Set the authentication context

At the Genero Application Server level, you can specify how the Identity Provider must authenticate a user that wants to access a Genero Web application via a browser.

As a prerequisite, see the SAML core specification for the list of supported URNs. There are several methods -- password protected, X509 certificate, PGP -- but not all work for Web-based Single sign-on (SSO).

Note: For most Web Single sign-on, the default authentication method is password protected.

SAML provides a mechanism that allows a service provider (Genero Application Server) to define how a user must be authenticated by the Identity Provider (IdP). The Genero Application Server supports an optional element (AUTHCONTEXT) that allows you to specify which authentication method to use.

If the AUTHCONTEXT element is not defined, the default mechanism set in the IdP is used.

Important: Do not specify this tag unless you require a specific authentication method.

Add an AUTHCONTEXT element as a child of the SAML DELEGATE element in the application configuration (xcf) file. Enter a valid authentication method in the text of the AUTHCONTEXT element.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<APPLICATION Parent="defaultgwc"
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.4js.com/ns/gas/2.50/cfextwa.xsd">
  <EXECUTION>
    <PATH>$(res.path.qa)/applications/myapp</PATH>
    <MODULE>App.42r</MODULE>
    <DELEGATE service="services/SAMLServiceProvider">
      <AUTHCONTEXT>urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:ac:classes:X509</AUTHCONTEXT>
    </DELEGATE>
  </EXECUTION>
</APPLICATION>

When set, the authentication context method is defined. If the IdP does not support the specified method, or if it uses another mechanism, the Genero Application Server will return an access denied page.