Troubleshoot single sign-on

Table of contents

While configuring or using single sign-on (SSO), you may encounter issues that can stem from your identity provider (IdP) or Docker configuration. The following sections describe some common SSO errors and possible solutions.

Check for errors

If you experience issues with SSO, check both the Docker Admin Console and your identity provider (IdP) for errors first.

Check Docker error logs

Sign in to the Admin Console and select your organization.
Select SSO and SCIM.
In the SSO connections table, select the Action menu and then View error logs.
For more details on specific errors, select View error details next to an error message.
Note any errors you see on this page for further troubleshooting.

Check for errors in your IdP

Review your IdP’s logs or audit trails for any failed authentication or provisioning attempts.
Confirm that your IdP’s SSO settings match the values provided in Docker.
If applicable, confirm that you have configured user provisioning correctly and that it is enabled in your IdP.
If applicable, verify that your IdP correctly maps Docker's required user attributes.
Try provisioning a test user from your IdP and verify if they appear in Docker.

For further troubleshooting, check your IdP’s documentation. You can also contact their support team for guidance on error messages.

Groups are not formatted correctly

Error message

When this issue occurs, the following error message is common:

Some of the groups assigned to the user are not formatted as '<organization name>:<team name>'. Directory groups will be ignored and user will be provisioned into the default organization and team.

Possible causes

Incorrect group name formatting in your identity provider (IdP): Docker requires groups to follow the format <organization>:<team>. If the groups assigned to a user do not follow this format, they will be ignored.
Non-matching groups between IdP and Docker organization: If a group in your IdP does not have a corresponding team in Docker, it will not be recognized, and the user will be placed in the default organization and team.

Affected environments

Docker single sign-on setup using IdPs such as Okta or Azure AD
Organizations using group-based role assignments in Docker

Steps to replicate

To replicate this issue:

Attempt to sign in to Docker using SSO.
The user is assigned groups in the IdP but does not get placed in the expected Docker Team.
Review Docker logs or IdP logs to find the error message.

Solutions

Update group names in your IdP:

Go to your IdP's group management section.
Check the groups assigned to the affected user.
Ensure each group follows the required format: <organization>:<team>
Update any incorrectly formatted groups to match this pattern.
Save changes and retry signing in with SSO.

User is not assigned to the organization

Error message

When this issue occurs, the following error message is common:

User '$username' is not assigned to this SSO organization. Contact your administrator. TraceID: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Possible causes

User is not assigned to the organization: If Just-in-Time (JIT) provisioning is disabled, the user may not be assigned to your organization.
User is not invited to the organization: If JIT is disabled and you do not want to enable it, the user must be manually invited.
SCIM provisioning is misconfigured: If you use SCIM for user provisioning, it may not be correctly syncing users from your IdP.

Solutions

Enable JIT provisioning

JIT is enabled by default when you enable SSO. If you have JIT disabled and need to re-enable it:

Sign in to the Admin Console and select your organization.
Select SSO and SCIM.
In the SSO connections table, select the Action menu and then Enable JIT provisioning.
Select Enable to confirm.

Manually invite users

When JIT is disabled, users are not automatically added to your organization when they authenticate through SSO. To manually invite users, see Invite members

Configure SCIM provisioning

If you have SCIM enabled, troubleshoot your SCIM connection using the following steps:

Sign in to the Admin Console and select your organization.
Select SSO and SCIM.
In the SSO connections table, select the Action menu and then View error logs. For more details on specific errors, select View error details next to an error message. Note any errors you see on this page.
Navigate back to the SSO and SCIM page of the Admin Console and verify your SCIM configuration:
- Ensure that the SCIM Base URL and API Token in your IdP match those provided in the Docker Admin Console.
- Verify that SCIM is enabled in both Docker and your IdP.
Ensure that the attributes being synced from your IdP match Docker's supported attributes for SCIM.
Test user provisioning by trying to provision a test user through your IdP and verify if they appear in Docker.

Error message

When this issue occurs, the following error message is common:

IdP-Initiated sign in is not enabled for connection '$ssoConnection'.

Possible causes

Docker does not support an IdP-initiated SAML flow. This error occurs when a user attempts to authenticate from your IdP, such as using the Docker SSO app tile on the sign in page.

Solutions

Authenticate from Docker apps

The user must initiate authentication from Docker applications (Hub, Desktop, etc). The user needs to enter their email address in a Docker app and they will get redirected to the configured SSO IdP for their domain.

Hide the Docker SSO app

You can hide the Docker SSO app from users in your IdP. This prevents users from attempting to start authentication from the IdP dashboard. You must hide and configure this in your IdP.

Not enough seats in organization

Error message

When this issue occurs, the following error message is common:

Not enough seats in organization '$orgName'. Add more seats or contact your administrator.

Possible causes

This error occurs when the organization has no available seats for the user when provisioning via Just-in-Time (JIT) provisioning or SCIM.

Solutions

Add more seats to the organization

Purchase additional Docker Business subscription seats. For details, see Manage subscription seats.

Remove users or pending invitations

Review your organization members and pending invitations. Remove inactive users or pending invitations to free up seats. For more details, see Manage organization members.

Domain is not verified for SSO connection

Error message

When this issue occurs, the following error message is common:

Domain '$emailDomain' is not verified for your SSO connection. Contact your company administrator. TraceID: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Possible causes

This error occurs if the IdP authenticated a user through SSO and the User Principal Name (UPN) returned to Docker doesn’t match any of the verified domains associated to the SSO connection configured in Docker.

Solutions

Verify UPN attribute mapping

Ensure that the IdP SSO connection is returning the correct UPN value in the assertion attributes.

Add and verify all domains

Add and verify all domains and subdomains used as UPN by your IdP and associate them with your Docker SSO connection. For details, see Configure single sign-on.

Unable to find session

Error message

When this issue occurs, the following error message is common:

We couldn't find your session. You may have pressed the back button, refreshed the page, opened too many sign-in dialogs, or there is some issue with cookies. Try signing in again. If the issue persists, contact your administrator.

Possible causes

The following causes may create this issue:

The user pressed the back or refresh button during authentication.
The authentication flow lost track of the initial request, preventing completion.

Solutions

Do not disrupt the authentication flow

Do not press the back or refresh button during sign-in.

Restart authentication

Close the browser tab and restart the authentication flow from the Docker application (Desktop, Hub, etc).

Name ID is not an email address

Error message

When this issue occurs, the following error message is common:

The name ID sent by the identity provider is not an email address. Contact your company administrator.

Possible causes

The following causes may create this issue:

The IdP sends a Name ID (UPN) that does not comply with the email format required by Docker.
Docker SSO requires the Name ID to be the primary email address of the user.

Solutions

In your IdP, ensure the Name ID attribute format is correct:

Verify that the Name ID attribute format in your IdP is set to EmailAddress.
Adjust your IdP settings to return the correct Name ID format.