Allow SAML username provider plugins

changelog.d/6411.feature

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Allow custom SAML username mapping functinality through an external provider plugin.

docs/saml_mapping_providers.md

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+# SAML Mapping Providers
+
+A SAML mapping provider is a Python class (loaded via a Python module) that
+works out how to map attributes of a SAML response object to Matrix-specific
+user attributes. Details such as user ID localpart, displayname, and even avatar
+URLs are all things that can be mapped from talking to a SSO service.
+
+As an example, a SSO service may return the email address
+"john.smith@example.com" for a user, whereas Synapse will need to figure out how
+to turn that into a displayname when creating a Matrix user for this individual.
+It may choose `John Smith`, or `Smith, John [Example.com]` or any number of
+variations. As each Synapse configuration may want something different, this is
+where SAML mapping providers come into play.
+
+## Enabling Providers
+
+External mapping providers are provided to Synapse in the form of an external
+Python module. Retrieve this module from [PyPi](https://pypi.org) or elsewhere,
+then tell Synapse where to look for the handler class by editing the
+`saml2_config.user_mapping_provider.module` config option.
+
+`saml2_config.user_mapping_provider.config` allows you to provide custom
+configuration options to the module. Check with the module's documentation for
+what options it provides (if any). The options listed by default are for the
+user mapping provider built in to Synapse. If using a custom module, you should
+comment these options out and use those specified by the module instead.
+
+## Building a Custom Mapping Provider
+
+A custom mapping provider must specify the following methods:
+
+* `__init__(self, parsed_config)`
+   - Arguments:
+     - `config` - A configuration object that is the return value of the
+       `parse_config` method. You should set any configuration options needed
+       by the module here.
+* `saml_response_to_user_attributes(self, saml_response, failures)`
+    - Arguments:
+      - `saml_response` - A `saml2.response.AuthnResponse` object to extract user
+                          information from.
+      - `failures` - An `int` that represents the amount of times the returned
+                     mxid localpart mapping has failed.  This should be used
+                     to create a deduplicated mxid localpart which should be
+                     returned instead.  For example, if this method returns
+                     `john.doe` as the value of `mxid_localpart` in the returned
+                     dict, and that is already taken on the homeserver, this
+                     method will be called again with the same parameters but
+                     with failures=1. The method should then return a different
+                     `mxid_localpart` value, such as `john.doe1`.
+    - This method must return a dictionary, which will then be used by Synapse
+      to build a new user. The following keys are allowed:
+       * `mxid_localpart` - Required. The mxid localpart of the new user.
+       * `displayname` - The displayname of the new user.
+* `parse_config(config)`
+    - This method should have the `@staticmethod` decoration.
+    - Arguments:
+        - `config` - A `dict` representing the parsed content of the
+          `saml2_config.user_mapping_provider.config` homeserver config option.
+           Runs on homeserver startup. Providers should extract any option values
+           they need here.
+    - Whatever is returned will be passed back to the user mapping provider module's
+      `__init__` method during construction.
+* `get_required_attributes(config)`
+    - This method should have the `@staticmethod` decoration.
+    - Arguments:
+        - `config` - A `dict` representing the parsed content of the
+          `saml2_config.user_mapping_provider.config` homeserver config option.
+           Runs on homeserver startup. Providers should extract any option values
+           they need here.
+    - Returns a tuple of two sets. The first set equates to the saml auth
+      response attributes that are required for the module to function, whereas
+      the second set consists of those attributes which can be used if available,
+      but are not necessary.
+
+## Synapse's Default Provider
+
+Synapse has a built-in SAML mapping provider if a custom provider isn't
+specified in the config. It is located at
+[`synapse.handlers.saml_handler.DefaultSamlMappingProvider`](../synapse/handlers/saml_handler.py).

docs/sample_config.yaml

@@ -1186,33 +1186,58 @@ saml2_config:
   #
   #config_path: "CONFDIR/sp_conf.py"
 
-  # the lifetime of a SAML session. This defines how long a user has to
+  # The lifetime of a SAML session. This defines how long a user has to
   # complete the authentication process, if allow_unsolicited is unset.
   # The default is 5 minutes.
   #
   #saml_session_lifetime: 5m
 
-  # The SAML attribute (after mapping via the attribute maps) to use to derive
-  # the Matrix ID from. 'uid' by default.
+  # An external module can be provided here as a custom solution to
+  # mapping the above configured saml attribute onto a matrix ID.
   #
-  #mxid_source_attribute: displayName
-
-  # The mapping system to use for mapping the saml attribute onto a matrix ID.
-  # Options include:
-  #  * 'hexencode' (which maps unpermitted characters to '=xx')
-  #  * 'dotreplace' (which replaces unpermitted characters with '.').
-  # The default is 'hexencode'.
-  #
-  #mxid_mapping: dotreplace
+  user_mapping_provider:
+    # The custom module's class. Uncomment to use a custom module.
+    #
+    #module: mapping_provider.SamlMappingProvider
 
-  # In previous versions of synapse, the mapping from SAML attribute to MXID was
-  # always calculated dynamically rather than stored in a table. For backwards-
-  # compatibility, we will look for user_ids matching such a pattern before
-  # creating a new account.
+    # Custom configuration values for the module. Below options are
+    # intended for the built-in provider, they should be changed if
+    # using a custom module. This section will be passed as a Python
+    # dictionary to the module's `parse_config` method.
+    #
+    config:
+      # The SAML attribute (after mapping via the attribute maps) to use
+      # to derive the Matrix ID from. 'uid' by default.
+      #
+      # Note: This used to be configured by the
+      # saml2_config.mxid_source_attribute option. If that is still
+      # defined, its value will be used instead.
+      #
+      #mxid_source_attribute: displayName
+
+      # The mapping system to use for mapping the saml attribute onto a
+      # matrix ID.
+      #
+      # Options include:
+      #  * 'hexencode' (which maps unpermitted characters to '=xx')
+      #  * 'dotreplace' (which replaces unpermitted characters with
+      #     '.').
+      # The default is 'hexencode'.
+      #
+      # Note: This used to be configured by the
+      # saml2_config.mxid_mapping option. If that is still defined, its
+      # value will be used instead.
+      #
+      #mxid_mapping: dotreplace
+
+  # In previous versions of synapse, the mapping from SAML attribute to
+  # MXID was always calculated dynamically rather than stored in a
+  # table. For backwards- compatibility, we will look for user_ids
+  # matching such a pattern before creating a new account.
   #
   # This setting controls the SAML attribute which will be used for this
-  # backwards-compatibility lookup. Typically it should be 'uid', but if the
-  # attribute maps are changed, it may be necessary to change it.
+  # backwards-compatibility lookup. Typically it should be 'uid', but if
+  # the attribute maps are changed, it may be necessary to change it.
   #
   # The default is 'uid'.
   #