
- Auth0 connection (this value will be used only for validation and will not be stored in the configuration files)
Click Validate. The validation screen will be displayed.
The values from the product screen will be checked for common mistakes, such as formatting, typos, et cetera. The tool will warn you when a value is suspected to be wrong so that you can verify and correct it if needed.
Type a username and password (from your federated identity account) to test if the configuration values are correct for authentication use.
Click Validate.
If the validation is successful, click Generate. The federated identity configuration files will be generated in the installation folder for the product. It will also be retained for future product updates.

Note:

Only after a successful validation, the configuration files can be generated.
All values are case-sensitive; you should use the exact value, including any symbols. You are advised to always use lowercase to avoid a mismatch of the values.
For more information on how to retrieve these details, see How-to: Retrieving information for Windows Azure Active Directory and Auth0.
The tool requires read and write access to the installed folders of Exact software. Therefore, it is recommended the tool be used with Administrator privileges.
For more information about the Federated Identity Configurator, see Federated Identity Configurator.

Additional information

Restart the Exact Integration Entity service

After generating the federated identity configuration files, the Exact Entity Service should be restarted.

Open services.msc.
Restart Exact Integration Entity Service.

Log on to ELIS

When the ELIS console is started, the Connect to server screen with the Federated Identity option for authentication will be displayed.

If ELIS is configured to use the federated identity authentication, the information must be provided in the console.

Firstly, the identity provider type must be selected, such as WAAD or Auth0. Once the identity provider type has been selected, the following fields will be displayed, and these have to be defined:

Identity provider: Auth0

User name
Password
Authority
Client ID
Auth0 connection

Note: The Resource value is case-sensitive; you should use the value exactly as it is in your portal, including any symbols. You are advised to always use lowercase to avoid a mismatch of the values.

The Authority, Client ID, Auth0 connection and Resource values can be retrieved in your Auth0 or WAAD account. For more information on how to retrieve these details, see How-to: Retrieving information for Windows Azure Active Directory and Auth0.

Server name

This is the name of the machine where the ELIS components are installed or hosted.

User Name, Password

These are the user’s credentials and the information is stored in Windows Azure Active Directory or the Auth0 connection.

Database setup for ELIS to use SQL Azure

If ELIS is configured to use federated identity, you can connect or create a database on SQL Azure. The details for the SQL Azure server are required upon creation or connection.

The fields are as follows:

Database server
Database user
Database password
Database name
License

Go to SQL DATABASES.
Under the DATABASES tab, select a database to open the dashboard page.
Note the server name under the quick glance section. This is the value of the Database server.
Go to SQL DATABASES, and click the SERVERS tab.
Click the server that is used for ELIS to open the dashboard page. Under the quick glance section, note the administrator login. This is the value of the Database user.

Note: The Database password is not displayed from the portal, but is only defined when creating the SQL server. However, you can reset the password on this page using the Reset Administrator Password hyperlink.