Integrate with Zendesk

Use JumpCloud SAML Single Sign On (SSO) to give your users convenient but secure access to all their web applications with a single set of credentials.

Read this article to learn how to configure the Zendesk connector.

Prerequisites

• A JumpCloud administrator account
• JumpCloud SSO Package or higher or SSO add-on feature
• A Zendesk user account with administrator permissions
• Your Zendesk organization name and a Zendesk Plus or Enterprise plan

Creating a new JumpCloud Application Integration

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to USER AUTHENTICATION > SSO Applications.
3. Click + Add New Application.
4. Type the name of the application in the Search field and select it.
5. Click Next.
6. In the Display Label, type your name for the application. Optionally, you can enter a Description, adjust the User Portal Image and choose to hide or Show in User Portal.

7. Optionally, expand Advanced Settings to specify a value for the SSO IdP URL. If no value is entered, it will default to https://sso.jumpcloud.com/saml2/<applicationname>.

8. Click Save Application.
9. If successful, click:
   • Configure Application and go to the next section
   • Close to configure your new application at a later time

Configuring the SSO Integration

To configure JumpCloud

1. Create a new application or select it from the Configured Applications list.
2. Select the SSO tab.
3. Replace any instances of ACCOUNTNAME with your Zendesk organization name.
4. Click Save.

Download the certificate

1. Find your application in the Configured Applications list and click anywhere in the row to reopen its configuration window.
2. Select the SSO tab and click IDP Certificate Valid > Download certificate.

To configure Zendesk

1. Log into Zendesk Admin Center.
2. Go to Account > Security > Single sign-on.
3. Click Create SSO configuration then select SAML.
4. Enter the following information:
   • Configuration name – enter a unique name
   • SAML SSO URL – enter the JumpCloud IDP URL
   • Certificate fingerprint – enter the SHA-256 Certificate fingerprint from the certificate downloaded in the previous section
   • (Optional) Remote logout URL – enter a logout URL where users should be redirected after they sign out of Zendesk
     • Use https://console.jumpcloud.com/userconsole/ if you would like users to return to their user portal when they logout
   • (Optional) IP ranges – enter a list of IP ranges if you want to redirect users to the appropriate sign-in option.
5. Select Show button when users sign in to add a Continue with SSO button to the Zendesk sign-in page.
   • You can customize the button label by entering a value in the Button name field. Custom button labels are useful if you add multiple SSO buttons to the sign-in page. See Adding “Continue with SSO” buttons to the Zendesk sign-in page for more information
6. Click Save.

Assign the SSO connector to end users and team members

1. In the Zendesk Admin portal, go to Team member authentication or End user authentication, and select External authentication.
2. Click Single sign-on (SSO) and then SAML. select the name(s) of the JumpCloud configuration(s) you want to use.
3. Select how you’d like to allow users to sign in. See Giving users different ways to sign into Zendesk.
4. Click Save.  

Authorizing User SSO Access

Users are implicitly denied access to applications. After you connect an application to JumpCloud, you need to authorize user access to that application. You can authorize user access from the Application Configuration panel or from the Groups Configuration panel. 

To authorize user access from the Application Configuration panel

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to USER AUTHENTICATION > SSO Applications, then select the application to which you want to authorize user access.
3. Select the User Groups tab. If you need to create a new group of users, see Get Started: User Groups.
4. Select the check box next to the group of users you want to give access.
5. Click save. 

To learn how to authorize user access from the Groups Configuration panel, see Authorize Users to an SSO Application.

Validating SSO user authentication workflow(s)

IdP-initiated user workflow

• Access the JumpCloud User Console
• Go to Applications and click an application tile to launch it
• JumpCloud asserts the user’s identity to the SP and is authenticated without the user having to log in to the application

SP-initiated user workflow

• Go to the SP application login – generally, there is either a special link or an adaptive username field that detects the user is authenticated through SSO

• Login redirects the user to JumpCloud where the user enters their JumpCloud credentials
• After the user is logged in successfully, they are redirected back to the SP and automatically logged in

Using JIT Provisioning

Additional attributes are required to use JIT provisioning. JIT required attributes are prepopulated and are on by default to enable JIT provisioning. You can’t edit the JIT required service provider attributes. You can customize the JumpCloud attribute name and the constant value for JIT required attributes. Toggle off the attributes to opt out of sending the attributes in the SAML assertion

To complete the provisioning process

1. Authorize a user’s access to the application in JumpCloud.  
2. Have the user log in to the application using SSO. The SAML assertion passes from JumpCloud to the service provider, and gives the service provider the information it needs to create the user account.

Removing the SSO Integration

To deactivate the SSO Integration

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to USER AUTHENTICATION > SSO Applications.
3. Search for the application that you’d like to deactivate and click to open its details panel. 
4. Select the SSO tab.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the configuration.
6. Click Deactivate SSO. 
7. Click save. 
8. If successful, you will receive a confirmation message.

To delete the application

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to USER AUTHENTICATION > SSO Applications.
3. Search for the application that you’d like to delete.
4. Check the box next to the application to select it.
5. Click Delete.
6. Enter the number of the applications you are deleting
7. Click Delete Application.
8. If successful, you will see an application deletion confirmation notification.