Zimbra cloud app

Using the SAML 2.0 standard, you can configure single sign-on (SSO) for a number of cloud apps. After you set up SSO, your users can use their Google Workspace credentials to sign in to an app using SSO.

Use SAML to set up SSO for Zimbra

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You must be signed in as a super administrator for this task.

Step 1: Set up Google as a SAML identity provider

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using an account with super administrator privileges (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsWeb and mobile apps.
3. Click Add appSearch for apps.
4. For Enter app name, enter Zimbra.
5. In the search results, point to Zimbra and click Select.
6. In the Google Identity Provider details window, for Option 2: Copy the SSO URL, entity ID, and certificate:
   1. Next to SSO URL, click Copy and save the URL.
   2. Next to Entity ID, click Copy and save the URL.
   3. Next to Certificate, click Copy and save the certificate.

   You need these details to complete the setup in Zimbra.

7. Click Continue.
8. On the Service provider details page, for ACS URL and Entity ID, replace {your-hostname} with the URL that you use to access your Zimbra instance.
9. Click Continue.
10. (Optional) To map Google directory attributes to the corresponding app attributes, in the Attribute Mapping window:

    1. Click Add Mapping.
    2. Click Select fieldselect a Google directory attribute.
    3. For App attributes, enter the corresponding app attribute.
11. (Optional) To enter group names that are relevant for this app:

    1. For Group membership (optional), click Search for a group, enter one or more letters of the group name, and select the group name.
    2. Add additional groups as needed (maximum of 75 groups).
    3. For App attribute, enter the groups attribute name of the corresponding service provider.

    Regardless of how many group names you enter, the SAML response includes only groups that a user is a member of (directly or indirectly). For more information, go to About group membership mapping.

12. Click Finish.

Step 2: Set up Zimbra as a SAML 2.0 service provider

1. Sign in to your Zimbra server console with root privileges and enter the following commands:
   • mkdir /opt/zimbra/lib/ext/saml 
   • cp /opt/zimbra/extensions-network-extra/saml/samlextn.jar /opt/zimbra/lib/ext/saml/
2. Sign out and then sign back in to the Zimbra server as a zimbra user.
3. In the following certificate, replace {domain-name} with your Google domain name and {certificate} with the contents of the certificate that you downloaded in Step 1:

   zmprov md {domain-name} zimbraMyoneloginSamlSigningCert "{certificate}"

4. (Optional) To update the login and logout URLs, replace {domain-name} with your Google domain name and {SSO-URL} with the SSO URL that you downloaded in Step 1 in the following certificates.
   • zmprov md {domain-name} zimbraWebClientLoginURL {SSO-URL}
   • zmprov md {domain-name} zimbraWebClientLogoutURL {SSO-URL}
5. Enter the following commands:
   • zmprov mcf zimbraCsrfRefererCheckEnabled FALSE
   • service zimbra restart
6. (Optional) To confirm your settings, enter the following commands, replacing {domain-name} with your Google domain name:
   • zmprov gd {domain-name} zimbraMyoneloginSamlSigningCert
   • zmprov gd {domain-name} zimbraWebClientLoginURL
   • zmprov gd {domain-name} zimbraWebClientLogoutURL
   • zmprov gcf zimbraCsrfRefererCheckEnabled

 

Step 3: Turn on app for users

Before you begin: To turn a service on or off for certain users, put their accounts in an organizational unit (to control access by department) or add them to an access group (to allow access for users across or within departments).

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using an account with super administrator privileges (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsWeb and mobile apps.
3. Click Zimbra.
4. Click User access.

5. To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click On for everyone or Off for everyone, and then click Save.

6. (Optional) To turn a service on or off for an organizational unit:

   1. At the left, select the organizational unit.
   2. To change the Service status, select On or Off.
   3. Choose one:
      • If the Service status is set to Inherited and you want to keep the updated setting, even if the parent setting changes, click Override.
      • If the Service status is set to Overridden, either click Inherit to revert to the same setting as its parent, or click Save to keep the new setting, even if the parent setting changes.
        Note: Learn more about organizational structure.
7. To turn on a service for a set of users across or within organizational units, select an access group. For details, go to Use groups to customize service access.
8. Ensure that your Zimbra user account email domains match the primary domain of your organization’s managed Google Account.

Step 4: Verify SSO is working

Zimbra supports both identity provider-initiated and service provider-initiated SSO.

Verify identity provider-initiated SSO

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using an account with super administrator privileges (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsWeb and mobile apps.
3. Click Zimbra.
4. In the Zimbra section, click Test SAML login.

   The app should open in a separate tab. If it doesn’t, troubleshoot the error message and try again. For details on troubleshooting, go to SAML app error messages.

Verify service provider-initiated SSO

1. Close all browser windows.
2. Go to your Zimbra instance.

   You should be redirected to the Google sign-in page.

3. Enter your Google Workspace username and password.

After your credentials are authenticated, the app should open.

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