How to Set Up Entra ID (Azure) Single Sign-On

This article explains how to configure Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) Single Sign-On (SSO) for Cognism.

SSO allows users to authenticate using your organisation’s Entra ID credentials instead of a username and password.

By enabling secure authentication, you can streamline user access, improve security, and manage login behaviour across your organisation.

Prerequisites

Before you start, you should:

• Be a Cognism admin
• Have access to your organisation’s Microsoft Entra ID admin portal
• Have permission to configure Single Sign-On in Cognism

How to set up EntraID (Azure) Single Sign On with Cognism

1 - Open the Single Sign-On settings

1. In Cognism, go to Settings. 
2. Select Single Sign-On from the left-hand menu. 

2 - Select an authentication method

In the Authentication section, choose how users should log in:

• Allow all authentication methods – users can log in using SSO or email and password 
• Allow SSO authentication only – users must log in using SSO 

Select the option that matches your organisation’s security requirements.

3 - Configure Microsoft Entra ID SSO

1. In the SSO Methods section, locate Microsoft Entra ID SSO. 
2. Click Configure. 

A configuration modal opens with step-by-step instructions.

4 - Complete the Entra ID configuration

Follow the on-screen steps shown in Cognism:

1. Copy the Identifier (Entity ID) from Cognism and paste it into your Microsoft Entra application. 
2. Copy the ACS URL from Cognism and paste it into your Microsoft Entra application. 
3. In Cognism, enter the Entity ID provided by Microsoft Entra. 
4. Paste the X.509 certificate from Microsoft Entra into Cognism (excluding the BEGIN and END certificate lines). 

Once all fields are complete, click Configure to save your settings.

5 - Test and confirm access

After configuration:

• Users can log in to Cognism using their Microsoft Entra ID credentials
• Authentication behaviour follows the option selected in the Authentication section

If login issues occur, verify:

• Entity ID and ACS URL values match exactly
• The correct certificate is used
• The Entra application is assigned to the correct users