Kayako Single Sign-On (SSO)
Kayako with its adaptable and dynamic helpdesk software can provide you the unforgettable customer experiences to your customers or internal users.
miniOrange allows you to setup Single Sign-On (SSO) into Kayako using two standard protocols like SAML 2.0 & JSON Web Token (JWT). Kayako SSO with JWT is achieved by protocol brokering between JWT & SAML. miniOrange allows your users to Single Sign-On into Kayako by verifying Identity with your existing SAML 2.0 compliant Identity Provider and passing JWT tokens to Kayako. Combining the power of Kayako platform with miniOrange IAM platform allows users to quickly & seamlessly log into their Kayako Account. This combination increases employee productivity from day one and also ensures a secure experience with minimal IT overhead.
Connect with External Source of Users
miniOrange provides user authentication from various external sources, which can be Directories (like ADFS, Microsoft Active Directory, OpenLDAP, AWS etc), Identity Providers (like Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, AWS), and many more. You can configure your existing directory/user store or add users in miniOrange.
Prerequisites
Please make sure your organisation branding is already set under Customization >> Login and Registration Branding in the left menu of the dashboard.
Follow the Step-by-Step Guide given below for Kayako Single Sign-On (SSO)
1. Configure Kayako in miniOrange:
- Login into miniOrange Admin Console.

- Go to Apps and click on Add Application button.

- In Choose Application, select JWT from the application type dropdown.

- In the next step, search for Kayako application from the list. If your application is not found, search for JWT App and you can set up your Application.

-
You can configure the following details in the application:
Display Name |
Enter the Display Name (i.e. the name for this application) |
Redirect URL |
Enter the Redirect URL (i.e. the endpoint where you want to send/post your JWT token).
You can add multiple redirect URLs by separating them with a ‘;’.E.g. abc.com;xyz.com
|
Client ID |
The Client ID is shown in the field below. Click the clipboard icon to copy it. |
Client Secret |
Client Secret is hidden by default. Click the eye icon to reveal it and use the clipboard icon to copy it. This is used in the HS256 signature algorithm for generating the signature.
|
Description (Optional) |
Add a description if required.
|

- Click Save.
- You will be redirected to the Policies section. Click Add Policy.

-
A dialog box will open enter the following details:
Group Name |
Select the group for which you wish to add a this policy. For multiple groups, you can
click here to add a multiple/separate policies for each group.
|
Policy Name |
You can give a name for the authentication policy. |
First Factor |
Select the login method as Password and Password-less. You can enable 2-Factor Authentication (MFA), Adaptive Authentication and Force MFA On Each Login Attempt. |

- Click Submit to add the policy.
- You will see the policy listed once it’s successfully added.

- Click on Advanced tab.
- Enter the following details as required:
Access Token |
Enter the access token that will be sent to your redirect URL after a user logs in. This token helps your app know the user is allowed to access certain features. |
ID Token Expiry (In Mins) |
Set how long (in minutes) the ID token will be valid. After this time, the user will need to log in again to get a new token. |
Subject |
Choose what information, like the user’s email address, will be used to identify them in the token. This helps your app know which user is logged in. |
Signature Algorithm |
Select your signature algorithm from the dropdown. |
The Logout URL of your application |
Enter the web address where users should be sent after they log out. |

- Signature Algorithms for JWT
RSA-SHA256
- Asymmetric, uses a set of private and public keys to generate and validate the signature which is included in the JWT token.
- The private key is used to generate the signature on the IDP side.
- The public key is used to verify the signature on the SP side.
- We provide the public key for this.
HS256
- Symmetric, uses the same secret key to generate and validate the signature
- The secret key in this case is configurable from the app configuration page.
-
Switch to Authentication tab.
Primary Identity Provider |
Select the default ID source from the dropdown for the application. If not selected, users will see the default
login screen and can choose their own IDP. [Choose miniOrange in this case.]
|
Force Authentication |
If you enable this option, users will have to log in every time, even if their session already exists. |
Enable User Mapping |
Enable this option, if you want the app to show which user is signed in when it responds. |
Show On End User Dashboard |
Enable this option if you want to show this app in the end-user dashboard. |

- Navigate to Endpoints and copy the following details:

-
Single Sign-On URL:
- This URL is used to initiate user authentication to obtain the JWT token.
- Take redirect_uri as one of the query parameters.
- After successful authentication on the IDP end, an active user session is created in the IDP and the user is redirected to the redirect_uri with the JWT token.
-
-
Single Logout URL:
- This URL is used to log out the user from the IDP by removing the active user session.
- Take redirect_uri as one of the query parameters.
- After removing the active user session, the IDP redirects the user to the redirect_uri.
-
Reply back URL for IdP initiated logout:
- This URL is used to initiate the logout in case the JWT user login was IDP Initiated [User logged in to the dashboard
first and then initiated the login for the app from the dashboard.]
- After logging out the user from the IDP, the user is redirected to the IDP dashboard login page.
2. Setup SSO in Kayako
- Sign in to the admin area.
- Choose either the 'Agents' or 'Customers' tab at the top. The configuration options will be the same for both types of users.
- On the Security section in the sidebar, click Authentication.
- Add the login URL for your remote system to the Remote login URL field.
https://brandingtest.miniorange.in/moas/broker/login/jwt/{customer-id}
- From the Authentication drop-down list, select 'Single sign-on (JWT),' which will open up another set of configuration options.
- Paste the token you've created for Kayako into the Shared SSO secret field.
- Add the logout URL for your remote system to the Remote logout URL field.
https://brandingtest.miniorange.in/moas/broker/login/jwt/logout/18462?client_id=vHm65fYQ0cSdXTLz&redirect_uri={your-application-logout-url}
- Click the Save button to save the changes.
- Enter a short, descriptive name for your remote authentication service in the Remote system name field.

3. Configure Your User Directory
miniOrange provides user authentication from various external sources, which can be Directories (like ADFS, Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, OpenLDAP, Google, AWS Cognito etc), Identity Providers (like Okta, Shibboleth, Ping, OneLogin, KeyCloak), Databases (like MySQL, Maria DB, PostgreSQL) and many more. You can configure your existing directory/user store or add users in miniOrange.
- Click on External Directories >> Add Directory in the left menu of the dashboard.

- Select Directory type as AD/LDAP.

- STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION IN MINIORANGE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in miniOrange. If the active directory is behind a firewall, you will need to open the firewall to allow incoming requests to your AD.
- STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION ON PREMISE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in your premise and only allow access to AD inside premises. You will have to download and install miniOrange gateway on your premise.

- Enter LDAP Display Name and LDAP Identifier name.
- Select Directory Type as Active Directory.
- Enter the LDAP Server URL or IP Address against the LDAP Server URL field.
- Click on the Test Connection button to verify if you have made a successful connection with your LDAP server.

- In Active Directory, go to the properties of user containers/OU's and search for the Distinguished Name attribute. The bind account should have minimum required read privileges in Active Directory to allow directory lookups. If the use case involves provisioning (such as creating, updating, or deleting users or groups), the account must also be granted appropriate write permissions.

- Enter the valid Bind account Password.
- Click on the Test Bind Account Credentials button to verify your LDAP Bind credentials for LDAP connection.

- Search Base is the location in the directory where the search for a user begins. You will get this from the same place you got your Distinguished name.

- Select a suitable Search filter from the drop-down menu. If you use User in Single Group Filter or User in Multiple Group Filter, replace the <group-dn> in the search filter with the distinguished name of the group in which your users are present. To use custom Search Filter select "Write your Custom Filter" option and customize it accordingly.

- Click on the Next button, or go to the Authentication tab.
- You can also configure following options while setting up AD. Enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP. Click on the Next button to add user store.

Here's the list of the attributes and what it does when we enable it. You can enable/disable accordingly.
Attribute |
Description |
Activate LDAP |
All user authentications will be done with LDAP credentials if you Activate it |
Fallback Authentication |
If LDAP credentials fail then user will be authenticated through miniOrange |
Enable administrator login |
On enabling this, your miniOrange Administrator login authenticates using your LDAP server |
Show IdP to users |
If you enable this option, this IdP will be visible to users |
Sync users in miniOrange |
Users will be created in miniOrange after authentication with LDAP |
- Click on the Next button, or go to the Provisioning tab.
User Import and Provisioning from AD
- If you want to set up provisioning, click here for detailed information. For now, we are skipping this step by clicking Skip on Provisioning.

Attributes Mapping from AD
Test Connections
- You will see a list of directories in External Directories. Go to the directory you have configured, click Select, then go to Test Connections and click on it.

- Click on Test Connection to check whether you have enter valid details. For that, it will ask for username and password.

- On Successful connection with LDAP Server, a success message is shown.

Test Attribute Mapping
- You will see a list of directories in External Directories. Go to the directory you have configured, click Select, then go to Test Attribute Mapping and click on it.

- A pop-up will appear to add the username. After clicking Test, you will see the Test Attribute Mapping Result.


Set up AD as External Directory configuration is complete.
Note: Refer our guide to setup LDAP on windows server.
miniOrange integrates with various external user sources such as directories, identity providers, and etc.
4. Test SSO Configuration
Using SP Initiated Login
- Lets say you have configured miniOrange as your userstore.
- On accessing the Single sign-On URL as mentioned in the second step, you will be asked for miniOrange credentials.

- On entering the valid credentials, you will be successfully logged into Kayako.

Using IDP Initiated Login
- Log into miniOrange IdP using your credentials.
- On the End User-Dashboard, click on the Kayako application configured, to test the SSO flow.

- You will be successfully logged into Kayako.

Using SP Initiated Login
- Lets say you have configured Okta as IDP.
- On accessing the Single sign-On URL as mentioned in the second step, you will be asked to enter your Okta credentials.

- On entering the valid credentials, you will be successfully logged into Kayako.

Using IDP Initiated Login
- Log into Okta using your credentials.
- Click on Admin to access the Admin Console, then click on Applications.
- Click on Add Application and search for "Bookmark App", and Click Add in the left pane.
- Choose an app name of your choice which will be the display name.
- In the URL section, enter the SSO URL that is given in the JWT app.

- Click on Save.
- On the End User-Dashboard, click on the Kayako bookmark application configured, to test the SSO flow.

- You will be successfully logged into Kayako.

External References