Sign In quickstart

This quickstart takes an Organization from no Sign-In Context to a working guest-sign-in flow you can demo. Expect to spend about 15 minutes.

Before you begin

You have administrator access to the Organization and the Admin Dashboard is open at the Organization Services overview. This is the starting point for every Sign In workflow.

The Organization Services overview is the starting point.

1. Create the Sign-In Context

The Sign-In Context is the instance of Sign In inside this Organization. You can have more than one per Organization (for example, one per venue).

1. Open Add Service Context

   From the Services overview, click Add Service Context, then pick Sign-In on the context-type picker.

   

2. Fill in Context Details

   • Context Name — identifies this network in the Administration Dashboard and Self-Service Portal. Example: Guest WiFi — HQ.
   • SSID Name — identifies this network in email notifications sent from the system.
   • Default Redirect — the default URL used in Access Policies, site settings, and other context features. Auto-populated from the Organization’s website; edit if needed.
   • Inital Access Policy Email Filter (optional) — email pattern for the first Access Policy created by this wizard. Leave blank to configure it later.

   

3. Select Service Type

   • Production — for live deployments. Integrates with real networks and handles real traffic.
   • Demo — a simulated environment with mocked data. Useful for evaluation and training. Cannot connect to a real network.

   

4. Select Network Integration

   Choose one or both — you can change this later under Network Settings.

   • Service Gateway (Routed Integration) — Sign-In runs on a Cisco router (Catalyst / IOS-XE / SD-WAN) with built-in DHCP and DNS.
   • Cisco Meraki — direct integration with your Meraki dashboard; no additional hardware required.

   

5. Finish

   Click Finish. You land on the first integration’s configuration page (for example, Service Gateway settings). The Context is now live and the left-hand navigation shows the Sign-In sections: Sign In, Captive Portal, Portal Configuration, Administration, and Service Integration.

   

   A fresh Sign-In Context dashboard.

2. Enable a Sign In Module

Every module is configured at Context level and then enabled per Access Policy. For a fast first test, use Email Self Provisioning:

1. Open the module

   In the left nav, go to Sign In Modules → Email Self Provisioning.

2. Activate the module

   The Email Self Provisioning Status card on the top-right shows the module as Not Active. Click Activate Email Self Provisioning Login Module to turn it on.

3. Set basic configuration

   Accept the defaults to get started. You can tune session length and device limits later via the Access Policy.

See Sign In Modules for a comparison of the available modules.

3. Configure look and feel (optional)

From Portal Configuration → Look & Feel you can upload a logo, choose colors and fonts, and add a background image. The portal is responsive by default.

For translating the portal to additional languages or overriding specific strings, see the Languages setup guide.

4. Test as a guest

1. Open the Captive Portal preview

   The Captive Portal link sits at the top of the header of the Sign-In Context admin — it opens the real portal in a new tab.

2. Sign in through the module you enabled

   In this guide you enabled Self-Provisioning by Email. Enter an email and follow the verification flow.

3. Check the dashboard

   Back in the admin, Dashboard shows the login you just created and the device that was registered.