Okta auth method

The okta auth method allows authentication using Okta and user/password credentials. This allows Vault to be integrated into environments using Okta.

The mapping of groups in Okta to Vault policies is managed by using the users and groups APIs.

Authentication

Via the CLI

The default path is /okta. If this auth method was enabled at a different path, specify -path=/my-path in the CLI.

$ vault login -method=okta username=my-username

Via the API

The default endpoint is auth/okta/login. If this auth method was enabled at a different path, use that value instead of okta.

$ curl \
    --request POST \
    --data '{"password": "MY_PASSWORD"}' \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/auth/okta/login/my-username

The response will contain a token at auth.client_token:

{
  "auth": {
    "client_token": "abcd1234-7890...",
    "policies": ["admins"],
    "metadata": {
      "username": "mitchellh"
    }
  }
}

MFA

Okta Verify Push and TOTP MFA methods, and Google TOTP are supported during login. For TOTP, the current passcode may be provided via the totp parameter:

$ vault login -method=okta username=my-username totp=123456

If both Okta TOTP and Google TOTP are enabled in your Okta account, make sure to pass in the provider name to which the totp code belong.

$ vault login -method=okta username=my-username totp=123456 provider=GOOGLE

If totp is not set and MFA Push is configured in Okta, a Push will be sent during login.

The auth method uses the Okta Authentication API. It does not manage Okta sessions for authenticated users. This means that if MFA Push is configured, it will be required during both login and token renewal.

Note that this MFA support is integrated with Okta Auth and is limited strictly to login operations. It is not related to Enterprise MFA.

Configuration

Auth methods must be configured in advance before users or machines can authenticate. These steps are usually completed by an operator or configuration management tool.

Via the CLI

Enable the Okta auth method:
```
$ vault auth enable okta
```
Configure Vault to communicate with your Okta account:
```
$ vault write auth/okta/config \
   base_url="okta.com" \
   org_name="dev-123456" \
   api_token="00abcxyz..."
```
Note: Support for okta auth with no API token is deprecated in Vault 1.4. If no token is supplied, Vault will function, but only locally configured group membership will be available. Without a token, groups will not be queried.
For the complete list of configuration options, please see the API documentation.
Map an Okta group to a Vault policy:
```
$ vault write auth/okta/groups/scientists policies=nuclear-reactor
```
In this example, anyone who successfully authenticates via Okta who is a member of the "scientists" group will receive a Vault token with the "nuclear-reactor" policy attached.
It is also possible to add users directly:
```
$ vault write auth/okta/groups/engineers policies=autopilot
$ vault write auth/okta/users/tesla groups=engineers
```
This adds the Okta user "tesla" to the "engineers" group, which maps to the "autopilot" Vault policy.
Note: The user-policy mapping via group membership happens at token creation time. Any changes in group membership in Okta will not affect existing tokens that have already been provisioned. To see these changes, users will need to re-authenticate. You can force this by revoking the existing tokens.

Okta API token permissions

The okta auth method uses the Authentication and User Groups APIs to authenticate users and obtain their group membership. The api_token provided to the auth method's configuration must have sufficient privileges to exercise these Okta APIs.

It is recommended to configure the auth method with a minimally permissive API token. To do so, create the API token using an administrator with the standard Read-only Admin role. Custom roles may also be used to grant minimal permissions to the Okta API token.

API

The Okta auth method has a full HTTP API. Please see the Okta Auth API for more details.