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 Betterworks

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

Before you begin

Before configuring SSO, get your organization-specific SAML token from your Betterworks customer success manager. When you get the token, complete the following steps to create a custom attribute:

  1. 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.

  3. Click More optionsand thenManage custom attributes.
  4. At the top, click Add Custom Attribute.
  5. In the Add custom fields section:
    1. For Category, enter Betterworks.
    2. For Description, enter Betterworks Custom Attributes.
    3. For Name, enter SAML Token.
    4. Click Info type and select Text.
    5. Click Visibility and select Visible to user and admin.
    6. Click No. of values and select Single Value.

  6. Click Add.
    The custom attribute appears in the Custom attributes section on the Manage user attributes page.

Step 1: Set up Google as a SAML identity provider

  1. 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.

  3. Click Add appand thenSearch for apps.

  4. For Enter app name, enter Betterworks.

  5. In the search results, point to Betterworks and click Select.

  6. On the Google Identity Provider details window, download the identity provider metadata.
  7. Click Continue.
    On the Service provider details page, the app details are configured by default.
  8. Click Continue.
  9. In the Attribute Mapping window, click Select field and do the following steps:
    1. Map the following Google directory attributes to their corresponding Betterworks attributes. The givenName, sn, mail, and username attributes are required. 
    2. Map the SAML token that you got from your Betterworks customer success manager to the custom attribute that you created earlier.   

      Google directory attribute

      Betterworks attribute

      Basic Information > First Name

      givenName

      Basic Information > Last Name

      sn

      Basic Information > Primary Email

      mail

      Basic Information > First Name

      username

      Betterworks > SAML Token*

      saml_token

      * The custom attribute that you created

  10. (Optional) To add additional mappings, click Add Mapping and select the fields that you need to map.

  11. (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.

  12. Click Finish.

Step 2: Set up Betterworks as a SAML 2.0 service provider

Send the identity provider metadata that you downloaded in Step 1 to your customer success manager at Betterworks. Ask them to set up the SAML connection for your account. Wait for Betterworks to set up SAML before completing the next steps.

Step 3: 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).

  1. 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.

  3. Click Betterworks.
  4. Click User access.

  5. To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click On for everyone or Off for everyone, and then click Save.

  6. (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.

  7. (Optional) To turn on a service for a set of users across or within organizational units, select an access group. For details, go to Customize service access using access groups.

  8. Ensure that your Betterworks user account email domains match the primary domain of your organization’s managed Google Account.

Step 4: Verify SSO is working

Betterworks supports both identity provider-initiated and service provider-initiated SSO.

Verify identity provider-initiated SSO

  1. 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.

  3. Click Betterworks.
  4. In the Betterworks 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

  1. Close all browser windows.
  2. Go to the Betterworks sign-in page and sign in with your Betterworks administrator account.
    You should be redirected to the Google sign-in page.
  3. Select your account and enter your password.

After your credentials are authenticated, the app should open.


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.

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