Totara integrations: HRIS, SSO, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and LinkedIn Learning

An LMS that does not talk to your HR system becomes a second employee database that someone has to keep correct by hand. One that does not talk to your identity provider becomes another password. Most learning platforms promise integrations. The useful question is what each one does once it is switched on, and who does the work to switch it on.

This guide covers the five integrations Totara LMS buyers ask about most: HR systems, single sign-on, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and LinkedIn Learning, plus the Totara API that sits underneath custom connections. For each one, it sets out what Totara provides, what has to be configured on the other side, and the limits worth knowing before you sign.

Why integrations decide whether Totara works

Totara's strength is automation driven by organisational data. Audiences, learning plans, programs and certifications can be assigned by organisation, position and manager. That only works if the organisation, position and manager data in Totara is current.

Think of Totara as a sorting office. The rules for where each parcel goes can be as detailed as you like, but if the addresses are out of date, everything arrives at the wrong door. Your HR system holds the addresses. The integration is what keeps them current.

Which HR systems Totara connects to

Totara's own integrations directory names Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, BambooHR, Cornerstone HCM, HiBob, Lucca, Personio and Ellucian under human capital management.

One caveat worth carrying into a procurement conversation: a system appearing on that list tells you a connection is established practice, not which mechanism it uses at your organisation. Some run through a scheduled file export, some through a direct database connection, some through the API, and some through work a partner builds. Ask which one applies to your HR system and your version before you budget the effort.

Totara HR import: connecting your HRIS

HR import is Totara's built-in mechanism for loading and updating people and structure from an HR system. It handles users, organisations, positions and job assignments, and it maps each user to their organisation, position and manager.

Totara documents two sources for HR import.

CSV files. Your HR system produces an export, and Totara processes it. Files can be uploaded by an administrator or picked up from a directory on the server.

External database. Totara connects directly to a database table or view and reads the records from there, with a connection test built into the settings.

Field mapping lets Totara read column names that do not match its own, so the export does not have to be rebuilt around Totara's field names.

Once the data is in, the automation follows. A new hire placed in a position is enrolled in the programs and certifications assigned to that position. A transfer changes their required learning without an administrator touching their record.

Three things to plan for:

Suspend, do not delete. Deleting a user through HR import removes their associated learning records permanently. For regulated organisations with audit obligations, suspension is almost always the right setting.

Empty values need a decision. HR import can be set so that a blank field in the source erases the existing value in Totara, or leaves it alone. Choose deliberately, because the default behaviour will not match every HR system's export.

Managers need job assignments. A manager must hold at least one job assignment in Totara for the reporting line to resolve.

The Totara API

For connections that go beyond a scheduled file, Totara provides an external GraphQL API.

In plain terms: rather than calling a different address for every kind of data, a system sends one structured request to a single Totara endpoint and asks for exactly the fields it needs. Authentication uses OAuth 2.0 with client credentials. An administrator registers an API client in Totara, and the client exchanges its ID and secret for a time-limited access token.

What each client can do is governed by the service account assigned to it, so an HR sync client can be given the rights to manage users without being given the rights to change course content. On multitenant sites, system-level API clients are not available to tenant users, which closes off one route to privilege escalation.

Be clear-eyed about scope. When Totara released the external API, its available services were focused on syncing user data to and from HR systems, with more planned for later releases. Before designing an integration around the API, check the published schema for the version you will run. Totara publishes it at https://graphql-schema.totara.com and each site can download its own.

Single sign-on: SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0 and LDAP

Totara supports the authentication methods enterprise IT teams expect: SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, LDAP and multi-factor authentication, alongside custom login pages and self-registration with approval.

SAML 2.0 is the one most organisations use. Totara acts as the service provider, and your identity provider confirms who the user is. Totara documents setup for Okta, Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft AD FS. Attributes sent by the identity provider are mapped to Totara user fields, and single logout is supported.

SSO and HR import work together. When users are created through HR import, their authentication method can be set to SAML at the same time, so a new starter's account arrives ready to sign in through the corporate login. Existing users on another login method can also be linked automatically when they match, with optional email verification.

For extended enterprise and multitenant sites, each tenant can have its own login page, and the platform supports multiple authentication methods side by side. That matters when employees sign in through the corporate identity provider and external learners, members or customers sign in another way.

Microsoft Teams

Totara's Microsoft Teams integration works in two ways.

Totara inside Teams. A custom Totara app extension brings learning into Teams. It provides single sign-on, access to courses and the catalogue, content creation and sharing, and notifications and messaging, all inside the Teams client. Learners do not need to leave the tool they already have open all day, and for organisations where Teams is the default workplace surface, this is usually the integration that decides whether learning gets opened at all.

Teams meetings inside Totara. For live training, the Teams virtual meeting integration connects to Totara's seminar management. A trainer adds a virtual room to a seminar session, connects their Microsoft account, and Totara generates a Teams online meeting for that session. The meeting link is available to trainers and administrators at any time, and is revealed to booked learners from 15 minutes before the session starts.

The setup work sits on the Microsoft side. The app extension and the meeting integration both require an app registration in Microsoft Azure, and Totara's documentation follows Microsoft's recommendation of a single-tenant configuration for production. Your Microsoft 365 administrator will need to be involved. Meeting duration limits depend on your Microsoft plan, not on Totara.

Zoom

Zoom connects to Totara the same way Teams meetings do: as a virtual room provider for seminar sessions. The trainer creates the room inside Totara, selects Zoom, and signs in to their Zoom account without leaving the LMS.

Because the meeting sits inside a seminar, everything Totara's seminar management already does still applies: sign-up and waiting lists, manager approval, calendar invitations, reminders and attendance tracking. That is the practical case for the integration. The meeting link is not the hard part of virtual training. Knowing who registered, who attended and whose certification that attendance counts towards is.

If a provider is not set up, a virtual room can still be added as a custom link. You lose the automated meeting creation, but keep the booking and attendance workflow.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning connects through Totara's content marketplace. Once enabled with a client ID and secret from LinkedIn Learning, administrators and course creators can browse the LinkedIn Learning library from inside Totara and import courses.

LinkedIn's own integration guide for Totara describes the library refreshing daily through LinkedIn Learning's APIs, so new titles become available inside Totara within a day of release. Learners see LinkedIn Learning courses in the Totara catalogue alongside internal content, and a provider filter can separate the two.

Progress and completion come back through xAPI. That means LinkedIn Learning completions land in Totara's records and reporting, where they can count towards programs, learning plans and compliance reporting like any other course. LinkedIn also recommends SAML single sign-on so learners move between the two platforms without a second login.

One limit to plan for: automatic completion import starts from the day the integration is set up. Completions from before that date are not imported automatically and have to be loaded by CSV.

LinkedIn Learning is not the only library. Totara's content marketplace also supports GO1 and OpenSesame, and the platform accepts SCORM, IMS, H5P and LTI content.

Where the data goes next

Every integration above feeds Totara's report builder, which answers most questions about learning inside Totara: who completed what, who is overdue, which certifications expire this quarter.

The harder questions sit across systems, for example whether a training program changed retention in one region, or whether certified staff close more revenue. That needs learning data joined with HR, CRM or finance data. It is the gap Lambda Learning fills with Zoola Analytics, which sits alongside Totara rather than replacing its reporting.

What a Totara partner does here

Every integration in this guide has two sides, and the difficult part is usually the side that is not Totara: the HR system export, the Azure app registration, the identity provider's attribute mapping, the LinkedIn Learning admin settings.

Lambda Learning's role as a Totara Platinum Partner is to own that coordination:

Map your HR data to Totara's organisation, position and job assignment structure before anything is imported, so automation rules are built on the right foundation.

Configure SSO with your identity team, including how HR import sets authentication for new accounts.

Set up the Teams, Zoom and LinkedIn Learning connections and test them end to end with real sessions and real completions.

Scope API work honestly against what the Totara version you run exposes.

Support the integrations after launch, because HR systems change field names and identity providers rotate certificates.

Frequently asked questions

Does Totara integrate with Workday, SAP SuccessFactors or BambooHR?

All three are named in Totara's own integrations directory, alongside Cornerstone HCM, HiBob, Lucca, Personio and Ellucian. Underneath, Totara connects to HR systems through HR import, using CSV files or a direct external database connection, and through its external GraphQL API. Which route applies to your system and version is a scoping question for your partner.

Does Totara have an API?

Yes. Totara provides an external GraphQL API authenticated with OAuth 2.0 client credentials, available from Totara version 17 onwards. The services it exposes vary by version, so check the published schema for your version.

Does Totara support single sign-on?

Yes. Totara supports SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0 and LDAP, plus multi-factor authentication. Totara documents SAML setup for Okta, Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft AD FS.

Can learners join Microsoft Teams or Zoom sessions from Totara?

Yes. Both connect to Totara's seminar management as virtual room providers. Totara creates the meeting for the session, and booked learners see the link shortly before it starts, with registration and attendance tracked in Totara.

Can Totara be used inside Microsoft Teams?

Yes. A Totara app extension for Teams gives learners single sign-on access to courses, the catalogue, shared content and notifications from within Teams.

Do LinkedIn Learning completions show up in Totara?

Yes. Progress and completion are tracked through xAPI and appear in Totara's records and reports. Historic completions from before the integration was set up need to be imported separately by CSV.

Which version of Totara do these integrations require?

The external API requires Totara 17 or later. LinkedIn's integration guide lists Totara 15.3 or later for the LinkedIn Learning integration. The current major version is Totara 20, and the Version 20 functionality overview lists HR system import, SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, LDAP, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and LinkedIn Learning.

Bring your system list. We will map the connections.

Tell us your HR system, your identity provider and the tools your learners already use. We will show you which Totara integrations cover them, where the setup work sits, and if Totara is not the right fit, we will say so.

Book a demo: https://www.lambdalearn.io/schedule-a-meeting-lambda-suite

Talk to a specialist: https://www.lambdalearn.io/schedule-a-meeting-lambda-suite

Totara is a registered trademark of Totara Learning Solutions Ltd. Lambda Learning Inc. is a Totara Platinum Partner.