SAML authentication with Microsoft Entra ID

Step-by-step guide for configuring Microsoft Entra ID as a SAML identity provider for Cube sign-in.

With SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) enabled, you can authenticate users in Cube through Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), allowing your team to access Cube using single sign-on.

Available on Enterprise plan.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure you have the following:

• Admin permissions in Cube.
• Sufficient permissions in Microsoft Entra to create and configure Enterprise Applications.

Enable SAML in Cube

First, enable SAML authentication in Cube:

1. In Cube, navigate to Admin → Settings.
2. On the Authentication & SSO tab, enable the SAML toggle.
3. Take note of the Single Sign-On URL and Audience values — you’ll need them when configuring the Enterprise Application in Entra.

Create an Enterprise Application in Entra

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center.
2. Go to Enterprise Applications and click New application.
3. Select Create your own application.
4. Give it a name and choose a non-gallery application, then click Create.

Configure SAML in Entra

1. In your new Enterprise Application, go to the Single sign-on section and select SAML.
2. In the Basic SAML Configuration section, enter the following:
   • Entity ID — Use the Single Sign-On URL value from Cube.
   • Reply URL — Use the Single Sign-On URL value from Cube.
3. Go to Attributes & Claims → Edit → Advanced settings and set the audience claim override to the Audience value from Cube.
4. Go to SAML Certificates → Edit and select Sign SAML response and assertion for the Signing Option.
5. Download the Federation Metadata XML file — you’ll need it in the next step.

Complete configuration in Cube

Return to the SAML configuration page in Cube and provide the identity provider details. You can do this in one of two ways:

Option A: Upload metadata file

1. In the Import IdP Metadata section, click Upload Metadata File.
2. Select the Federation Metadata XML file you downloaded from Entra. This will automatically populate the Entity ID / Issuer, SSO (Sign on) URL, and Certificate fields.

Option B: Enter details manually

If you prefer to configure the fields manually, enter the following values from the Entra Single sign-on page:

• Entity ID / Issuer — Use the Microsoft Entra Identifier value.
• SSO (Sign on) URL — Use the Login URL value.
• Certificate — Paste the Base64-encoded certificate from the SAML Certificates section.

In both options, also configure the following setting:

• Auto-provision new users — When enabled, users are automatically created in Cube on their first login via this SAML provider. Enable this if you want to provision users only when they first access Cube and you are not using SCIM provisioning. New users receive the Viewer role by default; see Default role for new users to choose a different role.

Default role for new users

Auto-provisioned users — both via SAML and via SCIM — receive the Viewer role by default. To assign a different role, expand the Advanced section of the SAML configuration form and pick from Default role for new users:

• Developer, Explorer, or Viewer — Cube’s default roles.
• Any custom role defined in your account, listed below the divider.

The selected role applies only when a user is first created during provisioning. Existing users are not modified on subsequent SSO logins or SCIM updates. It is applied in addition to any roles your identity provider sends via the role attribute (subject to the rolesMap).

Admin status is not assignable through this picker — Admin is controlled separately. To grant admin permissions, update the user’s role manually under Admin → Users.

If the selected role is later renamed or deleted, new users will fall back to the Viewer role until you pick a valid role here. The Viewer fallback applies whenever the configured default cannot be resolved — whether that’s because no default is set or the configured role no longer exists.

Configure attribute mappings

To map user attributes from Entra to Cube, configure the claim URIs in the SAML settings:

• Enter the claim URI that corresponds to the user’s email address in the Email attribute field. Common values:
  • http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress
  • http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/name
• To map a role attribute from Entra to an identically-named role defined in Cube, add the corresponding claim URI to the Role field.
• You can also map the user’s display name in the same manner.

Admin status cannot be set via SSO. To grant admin permissions, update the user’s role manually in Cube under Team & Security.

Assign users

Make sure the new Enterprise Application is assigned to the relevant users or groups in Entra before testing.

Test the integration

1. In the Entra Single sign-on section, click Test to verify the SAML integration works for your Cube account.
2. Alternatively, copy the Single Sign-On URL from Cube, open it in a new browser tab, and verify you are redirected to Entra for authentication and then back to Cube.