Signing into Asta Connect

Signing in using an Asta Connect user name and password

To sign into Asta Connect in this way, you use the user name and password that are recorded against your user record in Asta Connect.

To sign into Asta Connect using an Asta Connect user name and password:

Access the following URL in your web browser: https://astaconnect.elecoverse.com/. The Sign in dialog appears.
Enter your user name or email address in the Username or Email field.
If you want Asta Connect to remember your user name or email address, which saves you from having to enter it each time, select the Remember me check box; if you are using a shared computer, clear the Remember me check box.
Enter your password in the Password field.
Click Sign in.

If you have forgotten your password, click Forgot password?, then follow the steps that appear on the screen to reset your password.

Signing in using the Elecosoft Identity Service

The Elecosoft Identity Service is a centralised sign-in service which allows you to sign into all available Elecosoft products using the same sign in information (provided a user has been set up on each application) as opposed to having separate user names and passwords for each product.

To sign into Asta Connect using the Elecosoft Identity Service:

Access the following URL in your web browser: https://astaconnect.elecoverse.com/. The Sign in dialog appears.
Click the Elecosoft Identity Service button. This opens the Elecosoft Identity Service dialog.
From here, sign in using your Elecosoft Identity Service credentials.

Sign in using your Microsoft Entra ID credentials

To sign into Asta Connect in this way, you use the Microsoft Entra ID credentials that you use to sign into your Microsoft account at your organisation.

To sign into Asta Connect using your Microsoft Entra ID credentials:

Access the following URL in your web browser: https://astaconnect.elecoverse.com/. The Sign in dialog appears.
Click the Elecosoft Identity Service button. This opens the Elecosoft Identity Service dialog.
On the Elecosoft Identity Service dialog, click Sign in with your Microsoft Entra ID account. The Sign in to your account dialog appears.
Follow the steps that appear on the screen to sign in using your Microsoft Entra ID credentials. The first time you sign in using this method, you have to click Accept when prompted to grant the Elecosoft Identity Service permission to view your basic profile and maintain access to data.

Choosing which sign in method to use and switching to federated authentication

Traditionally, all users signed into Asta Connect using an Asta Connect user name and password. Setting this up involves specifying an email address and password for each user in Asta Connect. Users then enter the user name and password to sign into Asta Connect.

If your organisation uses Microsoft Entra ID to enable users to sign into their Microsoft accounts at your organisation, you can now choose to have your users sign into Asta Connect using federated authentication, which allows them to sign in using their Microsoft Entra ID credentials. There are three main advantages of this:

If a user leaves your organisation, you no longer need to remember to edit their user record in Asta Connect and change their user name and password to prevent them from accessing Asta Connect; as soon as their Microsoft Entra ID account is disabled, they are automatically denied access to Asta Connect.
If your organisation mandates the use of multi-factor authentication, you can implement this using Microsoft Entra ID and it will apply automatically to Asta Connect.
Elecosoft will be implementing federated authentication across their range of software products, to enable users to sign into a range of Elecosoft apps using the same credentials.

If you enable users to sign in using federated authentication, you no longer specify a password for each user in Asta Connect; instead, you specify details of the email address that they use to sign into Microsoft Entra ID.

Switching to federated authentication

To switch to using federated authentication as a sign in method for Elecosoft software, you must contact Elecosoft and inform us that you want to switch. You will need to provide us with details of the domains that are used in your users' Microsoft Entra ID credentials. This may be a single domain, for example 'mycompany.com'; or multiple domains, for example 'mycompany.com', 'mycompany.co.uk' and 'alternativecompanyname.com'.

Elecosoft will configure our systems to enable you to use federated authentication, and inform you when this has been done.

A Microsoft Entra Admin user then needs to set up permissions in the Microsoft Entra Admin Center to enable the Elecosoft Identity Service to federate against your own tenant.

Sign into the Microsoft Entra Admin Center.
Within the Microsoft Entra Admin Center, check the Users can register applications tenant-wide setting (under Identity - Users - User settings):

If you set this to 'Yes', you can start using federated authentication immediately, and users will be able to sign into Asta Connect using their Microsoft Entra ID credentials from now on, provided that the correct email address is specified against each user record in Asta Connect.

If you choose not to set this tenant-wide setting to 'Yes', you must follow the steps below to enable users to sign into Asta Connect using their Microsoft Entra ID credentials:

Attempt to sign into Asta Connect using your Microsoft Entra ID credentials: on the Elecosoft Identity Service dialog, click Sign in with your Microsoft Entra ID account. The Sign in to your account dialog appears.
Follow the steps that appear on the screen to sign in using your Microsoft Entra ID credentials. When prompted, click Accept to grant the Elecosoft Identity Service permission to view your basic profile and maintain access to data.

The Elecosoft Identity Service will now appear under Identity - Applications - Enterprise applications in the Microsoft Entra Admin Center.
Sign into the Microsoft Entra Admin Center.
In the Microsoft Entra Admin Center, find the Elecosoft Identity Service under Identity - Applications - Enterprise applications; you can search for it by entering 'elecosoft' in the search field at the top of the page.
Once you have found the Elecosoft Identity Service, click it to access its settings.
In the left-hand menu, click Permissions.
Click Grant admin consent for <your tenant name>. A popup that allows you to grant organisation-wide consent appears.
Select your Admin account and accept the permissions requested by the app. From now on, no users will be prompted to consent to the permissions when they sign into Asta Connect using their Microsoft Entra ID credentials.