Firebox Access Portal Integration with AuthPoint and On-Premise Outlook Web Access

Deployment Overview

This document describes how to set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your Firebox Access Portal with AuthPoint as an identity provider, and how to configure reverse proxy actions so that remote users can securely connect to Microsoft Outlook Web Access through the Access Portal.

Firebox Access Portal can be configured to support MFA in several modes. For this integration, we set up SAML with AuthPoint.

This integration guide describes two configurations for Access Portal SAML authentication based on the different versions of Fireware. We recommend that you upgrade to the Fireware v12.11 or higher.

Contents

Firebox Access Portal & Reverse Proxy Authentication Data Flow with AuthPoint

AuthPoint communicates with various cloud-based services and service providers with the SAML protocol. This diagram shows the data flow of an MFA transaction for Firebox Access Portal & Reverse Proxy Action.

Diagram of the data flow for an MFA transaction between the Firebox Access Portal and AuthPoint

Before You Begin

Before you begin these procedures, make sure that:

  • A token is assigned to a user in AuthPoint
  • You have an AuthPoint identity provider (IdP) certificate (go to Certificate Management)
  • Firebox with Fireware v12.11 or higher
  • Firebox with Fireware v12.10.4 or lower
  • Feature key with an Access Portal license
  • A fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that can be resolved to the Firebox's external IP address using the External DNS server.
  • The Outlook Web Access application must have an FQDN that is in the same domain as the Access Portal (for example, if the FQDN of the Access Portal is portal.example.com, the web application should be value.example.com)
  • Make sure form-based authentication is enabled for OWA on your Exchange server.

the screenshot of Exchange server OWA authentication

Configure Firebox

Configure Firebox SAML Authentication Server

To start, you must get the URL for the AuthPoint metadata file. After you have that, you can configure the Access Portal.

  1. Log in to WatchGuard Cloud.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Configure > AuthPoint. If you have a Service Provider account, you must select an account from the Account Manager.
  3. Select Resources.
    The Resources page appears.
  4. Click Certificate.

Screen shot of the Resources page in AuthPoint

  1. Next to the AuthPoint certificate, you will associate with your resource, click and select Copy Metadata URL. We recommend that you choose the certificate with the latest expiration date. If you do not have a certificate, or if all of your certificates have expired, click Add Certificate and use the newly created certificate.

    The AuthPoint metadata provides your resource, in this case, the Firebox Access Portal, with information necessary to identify AuthPoint as a trusted identity provider.

Screen shot of the Certificate Management page in AuthPoint

  1. Log in to Fireware Web UI at:
    https://<your Firebox IP address>:8080
  2. Select Authentication > Servers.

Screen shot of the SAML authentication server

  1. Click SAML.
  2. Select the Enable SAML check box.
  3. In the IdP Name text box, type a name for the identity provider (AuthPoint). In this example, we type AuthPoint-Test.
  4. In the Host Name text box, type the fully qualified domain name that resolves to the Firebox external interface.
  5. In the IdP Metadata URL text box, paste the Metadata URL you copied from the Certificates page in the AuthPoint web UI.
  6. Leave the default value for Group Attribute Name.

Screen shot of the enabling SAML

  1. Click Save.

Screen shot of the saml enabled

Add Users or Groups for the SAML Authentication Server

  1. Log in to Fireware Web UI at:
    https://<your Firebox IP address>:8080
  2. Select Authentication > Users and Groups.
  3. Click Add.

Screen shot of the Add user and Group

  1. For Type, select Group.

    There are two ways to manage your users. You can add a group that matches an AuthPoint user group, or you can add a user with a name that matches an AuthPoint user account. In our example, we add a group, but you can add a user instead.

  2. In the Name text box, type your group name. This group name must match your AuthPoint group name. This is case–sensitive.
  3. From the Authentication Server drop-down menu, select the SAML authentication server you created. In this example, we select AuthPoint-Test.

Screen shot of the Users and Groups dialog box

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click Save.

Configure Access Portal

  1. Log in to Fireware Web UI at:
    https://<your Firebox IP address>:8080
  2. Select Subscription Services > Access Portal.
  3. Select the Enable Access Portal check box.

Screen shot of the Enable SAML

  1. Select the Reverse Proxy tab.
  2. Select the Enable Reverse Proxy check box.
  3. Click Add.
    The Reverse Proxy Action wizard opens.
  4. Click Next to continue with the wizard.
  5. On the Reverse Proxy Action page, select Predefined set of Reverse Proxy Actions for.
  6. From the drop-down list, select Microsoft Exchange.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 001

  1. Click Next.
  2. In the Internal URL text box, type the internal host URL for Microsoft Exchange Server web applications (OWA).
    Notice: Make sure that the Firebox uses its configured DNS servers to resolve the internal URL to the internal IP address of the OWA.
  3. In the Email Domain text box, type your Microsoft Exchange email domain.
  4. Select whether the web service uses a self-signed certificate. In our example, we do use a self-signed certificate so we select Yes.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action

  1. Click Next.
  2. In the External URL text box, type the external URL that remote users will use to connect to this service.
    Notice: Make sure that the external URL resolves to the external IP address of the Firebox using the external DNS server.
  3. Leave the default value in the Autodiscover URL text box.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 003

  1. Click Next.
  2. Select Yes to add Outlook Web Access as a web application in the Access Portal.
  3. Select No to forwarding credentials from the Access Portal to Outlook Web Access.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 004

  1. Click Next.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 005

  1. Click Finish.

Screen shot of the reserve proxy action 006

  1. Select the User Connection Settings tab.
  2. In the Authentication Servers section, from the Authentication server drop-down list, select the SAML authentication server you created. In this example, we select AuthPoint-Test.
  3. Click Add next to the SAML authentication server you created.
  4. To specify which users and groups can access which applications, in the User Access section, select the Specify the applications available to each user and group check box. If you want all users and groups permission to connect to all applications, In the User Access section, keep the default option All applications are available to all users and groups authenticated with Access Portal selected.

Screen shot of the add Active Directory

  1. Click Add to specify the applications available to each user and group.
  2. From the Authentication Server drop-down menu, select the SAML authentication server you created. In this example, we select AuthPoint-Test.
  3. From the Type drop-down menu, select Group.

    There are two ways to manage your users. You can add a user that matches an AuthPoint user account, or you can add a group with a name that matches an AuthPoint group. In our example, we add a group, but you can add a user instead.

  4. In the Name text box, type the group name. The group name is the group you created in the previous section.
  5. Select the Outlook Web Access web application check box.

Screen shot of the user connection settings 002

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Copy the SP metadata URL, then click Done.
  4. Open a web browser and go to the SP metadata URL (https://<[Host name or Firebox IP address]>/auth/saml). If you configure an Access Portal Port other than 443, you must navigate to https://<Firebox interface IP address>:<custom port number>/auth/saml.
    The configuration instructions page appears.

    Several Firebox features use SSL/TLS for secure communication. For more information, see Shared Settings and Policy.

  5. Copy the SAML EntityID, Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) URL, and Single Logout Service (SLS) URL values from Option 2. These are used to configure the Access Portal resource in AuthPoint.
    • SAML Entity ID – https://<host name>/auth/saml
    • Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) URL – https://<host name>/auth/saml/acs
    • Single Logout Service (SLS) URL – https://<host name>/auth/saml/sls
  6. Click Download Certificate. The certificate is used to encrypt the SAML assertion when configuring the SAML resource in AuthPoint.

Screen shot of the SAML IDP

Configure Firebox SAML Authentication Server

To start, you must get the URL for the AuthPoint metadata file. After you have that, you can configure the Access Portal.

  1. Log in to WatchGuard Cloud.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Configure > AuthPoint. If you have a Service Provider account, you must select an account from the Account Manager.
  3. Select Resources.
    The Resources page appears.
  4. Click Certificate.

Screen shot of the Resources page in AuthPoint

  1. Next to the AuthPoint certificate, you will associate with your resource, click and select Copy Metadata URL. We recommend that you choose the certificate with the latest expiration date. If you do not have a certificate, or if all of your certificates have expired, click Add Certificate and use the newly created certificate.

    The AuthPoint metadata provides your resource, in this case, the Firebox Access Portal, with information necessary to identify AuthPoint as a trusted identity provider.

Screen shot of the Certificate Management page in AuthPoint

  1. Log in to Fireware Web UI (https://<your Firebox IP address>:8080).
  2. Select Subscription Services > Access Portal.
  3. Select the Enable Access Portal check box.
  4. Select the SAML tab.
  5. Select the Enable SAML check box.
  6. In the IdP Name text box, type a name for the identity provider (AuthPoint). In our example, we type AuthPoint-Test.
  7. In the Host Name text box, type the fully qualified domain name that resolves to the Firebox external interface.
  8. In the IdP Metadata URL text box, paste the Metadata URL you copied from the Resources page in the AuthPoint web UI in Step 5.
  9. Leave the default value for Group Attribute Name.

Screen shot of the Enable SAML

  1. Select the Reverse Proxy tab.
  2. Select the Enable Reverse Proxy check box.
  3. Click Add.
    The Reverse Proxy Action wizard appears.
  4. Click Next to continue with the wizard.
  5. On the Reverse Proxy Action page, select Predefined set of Reverse Proxy Actions for.
  6. From the drop-down list, select Microsoft Exchange.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 001

  1. Click Next.
  2. In the Internal URL text box, type the internal host URL for Microsoft Exchange Server web applications (OWA).
    Notice: Make sure that the Firebox uses its configured DNS servers to resolve the internal URL to the internal IP address of the OWA.
  3. In the Email Domain text box, type your Microsoft Exchange email domain.
  4. Select whether the web service uses a self-signed certificate. In our example, we do use a self-signed certificate so we select Yes.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 002

  1. Click Next.
  2. In the External URL text box, type the external URL that remote users will use to connect to this service.
    Notice: Make sure that the external URL resolves to the external IP address of the Firebox using the external DNS server.
  3. Leave the default value in the Autodiscover URL text box.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 003

  1. Click Next.
  2. Select Yes to add Outlook Web Access as a web application in the Access Portal.
  3. Select No to forwarding credentials from the Access Portal to Outlook Web Access.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 004

  1. Click Next.

Screen shot of the add Reverse Proxy Action 005

  1. Click Finish.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Select the User Connection Settings tab.
  4. To specify which users and groups can access which applications, in the User Access section, select the Specify the applications available to each user and group check box. If you want all users and groups permission to connect to all applications, keep the default option selected, All applications are available to all users and groups authenticated with Access Portal.

Screen shot of the Authentication Servers settings

  1. Click Add
  2. From the Authentication Server drop-down menu, select the SAML authentication server you created. In this example, we select AuthPoint-Test.
  3. From the Type drop-down menu, select Group.

    There are two ways to manage your users. You can add a user that matches an AuthPoint user account, or you can add a group with a name that matches an AuthPoint group. In our example, we add a group, but you can add a user instead.

  4. To specify a group that already exists on the authentication server, type the group name in the Name text box.
  5. To add a new group, type the group name and click New Group.
    The Add User or Group page opens.

Screen shot of the Authentication Servers settings 002

  1. On the Add User or Group page, leave the other settings at their default values.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Select the Outlook Web Access web application check box.

Screen shot of the Authentication Servers settings 003

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Open a web browser and go to https://<[Host name or Firebox IP address]>/auth/saml. If you configure an Access Portal Port other than 443, you must navigate to https://<Firebox interface IP address>:<custom port number>/auth/saml.
    The configuration instructions page appears.

    Several Firebox features use SSL/TLS for secure communication. For more information, see Shared Settings and Policy.

  4. Copy the SAML EntityID, Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) URL, and Single Logout Service (SLS) URL values from Option 2. These are used to configure the Access Portal resource in AuthPoint.
    • SAML Entity ID – https://<host name>/auth/saml
    • Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) URL – https://<host name>/auth/saml/acs
    • Single Logout Service (SLS) URL – https://<host name>/auth/saml/sls
  5. Click Download Certificate. The certificate is used to encrypt the SAML assertion when configuring the SAML resource in AuthPoint.

Screen shot of the SAML IDP

Configure AuthPoint

Before AuthPoint can receive authentication requests from the Firebox Access Portal, you must add a SAML resource in AuthPoint. You must also create a Zero Trust authentication policy for the Firebox Access Portal resource to determine which users can authenticate and log in to the Firebox Access Portal and which authentication methods they can use (Push, QR code, and OTP).

Add a SAML Resource in AuthPoint

From the AuthPoint management UI:

  1. From the navigation menu, select Resources. Click Add Resource.
    The Add Resource page opens.

  1. From the Type drop-down list, select SAML.
    Additional fields appear.

  1. In the Name text box, type the resource name.
  2. From the Application Type drop-down list, select Firebox Access Portal.
  3. In the Service Provider Entity ID text box, paste the EntityID value you copied in the previous section (https://<your Host Name>/auth/saml).
  4. In the Assertion Consumer Service text box, paste the Assertion Consumer Service URL value you copied from the previous section (https://<your Host Name>/auth/saml/acs).
  5. From the User ID sent on redirection to service provider drop-down list, select User Name.
  6. In the Logout URL text box, paste the Single Logout Service URL value you copied from the previous section (https://<your Host Name>/auth/saml/sls).
  7. From the Signature Method drop-down list, select SHA-256.
  8. For Certificate, click Choose File and upload the Access Portal certificate you downloaded in the previous section.
  9. Adjacent to the Certificate, select the Encryption enabled slider to enable encryption.
  10. From the AuthPoint Certificate drop-down list, select the AuthPoint certificate to associate with your resource. This must be the same certificate that you copied the metadata URL in the previous section.

Screen shot of the SAML resource settings

  1. Click Save.

Add a Group in AuthPoint

You must have at least one user group in AuthPoint. If you already have a group, you do not have to add another group.

To add a WatchGuard Cloud-hosted group to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory:

  1. Go to Configure > Directories and Domain Services.
  2. Click the WatchGuard Cloud Directory domain name. If you have not yet added the WatchGuard Cloud Directory, click Add Authentication Domain and select the WatchGuard Cloud Directory.
    The New Group page appears.

Screenshot that shows the Directories and Domain Services page.

  1. In the Groups tab, click Add Group.
  2. In the Group Name text box, type a descriptive name for the group.
  3. (Optional) In the Description text box, type a description of the group.

Screen shot of the Add Group page.

  1. Click Save.
    Your group is added to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory and to AuthPoint.

Add a Zero Trust Authentication Policy

Zero Trust policies specify which resources users can authenticate to and which authentication methods they can use (Push, QR code, and OTP).

You must have at least one Zero Trust authentication policy that includes the Access Portal resource. If you already have Zero Trust authentication policies, you do not have to create a new authentication policy. You can add this resource to your existing authentication policies.

Users that do not have an authentication policy for a specific resource cannot authenticate to log in to that resource.

To configure a Zero Trust authentication policy:

  1. Go to Configure > Zero Trust. If you have a Service Provider account, you must select an account from Account Manager.
  2. Click Add Policy.
  3. Type a name for this policy.
  4. In the Target section, from the Content drop-down list, select which groups this policy applies to. You can make multiple selections to add multiple groups.
  5. In the Resources section, select the AuthPoint resources this policy applies to.
  6. In the Conditions section, select the conditions that apply to this policy. When you add a condition to an authentication policy, the policy applies only to user authentications that match the policy and the policy conditions. For example, if you add a Network Location to a policy, the policy only applies to user authentications that come from that Network Location. Users who only have a policy that includes a Network Location do not get access to the resource when they authenticate outside of that Network Location (because they do not have a policy that applies, not because authentication is denied). For more information, go to About Zero Trust Conditions.
    1. (Optional) To create a new condition, click Add New Condition. After you create a new condition, you must still add the condition to the policy.
    2. From the Type drop-down list, select the type of condition to add to the policy.
    3. From the Name drop-down list, select which condition of the chosen type to add to the policy.
    4. To add more conditions, repeat Step 6.

      If you add conditions to a policy, we recommend that you create a second policy for the same groups and resources without the conditions. Assign a higher priority to the policy with the policy objects. For more information about priority, go to About Zero Trust Policy Precedence.

  7. In the Action section, select an option to specify whether to allow or deny authentications for the resources in this policy. In our example, we want to allow authentications.
    • Allow — Allow user groups in this policy access to the resources associated with this policy.
    • Deny — Deny authentications when users in the groups associated with this policy try to authenticate to the resources associated with this policy.
  8. If you allow access with this policy, select the check box for each authentication option users can select when they authenticate to resources in this policy with MFA.

    For SAML resources, if you select more than one authentication option, users must select one of the available options when they authenticate. For example, if you select OTP and Push, users can choose to type their OTP or approve a push to authenticate. You cannot require that they do both.

  9. Click Save.
    Your policy is created and added to the end of the policy list.
  10. Review the order of your policies and adjust as necessary. For more information about priority, go to About Zero Trust Policy Precedence.

Add Users to AuthPoint

Before you assign users to a group, you must add the users to AuthPoint. There are two ways to add AuthPoint user accounts:

  • Sync users from an external user database
  • Add WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint users

Each user must be a member of a group. You must add at least one group before you can add users to AuthPoint.

To import users from Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, or an LDAP database, you must add an external identity in the AuthPoint management UI. External identities connect to user databases to get user account information and validate passwords.

  • To sync users from Active Directory or an LDAP database, you must add an LDAP external identity
  • To sync users from Microsoft Entra ID, you must add a Microsoft Entra ID external identity

When you sync users from an external user database, you can sync any number of users and they are all added to AuthPoint at one time. Users synced from an external user database use the password defined for their user account as their AuthPoint password.

To learn how to sync users, go to Sync Users from Active Directory or LDAP and Sync Users from Azure Active Directory.

You create WatchGuard Cloud-hosted users and groups from the WatchGuard Cloud Directory in WatchGuard Cloud. Directories and Domain Services is where you add shared authentication domains for WatchGuard Cloud devices and services, such as AuthPoint.

Users that you add to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory are automatically added to AuthPoint as well.

You add local AuthPoint users form Directories and Domain Services. You manage the users in AuthPoint on the Users page.

When you add WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint users, you choose whether the user is an MFA user or a non-MFA user.

  • MFA users are user accounts that will use AuthPoint multi-factor authentication to authenticate. This is not related to the AuthPoint Multi-Factor Authentication license type.
  • Non-MFA users are users that will only ever authenticate with a password, such as a service account user. Non-MFA users do not consume an AuthPoint user license and cannot authenticate to resources that require MFA. They can only authenticate to protected resources if the non-MFA user account has a password only authentication policy for that resource.

After you add a user, you can edit the user account if you need to change their account type. When you change a user account from MFA to non-MFA, AuthPoint deletes the tokens and password vault (if applicable) that belong to the user. This action cannot be undone.

Unlike users synced from an external user database, WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint users define and manage their own AuthPoint password. When you add a WatchGuard Cloud-hosted user account, the user receives an email that prompts them to set their password.

To learn how to add WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint user accounts to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory, go to Add Local Users to an Authentication Domain.

Test the Integration

To test the integration, you can authenticate with a mobile token on your mobile device. You can choose any method (one-time password, QR code, or push).

In this example, we show the push authentication method (users receive a push notification in the mobile app that they must approve to authenticate).

  1. In a web browser, go to the Access Portal URL (https://<Host Name>).
    Make sure your Firebox Host Name and reverse proxy external URL can resolve to the Firebox external IP address.

Screen shot of the login page

  1. Click AuthPoint-Test.
  2. Type your email address or AuthPoint user name. Click Next.
  3. If required, in the Password text box, type your password.
  4. Click Send Push.
  5. Approve the authentication request that is sent to your mobile device.
    You are logged in to the Access Portal.
  6. In the Access Portal, click the Outlook Web Access application tile.

Screen shot of the login 002

  1. Type your email user name and password. Click Sign in.
    You are logged in to Outlook Web Access.

Screen shot of the test 003

Screen shot of the test 004