Amazon Cognito SSO | OpenMetadata Authentication Guide

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Overview

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Configure Amazon Cognito SSO

1. Navigate to Settings > SSO.
2. Click AWS-Cognito, and then click Configure.
3. Enter the configuration details. For more information, see Configuration Fields.
4. Click Test Login and complete the sign-in. For more information, see Test Login.
5. Click Save to finish the SSO configuration.

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Configuration Fields

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Authentication Configuration

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Provider Name

• Definition: A human-readable name for this Amazon Cognito SSO configuration instance.
• Example: Amazon Cognito SSO, Company Cognito, User Pool Authentication
• Why it matters: Helps identify this specific SSO configuration in logs and user interfaces.
• Note: This is a display name and doesn’t affect authentication functionality.

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Client Type

• Definition: Defines whether the application is public (no client secret) or confidential (requires client secret).
• Options: Public | Confidential
• Example: Confidential
• Why it matters: Determines security level and authentication flow. Confidential clients can securely store secrets.
• Note:
  • Use Confidential for backend services and web applications.
  • Use Public for single-page applications (SPAs) and mobile apps.
  • You can’t change Client Type after you save the configuration.

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Enable Self Signup

• Definition: Allows users to automatically create OpenMetadata accounts on their first SSO login.
• Options: Enabled | Disabled
• Example: Enabled
• Why it matters: Controls whether new users join automatically or need manual provisioning.
• Note: Must also be enabled in your Cognito User Pool settings.

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Authority

• Definition: Amazon Cognito User Pool domain that issues tokens.
• Example: https://cognito-idp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/us-east-1_ABC123DEF
• Why it matters: Tells OpenMetadata which Cognito User Pool to authenticate against.
• Note: Format: https://cognito-idp.{region}.amazonaws.com/{user-pool-id}.

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Public Client Configuration

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Client ID

• Definition: The client ID of the Amazon Cognito application that OpenMetadata uses to identify itself.
• Why it matters: A public client has no client secret, so the client ID is the only application credential.

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Callback URL

• Definition: The redirect URL where Amazon Cognito sends authentication responses after login.
• Note:
  • This field is read-only: OpenMetadata fills it in as {your-domain}/callback.
  • Copy this URL and register it as an authorized redirect URI in your Amazon Cognito application.
  • Use HTTPS in production.

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Authority

• Definition: The URL of the Amazon Cognito authorization server.
• Why it matters: Specifies where OpenMetadata sends authentication requests.

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Public Key URLs

• Definition: One or more URLs where Amazon Cognito publishes its JSON Web Token (JWT) signing keys.
• Why it matters: OpenMetadata uses the keys to verify the signature of the tokens that Amazon Cognito issues.

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Token Validation Algorithm

• Options: RS256 | RS384 | RS512
• Note: The value must match the signing algorithm that Amazon Cognito uses. Most providers use RS256.

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OIDC Configuration

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OIDC Client ID

• Definition: App client ID from your Amazon Cognito User Pool.
• Example: 1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i0j1k2l3m4n5o6p
• Why it matters: Identifies your application to Amazon Cognito in OIDC flows.
• Note: Found in AWS Console > Cognito > User Pools > App integration > App clients.

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OIDC Client Secret

• Definition: App client secret for confidential client authentication with Amazon Cognito.
• Example: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6q7r8s9t0
• Why it matters: Required for confidential clients to securely authenticate with Cognito.
• Note:
  • Generate in Cognito > User Pool > App client > Generate client secret.
  • Store securely and rotate regularly.

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OIDC Request Scopes

• Definition: Permissions requested from Amazon Cognito during authentication.
• Default: openid email profile
• Example: openid email profile aws.cognito.signin.user.admin
• Why it matters: Determines what user information OpenMetadata can access.
• Note: Must be configured in your Cognito User Pool app client settings.

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OIDC Discovery URI

• Definition: Amazon Cognito’s OpenID Connect metadata endpoint.
• Example: https://cognito-idp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/us-east-1_ABC123DEF/.well-known/openid-configuration
• Why it matters: Allows OpenMetadata to automatically discover Cognito’s OIDC endpoints.
• Note: Replace {region} and {user-pool-id} with your actual values.

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OIDC Callback URL

• Definition: URL where Amazon Cognito redirects after authentication.
• Example: https://openmetadata.company.com/callback
• Why it matters: Must be registered in your Amazon Cognito configuration.
• Note:
  • This field is read-only: it is auto-populated as {your-domain}/callback.
  • Copy this URL and add it to Cognito’s allowed redirect URIs list.

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OIDC Prompt

• Definition: Controls Amazon Cognito’s authentication prompt behavior.
• Options: none, login, consent, select_account
• Default: Empty. Leave it empty unless you need to force a specific behavior. OpenMetadata sends none itself when it re-authenticates a user silently.
• Example: login
• Why it matters: Defines how the login experience behaves for users.
• Note:
  • login: Always prompt for credentials.
  • none: Use existing session silently (SSO).

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OIDC Custom Parameters

• Definition: Additional parameters to include in OIDC authentication requests.
• Example: {"prompt": "login", "response_type": "code"}
• Why it matters: Allows customization of Amazon Cognito authentication behavior.

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Advanced Configuration

OIDC Use Nonce

• Definition: Security feature to prevent replay attacks in OIDC flows.
• Default: false
• Why it matters: Enhances security by ensuring each authentication request is unique.

OIDC Disable PKCE

• Definition: Whether to disable Proof Key for Code Exchange.
• Default: false
• Why it matters: PKCE adds security to the authorization code flow.
• Note: Should remain false (enabled) in most cases.

OIDC Max Clock Skew

• Definition: Maximum allowed time difference in seconds between systems when validating tokens.
• Example: 0
• Why it matters: Prevents token validation failures due to minor clock differences between servers.

OIDC Token Validity

• Definition: Duration in seconds that tokens remain valid.
• Default: 3600
• Example: 3600
• Why it matters: Balances token lifetime against security requirements.
• Note: The value must be positive. OpenMetadata rejects a zero or negative value, and falls back to 3600 at runtime if an invalid value is ever persisted.

OIDC Max Age

• Definition: The max_age request parameter, in seconds, that OpenMetadata sends to the identity provider.
• Default: Empty.
• Why it matters: Leave it empty so the identity provider can reuse its own session. A value of 0 is treated as not set. To force users to re-enter their credentials, set OIDC Prompt to login.

OIDC Session Expiry

• Definition: How long user sessions remain valid in seconds.
• Default: 604800 (7 days)
• Why it matters: Controls session timeout for confidential clients.

End Session With Identity Provider

• Definition: Controls whether OpenMetadata ties a user session to the identity provider’s session.
• Default: false
• Note:
  • Available for confidential OIDC clients only.
  • When on, OpenMetadata renews the identity provider’s tokens on the provider’s schedule while the user is active. It signs the user out when the provider rejects the refresh token. The token that OpenMetadata issues is shortened to that schedule, with a minimum of 120 seconds. A renewal never extends the session beyond OIDC Session Expiry.
  • When off, a session lasts for the configured OIDC Session Expiry.
  • The sign-out depends on the provider. Keycloak revokes refresh tokens together with the provider session, and Microsoft Entra ID doesn’t.

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JWT Claims

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JWT Principal Claims

• Definition: JWT fields used to identify users in OpenMetadata. The first claim that returns a value is used.
• Default: ["email", "cognito:username", "sub"]
• Example: ["cognito:username", "email", "sub"]
• Why it matters: Determines how users are matched to their OpenMetadata accounts.
• Note:
  • At least one claim must correspond to the user’s email address.
  • Common Cognito claims: cognito:username, email, sub, preferred_username.
  • Order matters: the first matching claim is used.

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JWT Principal Claims Mapping

["email:email", "username:preferred_username"]

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JWT Team Claim Mapping

• Definition: Amazon Cognito claim containing team or department information for automatic team assignment in OpenMetadata.
• Example: custom:department, cognito:groups
• Why it matters: Automatically assigns users to existing OpenMetadata teams based on their Cognito attributes at login.
• Note:
  • Custom attributes must be prefixed with custom: (for example, custom:department).
  • For group-based teams, use cognito:groups (requires user pool groups configured).
  • The team must already exist in OpenMetadata for assignment to work.
  • Only teams of type Group can be auto-assigned. Team names are case-sensitive.

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Authorizer Configuration

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Admin Principals

• Definition: Users granted admin access in OpenMetadata.
• Example: ["admin", "superuser"]
• Why it matters: Grants full admin privileges in OpenMetadata.
• Note: Enter usernames only, not email addresses. Use the part of the email before @ (for example, for admin@company.com, enter admin).

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Principal Domain

• Definition: Default domain for user principals.
• Example: company.com
• Why it matters: Used to construct full user identifiers when only a username is provided.

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Enforce Principal Domain

• Definition: Restricts login to users belonging to the configured Principal Domain.
• Default: false
• Example: true
• Why it matters: Adds an extra layer of security by limiting access to a specific domain.

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Enable Secure Socket Connection

• Definition: Enables Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) for all SSO communication.
• Default: false
• Example: true
• Why it matters: Ensures encrypted communication between OpenMetadata and Amazon Cognito.
• Note: Recommended in production environments.

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Allowed Domains

• Definition: List of email domains permitted to authenticate with OpenMetadata.
• Example: ["company.com", "partner.com"]
• Why it matters: Provides fine-grained control over which email domains can log in via Amazon Cognito.
• Note:
  • Works in conjunction with Enforce Principal Domain.
  • Leave empty if you only use a single domain configured in Principal Domain.

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Use Roles From Provider

• Definition: Use roles returned by Amazon Cognito in the token to assign OpenMetadata roles.
• Default: false
• Why it matters: Enables role-based access control driven by your Cognito group assignments.
• Note: Roles must be included in the Cognito token and must match existing OpenMetadata role names.
  • Roles sync on every login. A role change in Cognito takes effect the next time the user signs in.
  • If the token omits the roles claim entirely, OpenMetadata treats it as no roles. Some providers leave the claim out once a user’s last role is removed.
  • A fresh sign-in then removes the roles and administrator access that the provider no longer grants.
  • Roles from the provider can promote a user to Admin. A sign-in never demotes an admin assigned through Admin Principals.

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Default OAuth Role

• Definition: Default role assigned to new users when they first sign in via SSO self-signup.
• Example: DataConsumer
• Why it matters: Controls the starting permission level for new users who join through self-signup.
• Note: Leave empty to create users without any role. Requires Enable Self Signup to be active. The role must already exist in OpenMetadata.

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Summary

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Troubleshooting

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Troubleshooting

./bootstrap/openmetadata-ops.sh remove-security-config --force