How to build Azure AD sign-in with Java Spring Boot

For our new friends:

Logto is an Auth0 alternative designed for modern apps and SaaS products. It offers both Cloud and Open-source services to help you quickly launch your identity and management (IAM) system. Enjoy authentication, authorization, and multi-tenant management all in one.

We recommend starting with a free development tenant on Logto Cloud. This allows you to explore all the features easily.

In this article, we will go through the steps to quickly build the Azure AD sign-in experience (user authentication) with Java Spring Boot and Logto.

Prerequisites

A running Logto instance. Check out the introduction page to get started.
Basic knowledge of Java Spring Boot.
A usable Azure AD account.

Create an application in Logto

Logto is based on OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication and OAuth 2.0 authorization. It supports federated identity management across multiple applications, commonly called Single Sign-On (SSO).

To create your Traditional web application, simply follow these steps:

Open the Logto Console. In the "Get started" section, click the "View all" link to open the application frameworks list. Alternatively, you can navigate to Logto Console > Applications, and click the "Create application" button.
In the opening modal, click the "Traditional web" section or filter all the available "Traditional web" frameworks using the quick filter checkboxes on the left. Click the "Java Spring Boot" framework card to start creating your application.
Enter the application name, e.g., "Bookstore," and click "Create application".

🎉 Ta-da! You just created your first application in Logto. You'll see a congrats page which includes a detailed integration guide. Follow the guide to see what the experience will be in your application.

Integrate Java Spring Boot with Logto

tip:

You may find the sample code for this guide in our spring-boot-sample github repository.
No official SDK is required to integrate Logto with your Java Spring Boot application. We will use the Spring Security and Spring Security OAuth2 libraries to handle the OIDC authentication flow with Logto.

Configure your Java Spring Boot application

Adding dependencies

For gradle users, add the following dependencies to your build.gradle file:

build.gradle
dependencies {
  implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf'
	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web'
  implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-security'
	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-oauth2-client'
}

For maven users, add the following dependencies to your pom.xml file:

pom.xml
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
  <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
  <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
  <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
  <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-oauth2-client</artifactId>
</dependency>

OAuth2 Client Configuration

Register a new Java Spring Boot application in Logto Console and get the client credential and IdP configurations for your web application.

Add the following configuration to your application.properties file:

application.properties
spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.client-name=logto
spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.client-id={{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}}
spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.client-secret={{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}}
spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.redirect-uri={baseUrl}/login/oauth2/code/{registrationId}
spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.authorization-grant-type=authorization_code
spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.scope=openid,profile,offline_access
spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.provider=logto

spring.security.oauth2.client.provider.logto.issuer-uri={{LOGTO_ENDPOINT}}/oidc
spring.security.oauth2.client.provider.logto.authorization-uri={{LOGTO_ENDPOINT}}/oidc/auth
spring.security.oauth2.client.provider.logto.jwk-set-uri={{LOGTO_ENDPOINT}}/oidc/jwks

Implementation

Before we dive into the details, here's a quick overview of the end-user experience. The sign-in process can be simplified as follows:

Your app invokes the sign-in method.
The user is redirected to the Logto sign-in page. For native apps, the system browser is opened.
The user signs in and is redirected back to your app (configured as the redirect URI).

This authentication process follows the OpenID Connect (OIDC) protocol, and Logto enforces strict security measures to protect user sign-in.
If you have multiple apps, you can use the same identity provider (Logto). Once the user signs in to one app, Logto will automatically complete the sign-in process when the user accesses another app.

To learn more about the rationale and benefits of redirect-based sign-in, see Logto sign-in experience explained.

In order to redirect users back to your application after they sign in, you need to set the redirect URI using the client.registration.logto.redirect-uri property in the previous step.

Configure redirect URIs

Switch to the application details page of Logto Console. Add a redirect URI http://localhost:3000/callback.

Just like signing in, users should be redirected to Logto for signing out of the shared session. Once finished, it would be great to redirect the user back to your website. For example, add http://localhost:3000/ as the post sign-out redirect URI section.

Then click "Save" to save the changes.

Implement the WebSecurityConfig

Create a new class `WebSecurityConfig` in your project

The WebSecurityConfig class will be used to configure the security settings for your application. It is the key class that will handle the authentication and authorization flow. Please check the Spring Security documentation for more details.

WebSecurityConfig.java
package com.example.securingweb;

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.EnableWebSecurity;

@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity

public class WebSecurityConfig {
 // ...
}

Create a `idTokenDecoderFactory` bean

This is required because Logto uses ES384 as the default algorithm, we need to overwrite the default OidcIdTokenDecoderFactory to use the same algorithm.

WebSecurityConfig.java
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.security.oauth2.client.oidc.authentication.OidcIdTokenDecoderFactory;
import org.springframework.security.oauth2.client.registration.ClientRegistration;
import org.springframework.security.oauth2.jose.jws.SignatureAlgorithm;
import org.springframework.security.oauth2.jwt.JwtDecoderFactory;

public class WebSecurityConfig {
  // ...

  @Bean
  public JwtDecoderFactory<ClientRegistration> idTokenDecoderFactory() {
    OidcIdTokenDecoderFactory idTokenDecoderFactory = new OidcIdTokenDecoderFactory();
    idTokenDecoderFactory.setJwsAlgorithmResolver(clientRegistration -> SignatureAlgorithm.ES384);
    return idTokenDecoderFactory;
  }
}

We will redirect the user to the /user page after a successful login.

CustomSuccessHandler.java
package com.example.securingweb;

import java.io.IOException;

import org.springframework.security.core.Authentication;
import org.springframework.security.web.authentication.AuthenticationSuccessHandler;

import jakarta.servlet.ServletException;
import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;

public class CustomSuccessHandler implements AuthenticationSuccessHandler {
  @Override
  public void onAuthenticationSuccess(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response,
      Authentication authentication) throws IOException, ServletException {
    response.sendRedirect("/user");
  }
}

Create a LogoutSuccessHandler class to handle the logout success event

Clear the session and redirect the user to the home page.

CustomLogoutHandler.java
package com.example.securingweb;

import java.io.IOException;

import org.springframework.security.core.Authentication;
import org.springframework.security.web.authentication.logout.LogoutSuccessHandler;

import jakarta.servlet.ServletException;
import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpSession;

public class CustomLogoutHandler implements LogoutSuccessHandler {
  @Override
  public void onLogoutSuccess(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Authentication authentication)
      throws IOException, ServletException {
    HttpSession session = request.getSession();

    if (session != null) {
      session.invalidate();
    }

    response.sendRedirect("/home");
  }
}

Update the `WebSecurityConfig` class with a `securityFilterChain`

securityFilterChain is a chain of filters that are responsible for processing the incoming requests and responses.

We will configure the securityFilterChain to allow access to the home page and require authentication for all other requests. Use the CustomSuccessHandler and CustomLogoutHandler to handle the login and logout events.

WebSecurityConfig.java
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.builders.HttpSecurity;
import org.springframework.security.web.DefaultSecurityFilterChain;

public class WebSecurityConfig {
  // ...

  @Bean
  public DefaultSecurityFilterChain securityFilterChain(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
    http
      .authorizeRequests(authorizeRequests ->
        authorizeRequests
          .antMatchers("/", "/home").permitAll() // Allow access to the home page
          .anyRequest().authenticated() // All other requests require authentication
      )
      .oauth2Login(oauth2Login ->
        oauth2Login
          .successHandler(new CustomSuccessHandler())
      )
      .logout(logout ->
        logout
          .logoutSuccessHandler(new CustomLogoutHandler())
      );
    return http.build();
  }
}

Create a home page

(You may skip this step if you already have a home page in your project)

HomeController.java
package com.example.securingweb;

import java.security.Principal;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;

@Controller
public class HomeController {
  @GetMapping({ "/", "/home" })
  public String home(Principal principal) {
    return principal != null ? "redirect:/user" : "home";
  }
}

This controller will redirect the user to the user page if the user is authenticated, otherwise, it will show the home page. Add a sign-in link to the home page.

resources/templates/home.html
<body>
  <h1>Welcome!</h1>

  <p><a th:href="@{/oauth2/authorization/logto}">Login with Logto</a></p>
</body>

Create a user page

Create a new controller to handle the user page:

UserController.java
package com.example.securingweb;

import java.security.Principal;
import java.util.Map;

import org.springframework.security.oauth2.client.authentication.OAuth2AuthenticationToken;
import org.springframework.security.oauth2.core.user.OAuth2User;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;

@Controller
@RequestMapping("/user")
public class UserController {

  @GetMapping
  public String user(Model model, Principal principal) {
    if (principal instanceof OAuth2AuthenticationToken) {
      OAuth2AuthenticationToken token = (OAuth2AuthenticationToken) principal;
      OAuth2User oauth2User = token.getPrincipal();
      Map<String, Object> attributes = oauth2User.getAttributes();

      model.addAttribute("username", attributes.get("username"));
      model.addAttribute("email", attributes.get("email"));
      model.addAttribute("sub", attributes.get("sub"));
    }

    return "user";
  }
}

Once the user is authenticated, we will retrieve the OAuth2User data from the authenticated principal object. Please refer OAuth2AuthenticationToken and OAuth2User for more details.

Read the user data and pass it to the user.html template.

resources/templates/user.html
<body>
  <h1>User Details</h1>
  <div>
    <p>
    <div><strong>name:</strong> <span th:text="${username}"></span></div>
    <div><strong>email:</strong> <span th:text="${email}"></span></div>
    <div><strong>id:</strong> <span th:text="${sub}"></span></div>
    </p>
  </div>

  <form th:action="@{/logout}" method="post">
    <input type="submit" value="Logout" />
  </form>
</body>

Request additional claims

You may find some user information are missing in the returned object from principal (OAuth2AuthenticationToken). This is because OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect (OIDC) are designed to follow the principle of least privilege (PoLP), and Logto is built on top of these standards.

By default, limited claims are returned. If you need more information, you can request additional scopes to access more claims.

info:

A "claim" is an assertion made about a subject; a "scope" is a group of claims. In the current case, a claim is a piece of information about the user.

Here's a non-normative example the scope - claim relationship:

tip:

The "sub" claim means "subject", which is the unique identifier of the user (i.e. user ID).

Logto SDK will always request three scopes: openid, profile, and offline_access.

To retrieve additional user information, you can add extra scopes to the application.properties file. For example, to request the email, phone, and urn:logto:scope:organizations scope, add the following line to the application.properties file:

application.properties

  spring.security.oauth2.client.registration.logto.scope=openid,profile,offline_access,email,phone,urn:logto:scope:organizations

Then you can access the additional claims in the OAuth2User object.

Run and test the application

Run the application and navigate to http://localhost:8080.

You will see the home page with a sign-in link.
Click on the link to sign in with Logto.
After successful authentication, you will be redirected to the user page with your user details.
Click on the logout button to sign out. You will be redirected back to the home page.

Add Azure AD connector

To enable quick sign-in and improve user conversion, connect with Java Spring Boot as an identity provider. The Logto social connector helps you establish this connection in minutes by allowing several parameter inputs.

To add a social connector, simply follow these steps:

Navigate to Console > Connectors > Social Connectors.
Click "Add social connector" and select "Azure AD".
Follow the README guide and complete required fields and customize settings.

nota:

If you are following the in-place Connector guide, you can skip the next section.

Set up Azure AD

Set up Microsoft Azure AD in the Azure Portal

Visit the Azure Portal and sign in with your Azure account. You need to have an active subscription to access Microsoft Azure AD.
Click the Azure Active Directory from the services they offer, and click the App Registrations from the left menu.
Click New Registration at the top, enter a description, select your access type and add your Redirect URI, which will redirect the user to the application after logging in. In our case, this will be ${your_logto_endpoint}/callback/${connector_id}. e.g. https://foo.logto.app/callback/${connector_id}. The connector_id can be also found on the top bar of the Logto Admin Console connector details page. You can copy the Callback URI in the configuration section.
Select Web as Platform.

Fill in the configuration in Logto

Name	Type
clientId	string
clientSecret	string
tenantId	string
cloudInstance	string

Client ID

You may find the Application (client) ID in the Overview section of your newly created application in the Azure Portal.

Client Secret

In your newly created application, click the Certificates & Secrets to get a client secret, and click the New client secret from the top.
Enter a description and an expiration.
This will only show your client secret once. Fill the value to the Logto connector configuration and save it to a secure location.

Cloud Instance

Usually, it is https://login.microsoftonline.com/. See Azure AD authentication endpoints for more information.

Tenant ID

Logto will use this field to construct the authorization endpoints. This value is dependent on the access type you selected when creating the application in the Azure Portal.

If you select Accounts in this organizational directory only for access type then you need to enter your {TenantID}. You can find the tenant ID in the Overview section of your Azure Active Directory.
If you select Accounts in any organizational directory for access type then you need to enter organizations.
If you select Accounts in any organizational directory or personal Microsoft accounts for access type then you need to enter common.
If you select Personal Microsoft accounts only for access type then you need to enter consumers.

Save your configuration

Double check you have filled out necessary values in the Logto connector configuration area. Click "Save and Done" (or "Save changes") and the Azure AD connector should be available now.

Once you create a social connector successfully, you can enable it as a "Continue with Azure AD" button in Sign-in Experience.

Navigate to Console > Sign-in experience > Sign-up and sign-in.
(Optional) Choose "Not applicable" for sign-up identifier if you need social login only.
Add configured Azure AD connector to the "Social sign-in" section.

Testing and Validation

Return to your Java Spring Boot app. You should now be able to sign in with Azure AD. Enjoy!

Create an application in Logto​

Integrate Java Spring Boot with Logto​

Configure your Java Spring Boot application​

Adding dependencies​

OAuth2 Client Configuration​

Implementation​

Regarding redirect-based sign-in​

Configure redirect URIs​

Implement the WebSecurityConfig​

Create a new class WebSecurityConfig in your project​

Create a idTokenDecoderFactory bean​

Create a LoginSuccessHandler class to handle the login success event​

Create a LogoutSuccessHandler class to handle the logout success event​

Update the WebSecurityConfig class with a securityFilterChain​

Create a home page​

Create a user page​

Request additional claims​

Run and test the application​

Add Azure AD connector​

Set up Azure AD​

Set up Microsoft Azure AD in the Azure Portal​

Fill in the configuration in Logto​

Client ID​

Client Secret​

Cloud Instance​

Tenant ID​

Save your configuration​

Enable Azure AD connector in Sign-in Experience​

Testing and Validation​

Further readings​