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Implement a SAML 2.0 service provider (SP) into mscolab : GSOC 2023
Student : Nilupul Manodya
Organisation : Python Software Foundation
Sub-Organisation : Mission Support System (MSS)
Mentors : Reimar Bauer, Matthias Riße, Jörn Ungermann, Christian Rolf, Sonja Gisinger
You can checkout my weekly blogs on python-gsoc website and my proposal !
Greetings, everyone! I am thrilled to present an update on my Google Summer of Code project, which aimed to enhance the MSS collaboration server through the implementation of SAML 2.0-based authentication. The Mission Support System simplifies planning scientific flights, measuring atmospheric parameters. It aids research aircraft carrying diverse data acquisition instruments from various institutions. These measurements enhance understanding of atmospheric processes, crucial for climate change and ozone hole recovery. MSS uses model simulations to guide flights, considering conditions like altitude, temperature, and permission. In this Wiki, I will provide a concise overview of the project, detailing what I achieved, the current status, remaining tasks, contributions to the codebase, challenges faced, and significant lessons learned during this period.
The primary goal of my project was to enable seamless integration of the MSS collaboration server with existing identity providers using SAML 2.0 authentication. This involved implementing a service provider (SP) on the server side and integrating authentication into the QT client application.
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Implemented SAML 2.0 Authentication
- Set up an Identity Provider (IdP) for testing purposes.
- Configured the MSS collaboration server as a SAML service provider (SP) to enable Single Sign-On (SSO).
- Integrated SAML-based authentication into the QT client application, allowing users to authenticate via a browser login process.
- Implemented error handling and logout functionality in the client application for a seamless user experience.
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Integration with Existing Identity Providers
- Integrated the collaboration server with established identity providers like Keycloak using their SAML metadata files.
- Customized the user experience by modifying login pages and error pages based on IdP specifications.
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Documentation
- Created developer and user documentation, ensuring clarity in understanding the integration process and usage guidelines.
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Server-Side Configuration.
- Collaborated with mentors to configure the project on a remote server, to provide metadata to the configurations of the IdP end to enable the seamless Single Sign-On (SSO) process.
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Current State
- The project is now at a functional state, allowing users to authenticate via SAML 2.0 with various identity providers. The authentication flow has been successfully implemented both on the server side and within the QT client application.
While the core functionality is in place, a few tasks remain:
- Improve the functional test cases for the developed project.
- Enhanced Error Handling: Further refinement of error handling mechanisms to cover edge cases and provide informative user feedback.
- Optimizations and Performance: Conduct performance testing and optimize the authentication process for efficiency.
- IdP responses can vary based on the specifically configured IdP; we may need to work on implementations to handle responses from a particular IdP.
- In the current approach, token-based authentication is used after the user successfully logs in through the IdP. However, it can be improved with web polling to provide a smoother user experience
All the implemented features and changes have been merged upstream into the Open-MSS GSOC2023-NilupulManodya branch codebase. The collaboration server now includes the SAML 2.0 authentication module, making it available for all users.
The following is a table for all the Pull Requests that merged into the branch Open-MSS GSOC2023-NilupulManodya.
| Code Contributions | Link to the relevant PR |
|---|---|
| Setting Up a Service Provider and an Identity provider for Local testing | https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/1809 |
| UI improvements of Qt client application | https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/1813 |
| MSS Web browser implementation for local testing | https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/1814 |
| Configuration MSColab server for SSO | https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/1818 |
| Improve MSColab for multiple IdP configurations | https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/2043 |
| Documentation implementation for the SSO | https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/2064 |
| Other minor developments | https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/1811 |
| https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/2061 | |
| https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/2063 | |
| https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/2066 | |
| https://github.com/Open-MSS/MSS/pull/2068 |
Challenges:
- Integration Complexity: Integrating with different identity providers presented challenges due to variations in SAML configurations and metadata formats.
- Error Handling: Designing robust error handling mechanisms to cater to various scenarios was a complex task.
Important Lessons:
- Interoperability: I gained valuable insights into making systems interoperable with diverse identity providers, emphasizing the importance of standardized protocols like SAML.
- Code Quality: I learned a lot about implementations with best coding practices, referenced various documents, and received suggestions and insights from the mentors through GitHub comments and slack.
- User Experience: Prioritizing user experience is crucial in SSO implementations, ensuring seamless transitions and clear communication during authentication processes.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to my mentors Reimar Bauer, Matthias Riße, Jörn Ungermann, Christian Rolf, and Sonja Gisinger for their invaluable support and guidance throughout this project. Their expertise and encouragement were instrumental in overcoming challenges and achieving the project's objectives. Their timely feedback and insightful suggestions significantly contributed to the project's success.
I also want to acknowledge Google for organizing the Google Summer of Code program for providing me with this incredible opportunity. GSoC has been a transformative experience, allowing me to work on a real-world project, learn from experienced mentors, and contribute meaningfully to the open-source community. I also want to acknowledge the Python Software Foundation, the main organization of this GSoC project, for giving me the ability to work on this project
Thank you for your unwavering support and dedication to helping me grow as a developer. I am truly grateful for this remarkable learning experience and the opportunity to make a difference in the world of open-source software and looking forward to working more in open source projects.
I am immensely proud of the progress made during this Google Summer of Code project. The successful implementation of SAML 2.0 authentication into the MSS collaboration server is a significant milestone. I am grateful for the guidance from my mentors and the support from the MSS team and Python Software Foundation Team.
The project's codebase and comprehensive documentation are now available for use and further enhancement. I am enthusiastic about any feedback and suggestions from the community, which will help refine the project and provide a more robust authentication solution for MSS users.
Thank you for your support, and here's to the future of seamless, secure authentication in the MSS collaboration server!