Using the SAML 2.0 standard, you can configure single sign-on (SSO) for a number of cloud apps. After you set up SSO, your users can use their Google Workspace credentials to sign in to an app using SSO.
Use SAML to set up SSO for Slack
You must be signed in as a super administrator for this task.
Step 1: Set up Google as a SAML identity provider- Sign in with a super administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using a super administrator account, you can’t complete these steps.
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- Click Add app Search for apps.
- For Enter app name, enter Slack.
- In the search results, point to Slackand click Select.
- In the Google Identity Provider detailswindow, for Option 2: Copy the SSO URL, entity ID, and certificate:
- Next to SSO URL, click Copyand save the URL.
- Next to Entity ID, click Copyand save the entity ID.
- Next to Certificate, click Downloadand save the certificate.
You need these details to complete the setup in Slack.
- Click Continue.
- On the Service provider detailspage:
- For ACS URL, replace {your-team-name}with your Slack team name.
- For Entity ID, if https://slack.com is used by another Slack SAML app, enter https://{your-team-name}.slack.comand replace {your-team-name}with your Slack team name. (The same entity ID can't be used by more than one SAML app.)
- For Start URL, check the Signed responsebox.
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- Click Continue.
- In the Attribute Mappingwindow, click Select fieldand map the following Google directory attributes to their corresponding
Slack attributes. The User.Email attribute is required.
Google directory attribute Slack attribute Basic Information > Primary Email User.Email Basic Information > First Name first_name Basic Information > Last Name last_name - (Optional) To add additional mappings, click Add Mappingand select the fields that you need to map.
- (Optional) To enter group names that are relevant for this app:
- For Group membership (optional), click Search for a group, enter one or more letters of the group name, and select the group name.
- Add additional groups as needed (maximum of 75 groups).
- For App attribute, enter the corresponding groups attribute name of the service provider.
Regardless of how many group names you enter, the SAML response includes only groups that a user is a member of (directly or indirectly). For more information, go to About group membership mapping .
- Click Finish.
- Open an Incognito browser window, go to https://{your-team-name}.slack.com/home, replace {your-team-name}with your Slack team name, and sign in with your Slack administrator or team owner account.
- Go to Settings & Permissions the Authenticationtab.
- For SAML authentication, click Configureand confirm your password.
- In the Choose your SAML providerwindow, select Custom SAML 2.0and then click Configure.
- For SAML 2.0 Endpoint (HTTP), paste the the SSO URL that you copied in Step 1.
- For Identity Provider Issuer, paste the the entity ID that you copied in Step 1.
- For Public Certificate, paste the entire contents of the certificate file that you downloaded in Step 1.
You might need to change the file extension to .txt so you can open the file with a text editor. - In the Advanced Optionssection:
- For Service Provider Issuer, if you changed the entity ID in Step 1, enter the entity ID that you used.
- For Choose how the SAML response from your IDP is signed, check the Responses Signedbox.
- For Settings, indicate how authentication should be applied to your team.
- Click Save Configuration.
Before you begin: To turn a service on or off for certain users, put their accounts in an organizational unit (to control access by department) or add them to an access group (to allow access for users across or within departments).
- Sign in with a super administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using a super administrator account, you can’t complete these steps.
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- Click Slack.
- Click User access.
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To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click On for everyoneor Off for everyone, and then click Save.
- (Optional) To turn a service on or off for an organizational unit:
- At the left, select the organizational unit.
- To change the Service status, select Onor Off.
- Choose one:
- If the Service status is set to Inherited and you want to keep the updated setting, even if the parent setting changes, click Override.
- If the Service status is set to Overridden, either click Inheritto revert to the same setting as its parent, or click Saveto keep the new setting, even if the parent setting changes.
Learn more about organizational structure .
- (Optional) To turn on a service for a set of users across or within organizational units, select an access group. For details, go to Use groups to customize service access .
- Ensure that your Slack user account email domains match the primary domain of your organization’s managed Google Account.
Slack supports both identity provider-initiated and service provider-initiated SSO.
Verify identity provider-initiated SSO
- Sign in with a super administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using a super administrator account, you can’t complete these steps.
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- Click Slack.
- In the Slacksection, click Test SAML Login.
The app should open in a separate tab. If it doesn’t, troubleshoot the error message and try again. For details on troubleshooting, go to SAML app error messages .
Verify service provider-initiated SSO
- Close all browser windows.
- Go to http://{your-team-name}.slack.com, replace {your-team-name}with your Slack team name, and sign in with your Slack administrator account.
You should be redirected to the Google sign-in page. - Select your account and enter your password.
After your credentials are authenticated, the app should open.
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