How to configure single sign-on for Freshdesk

ADSelfService Plus supports Active Directory (AD)-based single sign-on (SSO) for Freshdesk and many other SAML-enabled applications. When SSO is enabled for Freshdesk, users only have to login once in to their Windows machine using their AD domain credentials. After logging in, users can securely access their Freshdesk account without having to enter their username and password again.

ADSelfService Plus supports both Identity Provider (IdP) and Service Provider (SP)-initiated SSO for Freshdesk.

IdP-initiated SSO for Freshdesk: Users need to log in to the ADSelfService Plus self-service portal first, and then click on the Freshdesk icon on the Applications dashboard to access Freshdesk.

SP-initiated SSO for Freshdesk: When users access Freshdesk via a URL or bookmark, they are routed to the login page of ADSelfService Plus. After they log in, they will be redirected and logged into Freshdesk automatically.

Follow the step-by-step guide given below to configure SSO for Freshdesk

Before you begin

Download and install ADSelfService Plus if you haven’t already.

Configuring your Active Directory domain in ADSelfService Plus

ADSelfService Plus utilizes the existing AD domain credentials for authenticating users during SSO. This makes the configuration of AD domains in ADSelfService Plus necessary before enabling SSO for Freshdesk.

By default, ADSelfService Plus will try to add all the domains that it can discover in the network. If the required domains are automatically added, skip to step 9; otherwise, follow the steps below and add the domains manually.

1. Log in to ADSelfService Plus web console using admin credentials.
2. Click the Domain Settings link located on the top-right corner of the page.
3. An Add Domain Details window will appear.
4. In the Domain Name field, enter the name of the domain you want to add.
5. In the Add Domain Controllers field, click Discover. ADSelfService Plus will try to automatically discover the domain controllers associated with the specified domain.
6. If the domain controllers are not auto-discovered automatically, enter the domain controller name in the field provided, and click Add.
7. You can leave the authentication fields empty if you're not going to use the end user self-service features of ADSelfService Plus.
8. In Add Domain Details window, click Add.

Getting the SSO/SAML Details from ADSelfService Plus

9. Navigate to Configuration → Self-Service → Password Sync/Single Sign On.
10. In the dashboard which displays the list of applications supported by ADSelfService Plus, click Freshdesk.
11. Click Download SSO Certificate located on the top-right corner of the page.

    

12. In the pop-up that appears, copy the Login URL, Logout URL and SHA256 FingerPrint.

Configuring SSO settings in Freshdesk

13. Log into Freshdesk with administrator credentials.
14. Navigate to the Admin module → General Settings section → Security.

    

15. Click on the Single Sign On (SSO) toggle to enable it.
16. Click the SAML SSO radio button. In the SAML Login URL field, enter the Login URL from step 12.
17. In the Logout URL field, enter the Logout URL from the step 12.
18. In the Security Certificate Fingerprint field, enter the SHA256 FingerPrint from step 12.

    

19. Click Save.

Adding your Freshdesk domain in ADSelfService Plus and enabling SSO

20. Navigate to ADSelfService Plus’ Freshdesk configuration page.
21. In the Domain Name field, enter the name of the domain for which you have enabled SSO.
22. In the Display Name field, provide an appropriate display name.
23. In the SP identifier field, enter the name of your organization found in the Freshdesk portal URL. For example, if the portal URL is thinktoday.Freshdesk.com, the SP Identifier is thinktoday.
24. Provide an appropriate description in the Description field.
25. In the Available Policies field, select the policies for which SSO must be enabled.

    Note: ADSelfService Plus allows you to create OU and group-based policies for your AD domains. To create a policy, go to Configuration → Self-Service → Policy Configuration → Add New Policy. Click Select OUs/Groups, and make the selection based on your requirements. You need to select at least one self-service feature.

    

26. Click Save.

That’s it! Users can now log into their Freshdesk account automatically using single sign-on.