I feel the best way to learn a new platform or technology is to use it! I wanted to learn more about Okta so I setup a dev instance and integrated it as an external IdP for a dev instance of AWS IAM Identity Center.
Since Identity Center is replacing AWS SSO, I wanted to get more familiar with it as well, so I wanted to see what the process of setting it up would be like starting from scratch, as opposed to converting an existing deployment.
You can use the internal directory, Active Directory, or an external identity provider. Okta is pretty straight forward, especially if you’ve used any other identity platform before. I’m very familiar with Ping and AD, but it didn’t take long to feel comfortable in Okta. Things may have different names or locations but I actually think Okta is very well laid out. Plus I love the fact they allow you to setup a dev instance to really get familiar with the platform.
The process of integrating with Identity Center is pretty “simple”. As long as you know familiar terms like ACS url, issuer, and how to get a certificate from your IdP you’ll be good to go. Okta has an app integration for AWS Identity Center, so you just browse for it in the app catalog and enter your configuration details. It supports SCIM as well for provisioning.
Overall I dig the integration, the Okta interface, and where AWS is doing with Identity Center. I look forward to diving into both of them a bit more so I can mess around with all of the various settings and features they have to offer.
I’m a Ping admin in my current position, so being able to spend a little time with Okta in my lab environment is a breath of fresh air. Simply because I love to see how each vendor approaches identity management.
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