Tips and Tricks for Adding New Authentication Methods

[kyle_cole]

Are you switching authentication methods and are worried about making a smooth transition? Don’t worry it is easier than you think. Below I have listed some of the tips and tricks I have picked up along the way. I hope they are helpful to you during this authentication transition.

• If you are changing the login id, make sure that the user account’s login id matches the username you are passing from your authentication. 
  

• If possible, test the new authentication method in your beta instance. There are two authentication providers that you cannot use in beta, Google SAML, and Oauth Clever authentication.
  

• When adding multiple authentications and you only want a subset of users to use a specific authentication, set the user’s authentication provider id to the correct authentication provider. You can do this by using a Users.csv or Logins.csv. 

• Users can have two login ids that can be pointed to two different authentications. A good use case for this is if you want to use Canvas local authentication as a backup to your current authentication. To add a new login you will use a Logins.csv.

• You can test your new authentication in production. When you create a new authentication, it will generate a URL append that you can use to log in. Below is a screenshot of where to find the append. The only users that would know this new URL would be the ones you have given it to or if they leaked it.

Do you have any tips? Post them below!