---
title: Creating a connection
description: To allow PingFederate to act as an identity provider and manage users in Zendesk, create a service provider (SP) connection.
component: zendesk
page_id: zendesk:setup:pf_zendesk_connector_creating_a_connection
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/integrations/zendesk/setup/pf_zendesk_connector_creating_a_connection.html
revdate: June 17, 2024
section_ids:
  steps: Steps
---

# Creating a connection

To allow PingFederate to act as an identity provider and manage users in Zendesk, create a service provider (SP) connection.

## Steps

1. In the PingFederate administrator console, create a new SP connection:

   1. For PingFederate 10.1 or later: go to **Applications > Integration > SP Connections**. Click **Create Connection**.

   2. For PingFederate 10.0 or earlier: go to **Identity Provider > SP Connections**. Click **Create Connection**.

2. Configure the basic connection details with the Zendesk quick connection template.

   1. On the **Connection Template** tab, select **Use a template for this connection**.

   2. In the **Connection Template** list, select **Zendesk Provisioner**.

   3. In the **Metadata File** row, upload the zendesk-saml-metadata.xml file that you saved in [Obtain your Zendesk SAML 2.0 metadata XML file](pf_zendesk_connector_obtain_your_zendesk_saml_20_metadata_xml_file.html). Click **Next**.

   4. On the **Connection Type** tab, select **Browser SSO Profiles** and **Outbound Provisioning**. Click **Next**.

   5. On the **Connection Options** tab, click **Next**.

   6. On the **General Info** tab, in the **Connection Name** field, enter a name of your choosing. Click **Next**.

3. On the **Browser SSO** tab, configure your browser SSO settings as shown in [Configuring IdP Browser SSO](https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/latest/administrators_reference_guide/help_spconnectionconfigtasklet_spbrowserssostate.html) in the PingFederate documentation.

   1. On the **Browser SSO > SAML Profiles** tab, select only **IdP-Initiated SSO** and **SP-Initiated SSO**.

   2. On the **Browser SSO > Assertion Creation > Attribute Contract** tab, set the following name format.

      | Attribute Contract | Subject Name Format                                                      |
      | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
      | **SAML\_SUBJECT**  | `[.codeph]`urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified\`\`\`\` |

   3. On the **Browser SSO > Protocol Settings > Signature Policy** tab, select the **Always Sign Assertion** check box.

4. On the **Credentials** tab, configure the connection credentials as shown in [Configuring credentials](https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/latest/administrators_reference_guide/help_spconnectionconfigtasklet_credentialsstate.html) in the PingFederate documentation. Click **Next**.

5. On the **Credentials > Digital Signature Settings** tab, select the **Include the certificate in the signature \<KEYINFO> element** check box.

6. On the **Outbound Provisioning** tab, configure provisioning as shown in [Configuring outbound provisioning](https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/latest/administrators_reference_guide/help_spconnectionconfigtasklet_saasprovisioningstate.html) in the PingFederate documentation:

   1. On the **Target** tab, enter the Zendesk Administator email, Sub-domain and API Token you obtained in [Obtain required information](pf_zendesk_connector_obtain_required_information.html).

   2. On the **Manage Channels > Attribute Mapping** tab, complete the attribute mappings as shown in [Managing channels](https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/latest/administrators_reference_guide/help_saasmanagementtasklet_saasmanagementstate.html) in the PingFederate documentation.

      Provide a source of data or provide a default value for the `role` attribute. This attribute only accepts specific values, which are explained in the [Supported attributes reference](pf_zendesk_connector_supported_attributes_reference.html).

7. On the **Activation and Summary** tab, above the **Summary** section, click the toggle to turn on the connection. Click **Save**.