Configuring Active Directory SSO for Agents

Configuring Active Directory SSO for Agents

Active Directory (AD) by Microsoft is a centralized and standardized system that automates network management of user data, security, and distributed resources. In other words, it allows the management and storage of information and provides authentication and authorization mechanisms. You can store information about your organization members, verify credentials, and define their access rights.

Active Directory single sign-on (SSO) with Zoho Desk allows you to leverage your existing corporate directories and authentication systems to authorize employee access to Zoho Desk. This article talks about configuring Active Directory single sign-on in your help desk using the Zoho Directory Sync.

Zoho Directory Sync is a secure and straightforward directory and password synchronization tool that syncs users and their passwords in Active Directory (AD) with Zoho accounts. This way, you can bring all your employees into Zoho Desk as agents without being prompted to enter separate sign-in credentials.

Setting up Zoho Directory Sync
  1. Go to https://directory.zoho.com/
  2. Sign in using your Zoho Desk credentials.
  3. You will be taken to the My Apps tab on signing in.



  4. If not, you will need to create a Zoho Directory account.
    To create an account, enter your company name and then click     Create Account.



  5. Click Admin Panel in the left menu, and select Applications.



  6. Click Add Application on the Applications Home page.



  7. Click Add corresponding to Zoho Desk on the products list page.
  8. You can view the Zoho Desk account you belong to.



  9. Select the account and then click Next.
  10. Click Yes, Add.
    The Zoho Desk account and agents will be associated with this Zoho Directory organization.
  11. Click OK to complete the association.

Now that you have associated with your Zoho Desk account, you must configure Active Directory authentication for this organization. This way, you can synchronize your Active Directory users with Zoho Directory. Since setting up and installing AD is beyond this guide's scope, click the Active Directory tab from inside Zoho Directory for detailed instructions.

Managing Zoho Desk Users
Once you have synced your AD users, you can perform all user provisioning activities like adding new agents, managing existing agents, etc., from inside Zoho Directory.

Setting IP Restrictions
If you frequently work with sensitive data, you can set up an allowed IP address range for your organization. Once configured, your users can only access your account from that particular IP address. It will block any unsolicited access attempts from any other IP address.

To configure allowed IPs:
  1. Go to https://directory.zoho.com/ 
  2. Sign in using your Zoho Desk credentials.
  3. You will be taken to the My Apps tab on signing in.
  4. Click Admin Panel on the left pane and then click Security.



  5. On the Security Policies page, Default Policy is selected by default.
  6. Click on the Allowed IPs tab and then click Add IP address.
  7. On the Add IP Address pop-up, you can either add a static IP or set an IP range.
  8. Once you've done this, click Add.
All further logins will be allowed only from the configured IP addresses.

Note:
  1. Configuring allowed IPs for the Default Policy will impact all users irrespective of their applications. You can set up a more granular restriction by adding a new security policy that applies to a particular group of users.

If you have any questions about this configuration, please write to us at support@zohodirectory.com.



It is the responsibility of the data administrator to provide requisite permissions to their agents.

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