Zendesk Integration with AuthPoint

Deployment Overview

This document describes how to set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Zendesk with AuthPoint as an identity provider. Zendesk must already be configured and deployed before you set up MFA with AuthPoint.

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

Zendesk 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 Zendesk.

A diagram that shows the data flow between Zendesk and AuthPoint for SAML authentication.

Before You Begin

Before you begin these procedures, make sure that:

Configure Zendesk

To start, you must download the metadata file from the Certificate Management page in the AuthPoint management UI. After you have that, you can configure Zendesk.

  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 Account Manager.
  3. Select Resources.
  4. Click Certificate.

  5. Next to AuthPoint certificate you will associate with your resource, click and select Download Metadata. 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 Zendesk, with information necessary to identify AuthPoint as a trusted identity provider.

  6. Next to the same certificate, click Copy Fingerprint.
    The Copy Fingerprint window appears.
  7. From the Algorithm drop-down list, select SHA-256.
  8. Click Copy next to the formatted or unformatted fingerprint. We recommend you leave this window open for reference.

  9. Open a new tab and log in to Zendesk as an administrator.
  10. Select Admin > Security.

  11. Select the Global tab.
  12. Click Manage security settings in Admin Center.

  13. Select Single sign-on.
  14. Next to SAML, click Edit.

  15. Select the Enable check box.
  16. Open the AuthPoint metadata file you downloaded and find the SingleSignOnService Location value.
  17. In the SAML SSO URL text box, type or paste the SingleSignOnService Location value from the AuthPoint metadata file.
  18. In the Certificate fingerprint text box, paste the fingerprint value from the Copy Fingerprint window in AuthPoint.
  19. Click Save.

  20. From the navigation menu, select End users or Staff members based on the type of user you want to require MFA for.
  21. Select the External authentication check box.
  22. Click Save.

Configure AuthPoint

Before AuthPoint can receive authentication requests from Zendesk, you must add a SAML resource in AuthPoint. You must also create an authentication policy for the Zendesk resource to determine which users can authenticate and log in to Zendesk 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. On the SAML page, in the Name text box, type a name for this resource.
  2. From the Application Type drop-down list, select Zendesk.
  3. In the Service Provider Entity ID text box, type https://<your subdomain>.zendesk.com>.
  4. In the Assertion Consumer Service text box, type https://<your subdomain>.zendesk.com/access/saml.
  5. From the AuthPoint Certificate drop-down list, select the certificate to associate with your resource.

    This must be the same certificate that you downloaded the metadata for at the start of the Configure Zendesk section. For more information, see Certificate Management.

  6. Click Save.

Add a Group in AuthPoint

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

To add a group to AuthPoint:

  1. From the navigation menu, select Groups.
  2. Click Add Group.
    The New Group page appears.

Screenshot that shows the Groups page.

  1. In the Name text box, type a descriptive name for the group.
  2. (Optional) In the Description text box, type a description of the group.

Screen shot of the New Group page.

  1. Click Save.
    Your group is listed on the Groups page.

Screenshot of the Save button on the New Group page.

Add an Authentication Policy to AuthPoint

Authentication 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 authentication policy in AuthPoint that includes the Zendesk resource. If you already have 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 an authentication policy:

  1. From the navigation menu, select Authentication Policies.
  2. Click Add Policy.

Screenshot of the Add Policy button on the Authentication Policies page.

  1. Type a name for this policy.
  2. From the Select the authentication options drop-down list, select Authentication options and select which authentication options users can choose 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.

  1. Select which groups this policy applies to. You can select more than one group. To configure this policy to apply to all groups, select All Groups.
  2. Select the resource that you created in the previous section. If you want this policy to apply to additional resources, select each resource this policy applies to. To configure this policy to apply to all resources, select All Resources.

Screenshot of the Add Policy page with the groups and resources selected

  1. (Optional) If you have configured policy objects such as a Network Location, select which policy objects apply to this policy. When you add a policy object to a policy, the policy only applies to user authentications that are the same as the conditions of the policy objects. 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).

    If you configure policy objects, we recommend that you create a second policy for the same groups and resources without the policy objects. The policy with the policy objects should have a higher priority.

Screenshot of the Policy Objects drop-down list.

  1. Click Save.
    Your policy is created and added to the end of the policy list.

    When you create a new policy, we recommend that you review the order of your policies. AuthPoint always adds new policies to the end of the policy list.

Screenshot of the Save button on the Add Policy page.

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, 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 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, go to Add Local AuthPoint Users.

Test the Integration

To test AuthPoint MFA with Zendesk, you can authenticate with a mobile token on your mobile device. For SAML resources, you can choose any method (push, QR code, or one-time password).

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 Zendesk URL.
  2. Type your email address or AuthPoint user name. Click Next.
  3. If required, in the Password text box, type your password.
  4. For the authentication method, select Push.
  5. Click Send.
  6. Approve the authentication request that is sent to your mobile device.
    You are logged in to Zendesk.