# SAML

- Updated on Jul 20, 2026
- Published on Oct 30, 2024

- 8 minute(s) read

SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is an open standard that allows identity providers (IdPs) to pass authorization credentials to service providers (SPs) via transactions that use XML (extensible markup language) for communication between the SP and the IdP.

## On-premise / private cloud instances

### Local setup

#### Required configuration steps

Hyperscience currently supports SP-Initiated SSO. To enable SAML authentication in Hyperscience:

1. Add the following setting to your “.env _”_ file:
   
   ```plaintext
   # Enables SAML Authentication
   HS_LOGIN_ENABLE_SAML=true
   ```
   
2. Set the value of _SAML_ENTITY_ID_ to the same value that is registered with your IdP. The Entity ID should be a unique identifier for your Hyperscience installation and is usually set to its URL.
   
   ```plaintext
   SAML_ENTITY_ID=http://your.hyperscience.url
   ```
   
3. Make an XML metadata file that describes the configuration of your IdP available to your Hyperscience installation. We provide 2 options for this step:
   
   #### Remote metadata URL

If your IdP's metadata is publicly available, you can point Hyperscience to that URL:
   
   ```plaintext
   SAML_METADATA_URL=http://idp.metadata.url
   ```
   
   For example, your _SAML_METADATA_URL_ variable may look something like this:
   
   ```plaintext
   SAML_METADATA_URL=https://www.server.com:8080/context/saml/metadata
   ```
   
   #### Local metadata file

If the metadata is not hosted or is not accessible to your Hyperscience installation, you may download its file from your IdP and make it accessible to Hyperscience:
   
   1. Create the `/mnt/hs/certs` folder on each machine running Hyperscience: `mkdir -p /mnt/hs/certs`
   2. Apply the proper SELinux context, if enabled (Redhat has this context enabled by default): `chcon -t container_file_t -R /mnt/hs/certs`
   3. Create the `/mnt/hs/certs/metadata.xml` file, and enter the IdP metadata in that file.
   4. Set `SAML_METADATA_PATH=/etc/nginx/certs/metadata.xml`.
   
4. Provide the group values that will map to the admin role in Hyperscience. Currently, we accept one possible admin role.
   
   ```plaintext
   SAML_ADMIN_PERMISSION_ROLE=your_admin_group
   ```
   
#### Identity configuration

A user's identity in SAML is mapped to their username in Hyperscience. By default, Hyperscience assumes that identity is case-sensitive but configurable. See the table below for more details:

| **Environment Variable** | **Default** | **Description** |
| `SAML_DJANGO_USER_MAIN_ATTRIBUTE_CASE_SENSITIVE` | `TRUE` | Identity in the IdP is case-sensitive. |

#### Configuring attribute mapping

Hyperscience supports SAML attribute mapping, allowing you to auto-populate user-specific information in Hyperscience based on the data stored in your IdP. Below is a list of the supported attribute values. These values are fully customizable.

| **Environment Variable** | **Default (Attribute Name)** | **Description** |
| `SAML_USER_AUTH_ATTR` | `authorities` | The name of the attribute used to identify the user's group |
| `SAML_USER_FIRST_NAME_ATTR` | `FirstName` | Name of IdP's attribute for a user's first name |
| `SAML_USER_LAST_NAME_ATTR` | `LastName` | Name of IdP's attribute for a user's last name |
| `SAML_USER_EMAIL_ATTR` | `mail` | Name of IdP's attribute for a user's email address |

#### Configuring assertions and authentication request options

**Response and assertions signature requirements**

Hyperscience supports both signed and unsigned assertions and responses from the identity provider. In addition, you can configure Hyperscience to accept only signed responses. You can control this behavior via the following “.env” file variables (default values shown below):

```bash
SAML_WANT_ASSERTIONS_SIGNED=False
SAML_WANT_RESPONSE_SIGNED=True
```

**Encrypted assertions**

In certain deployment scenarios, an identity provider encrypts the assertions within a response. To enable Hyperscience to decrypt such responses you need to:

1. Obtain a certificate and key for decryption from the identity provider. See your identity provider’s documentation for specific steps on how to complete this process.
2. Create the `/mnt/hs/certs/saml` folder on each machine running Hyperscience: `mkdir -p /mnt/hs/certs/saml`
3. Apply the proper SELinux context, if enabled (Redhat has it enabled by default):
   
   - `chcon -t container_file_t -R /mnt/hs/certs`
   - `chcon -t container_file_t -R /mnt/hs/certs/saml`
4. Create the following files:
   - `/mnt/hs/certs/saml/encrypt-private-key.pem` (holding the PEM-encoded private key of the decryption certificate)
   - `/mnt/hs/certs/saml/encrypt-public-cert.pem` (holding the PEM-encoded decryption certificate)
5. Set `SAML_CONFIG_DIR=/etc/nginx/certs/saml`
6. Set `SAML_DECRYPT_ASSERTIONS=True`

**Signed authentication requests**

Certain deployment scenarios may require Hyperscience to send signed authentication requests to the identity provider. To configure this behavior, follow these steps:

1. Obtain the certificate and key for request signing. Doing so may require additional setup on the identity provider’s side. See the instructions for your IdP.
2. Create the `/mnt/hs/certs/saml` folder on each machine running Hyperscience: `mkdir -p /mnt/hs/certs/saml`
3. Apply the proper SELinux context, if applicable:
   
   - `chcon -t container_file_t -R /mnt/hs/certs`
   - `chcon -t container_file_t -R /mnt/hs/certs/saml`
4. Create the following files:
   - `/mnt/hs/certs/saml/sign-private-key.pem`(holding the PEM-encoded private key of the signing certificate)
   - `/mnt/hs/certs/saml/sign-public-cert.pem` (holding the PEM-encoded signing certificate)
5. Set `SAML_CONFIG_DIR=/etc/nginx/certs/saml`
6. Set `SAML_AUTHN_REQUESTS_SIGNED=True`

#### (Optional) Overriding Assertion Consumer Service URL

If you're running v33.1.28 or later, you can use the `SAML_ACS_URL` variable in your “.env” file to override the assertion consumer service (ACS) URL.

#### (Optional) Remote metadata signature validation

By default, Hyperscience validates remote metadata signatures using the embedded certificate. If you want to use another certificate instead, you can do so by entering its path as a value for the `SAML_METADATA_CERT_PATH` variable in your “.env” file.

### Remote setup

#### Okta

These instructions will configure Hyperscience to use an Okta application as an IdP. They use as many default values as possible, with the minimal configuration necessary on the Hyperscience side.

To set up your Okta application:

1. Configure the General settings:
   1. Configure your application to use SAML authentication.
   2. Set your **Single sign on URL** to the domain where Hyperscience is hosted, at the path `/saml2/acs/,` **_including the trailing slash_**.
   3. Set your **Audience URI** to your application's domain. This value must match the value of the `SAML_ENTITY_ID` setting.
   4. Set the **Application username** to the field that you want to use to populate usernames inside Hyperscience.
2. To map first name, last name, and email from Okta to Hyperscience, set the following user attributes.
3. We require group information to determine a user's access permissions inside Hyperscience. To send this information, create an Okta filter that includes all groups of users who will be accessing Hyperscience.
4. You can find the link to your IdP's metadata by clicking **Identity Provider metadata**. 
5. Configure your Hyperscience “.env” file:
   
   ```bash
   # Required settings
   HS_LOGIN_ENABLE_SAML=true
   SAML_ENTITY_ID=http://<your_Hyperscience_URL>
   SAML_METADATA_URL=https://<your_domain>.okta.com/app/<app_ID>/sso/saml/metadata
   SAML_ADMIN_PERMISSION_ROLE=admin_group
   ```

### Troubleshooting

For the purpose of troubleshooting, you can enable SAML debug mode. When this mode is enabled, the system produces detailed log entries with requests, assertions, and other data. To enable debug mode, enter the following in the ".env" file:

```bash
SAML_DEBUG=true
```

## SaaS instances

The steps required to integrate your SAML IdP with Hyperscience depend on the version of Hyperscience you’re running.

### New deployments of v38 and later

If you want to integrate your SAML IdP with Hyperscience, you can set up and manage that integration in the Hyperscience application.
   
#### Prerequisites

Before starting the setup process, ensure that you have:

- Communicated to your Hyperscience representative that you want to manage your SAML setup in your application
- Added at least one user record to your SAML authentication provider

### Integrating your IdP with Hyperscience

1. In your IdP, create an application. Hyperscience will use this application to connect to your IdP.
2. In your IdP, create at least one user group for Hyperscience administrators and assign a user to it. You need this group name for the next steps.
3. In the Hyperscience application, go to the System Settings page ( **Administration** > **System Settings**), and in the **View** drop-down menu at the top of the page, click on **Security & Identity**.
4. In the **Identity Provider** card, click **Edit**.
5. Select the **Enabled** checkbox.
6. In the **Identity Provider Name** field, enter a name for the IdP.
7. In the **Identity Provider Organization** field, enter a name for the main point of contact for the IdP at your organization.
8. Click on **SAML**.
9. Enter the requested information in the top five fields. The first two fields are required, and either the third or fourth field is also required, depending on your preferred configuration.
10. In the bottom six fields ( **Username Field Name on the SAML Data** up to and including **Staff Groups on the IdP Side (Comma Separated: GroupA,GroupB)**), enter the requested field mappings from your IdP to Hyperscience. This information can be obtained from the metadata XML from the IdP.
11. Select the checkboxes for any of the optional settings you would like to apply to your integration.
12. Click **Show Hyperscience configuration for selected identity provider.**
13. Copy the information from the Information to use with your identity provider window that appears, and paste it into the respective fields in your IdP.
14. Click **Save** at the top of the **Identity Provider** card.
15. Create additional groups in your IdP for non-admin users, and map them to their Hyperscience roles by following the instructions in Adding an authentication group.

### v37 and earlier / Upgrades to v38

You can integrate your SAML authentication provider with Hyperscience by providing the following information to your Hyperscience representative:

- The SAML group name for users accessing the Hyperscience instance
- The SAML group name for users who should be in the “System Admin” permission group in Hyperscience
- IdP metadata
- SAML SSO URL
- SAML username assertion
- Should SP sign SAML requests sent to the IdP? (yes/no)
- Should IdP sign requests sent to the SP? (yes/no)

After we receive this information, we will set up the integration with your IdP and Hyperscience.