Users who receive expired session errors are forced to manually close the SAML connection and re-authenticate in order to access Blackboard. While some systems offer an option to make that logout simple and obvious, others require clearing browser cookies to perform the new authentication process.

To avoid receiving these expired session errors, we have two possible options.

• Increase the SAML session age limit in Blackboard, allowing sessions in Blackboard to be as long as allowed on the SAML side.
• Adjust the maximum session age setting on the SAML side, limiting SAML sessions to 2 hours, which is the default value for Blackboard.
• Find a middle value and adjust both sides

Of the three, the most recommended is the first, and that is what we will configure. To do this, go to Admin Panel > Integrations > Building blocks > Installed Tools and locate SAML Authentication Provider in the list. Open the context menu and click Settings.

Set Request Expiration to 5 minutes, and check Do not limit the SAML session age. Save your changes.

See these articles about the type of SAML authentication provider and common issues with SAML authentication