Single sign-on, logins, and URL redirects

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated April 22, 2026
  • 4 minutes to read

    • Service Portal uses a combination of system properties and script includes to determine how the system handles URL redirects for users logging in to the portal.

    Only users who understand SSO, URL redirects, and the ServiceNow platform should make any changes.

    Single sign-on and Service Portal

    To use single sign-on with Service Portal, you must activate the Integration - Multiple Provider Single Sign-On Installer plugin (com.snc.integration.sso.multi.installer).

    If you are using the system property to automatically redirect to your primary IdP, then Service Portal automatically redirects to that IdP. If you have multiple identity providers, Service Portal shows a link on the login page to Use external login. For more information on SSO and authentication in the platform, see Multiple-Provider single sign-on (SSO).

    You can configure the glide.service_portal.sso.early_redirect.portals system property to redirect users to the SSO Identify Provider (IdP) login page. This bypasses the portal login page. For more information, see Service Portal properties. If your portal uses a customized version of the Login widget, you must update the sp_sso_early_redirection UI macro as needed to redirect users to the SSO Identify Provider (IdP) login page without trying to load the portal page first.

    Note:
    Service Portal has a known issue related to using Multi-Provider SSO and Okta. For more information about this issue and a workaround, see the Service Portal: After enabling Multi SSO, end users are able to access navpage.do through OKTA if they are already logged in [KB0687717] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

    Require authentication for a Service Portal page

    If you want to require authentication for a Service Portal page, confirm that the Public flag on the page record is not selected. For more information, see Create and edit a page using the Service Portal Designer. If a user navigates to a non-public page, they are redirected to the login page for the requested portal.

    Because every page request is routed through the $sp page, this page must be public. The following values in the Public Pages sys_public table define the page as public:

    • Page: $sp
    • Active: true

    Configure a portal as the instance login page

    Direct all unauthenticated users to a portal login page to log in. The portal login page becomes the primary login page for your instance.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin

    Procedure

    1. Add a system property with the following settings:
      • Name: glide.entry.page.script
      • Type: string
      • Value: 
        new SPEntryPage().getLoginURL()
    2. Optional: If you need to direct users to a portal other than the default portal, edit the portal specified in the SPEntryPage script include.

      SPEntryPage uses the default portal on the instance as the portal path to redirect to. Employee Center (esc) is the default portal by default.

      Note:
      If you edit the script include, it won't be upgraded with future updates.
      1. Navigate to All > System Definition > Script Includes.
      2. From the Script Includes [sys_script_include] table, search for a script include named SPEntryPage.
      3. In the Script field, edit the script to change the assigned portal to the portal_suffix you want.

        For example, change this.portal = this.getDefaultPortal(); to this.portal = "/sp/"; to redirect to Service Portal.

        SPEntryPage.prototype = {

    initialize: function() {
        this.logVariables = false; // for debugging 
        this.portal = this.getDefaultPortal(); // The URL suffix for default portal
    },
        Note:
        The slash character (/) after /sp may cause issues when configuring single sign-on. If you're experiencing issues, try removing the character from the script.

    Redirect to Service Portal after login

    Conditionally redirect users to a Service Portal page after logging in.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin

    Procedure

    1. Enter sys_properties.list in the navigation filter.
    2. In the System Properties [sys_properties] table, add the following properties and values.
      Property Type Value Description
      glide.entry.first.page.script string new SPEntryPage().getFirstPageURL() First page after authentication
      glide.entry.page.script string Server script that redirects users to where to log in. For example:

      new SPEntryPage().getLoginURL()

      		 Contains the call to the server script include method that determines where to log in
      getFirstPageURL primarily does the following:
      • Redirects to login_redirect.do to break out of the frameset (if there is one).
      • Redirects to the default portal if the user has no roles or to the full platform for users with roles who are not trying to go to a portal directly.

        When the user has no roles, they are redirected to the portal equivalent of a page. For example,

        https://<instance_name>.service-now.com/nav_to.do?uri=change_request_list.do

        sends users without roles to:

        https://<instance_name>.service-now.com/sp/?id=list&table=change_request.

      Note:
      This change does not prevent users without roles from accessing the full platform. To prevent users without roles from accessing the platform and always redirect to a portal, set the value of the glide.entry.loggedin.page_ess system property to the portal suffix, such as /sp.
    3. Optional: Customize the after-login behavior in the SPEntryPage script include.

      For more information about modifying script includes, see Script includes.

      For example, if you want users with certain roles to be redirected to Service Portal, you could modify user.hasRoles() in the following code.
      if (user.hasRoles() && !redirectURL && !isServicePortalURL)
      Note:
      • If you edit the script include, it won't be upgraded with future updates.
      • Users with the admin role always pass a user.hasRoles() check.
      • If you are using external authentication, ensure that your IdP supports the RelayState URL parameter. This parameter retains the originally requested URL while the user authenticates, and is necessary for redirection after login.

    What to do next

    To debug redirection, see Debug Service Portal URL redirects. For additional redirection troubleshooting information, see the Frequently Asked Questions on redirection with service portal [KB0747432] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

    Debug Service Portal URL redirects

    Debug the URL redirects for logging in to Service Portal and redirecting to the first page.

    To view debug output from SPEntryPage and see the session variables it redirects based on:
    1. Make sure the system property glide.entry.first.page.script has the value: new SPEntryPage().getFirstPageURL().
    2. From the SPEntryPage script include, set this.logVariables = true.
    3. In a separate browser, log in.
    4. From the system navigator, view the log output by navigating to System Logs > System Log > All.