Troubleshooting problems with Single Sign-on (SSO)

Single Sign-on allows Watchful users to centrally managed administrative access to their websites (see details).

If you are having difficulties with Single Sign-on, try these troubleshooting steps. After each step, try logging in with the SSO credentials to see if the problem is fixed.

1. Install the latest Watchful Client on the problematic site.
2. Ensure the site is online and that the front end of the website is publicly accessible.
3. (Admin Tools users only) Disable the `user hardening` options in Admin Tools. See below.
4. Check the `site settings` in Watchful and ensure the URL is accurate including the HTTP or HTTPS protocols.
5. (Joomla only) Examine the configuration.php file and add the site URL to the $live_site variable including theHTTP or HTTPS protocols (more details on manually configuring $live_site).

Disabling `user hardening` in Admin Tools

Admin Tools includes some security features that block the creation or editing of users. These need to be disabled to use the Single Sign-on app from Watchful.

1. Login to the backend of your site with an existing Super User account.
2. From the menu at the top, navigate to `Components > Admin Tools`.
3. Open the WAF configuration area in Admin Tools by navigating to `Web Application Firewall > Configure WAF > Hardening Options`.
4. Switch the sliders to the `No` position for the following options:
   1. `Disable editing backend users' properties`
   2. `Disable creating / editing backend users from the frontend`
   3. `Monitor Super User accounts`