Configure Benchling for Single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID

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

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

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.

• Benchling single sign-on (SSO) enabled subscription.

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

• Benchling supports SP and IDP initiated SSO
• Benchling supports Just In Time user provisioning

To configure the integration of Benchling into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add Benchling 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 Entra ID > Enterprise apps > New application.
3. In the Add from the gallery section, type Benchling in the search box.
4. Select Benchling 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 with Benchling 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 Benchling.

To configure and test Microsoft Entra SSO with Benchling, 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 Benchling SSO - to configure the single sign-on settings on application side.
   1. Create Benchling test user - to have a counterpart of B.Simon in Benchling that's linked to the Microsoft Entra representation of user.
3. Test SSO - to verify whether the configuration works.

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 Entra ID > Enterprise apps > Benchling > 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 pencil 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, enter the values for the following fields:

   a. In the Identifier text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://<SUBDOMAIN>.benchling.com/ext/saml/metadata.xml

   b. In the Reply URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern: https://<SUBDOMAIN>.benchling.com/ext/saml/signin:finish

6. Select Set additional URLs and perform the following step 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://<SUBDOMAIN>.benchling.com/ext/saml/signin:begin

   Note

   These values aren't real. Update these values with the actual Identifier, Reply URL and Sign-on URL. Contact Benchling Client support team to get these values. You can also refer to the patterns shown in the Basic SAML Configuration section.

7. Benchling application expects the SAML assertions in a specific format, which requires you to add custom attribute mappings to your SAML token attributes configuration. The following screenshot shows the list of default attributes.

   

8. In addition to above, Benchling application expects few more attributes to be passed back in SAML response which are shown below. These attributes are also pre populated but you can review them as per your requirement.

   Expand table

   Name	Source Attribute
   FirstName	user.givenname
   LastName	user.surname
   Email	user.mail

9. 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.

   

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

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

In this section, a user called B.Simon is created in Benchling. Benchling supports just-in-time user provisioning, which is enabled by default. There's no action item for you in this section. If a user doesn't already exist in Benchling, a new one is created after authentication.

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

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

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

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

You can also use Microsoft My Apps to test the application in any mode. When you select the Benchling tile in the My Apps, 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 Benchling for which you set up the SSO. For more information about the My Apps, see Introduction to the My Apps.

Once you configure Benchling 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.