Hub as SAML Identity Provider for Google Apps for Work

When you configure a Hub server as the Identity Provider for your Google Apps instance, end-users can log into Google Apps with their credentials in Hub or any other authentication module enabled in Hub.

This configuration also enables single sign-on. When a user logs into one of the services that is connected to Hub, they are logged into all connected services.

Before you start, verify the following prerequisites:

You must have administrative privileges in both Google Apps for Work and Hub.
To log into Google Apps with Hub, a user must have a registered account in Google Apps. In Google Apps, it is not allowed to create new users automatically via SAML.
You must have the SSL certificate file that you use for SAML2.0 in Hub. You will need to upload this file to Google Apps during the configuration.

Due to the Google Apps requirements, only end-users can log into Google Apps using a third-party SAML IdP (in this case, Hub). Google Apps administrators can only log in directly on the Google Admin console login page. For details, refer to this Google documentation page.

Keeping this in mind, use a non-administrative account to test the SAML configuration.

To configure your Google Apps instance:

In your Google Apps instance, sign in to the Admin Console.
Open the Security page.
Select the Set up single sign-on (SSO) panel.
Enable the Setup SSO with third party identity provider option.

Configure the parameters:

Parameter	Description
Sign-in page URL	Paste the content of the Sign In URL field on More Settings > SAML2.0 > Settings page of the Hub server.
Sign-out page URL	Paste the content of the Sign Out URL field on the More Settings > SAML2.0 > Settings page of the Hub server.
Change password URL	If you want to redirect all your end-users who try to change their passwords at Google Apps to Hub, then enter the URL of the login page of your Hub instance in the following format: `<Hub server Base URL>/auth/login` For details, refer to the Google Apps documentation page.
Verification certificate	Upload the file of the SSL certificate that is packed in the SSL keystore set up for SAML in Hub.
Use a domain specific issuer	Choose whether Google should whether to include a standard or domain specific issuer. Standard issuer is `google.com`. Format of the domain specific issuer is `google.com/a/<your domain>` For details, refer to the Google Apps documentation page.
Network masks	Provide a semicolon-separated list of IP addresses that should always be routed through Hub for authentication. By default, we recommend that you leave the field blank to authenticate all end-users via Hub.

In Hub, select SAML 2.0 from the Access Management section of the Administration menu.
Select the Registered Service Providers tab.
Click the Register service provider button.

In the dialog, enter the parameters of your Google Apps instance:

Parameter	Description
Name	Enter a name to be displayed for the Google Apps instance in Hub.
Issuer	Enter either standard or domain-specific issuer depending on the Use a domain specific issuer option status.
Description	Optionally, enter a description of the Google Apps instance.
Consumer URL	Paste the Access Consumer Service (ACS) URL of your Google Apps instance in the format: `https://www.google.com/a/<yourdomain.com>/acs`
Hub should send `LogoutResponse`	Enable the option.

Last modified: 27 February 2024