Set up SSO for Showpad with Entra ID

Showpad offers a SAML-based Single Sign-On (SSO) service that allows users to access Showpad using their organization's credentials. This simplifies users' lives by requiring fewer usernames and passwords, as there is only one account to remember.

This article describes how you can set up SSO for Showpad using Entra ID as the Identity Provider (IDP).

Key features

• Users can access Showpad with their Entra ID account
• Auto-provision & assign users to the right groups in Showpad
• Reduce security threats to sensitive data loss
• Centralized user, password, and authorization management

You need this to succeed

The quick way

1.  Create a new SAML custom connector app in Entra ID.
2. Download the Entra ID SAML metadata.
3. Enable SSO on Showpad's Admin App.
4. Paste the XML metadata from Entra ID in the Showpad SSO configuration.
5. Choose SHA-256 as the Hash Algorithm.
6. Copy the Showpad Entity ID, Assertion Consumer Service Endpoint, and Single Logout Service Endpoint.
7. Configure the new Entra ID app with the Showpad data.
8. Log in with your Entra ID account.

Do this step by step

Note: We do our best to stay up to date with the platforms Showpad can connect with, however, we are not notified of any changes to their procedures. We recommend verifying information directly with the platform to ensure its accuracy.

1. In Azure Portal, select Microsoft Entra ID in the left menu.
2. Click Enterprise Applications and select New Application. 
3. Search for Showpad and select it. Click Create to add the application to your Entra ID.
4. In the Showpad AD app in your Azure Portal, click Configure, then Single sign-on, and select SAML.
5. In the Basic SAML Configuration section, click Edit, enter your Showpad organization's details, and save them. You will be asked to test the configuration, but the Showpad connection must be set up first.
6. In the SAML Signing Certificate section, click Download next to the Federation Metadata XML.
7. Open the file in a text editor and copy the content of the file.
8. In your Showpad organization, click the gear icon to open the settings and navigate to the Sign On in the left menu.
9. Click Add Configuration, enter a name (e.g., Entra ID SSO), and select the SAML 2.0 protocol in the dropdown menu. Click Next.
10. By default, we will use the recommended SHA-256 hash algorithm, but Showpad supports the older SHA-1 format as well. If preferred, you can enable auto-provisioning by ticking the corresponding checkbox. 
11. Under User Identity, select Identity resides in the NameID element of the subject.  
12. Check Auto-Provision Accounts for new users when they log in. Using auto-provisioning, all Entra ID users will have a new Showpad user created in the system.
13. Fill in the Auto-Provisioning values. They are displayed in the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML menu of your Entra ID configuration, under the Attributes & Claims section. The first three values are mandatory.

    Note: If you are mapping an attribute element as the identity instead of using the subject NameID, you may need to fill out the full namespace along with the element name in Showpad. For example, instead of "emailAddress" as the named element, you may need to use something like "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress" instead.

14. Click Save.
15. Click the info icon of your newly added configuration on the Sign-On overview page.
16. Click Download under Showpad Metadata to download the XML file.
17. In your Entra ID Showpad app, upload the metadata file, then click Add.
18. Log out of Showpad and return to the login page. You should now be able to log in to Showpad using Entra ID credentials.