---
title: 'Tutorial: Setting up forced authentication (forceAuthn) for SAML users'
canonical: https://openvpn.net/as-docs/v3/tutorials/tutorial--saml-forceauthn/
product: Access Server Docs
description: Request the re-authentication of users with each sign-on using the SAML forceAuthn content parameter.
---

# Tutorial: Setting up forced authentication (forceAuthn) for SAML users

## Overview

For some customers with high-security requirements, you may want to break the Single Sign-on functionality of SAML authentication and request the re-authentication of users. You can do this with **forceAuthn**, a content parameter. This parameter requests user interactions to authenticate with the IdP even if the user has an active session. You configure this with a toggle in the Admin Web UI, which sets **forceAuthn** to true.

## Prerequisites

- SAML is set up for Access Server and your IdP.

## Set up forceAuthn

When you turn on the forceAuthn flag, Access Server instructs the Identity Provider (IdP) to **force the user to re-authenticate**, even if they already have an active session. This is achieved by including specific metadata in the SAML authentication request that enforces this behavior.

1. Sign in to the Admin Web UI.
2. Click **Authentication**.
3. Click the **SAML** tab.
4. Under the **AuthNRequest** section, set **Send ForceAuthn** to **Off**.
5. Click **Save** and **Restart**.

> **Tip**
>
> When set to **On**, this means **ForceAuthn='true'** is included in the AuthNRequest made to the IdP, requesting user interaction during the course of handling the request. Doing this overrides the usual, implicit assumption that previous authentication states can be reused; however, it's up to the SAML IdP to decide whether to honor this request.

---

Prev: [Tutorial: How to Set SAML for Specific Users and Groups](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/v3/tutorials/tutorial--saml-users-groups.md)
Next: [Tutorial: How to Enforce Specific Authentication Context for SAML Logins](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/v3/tutorials/tutorial--saml-authncontext.md)
Index: https://openvpn.net/as-docs/llms.txt