# How to configure username in Okta without having Active Directory for my application

**URL:** <https://devforum.okta.com/t/how-to-configure-username-in-okta-without-having-active-directory-for-my-application/221>\
**Category:** SAML\
**Created:** [July 12, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://devforum.okta.com/t/how-to-configure-username-in-okta-without-having-active-directory-for-my-application/221 "2017-07-12T13:28:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![santosh.balid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@santosh.balid](https://devforum.okta.com/u/santosh.balid)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://devforum.okta.com/t/how-to-configure-username-in-okta-without-having-active-directory-for-my-application/221/1 "2017-07-12T13:28:49Z")

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Hi ,

We are thinking to publish our multiple applications for SSO.  
But none of our applications user is a part of Active directory services. The users in our applications are stored into respective applications database only, and using forms authentication they login to respective application.

But we need a single login mechanism for all our application, so without having Active Directory, can we make this possible using Okta as a identity provider for all of our different application.  
Each of our application is under different domain.

Could you please provide your feedback.

Regards,  
Santosh

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**Author:** ![mcguinness](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/oktadev/user_avatar/devforum.okta.com/mcguinness/32/56_2.png) [@mcguinness](https://devforum.okta.com/u/mcguinness)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://devforum.okta.com/t/how-to-configure-username-in-okta-without-having-active-directory-for-my-application/221/2 "2017-07-12T17:08:00Z")

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Okta provides a native directory for your users and doesn’t require Active Directory. You can create users via the Admin UI or the Okta API. Each users needs a unique login in the Okta directory. The end-user will use this login to sign-in to Okta. Once the user has a session with Okta, they can SSO to any application assigned to them. The user can have a different username for the application if needed (Sign On tab for the app). This is managed via a mapping that is applied when the user is assigned to the application.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/oktadev/original/1X/25ad768b10efff0b070930343aba2cf61a8cefae.png)

You can customize the mapping to meet the application requirements. You can also override the a user’s application username on a per-user basis via the assignment

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/oktadev/original/1X/63e8d2009d90d98955c709c41d867c28cd8c928f.png)

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**Author:** ![santosh.balid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@santosh.balid](https://devforum.okta.com/u/santosh.balid)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://devforum.okta.com/t/how-to-configure-username-in-okta-without-having-active-directory-for-my-application/221/3 "2017-07-12T17:35:29Z")

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Thanks for your answer!  
I also would like to know Which one will be better option for assertion among SAML and OAuth.  
I know SAML well, but don’t know anything about OAuth, Could you please explain in brief. I saw Okta provides support for OAuth as well.

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**Author:** ![santosh.balid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@santosh.balid](https://devforum.okta.com/u/santosh.balid)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://devforum.okta.com/t/how-to-configure-username-in-okta-without-having-active-directory-for-my-application/221/4 "2017-07-12T17:39:17Z")

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Can we insert multiple users in bulk into Okta’s native directory through Okta api. I assume Okta native directory means a Okta database where they store the users information.

Which are the required fields , I need to send to Okta for adding user in Okta System?  
What kind of security Okta provides, How can I trust my users information is secure in Okta System, and this will never get misused any way.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/oktadev/original/1X/589c4c5f80de422d01f47cee7185a7fb8227835c.png) [@system](https://devforum.okta.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://devforum.okta.com/t/how-to-configure-username-in-okta-without-having-active-directory-for-my-application/221/5 "2024-01-12T19:05:33Z")

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