Integrating AWS SSO with Azure AD: A Complete Guide

Organizations using both AWS and Microsoft Azure often need unified identity management. Integrating AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) with Azure Active Directory enables employees to access AWS resources using their existing Azure AD credentials.

> Key Takeaways > > - Federating Azure AD with AWS IAM Identity Center provides single sign-on across both cloud platforms using SAML 2.0 > - SCIM-based automatic provisioning keeps user and group directories synchronized without manual effort > - Centralized conditional access policies and MFA enforcement improve security posture across multi-cloud environments > - Proper permission set design and group-to-role mapping are critical for maintaining least-privilege access at scale

> Note: Microsoft rebranded Azure Active Directory to Microsoft Entra ID in 2023. This guide uses both names, as many organizations still refer to it as Azure AD.

Why Integrate AWS SSO with Azure AD?

Integrating AWS SSO with Azure AD creates a unified identity plane that lets employees authenticate once through Azure AD and access both Microsoft and AWS resources -- eliminating credential sprawl and centralizing security policy enforcement.

Benefits

Single Identity Source: Manage users in one place
Simplified Access: One set of credentials for both platforms
Improved Security: Centralized MFA and conditional access
Automated Provisioning: Sync users and groups automatically
Better Compliance: Unified audit trail

According to Okta's 2024 Businesses at Work report, enterprises use an average of 93 SaaS applications, making centralized identity management essential to security and operational efficiency (source: Okta, "Businesses at Work 2024").

Common Scenarios

Organizations already using Microsoft 365
Hybrid cloud environments
M&A situations with different identity systems
Enterprise SSO requirements

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

AWS Organizations with IAM Identity Center enabled
Azure AD tenant with appropriate admin privileges
Azure AD Premium license (for provisioning features)
Accounts with admin access to both platforms

Architecture Overview

Azure Active Directory
        │
        │ SAML 2.0 / SCIM
        ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ AWS IAM Identity    │
│ Center              │
└─────────┬───────────┘
          │
    ┌─────┴─────┐
    ▼           ▼
┌───────┐  ┌───────┐
│ AWS   │  │ AWS   │
│ Acct 1│  │ Acct 2│
└───────┘  └───────┘

How Do You Configure AWS SSO with Azure AD Step by Step?

The configuration involves six steps: enabling an external identity provider in AWS, creating an enterprise application in Azure AD, setting up SAML single sign-on, exchanging certificates, configuring SCIM automatic provisioning, and assigning users and groups.

Step 1: Enable External Identity Provider in AWS

Navigate to IAM Identity Center

Go to Settings > Identity source

Choose External identity provider

Download the AWS SSO metadata file

Keep these values for Azure AD configuration:
AWS SSO Sign-in URL
AWS SSO ACS URL
AWS SSO Issuer URL

Step 2: Create Enterprise Application in Azure AD

Navigate to Azure Active Directory > Enterprise applications

Click New application

Select Create your own application

Name it "AWS IAM Identity Center"

Choose Integrate any other application you don't find in the gallery

Step 3: Configure SAML Single Sign-On

In the Azure AD enterprise application:

Go to Single sign-on > SAML

Edit Basic SAML Configuration:

Identifier (Entity ID):
https://signin.aws.amazon.com/saml#awsssometadata
Reply URL (ACS URL):
[Your AWS SSO ACS URL from Step 1]
Sign on URL:
[Your AWS SSO Sign-in URL from Step 1]

Configure Attributes & Claims:

| Claim Name | Source | Source Attribute | |------------|--------|------------------| | Subject | user.userprincipalname | | | email | user.mail | | | firstName | user.givenname | | | lastName | user.surname | |

Step 4: Download and Upload Certificates

From Azure AD:

Download the Federation Metadata XML

Download the Certificate (Base64)

In AWS IAM Identity Center:

Go to Settings > Identity source > Actions > Change identity source

Upload the Azure AD metadata file

Complete the configuration

Step 5: Configure Automatic Provisioning (SCIM)

Enable automatic user and group synchronization:

In AWS IAM Identity Center:

Go to Settings > Automatic provisioning

Enable automatic provisioning

Copy the SCIM endpoint and access token

In Azure AD:

Go to the enterprise application

Navigate to Provisioning

Set provisioning mode to Automatic

Enter the SCIM credentials:

Tenant URL: [AWS SCIM endpoint]
Secret Token: [AWS access token]

Configure attribute mappings

Test the connection

Enable provisioning

Step 6: Assign Users and Groups

In Azure AD enterprise application:

Go to Users and groups

Add users or groups to sync to AWS

Save assignments

How Should You Design Permission Sets?

Permission sets in AWS IAM Identity Center define the policies and session settings that determine what access federated Azure AD users receive when they assume roles in specific AWS accounts.

Create Permission Sets in AWS

Permission sets define what access users have:

# Example: ReadOnlyAccess permission set
Name: ReadOnlyAccess
Description: Read-only access to all AWS services
Policies:
  - arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/ReadOnlyAccess
Session Duration: 8 hours

Assign Permission Sets

Map Azure AD groups to AWS accounts and permission sets:

Azure AD Group → Permission Set → AWS Account
Examples:
AWS-Developers → DeveloperAccess → Dev Account
AWS-Admins → AdministratorAccess → All Accounts
AWS-ReadOnly → ReadOnlyAccess → Production Account

A well-planned identity governance strategy ensures that permission sets follow the principle of least privilege and are regularly reviewed.

Testing the Integration

Verify SAML Authentication

User navigates to AWS access portal

Selects Azure AD login

Authenticates via Azure AD (including MFA if configured)

Returns to AWS with appropriate access

Verify User Provisioning

Add user to Azure AD group assigned to AWS

Wait for provisioning cycle (or force sync)

Verify user appears in IAM Identity Center

Test user login and permissions

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

SAML Response Errors

Error: Response was invalid
Solution: Verify ACS URL and Entity ID match exactly

Provisioning Failures

Error: User not synced
Solutions:
Check Azure AD provisioning logs
Verify SCIM endpoint accessibility
Confirm attribute mappings

Access Denied After Login

Error: User cannot access AWS accounts
Solutions:
Verify permission set assignments
Check group membership
Confirm provisioning completed

Useful Commands

Check provisioning status via AWS CLI:

# List users
aws identitystore list-users \
  --identity-store-id d-xxxxxxxxxx
List groups
aws identitystore list-groups \
  --identity-store-id d-xxxxxxxxxx

What Are the Security Best Practices for AWS-Azure AD Integration?

Security best practices include enabling conditional access and MFA in Azure AD, enforcing least-privilege permission sets in AWS, keeping session durations short, and monitoring both platforms for anomalous authentication patterns.

Azure AD Configuration

Enable Conditional Access: Require MFA, compliant devices
Session Controls: Limit session duration
Sign-in Risk Policies: Block risky sign-ins
Regular Access Reviews: Audit group membership

AWS Configuration

Least Privilege: Start with minimal permissions
Session Duration: Keep sessions short
MFA: Enable MFA in Identity Center
Audit Logging: Enable CloudTrail for SSO events

Gartner reports that by 2025, 70% of new access management implementations will use converged identity platforms, up from less than 20% in 2022 (source: Gartner, "Converged IAM Platforms," 2023). This underscores the importance of unifying identity across AWS and Azure.

Monitoring

Set up alerts for:

Failed authentication attempts
Provisioning errors
Permission changes
Unusual access patterns

Robust monitoring complements your broader cloud security posture and should extend across all federated environments. For organizations managing Citrix cloud operations, SSO integration simplifies administrator access to virtualized infrastructure as well.

Advanced Configurations

Multiple AWS Organizations

For separate AWS Organizations:

Create separate enterprise applications in Azure AD

Configure each with respective AWS organization

Use different groups for each organization

Custom Attributes

Pass additional attributes through SAML:

<Attribute Name="https://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/SessionDuration">
  <AttributeValue>28800</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="https://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/SessionTag:Department">
  <AttributeValue>Engineering</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>

Conditional Access Policies

Example policy for AWS access:

Name: Require MFA for AWS
Assignments:
  - Users: All users
  - Applications: AWS IAM Identity Center
Conditions:
  - Sign-in risk: Medium and above
Access Controls:
  - Require MFA
  - Require compliant device

For organizations also managing domain-level security, a thorough domain security audit should be conducted alongside SSO deployments to ensure no gaps exist between identity federation and DNS-level controls.

How BeyondScale Can Help

At BeyondScale, we specialize in multi-cloud identity governance and access management. Whether you're federating Azure AD with AWS for the first time or optimizing an existing multi-cloud IAM architecture, our team can help you design, implement, and maintain a secure, compliant identity strategy.

Explore our Governance Services to learn more. See our work with Citrix Cloud Operations.

Conclusion

Integrating AWS SSO with Azure AD streamlines identity management for organizations using both platforms. The combination of SAML-based authentication and SCIM provisioning creates a seamless experience for users while maintaining security and compliance.

Key takeaways:

Plan your permission sets and group structure before implementation
Test thoroughly in non-production environments
Implement proper monitoring and alerting
Follow security best practices for both platforms

With proper configuration, users enjoy single sign-on access while IT maintains centralized control over identity and access management.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of integrating AWS SSO with Azure AD?

Integrating AWS SSO with Azure AD provides a single identity source for both platforms, eliminates duplicate credentials, enables centralized MFA and conditional access policies, automates user provisioning and deprovisioning via SCIM, and delivers a unified audit trail for compliance.

What is the difference between Azure AD and AWS IAM for identity management?

Azure AD (Microsoft Entra ID) is a cloud-based identity provider designed for SSO across thousands of SaaS and enterprise applications. AWS IAM is AWS-native access management focused on controlling permissions within AWS services. Integrating them via SAML federation lets Azure AD handle authentication while AWS IAM manages authorization.

Should I use SAML or OIDC for AWS and Azure AD integration?

SAML 2.0 is the recommended protocol for integrating AWS IAM Identity Center with Azure AD, as it is fully supported and well-documented by both platforms. OIDC is an option for specific application-level integrations but SAML remains the standard for enterprise SSO federation between AWS and Azure AD.

How do you manage identity across multiple cloud providers?

Multi-cloud identity management is best achieved by designating a primary identity provider such as Azure AD, then federating it with each cloud platform using SAML or OIDC. Automated provisioning via SCIM keeps user directories synchronized, while centralized conditional access policies enforce consistent security across all environments.