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EC Supported Authentication Methods

Authentication Type Version 7.0.8 Version 7.3.2 Version 7.3.3
Basic Yes Yes Yes
PKI Yes Yes Yes
OAuth 2.0 No No No
SAML 2.0 No No No

Basic Authentication

Basic authentication is the simplest login method. The user supplies a username and password that are compared against known username/password combinations to verify the user’s identity.

PKI Authentication

With Public Key Infrastructure authentication, the user has their own security certificate, with a public key, that they provide to the server to verify their identity. This is often in the form of a smart card that can be read by the client’s computer.

SAML 2.0 and OAuth 2.0 (Unsupported as of 7.3.3)

SAML and OAuth operate differently under the hood, but the underlying concept is similar. In both cases, when a user attempts to access a service, they are redirected to a separate Identity Provider to login. Once their identity has been verified, an access token is created that allows access the requested service.

Note

In SAML and OAuth workflows, Basic and PKI login can still be used by the Identity Provider to validate the user. However, the resulting access token may allow access to multiple sites or services. This is often referred to as Single Sign-On.