# SAML 2.0

Security Assertion Markup Language is an XML-based, open-standard data format for exchanging authentication and authorization data between security domains: an Identity Provider(IdP) and a Service Provider(SP). SAML2.0 enables web-based authentication and authorization scenarios including cross-domain single sign-on(SSO).

For YouTrack, SAML support lets you use a YouTrack service as the Identity Provider (IdP) for your web-based applications and as the authentication and authorization manager. When you configure YouTrack as the IdP for a service provider, your users can log into this service with their credentials in YouTrack or any [other
authentication module](managing-auth-modules.html).

SAML support also enables single sign-on. When users log in to one of the services connected to YouTrack, they are logged into all connected services.

## General Configuration

To use YouTrack as the SAML IdP for your web service, you need to perform three steps:

1.  [Create, upload, and set up SSL Key](set-up-ssl-keys-for-saml-2-0.html) to encrypt the connection between YouTrack and the service providers.

2. Enable SAML for your service and provide [parameters of YouTrack as the IdP](parameters-of-youtrack-as-saml-2-0-identity-provider.html).

3.  [Register Service Provider in YouTrack.](register-service-provider.html)