Jira On-Premises Integration with AuthPoint
Deployment Overview
This document describes how to set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) for SAML Single Sign-On for Jira with AuthPoint as an identity provider.
SAML Single Sign-On for Jira is an app on the Atlassian Jira Software Server (On-Premises). SAML Single Sign-On for Jira and the Jira Software Server must already be configured and deployed before you set up MFA with AuthPoint.
SAML Single Sign-On for Jira 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 SAML Single Sign-On for Jira.
Before You Begin
Before you begin these procedures, make sure that:
- End users can log in to the Jira Software.
- An AuthPoint user has an assigned token.
- You have an AuthPoint identity provider (IdP) certificate (see Certificate Management)
Integration Summary
The software used in this guide include:
- Jira Software v8.3.2
- SAML Single Sign-On for Jira v3.3.2
- WatchGuard Cloud
Configure SAML Single Sign-On for Jira
You must first download the metadata file from the Resources page in the AuthPoint management UI. When you have the metadata file, you can configure SAML Single Sign-On for Jira.
To download the metadata file:
- Log in to WatchGuard Cloud.
- Click Configure > AuthPoint. If you have a Service Provider account, you must select an account from Account Manager.
- From the navigation menu, select Resources.
The Resources page appears. - Click Certificate.
- Next to the AuthPoint certificate you want to associate with your resource, click
and select Download Metadata. We recommend that you choose the certificate with the latest expiration date. For more information, see Certificate Management.
The AuthPoint metadata provides SAML Single Sign-On for Jira with the information necessary to identify AuthPoint as a trusted identity provider.
To install and configure SAML Single Sign-On for Jira:
- Log in to the Jira Software Server.
-
Click the administration menu (
) and select Manage apps.
- Click Find new apps.
- Search and install SAML Single Sign-On for Jira.
To install and configure AuthPoint as the SAML identity provider:
- From the navigation menu, select SAML Single Sign-On.
- On the SAML Single Sign-On Plugin Configuration page, select Identity Providers.
- Click Add IdP.
- From the IdP Type drop-down list, select Other SAML Identity Provider.
- In the Name text box, type AuthPoint.
- Click Next.
- Download SAML Single Sign-On Metadata via the Metadata URL.
- Click Next.
- From the Metadata Upload drop-down list, select I have a metadata XML file.
- Click Select metadata XML file and select the AuthPoint metadata file you downloaded.
- Click Import.
- Click Next.
- On the User ID Attribute and Transformation page, from the Authentication Attribute drop-down list, select Email.
- Click Next.
- On the User Creation and Update page, from the User Update Method drop-down list, select No User update.
- Click Save & Next.
To test the new configuration:
- Click Start test when you have finished the AuthPoint configuration.
You can also click Skip test & configure manually.
- When the test status is Success, click Next.
- Select the Enable SSO Redirect check box and click Save & Close.
- From the navigation menu, select SAML Single Sign-On > IdP Selection.
- In the IdP Selection Method list, select Email Address.
- In the Email domains section, click Add one.
- Enter an email domain to bind with an IdP. In this example, we enter watchguard\.com.
- Click Save settings.
Configure AuthPoint
Before AuthPoint can receive authentication requests from SAML Single Sign-On for Jira, you must:
- Specify the SAML Single Sign-On for Jira client as a SAML resource in AuthPoint.
- Add an access policy for the SAML Single Sign-On for Jira resource to the user group(s) that must authenticate to log in.
Add a SAML Single Sign-On for Jira Resource
From the AuthPoint management UI:
- From the navigation menu, select Resources.
- From the Choose a Resource Type drop-down list, select SAML. Click Add Resource.
- On the SAML page, in the Name text box, type a name for this resource.
- From the Application Type drop-down list, select Others.
- In the Service Provider Entity ID text box, type the entityID value from the Single Sign-On for Jira metadata file.
- In the Assertion Consumer Service text box, type the AssertionConsumerService Location value from the Single Sign-On for Jira metadata file.
- From the User ID sent on redirection to service provider drop-down list, select Email.
- From the Signature Method drop-down list, select SHA-256.
- From the AuthPoint Certificate drop-down list, select the AuthPoint certificate to associate with your resource. This must be the same certificate that you downloaded the metadata for in the previous section.
- Click Save.
Add an Access Policy to AuthPoint
You must have at least one user group in AuthPoint for authentication with Jira, and you must assign an access policy for the Jira resource to that group. If you already have a group, you do not need to add another group.
In the AuthPoint management UI:
- From the navigation menu, select Groups.
- To add a new group, click Add Group. If you already have a group that you want to use, select the group to edit it.
- In the Name text box, type a descriptive name for the group.
- (Optional) In the Description text box, type a description of the group.
- In the Access Policy section, click Add Policy.
- In the Add Policy dialog box, from the Resource drop-down list, select the resource you want to add an access policy for.
- (Optional) To require that users type their password before they authenticate for this resource, enable the Require Password Authentication toggle.
- Select the authentication options that users in this group can select from when they authenticate.
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.
- Click Add.
- (Optional) Add one or more safe locations to your group. For more information about safe locations and detailed instructions to add them, see About Safe Locations.
- Click Save.
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 local 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, Azure Active Directory, 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 Azure Active Directory, you must add an Azure AD 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, see Sync Users from Active Directory or LDAP and Sync Users from Azure Active Directory.

You can create local AuthPoint users on the Users page in the AuthPoint management UI. Because you can create only one user at a time, you most commonly do this when you want to create test users or to add only a small number of users.
Unlike users synced from an external user database, local AuthPoint users define and manage their own AuthPoint password. When you add a local user account, the user receives an email that prompts them to set their password.
To learn how to add local AuthPoint user accounts, see Add Local AuthPoint Users.
Test the Integration
To test the integration of AuthPoint and your Single Sign-On for Jira, you can authenticate with a mobile token on your mobile device. You can choose any authentication method (for example, 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.
The email address used in this procedure must be associated with both your AuthPoint and Jira user accounts.
To test the integration:
- In a web browser, go to the Jira login URL (for example, http://xxxxxxxx:8080).
- In the text box, type the user email address.
The AuthPoint authentication page appears. - Type the same email address and click Next.
- If required, in the Password text box, type your password.
- For the authentication method, click Send Push.
- Approve the authentication request that is sent to your mobile device.
The Jira dashboard appears.