Cloudera Docs

Configuring SAML Authentication

Cloudera Data Science Workbench supports the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) for Single Sign-on (SSO) authentication; in particular, between an identity provider (IDP) and a service provider (SP).

The SAML specification defines three roles: the principal (typically a user), the IDP, and the SP. In the use case addressed by SAML, the principal (user agent) requests a service from the service provider. The service provider requests and obtains an identity assertion from the IDP. On the basis of this assertion, the SP can make an access control decision—in other words it can decide whether to perform some service for the connected principal.

The primary SAML use case is called web browser single sign-on (SSO). A user with a user agent (usually a web browser) requests a web resource protected by a SAML SP. The SP, wanting to know the identity of the requesting user, issues an authentication request to a SAML IDP through the user agent. In the context of this terminology, Cloudera Data Science Workbench operates as a SP.

Cloudera Data Science Workbench supports both SP- and IDP-initiated SAML 2.0-based SSO. Its Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) API endpoint is for consuming assertions received from the Identity Provider. If your Cloudera Data Science Workbench domain root were cdsw.company.com, then this endpoint would be available at http://cdsw.company.com/api/v1/saml/acs. SAML 2.0 metadata is available at http://cdsw.company.com/api/v1/saml/metadata for IDP-initiated SSO. Cloudera Data Science Workbench uses HTTP Redirect Binding for authentication requests and expects to receive responses from HTTP POST Binding.

When Cloudera Data Science Workbench receives the SAML responses from the Identity Provider, it expects to see at least the following user attributes in the SAML responses:
  • The unique identifier or username. Valid attributes are:
    • uid
    • urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1
  • The email address. Valid attributes are:
    • mail
    • email
    • urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.3
  • The common name or full name of the user. Valid attributes are:
    • cn
    • urn:oid:2.5.4.3
    In the absence of the cn attribute, Cloudera Data Science Workbench will attempt to use the following user attributes, if they exist, as the full name of the user:
    • The first name of the user. Valid attributes are:
      • givenName
      • urn:oid:2.5.4.42
    • The last name of the user. Valid attributes are:
      • sn
      • urn:oid:2.5.4.4