: Objects > Authentication
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Objects > Authentication

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Objects > Authentication

An authentication enforcement object specifies the method and service to use for authenticating end users who access your network resources. You assign the object to Authentication policy rules, which invoke the authentication method and service when traffic matches a rule (see Policies > Authentication).
The firewall has the following predefined, read-only authentication enforcement objects:
  • default-browser-challenge—The firewall transparently obtains user authentication credentials. If you select this action, you must enable Kerberos Single Sign-On (SSO) or NT LAN Manager (NTLM) authentication when you configure Captive Portal
    . If Kerberos SSO authentication fails, the firewall falls back to NTLM authentication. If you did not configure NTLM, or NTLM authentication fails, the firewall falls back to the authentication method specified in the predefined default-web-form object.
  • default-web-form—To authenticate users, the firewall uses the certificate profile or authentication profile you specified when configuring Captive Portal
    . If you specified an authentication profile, the firewall ignores any Kerberos SSO settings in the profile and presents a Captive Portal page for the user to enter authentication credentials.
  • default-no-captive-portal—The firewall evaluates Security policy without authenticating users.
Before creating a custom authentication enforcement object:
  • Configure a server profile that specifies how to connect to the authentication service (see Device > Server Profiles).
  • Assign the server profile to an authentication profile that specifies authentication settings such as Kerberos single sign-on parameters (see Device > Authentication Profile).
To create a custom authentication enforcement object, click Add and complete the following fields:
Authentication Enforcement Settings
Description
Name
Enter a descriptive name (up to 31 characters) to help you identify the object when defining Authentication rules. The name is case-sensitive and must be unique. Use only letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, and underscores.
Shared (Panorama only)
Select this option if you want the object to be available to:
  • Every virtual system (vsys) on a multi-vsys firewall. If you clear this selection, the object will be available only to the Virtual System selected in the Objects tab.
  • Every device group on Panorama. If you clear this selection, the object will be available only to the Device Group selected in the Objects tab.
Disable override (Panorama only)
Select this option to prevent administrators from overriding the settings of this authentication enforcement object in device groups that inherit the object. This selection is cleared by default, which means administrators can override the settings for any device group that inherits the object.
Authentication Method
Select a method:
  • browser-challenge—The firewall transparently obtains user authentication credentials. If you select this action, the Authentication Profile you select must have Kerberos SSO enabled or else you must have configured NTLM in the Captive Portal settings
    . If Kerberos SSO authentication fails, the firewall falls back to NTLM authentication. If you did not configure NTLM, or NTLM authentication fails, the firewall falls back to web-form authentication.
  • web-form—To authenticate users, the firewall uses the certificate profile you specified when configuring Captive Portal
    or the Authentication Profile you select in the authentication enforcement object. If you select an Authentication Profile, the firewall ignores any Kerberos SSO settings in the profile and presents a Captive Portal page for the user to enter authentication credentials.
  • no-captive-portal—The firewall evaluates Security policy without authenticating users.
Authentication Profile
Select the authentication profile that specifies the service to use for validating the identities of users.
Message
Enter instructions that tell users how to respond to the first authentication challenge that they see when their traffic triggers the Authentication rule. The message displays in the Captive Portal Comfort Page. If you don’t enter a message, the default Captive Portal Comfort Page displays (see Device > Response Pages).
The firewall displays the Captive Portal Comfort Page only for the first authentication challenge (factor), which you define in the Authentication tab of the Authentication Profile (see Device > Authentication Profile). For multi-factor authentication (MFA) challenges that you define in the Factors tab of the profile, the firewall displays the MFA Login Page.