Table of Contents
Identity Provider
Table of Contents
Instead of using only the Fotoware Alto IDS, you can connect an OpenID Provider, which will serve as an Identity Provider to the Fotoware Alto IDS. The selected Identity Provider (IdP) must support the standardized OpenID Connect protocol, which allows for a flexible implementation that varies in required metadata or ACR values. the
Choose Identity Provider
The user opens Fotoware Alto by providing the URL. They choose to log in with Fotoware Alto IDS credentials by providing an email and password (1). This will authenticate the user with Fotoware Alto IDS as the Identity Provider. If configured, they can also choose another external identity provider (2) to handle authentication.
In the Customer default settings, you can set the accent color for the IdP.

Create Identity Provider
You can configure one or many external Identity Providers for authentication.
Identity providers (short: IdP, IDP) are systems that manage and maintain identity information (e.g., user attributes). Identity providers offer user authentication as a service. Fotoware Alto outsources the user authentication to the Fotoware Alto Identity Server as the default trusted identity provider and is thus a relying party application to it. See Wikipedia Identity Provider.
Whenever Office 365 needs to verify a user, for example, Azure AD performs all identity and access management and is thus the trusted identity provider.
Prerequisites
- ADFS setup - see How to set up ADFS on Windows Server 2016
- Your user must have Developer permission in the Fotoware Alto configuration to see this menu.
- Your user role must have permission to manage the Identity Provider.
Setup
Adding an external Identity Provider in Fotoware Alto means adding it to the Fotoware Alto IDS.
- Go to Settings > IdP setup.
- In the list, choose Create new identity provider.
- Enter the details.
- Save.
Newly created IdPs, used as a reference, or changes made to existing ones, could take around a minute to take effect.
Settings
| Setting | Value Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | FotowareAltoADFSWinServer2016 | A meaningful name used as a reference cannot be changed afterward. |
| Display name | Fotoware Alto AD |
Something users can relate to, shown to users next to Continue with. ![]() |
| Type | ADFS |
|
| Connection protocol | OpenID Connect | IdP must support OpenID Connect. |
| URL | https://ad.customer.ch/adfs |
Do not use the /ls endpoint. If your ADFS URL is https://adfs02.domain.com/adfs/ls then use the URL without /ls: |
| Client ID | Application ID, e.g., defines how user identification tokens 9df5684-1f10f-4125684-7feb535684 |
The ID of your application: ![]() |
| Client secret | GBAyfVL7YWtP6gudLIjbRZV_N0dW4f3x ETiIxqtokEAZ6FAsBtgyIq0MpU1uQ7J0 8xOTO2zwP0OuO3pMVAUTid |
This is not needed. You can leave this empty. The authentication flow defines how user identification tokens are exchanged. Fotoware Alto external Identity Provider must support Authorization Code Flow with PKCE. PKCE, pronounced "pixy", is an acronym for Proof Key for Code Exchange, which does not require users to provide a client_secret. The standard Authorization Code flow would require this. The main benefit is reduced risk for native apps, as there are no embedded secrets in the source code, thereby limiting exposure to reverse engineering. If the Identity Provider does not support Authorization Code Flow with PKCE, the Client secret can be used. Then the client secret must match the application's client secret. |
| Sort order | 0 | A number, starting from 0 for the first position, and 1 for the second position. |
After creating the Identity Provider
Create Identity Provider (Claim) Mappings
You can configure claim mappings and group mappings for your external Identity Provider.
Identity providers (short: IdP, IDP) are systems that manage and maintain identity information (e.g., user attributes). Identity providers offer user authentication as a service. Fotoware Alto outsources the user authentication to the Fotoware Alto Identity Server as the default trusted identity provider and is thus a relying party application to it. See Wikipedia Identity Provider.
Whenever Office 365 needs to verify a user, for example, Azure AD performs all identity and access management and is thus the trusted identity provider.
Prerequisites
Create claim mappings
- Go to Settings > IdP Settings.
- You will see a setting entry for your new Identity Provider in the list. Double-click to open it.
- On the right side, in the first tab, you can add the claim mapping:
- Add claim mapping.
- Provide the claim name from your AD that holds the user attributes, e.g., company and telephone number. Ensure the correct spelling!
- Map to Fotoware Alto user attributes.

On the right side in the second tab, you can add the group mapping:
- Add group mappings.
- Provide the claim name (issued claims) from your AD, which holds your user group assignments, e.g., Groups. Ensure the spelling is correct.
- Define a Fallback user role. The IdP's fallback user role will only be used if none of the group mappings match a role. Without group mappings, your users will be able to log in to Fotoware Alto, but will either have only the default role or the fallback user role of your Fotoware Alto assigned (if these are configured), or will not have any access. The default user role is not defined for Fotoware Alto. This cannot be Super Admins.
- Map Group names from your AD to user roles in Fotoware Alto.
- Provide the claim name (issued claims) from your AD, which holds your user group assignments, e.g., Groups. Ensure the spelling is correct.

Without group mappings, your users will be able to log in to Fotoware Alto, but will either have only the default role or the fallback user role of your Fotoware Alto assigned (if these are configured), or will not have any access. Be aware that you can also manually add roles to federated users in Fotoware Alto.
There is a Microsoft limitation in ADFS 2.0 that prevents the use of Domain Local Groups in a claim. Choose global or universal groups. More details on this limitation: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/13829.ad-fs-2-0-domain-local-groups-in-a-claim.aspx
Automatic Claim Mappings
The following attributes are automatically mapped in Fotoware Alto (unless overridden by a claim mapping).
Further information about claims here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-fs/technical-reference/the-role-of-claims
| User attribute | Claim types (first to have a value wins) |
|---|---|
| email, that will be used as a username in Fotoware Alto (mandatory). | |
| sub | User identifier of the user within the IdP (mandatory; provided by ADFS in basic configuration). |
| First name | given_name |
| Last name | family_name |
| Language code |
|
After creating Identity Provider mappings
Update Identity Provider
- Go to Settings > IdP setup.
- Select your Identity Provider from the list.
- Edit the details.
- You cannot update the name, only the display name.
- Save.
Newly created IdPs; only the display name can be updated, or changes made to existing ones could take around a minute to take effect.
Effects of updating Identity Provider
- Users cannot log in when their assigned Identity Provider is disabled.
- The display name will be updated on the login screen.
- The protocol cannot be changed.
- If you change the URL, your users' login requests will be sent to the new URL from now on.
- If you change the client ID, your users' login requests will, from now on, include the new client ID, so you must ensure that a working IdP with this client ID is available.
- Changes to the Client secret have no effect if the authorization code flow with PKCE is used; otherwise, the client secret must match the application.
- Changing the sort order changes the order of the buttons on the login form, with 0 being the first position.
Delete Identity Provider
- Go to Settings > IdP setup.
- In the list, delete your Identity Provider.
Before deleting the Identity Provider
- Open Users.
- Switch Search Mode to Advanced.
- Search for all users who have the Identity Provider assigned
identityProviderId:<id> - Update those users, as otherwise, they can no longer log in to Fotoware Alto.
Effects of deleting the Identity Provider
- The users who were using this Identity Provider can no longer log in.
- No default or fallback Identity Provider will be assigned.
Purge Identity Provider
- Go to Settings > IdP setup.
- Select your Identity Provider from the list.
- Select Purge.
- In the confirmation dialog, select Purge.
Effects of purging the Identity Provider
- All users' claims will be purged.
- Users must log in again, and claims will be updated with the latest information from the IdP. Users must log in again, and claims will be updated with the latest information from the IdP.
Setup Solutions
How To: Configure ADFS on Windows Server 2016 - The installation and configuration of the ADFS service are on the sole behalf of the customers and not Fotoware Alto-related. Before configuring the Identity Provider in Fotoware Alto, ADFS must be properly installed and configured.
How To: Integrate Azure Active Directory with Fotoware Alto -
This tutorial teaches you how to integrate Fotoware Alto with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory).

