Authentication with Okta through Citrix Cloud
Citrix Endpoint Management supports authentication with Okta credentials through Citrix Cloud. This authentication method is available only to users enrolling in MDM through the Citrix Workspace app or Citrix Secure Hub. If Citrix Endpoint Management is Workspace enabled, users access resources from the Citrix Workspace app. If you don’t enable Citrix Workspace integration with Citrix Endpoint Management, users access resources from Citrix Secure Hub.
Devices enrolling in MAM can’t authenticate using Okta credentials through Citrix Cloud. To use Citrix Secure Hub with MDM+MAM, configure Citrix Endpoint Management to use Citrix Gateway for MAM enrollment. For more information, see Citrix Gateway and Citrix Endpoint Management.
Citrix Endpoint Management uses the Citrix Cloud service, Citrix identity, to federate with Okta. Citrix recommends that you use the Citrix identity provider instead of a direct connection to Okta.
Citrix Endpoint Management supports authentication with Okta for the following platforms:
- iOS and macOS devices not enrolled in the Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager
- iOS and macOS devices enrolled in the Apple Business Manager
- Android Enterprise devices (preview), for BYOD and fully managed modes
Authentication with Okta through Citrix Cloud has these limitations:
- Isn’t available for Citrix Endpoint Management local accounts.
- Doesn’t support authentication through Okta for enrollment invitations. If you send users an enrollment invitation containing an enrollment URL, users authenticate through LDAP instead of Okta.
Prerequisites
- Okta user credentials
- User groups in Active Directory must match the user groups in Okta.
- User names and email addresses in active directory must match those in Okta.
- Citrix Cloud account, with Citrix Cloud Connector installed for directory services synchronization
- Citrix Gateway. Citrix recommends that you enable certificate-based authentication for a full single sign-on experience. If you use LDAP authentication on the Citrix Gateway for MAM registration, end users experience a dual authentication prompt during enrollment. For more information, see Client certificate or certificate plus domain authentication.
- Citrix Secure Hub if Citrix Endpoint Management is not Workspace enabled.
- Citrix Workspace app if Citrix Endpoint Management is Workspace enabled. For information on enabling Citrix Workspace integration, see Workspace configuration.
- In enrollment profiles for Android Enterprise, set Allow users to decline device management to Off. If users decline device management, they can’t enroll using an identity provider to authenticate. For more information, see Enrollment security.
You can configure this feature with and without Workspace enabled.
Configuration if Citrix Endpoint Management is Workspace enabled
If you integrate Citrix Endpoint Management with Citrix Workspace, the general steps to configure authentication with Okta through Citrix Cloud are:
- Configure Citrix Cloud to use Okta as your identity provider.
- Configure Okta as the authentication method for Citrix Workspace.
To configure Citrix Cloud to use Okta as your identity provider and set up Okta as the authentication method for Citrix Workspace, see Connect Okta as an identity provider to Citrix Cloud.
After you complete the configuration, you can enroll user devices through the Citrix Workspace app.
Configuration if Citrix Endpoint Management is not Workspace enabled
If Citrix Workspace isn’t enabled for Citrix Endpoint Management, the general steps to configure authentication with Okta through Citrix Cloud are:
- Configure Citrix Cloud to use Okta as your identity provider.
- Configure Citrix identity as the IdP type for Citrix Endpoint Management.
Configure Citrix Cloud to use Okta as your identity provider
To configure Okta in Citrix Cloud, see Connect Okta as an identity provider to Citrix Cloud.
Configure Citrix identity as the IdP type for Citrix Endpoint Management
This configuration applies only to users enrolling through Citrix Secure Hub. After you configure Azure Active Directory in Citrix Cloud, configure Citrix Endpoint Management as follows.
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In the Citrix Endpoint Management console, go to Settings > Identity Provider (IDP) and then click Add.
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On the Identity Provider (IDP) page, configure the following:
- IDP Name: Type a unique name to identify the IdP connection that you are creating.
- IDP Type: Choose Citrix Identity Provider.
- Authentication Domain: Choose the Citrix Cloud domain. If you aren’t sure which one to choose, your domain appears on the Citrix Cloud Identity and Access Management > Authentication page.
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Click Next. In the IDP Claims Usage page, configure the following:
- User Identifier type: This field is set to userPrincipalName. Ensure that you configure all users with the same identifier in your on-premises Active Directory and in Okta. Citrix Endpoint Management uses this identifier to map users on the identity provider with on-premises Active Directory users.
- User Identifier string: This field is automatically filled.
After this configuration, Citrix Secure Hub users who are domain-joined can use Citrix Secure Hub to sign in with their Okta credentials. Citrix Secure Hub uses client certificate authentication for MAM devices.
Citrix Secure Hub authentication flow
Citrix Endpoint Management uses the following flow to authenticate users with Okta as an IdP on devices enrolled through Citrix Secure Hub:
- A user starts Citrix Secure Hub.
- Citrix Secure Hub passes the authentication request to Citrix identity, which passes the request to Okta.
- The user types their user name and password.
- Okta validates the user and sends a code to Citrix identity.
- Citrix identity sends the code to Citrix Secure Hub, which sends the code to the Citrix Endpoint Management server.
- Citrix Endpoint Management obtains an ID token by using the code and secret, and then validates the user information that’s in the ID token. Citrix Endpoint Management returns a session ID.