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.
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For Enter app name, enter Slack.
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In the search results, point to Slack and click Select.
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In the Google Identity Provider details window, for Option 2: Copy the SSO URL, entity ID, and certificate:
- Next to SSO URL, click Copy
and save the URL.
- Next to Entity ID, click Copy
- Next to Certificate, click Download
You need these details to complete the setup in Slack.
- Next to SSO URL, click Copy
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Click Continue.
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On the Service provider details page:
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For ACS URL, replace {your-team-name} with your Slack team name.
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For Entity ID, if https://slack.com is used by another Slack SAML app, enter https://{your-team-name}.slack.com and replace {your-team-name} with your Slack team name. (The same entity ID can't be used by more than one SAML app.)
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For Start URL, check the Signed response box.
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Click Continue.
- In the Attribute Mapping window, click Select field and 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 Mapping and select the fields that you need to map.
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(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.
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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 Authentication tab.
- For SAML authentication, click Configure and confirm your password.
- In the Choose your SAML provider window, select Custom SAML 2.0 and 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 Options section:
- 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 Signed box.
- For Settings, indicate how authentication should be applied to your team.
- Click Save Configuration.
the Authentication tab.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).
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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 everyone or Off for everyone, and then click Save.
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(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 On or 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 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.
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(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
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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 Slack 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.
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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