Amazon Web Services cloud app

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 Amazon Web Services

Expand all | Collapse all

You must be signed in as a super administrator for this task.

Before you begin

Before configuring SSO, you must create a custom user attribute.

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.
Go to Menu Directory > Users.
Click More optionsManage custom attributes.
At the top, click Add Custom Attribute.
In the Add custom fields section:
1. For Category, enter Amazon.
2. For Description, enter Amazon Custom Attributes.
3. For Name, enter Role.
4. Click Info type and select Text.
5. Click Visibility and select Visible to user and admin.
6. Click No. of values and select Multi-value.
Click Add.
The custom attribute appears in the Custom attributes section on the Manage user attributes page.

Step 1: Get Google identity provider information

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.
Go to Menu Security > Authentication > SSO with SAML applications.
Download the identity provider metadata.
Leave the Admin console open. You'll continue with the configuration in the Admin console after the setup steps in the app.

Step 2: Set up Amazon Web Services as a SAML 2.0 service provider

Open an Incognito browser window and sign in to the AWS Management Console.
Open the IAM console.
Go to Identity ProvidersAdd Provider.
Click Provider Type and select SAML.
For Provider Name, enter a name (for example, GoogleWorkspace).
Note: The provider name can't contain spaces.
Click Choose File and select the metadata file that you downloaded in Step 1.
Click Add Provider.
On the Identity Providers page, the provider name you entered, such as GoogleWorkspace, should appear in the list of identity providers.
Click RolesCreate roleTrusted entity typeSAML 2.0 federation.
For SAML 2.0 federation, select the SAML provider name you previously added and choose an access option.
Click Next.
For Permissions policies, search for and choose policies to grant permissions to users who are signing in to Amazon Web Services using SSO (for example, AdministratorAccess).
Click Next.
In the Role details section, enter a Role name (for example, GoogleSSO).
Click Create role.
On the Roles page, copy and save the Identity Provider ARN for the role name that you created in step 12.
This value is needed to configure the custom Amazon user attribute for each user in Step 4.
Click the role name that you previously created.
On the Summary page, copy and save the Role ARN.
This value is needed to configure the custom Amazon user attribute for each user in Step 4.

Step 3: 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.
Go to Menu Apps > Web and mobile apps.
Click Add appSearch for apps.
For Enter app name, enter Amazon Web Services.
In the search results, point to Amazon Web Services and click Select.
In the Google Identity Provider details window, click Continue.
On the Service provider details page, the app details are configured by default.
Click Continue.

In the Attribute Mapping window, click Select field and map the following Google directory attributes to their corresponding Amazon Web Services attributes. The https://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/RoleSessionName and https://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/Role attributes are required.

Google directory attribute	Amazon Web Services attribute
Basic Information > Primary Email	https://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/RoleSessionName
Amazon > Role*	https://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/Role

* The custom attribute that you created in the Before you begin section.

(Optional) To add additional mappings, click Add Mapping and select the fields that you need to map.
(Optional) To enter group names that are relevant for this app:
1. For Group membership (optional), click Search for a group, enter one or more letters of the group name, and select the group name.
2. Add additional groups as needed (maximum of 75 groups).
3. 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.

Step 4: Turn on app for users

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.
Go to Menu Apps > Web and mobile apps.
Click Amazon Web Services.
Click User access.
To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click On for everyone or Off for everyone, and then click Save.
(Optional) To turn a service on or off for an organizational unit:
1. At the left, select the organizational unit.
2. To change the Service status, select On or Off.
3. 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 Inherit to revert to the same setting as its parent, or click Save to 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 Amazon Web Services user account email domains match the primary domain of your organization’s managed Google Account.
For each user signing in to Amazon Web Services using SSO, configure the custom user attribute that you previously created:
1. On the user's account page, click User informationthe Amazon custom attribute.
2. For Role, enter the Role ARN and the Identity Provider ARN that you copied in Step 2, separated by a comma. For example:
  arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT_NUMBER:role/GoogleSSO,arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT_NUMBER:provider/GoogleWorkspace
3. Click Save.

Step 5: Verify SSO is working

Amazon Web Services supports only identity provider-initiated SSO.

Verify identity provider-initiated SSO

Before you begin: Make sure you're signed in to the account where you configured Amazon Web Services.

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.
Go to Menu Apps > Web and mobile apps.
Click Amazon Web Services.
In the Amazon Web Services section, 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.

Step 6: Set up user provisioning

As a super administrator, you can automatically provision users in the app. For details, go to Configure Amazon Web Services user provisioning.

_{Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.}

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?

Amazon Web Services cloud app

Use SAML to set up SSO for Amazon Web Services

Verify identity provider-initiated SSO

Was this helpful?

Need more help?

Try these next steps: