Normally authentication is handled by the Blackboard Learn server, delegating the password validation request to the LMS when necessary. In certain cases it may be necessary for the LMS to automatically log a user into Blackboard Learn without requiring the user to enter their password. An example of this is when the LMS supports Single Signon from an external portal. If the LMS has already handled user validation, it may use Blackboard Learn's Single Signon mechanism to redirect the user into Blackboard Learn, bypassing the user login page:

!Learning Environment Connector Developer Guide^sequence_sso.png!

Implementing Single Signon

Single Signon is handled by the Integration Gateway Building Block. As with Runtime Sync and Content System integration, this Building Block must be configured with a shared secret.

The Single Signon request should be sent to the following URL on the Blackboard Learn server: /webapps/bb-integration-gateway-bb_bb60/sso. Parameters to include in the request:

• username - lms username
• integrationId - glcId
• targetLocation - optional URL to redirect user to after receiving their AS credentials
• mac - authorization code (please see Learning Environment Connector Developer Guide - Runtime Sync#MAC Generation Algorithm)

  Fields to include in MAC are username, integrationId, targetLocation.

Specifying a page to redirect to once authenticated

After the user has been authenticated within Blackboard Learn, the Single Signon mechanism supports redirecting the user to an arbitrary location. This is accomplished by providing a value for the targetLocation parameter. After the SSO request has been authenticated, the user will be redirected into the integration's tab. If targetLocation has been specified, that URL will be loaded in the tab's frame.

If necessary, the targetLocation URL can be modified before it is loaded for the user. This is accomplished by implementing the NavigationProvider.rewriteUrl(String) method.

Example URLs

The shared secret used to generate the following examples is "demo".

Without a targetLocation value:

[http://tick.bbbb.net/webapps/bb-integration-gateway-bb_bb60/sso?username=testuser&integrationId=myintegrationid&targetLocation=]

With a targetLocation value:

[http://tick.bbbb.net/webapps/bb-integration-gateway-bb_bb60/sso?username=testuser&
  integrationId=myintegrationid&targetLocation=/lms/content/here.html&mac=05e6ea29e3fe7536f62c30d1358400b4]