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0D50Z00008GiS1ASAVOkta Classic EngineOkta Integration NetworkAnswered2025-03-03T09:04:54.000Z2018-08-29T03:53:10.000Z2020-07-31T17:03:45.000Z
Has anyone successfully configured Cisco ASA VPN for Okta SAML?

The rough configuration guide was dropped from Okta's support site, and it doesn't address some of the configuration parameters in Okta such as the Name ID ​Format which may be critical to getting this working. After our first stab at the configuration and after upgrading our AnyConnect client to a version that supports the SAML authentication method we get the message "Authentication failed due to problem retrieving the single sign-on cookie."


m1uva and PeterC.85366 like this.
  • You can create a SAML application in Okta and configure it for Cisco ASA through the App Integration Wizard. The instructions to create a SAML 2.0 app can be found here: https://help.okta.com/en/prod/Content/Topics/Apps/Apps_App_Integration_Wizard.htm

    Once created, you'll be given the 'Identity Provider Single Sign-On URL', 'Identity Provider Issuer' and the Okta certificate of which you'll use to configure the Cisco ASA device.

    You can retrieve the above information by going to the Custom SAML App > Sign-on tab and clicking on 'View Setup instruction'. 

    The last step, according to the instruction, is to get the SP metadata from the following URL -https://<VPN-base-URL>/saml/sp/metadata/<name of the connection profile> and update the Okta SAML configuration. 

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  • Thank you for contacting Okta support, we have customers that had successfully Configured Cisco ASA VPN using our updated documentation https://support.okta.com/help/s/article/Cisco-ASA-VPN-Configuration-Guide, name Id format is the value you choose will depend on the application – this is the username format that you are sending in the SAMLResponse. Consult the SP documentation to determine what format to use. If you encounter any issues configuring Cisco ASA VPN, please open a support case.

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  • JeffS.10061 (Customer)

    Thanks Bogdan. The updated documentation simply lists use of SAML as being supported, but all of the detailed configuration steps are for using the Okta RADIUS ​Agent. In the past there was a semi-detailed guide for configuring Okta and the ASSA to use SAML (instead of RADIUS) but the guide was removed from Okta's customer facing content and even though we had saved a copy, it did not cover many of the parameters needed when configuring a SAML app in Okta. I am looking for a cookbook guide like Okta has for using RADIUS, or for a customer who is using SAML who can advise me on the missing information. Thanks!

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  • You can create a SAML application in Okta and configure it for Cisco ASA through the App Integration Wizard. The instructions to create a SAML 2.0 app can be found here: https://help.okta.com/en/prod/Content/Topics/Apps/Apps_App_Integration_Wizard.htm

    Once created, you'll be given the 'Identity Provider Single Sign-On URL', 'Identity Provider Issuer' and the Okta certificate of which you'll use to configure the Cisco ASA device.

    You can retrieve the above information by going to the Custom SAML App > Sign-on tab and clicking on 'View Setup instruction'. 

    The last step, according to the instruction, is to get the SP metadata from the following URL -https://<VPN-base-URL>/saml/sp/metadata/<name of the connection profile> and update the Okta SAML configuration. 

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  • k8hnf (k8hnf)

    Bogdan, thank you for this setup guide. I had a couple questions for you, which version of AnyConnect did you use? and did you have any trouble getting to the https://URL/saml/sp/metadata/ url?

  • ulazx (ulazx)

    Bogdan,

     

    We followed the steps you outlined above twice and we still received a 404 Page Not Found when we launch the Anyconnect client and try to connect. We are at a loss, any help would be much appriciated.

     

    Thanks!

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  • k8hnf (k8hnf)

    Michael, I actually tried posting a picture but it didn't work and deleted my entire comment, so here I go again. We had this same issue and finally got this setup work wonderfully. The first thing we did was upgrade our ASA software to 9.8(2) and we pushed the AnyConnect 4.6 client to the end users. The 4.5 client wouldn't open the popup browser window for our SSO page. We also had an issue with the mobile Android devices getting the 404 error. We resolved that issue by installing the intermediate certificate from our cert provider onto the ASA alongside the initial cert for the AnyConnect. Below is our config on the Okta side that got it working for us. The "Okta-users" part at the end of the URLs is the AnyConnect Connection Profiles name you created on the ASA. Let me know if you have anymore questions on our config and maybe I can send you some more information.

     

    Single Sign On URL

    https://vpn.url.com/+CSCOE+/saml/sp/acs?tgname=Okta-users

    Recipient URL

    https://vpn.url.com/+CSCOE+/saml/sp/acs?tgname=Okta-users

    Destination URL

    https://vpn.url.com/+CSCOE+/saml/sp/acs?tgname=Okta-users

    Audience Restriction

    https://vpn.url.com/saml/sp/metadata/Okta-users

    Default Relay State

    Name ID Format

    Unspecified

    Response

    Signed

    Assertion Signature

    Signed

    Signature Algorithm

    RSA_SHA256

    Digest Algorithm

    SHA256

    Assertion Encryption

    Unencrypted

    SAML Single Logout

    Disabled

    authnContextClassRef

    PasswordProtectedTransport

    Honor Force Authentication

    Yes

    SAML Issuer ID

    http://www.okta.com/${org.externalKey}

     

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  • ulazx (ulazx)

    Joseph
    Thanks so much for the response and information. Our Okta side looks exactly like yours settings wise but I had one question. We have a 5508 ASA and it’s at firmware 9.8.6 from what I remember and we downloaded Annyconnect client 4.6 and we did purchase a cert from Trustwave for the ASA, made a dns record to resolve the asa IP and we downloaded, from the Okta instructions, the cert and uploaded that to the ASa. That is correct in doing what we did with the Certs? I am thinking it’s a config somewhere with our ASA we are missing.

    Thanks
    Mike
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  • r4bn5 (r4bn5)

    Hello everyone,

    I might be a little late to the party, but I just wanted to throw my two cents into the mix and mention we have successfully been using Cisco ASA VPN with Okta SAML since this past June. We are using it with our test ASA VPN and another ASA VPN that is only used for a small subset of users. We have not rolled it out to our production VPN yet because of a known issue with the Apple iOS Cisco AnyConnect app and an odd login issue with VPN from Okta dealing with empty secondaryEmail attributes that we may have just cleared up. The iOS AnyConnect issue is when it prompts for MFA and you leave the AnyConnect app to go to Okta Verify and approve the MFA challenge, the AnyConnect app ends the authentication because you left the AnyConnect app. Cisco is aware of the issue, but no ETA on when the fix will be in place. We're eager to implement in production as it has worked well apart from the issues I have listed.

    -Dan

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  • JeffS.10061 (Customer)

    Dan – thanks for sharing. That’s great information.
  • k8hnf (k8hnf)

    Dan - We also came across this, but it only does that when we had MFA setup on the same iOS device. For instance, we opened the Cisco AnyConnect app on an iPhone and after clicking connect, we used a separate iPad for MFA, approved it, then looked back at the original iPhone and it signed in. Kind of sucks, but it is a bug that Cisco needs to resolve.

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Has anyone successfully configured Cisco ASA VPN for Okta SAML?