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Resolve Federated ID (SSO) sign-in errors

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Applies to enterprise.

Resolve common authentication errors, verify configurations, and troubleshoot login problems related to Federated ID (SSO) in Adobe products. Get tips to fix SAML errors, certificate issues, and other authentication challenges.

Note:

Refer to the following articles if your organization has set up SSO via Google Federation or Microsoft Azure Sync:

Overview

After successfully configuring SSO within the Adobe Admin Console, ensure that you select Download Adobe Metadata file and save the SAML XML Metadata file to your computer. Your identity provider requires this file to enable single sign-on. Import the XML configuration details properly into your identity provider (IdP). This is required for SAML integration with your IdP and will make sure that the data is configured properly.

If you have questions as to how to use the SAML XML Metadata file to configure your IdP, reach out to your IdP directly for instructions, which vary per IdP.

Download Adobe Metadata file

Basic troubleshooting

Issues with single sign-on are often caused by basic errors that are easy to overlook. In particular, check the following:

  • The user is assigned to a product profile with an entitlement.
  • The user name sent to SAML matches the user name in the enterprise dashboard.
  • Check all entries in Admin Console and your identity provider for spelling or syntax errors.
  • The Creative Cloud desktop app has been updated to the latest version.
  • The user is logging in to the correct place (Creative Cloud desktop app, a Creative Cloud application, or Adobe.com)

Solutions to other common errors

Error: "An error occurred" with button labeled "Try Again"

This error typically occurs after user authentication has succeeded and Okta has successfully forwarded the authentication response to Adobe.

In the Adobe Admin Console, validate the following:

On the Identity tab:

  • Ensure that the associated domain has been activated.

On the Products tab:

  • Ensure that the user is associated to the correct product nickname and in the domain you claimed to be configured as Federated ID.
  • Ensure that the product nickname has the correct entitlements assigned to it.

On the Users tab:

  • Ensure that the user name of the user is in the form of a complete email address.

Error: "Access Denied" while signing in

Possible causes for this error:

  • The user name or email address being sent in the SAML assertion does not match the information entered in the Admin Console.
  • The user isn't associated with the right product, or the product isn't associated with the correct entitlement.
  • The SAML user name is coming across as something other than an email address. All users must be in the domain you claimed as part of the setup process.
  • Your SSO client uses JavaScript as part of the login process, and you're attempting to log in to a client that doesn't support JavaScript.

How to resolve:

  • Check the username and email in the Adobe Admin Console and match the value with the NameID and Email attribute in the SAML logs.
  • Verify the dashboard configuration for the user: user information and product profile.
  • Run a SAML trace and validate that the information being sent matches the dashboard, and then correct any inconsistencies.

Error: "Another user is currently logged in"

The error "another user is currently logged in" occurs when the attributes sent in the SAML assertion don't match the email address that was used to start the login process.

Run a SAML trace and ensure that the user's email address to log in matches the following:

  • User's email address listed in the Admin Console
  • User's username passed back in the NameID field of the SAML Assertion

Error: "The Issuer in the SAML response did not match the issuer configured for the identity provider"

IDP Issuer in the SAML Assertion is different from what has been configured in the Inbound SAML. Look for typos (such as http vs https). When checking the IDP Issuer string with the customer SAML system, you're looking for an EXACT match to the string they provided. This issue comes up sometimes because a slash was missing at the end.​​

If you need assistance with this error, provide a SAML trace and values you entered in the Adobe dashboard.

Error: "The digital signature in the SAML response did not validate with the identity provider's certificate"

This issue occurs when your directory's certificate has expired. To update the certificate, you must download the certificate or metadata from Identity provider and upload it in the Adobe Admin Console.

For example, follow the steps below if your IdP is Microsoft AD FS:

  1. Open the AD FS Management application on your server, and within the folder AD FS > Service > Endpoints, select the Federation Metadata.

  2. Use a browser to navigate to the URL provided against Federation Metadata and download the file. For example, https://<your AD FS hostname>/FederationMetadata/2007-06/FederationMetadata.xml.

    Note:

    Accept any warnings if prompted.

  3. On the Settings tab of the Admin Console and navigate to Identity Settings > Directories. Select the directory to update and click  Configure on the SAML provider card.

    Then, upload the IdP metadata file and Save.

Error: "The current time is before the time-range specified in the assertion conditions"

Windows-based IdP Server:

1. Ensure that the system clock is synchronized with an accurate time server.

Check the accuracy system clock against your time server with this command; the "Phase Offset" value should be a small fraction of a second:

w32tm /query /status /verbose

You can cause an immediate resynchronization the system clock with the Time Server with the following command:

w32tm /resync

If the system clock is set correctly and you are still seeing the above error, you may must adjust the time-skew setting to increase the tolerance of the difference between clocks between the server and client.

2. Increase the allowed difference in system clock between servers.

From a Powershell window with administrative rights, set the allowed skew value to 2 minutes. Check whether you are able to log in, and then either increase or decrease the value depending on the result.

Determine the current time-skew setting for the relevant Relying Party Trust with the following command:

Get-ADFSRelyingPartyTrust | Format-List -property Identifier,Name,NotBeforeSkew

The Relying Party Trust is identified by the URL shown in the "Identifier" field of the output of the previous command for that particular configuration. This URL is also shown in the ADFS Management utility in the properties window for the relevant Relying Party Trust on the "Identifiers" tab in the field "Relying Party Trusts", as shown in the screenshot below.

Set the time skew to 2 minutes with the following command, substituting the Identifier address accordingly:

Set-ADFSRelyingPartyTrust –TargetIdentifier 'https://www.okta.com/saml2/service-provider/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' –NotBeforeSkew 2  

UNIX-based IdP Server

Ensure that the system clock is set correctly either using the ntpd service, or manually with the ntpdate command from a root shell or with sudo as shown below (note that if the time is offset by more than 0.5 seconds, the change will not happen immediately, but it will slowly correct the system clock). Ensure that the timezone is also set correctly.

# ntpdate -u pool.ntp.org

Note:

This works with identity providers such as Shibboleth.

Error: 401 unauthorized credentials

This error occurs when the application does not support Federated login and must be logged into as an Adobe ID. FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and Adobe Captivate are examples of applications with this requirement.

Error: "Inbound SAML login failed with message: The SAML response contained no assertions"

​Check the login workflow.  If you're able to access the sign-in page on another machine or network but not internally, the problem could be a block agent string.  Also, run a SAML trace and confirm that ​​First Name, Last Name, and Username as a properly formatted email address​​​​ are in the SAML subject.

Error: "400 bad request" or "The status of the SAML request was not successful" or "SAML certification validation failed"

Validate that the proper SAML assertion is being sent:

  • Not having a NameID element in the subject. Validate that the Subject element contains a NameId element. It must be equal to the Email attribute, which should be the email address of the user that you want to authenticate.
  • Spelling errors, especially easily overlooked ones like https vs http.
  • Validate that the correct certificate was provided. IDPs must be configured to use uncompressed SAML request/responses.

A utility such as SAML Tracer for Firefox can help unpack the assertion and display it for inspection. If you need assistance from Adobe Customer Care, you will be asked for this file. For details, see how to perform a SAML trace.

The following working example may help in properly formatting your SAML assertion:

Download

Get file
SAML Working Example

With Microsoft ADFS:

  1. Every Active Directory account must have an email address listed in Active Directory to successfully log in (event log: The SAML response does not have NameId in the assertion). Check this first.
  2. Access the dashboard. 
  3. Click the Identity tab and the domain.
  4. Click Edit Configuration.
  5. Locate IDP Binding. Switch to HTTP-POST and then save. 
  6. Retest the login experience.
  7. If it works but you prefer the prior setting, simply switch back to HTTP-REDIRECT and reupload the metadata into ADFS.

With other IdPs:

  1. Encountering error 400 means that a successful login was rejected by your IdP.
  2. Check your IdP logs for the source of the error.
  3. Correct the issue and try again.

Error: "403 malfunctioned certificate"

Update the certificate in Google Console under the Adobe SAML app and re-upload the metadata files in the Adobe Admin Console.

Error: "403 app_not_configured_for_user"

Update Entity ID in the Google Console. Then export the metadata file and upload it in the Adobe Admin Console.

Error: "you cannot access this right now" or "you can't get there from here"

This error generally occurs when the organization has enabled the Conditional Access Policy in IdP.

If you are using managed packages to deploy products, create a managed package from the Adobe Admin Console by selecting the browser-based authentication option. Then, deploy it on the user's device.

If not, the users can open the Creative Cloud Desktop application, and select Sign in using your browser from the Help menu.

Error: "App Not Assigned"

In this case, the admin must add the users to the Adobe SAML app created on their IdP. Learn to create an Adobe SAML app on Google Admin console or Microsoft Azure Portal.

Error: "You do not have access to this service. Contact your IT administrator to gain access or sign in with an Adobe ID"

Check the SAML logs, as the username or email address being sent in the SAML assertion does not match the information entered in the Admin Console.

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