Only IT Admins can set up SSO in Clipboard.
Enabling SAML Single Sign-On for users will make logging into Clipboard easier!
Single Sign-On (SSO) is a session and user authentication service that permits users to use one set of login credentials. In the case of Clipboard, this will be your school login details, e.g. email address and password. By enabling SSO, users of Clipboard will be able to log in using their school login details and will be redirected to do so from your school's login page.
Note: Users still need to be added to Clipboard even if they will be using SSO to log in.
To set up SSO for your school:
The App is the main Clipboard product and is accessed by staff at your school who have been added as users in Clipboard.
The Portal is our student/parent portal with a personalised student/parent calendar and access to Activity Selection. Once the school configures SSO for Students and Parents, they will be able to access the Clipboard Portal only with SSO credentials.
The App and the Portal can be set up under one application on your SSO server with one metadata URL, or you can have separate metadata URLs.
Setting up the Clipboard App:
Check the appropriate box to enable SSO for the Clipboard App.
Add your Metadata URLs from your SAML IdP (e.g. from Azure, ADFS, Studentnet Cloudworks, Google or whatever SSO provider you use)
Property mapping: Here, configure the SAML attributes that map to fields within Clipboard. This is so Clipboard can identify a user authenticating with SAML.
- For staff members to log into the App and students to log into the Portal, you need to set up email mapping. We suggest using user.mail for the SAML attribute name.
Email domain: This field is optional but recommended. It simply will redirect them to your SSO page if a user tries to log into the App via the generic Clipboard login screen with an email address of this domain.
Top Tip: Setting up SSO with Azure? Check out our dedicated help article!
Setting up the Clipboard Portal:
Click on the Add Portal SSO Configuration button
Click on the appropriate box to enable SSO for the Clipboard Portal for Students and/or Guardians.
Note: The SSO provider used for parents and students to access the Portal needs to be the same.
Add your Metadata URLs from your SAML IdP (e.g. from Azure, ADFS, Studentnet Cloudworks, Google or whatever SSO provider you use)
Property mapping: Here, configure the SAML attributes that map to fields within Clipboard. This is so Clipboard can identify a user authenticating with SAML.
For parents to log into the Portal, you need to add a parent mapping which maps a field in Clipboard to a SAML claim, e.g. SIS ID (this is because we typically store the personal email address of parents as their primary email rather than a UPN, so a manual mapping needs to be made).
If you want your users to be redirected to the Activity Selection Tab, you will need to include the formula below to your URL login: portal.clipboard.app/schoolName/login?configId=TheIdFromSSOPage&returnUrl=/activity-selection
For the Clipboard Portal Only, you have the ability to configure multiple SSO configurations. The steps are as below:
Set up multiple configurations of Portal SSO
In Clipboard, you can set up multiple SSO configurations for your school. This is helpful, for example, if you have different groups of users sitting in different identity provider systems (IdPs).
To set up a second Portal SSO Configuration, click on the Add Portal SSO Configuration button at the bottom of the page as seen below.
If you are setting up multiple SSO Portal configurations, you can label this by clicking on edit and creating a name in the Label field. This will show in the
This will show once you have entered the Portal as seen in the Portal example below.
Options to Test Portal SSO for Students or Guardians
Use a test student or guardian in your SIS. Ensure this test user matches a user account in your SSO application.
Have a student or guardian sign in via your school's Portal Clipboard URL. A guardian who is also a school staff member can use their credentials to test the login.
If the login is unsuccessful, you can check the SSO logs here and refer to our common SSO errors guide for support.
Some Extra Things to Note
Important: Remember to set up the Clipboard App and/or Portal as a relying party trust in ADFS or your SAML SSO provider using the Metadata links at the bottom of the SSO screen.
The easiest way to have your users sign in to the Clipboard App or Portal is via these links: You may want to have your users bookmark those links, or you could create a Clipboard button in your school portal.
You can view SSO Logs to check successful and failed login attempts into both the App and the Portal. Check out our help article on Common SSO Errors for more information.
Shared Domain SSO:
A School Selector at Login
Schools that share an email domain (e.g. SA government schools on @schools.sa.edu.au) can now each run their own SSO.
Anyone logging in with a shared domain sees a new step to search for and select their school, then lands on the correct sign-on. Single-school domains are untouched.
Additional Help
Here are some potentially helpful links:
Following the steps under 'To create a claims aware Relying Party Trust using federation metadata' will allow ADFS to update certificate changes automatically.
Use LDAP attributes to send specific data back to Clipboard that can be configured to match your users to a Clipboard account.
If you need more help, please email [email protected], and one of the team will be able to assist.