Microsoft Entra single sign-on (SSO) integration with Nature Research

In this article, you learn how to integrate Nature Research with Microsoft Entra ID. When you integrate Nature Research with Microsoft Entra ID, you can:

• Control in Microsoft Entra ID who has access to Nature Research.
• Enable your users to be automatically signed-in to Nature Research with their Microsoft Entra accounts.
• Manage your accounts in one central location.

Prerequisites

The scenario outlined in this article assumes that you already have the following prerequisites:

• A Microsoft Entra user account with an active subscription. If you don't already have one, you can Create an account for free.
• One of the following roles:
  • Application Administrator
  • Cloud Application Administrator
  • Application Owner.

• Nature Research single sign-on (SSO) enabled subscription.

Scenario description

In this article, you configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO in a test environment.

• Nature Research supports SP and IDP initiated SSO

Adding Nature Research from the gallery

To configure the integration of Nature Research into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add Nature Research from the gallery to your list of managed SaaS apps.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.
2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > New application.
3. In the Add from the gallery section, type Nature Research in the search box.
4. Select Nature Research from results panel and then add the app. Wait a few seconds while the app is added to your tenant.

Alternatively, you can also use the Enterprise App Configuration Wizard. In this wizard, you can add an application to your tenant, add users/groups to the app, assign roles, and walk through the SSO configuration as well. Learn more about Microsoft 365 wizards.

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO for Nature Research

Configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Nature Research using a test user called B.Simon. For SSO to work, you need to establish a link relationship between a Microsoft Entra user and the related user in Nature Research.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Nature Research, perform the following steps:

1. Configure Microsoft Entra SSO - to enable your users to use this feature.
   1. Create a Microsoft Entra test user - to test Microsoft Entra single sign-on with B.Simon.
   2. Assign the Microsoft Entra test user - to enable B.Simon to use Microsoft Entra single sign-on.
2. Configure Nature Research SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
3. Test SSO - to verify whether the configuration works.

Configure Microsoft Entra SSO

Follow these steps to enable Microsoft Entra SSO.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Cloud Application Administrator.

2. Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Nature Research > Single sign-on.

3. On the Select a single sign-on method page, select SAML.

4. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, select the edit/pen icon for Basic SAML Configuration to edit the settings.

   

5. On the Basic SAML Configuration section, if you wish to configure the application in IDP initiated mode, the Identifier and Reply URL values are already pre-populated with Azure but you need to enter the Relay State value.

   In the Relay State text box, type the URL: https://www.nature.com
   select save.

6. Select Set additional URLs and perform the following steps if you wish to configure the application in SP initiated mode:

   In the Sign-on URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://sp.nature.com/saml/login?idp=<IDP_ENTITY_ID>

   Note

   The Sign-On URL value isn't real. <IDP_ENTITY_ID> is the Microsoft Entra Identifier copied from the Set up Nature Research section. You can also refer to the patterns shown in the Basic SAML Configuration section.

7. Select Save.

8. On the Set up single sign-on with SAML page, In the SAML Signing Certificate section, select copy button to copy App Federation Metadata Url and save it on your computer.

   

Create and assign Microsoft Entra test user

Follow the guidelines in the create and assign a user account quickstart to create a test user account called B.Simon.

Configure Nature Research SSO

To configure single sign-on on Nature Research side, you need to send the App Federation Metadata Url to Nature Research support team. They set this setting to have the SAML SSO connection set properly on both sides.

Test SSO

In this section, you test your Microsoft Entra single sign-on configuration with following options.

SP initiated:

• Select Test this application, this option redirects to Nature Research Sign on URL where you can initiate the login flow.

• Go to Nature Research Sign-on URL directly and initiate the login flow from there.

IDP initiated:

• Select Test this application, and you should be automatically signed in to the Nature Research for which you set up the SSO

You can also use Microsoft Access Panel to test the application in any mode. When you select the Nature Research tile in the Access Panel, if configured in SP mode you would be redirected to the application sign on page for initiating the login flow and if configured in IDP mode, you should be automatically signed in to the Nature Research for which you set up the SSO. For more information about the Access Panel, see Introduction to the Access Panel.

Related content

Once you configure Nature Research you can enforce session control, which protects exfiltration and infiltration of your organization’s sensitive data in real time. Session control extends from Conditional Access. Learn how to enforce session control with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps.