Configuring Google as an Identity Provider

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Last updated: Nov 08, 2018 by Kim Landis (Unlicensed)
4 min read

The EmpowerID SSO framework allows you to configure Google as an identity provider (IdP) for the EmpowerID Web application. EmpowerID integrates with Google using the OAuth protocol to allow your users to log in to EmpowerID using their Google accounts.

This topic demonstrates how to configure an Identity Provider (IDP) connection for Google and is divided into the following activities:

  • Adding the Client ID and Client Secret to the Google SSO Connection
  • Adding a Login tile for Google
  • Testing the Google connection


As a prerequisite to creating an IDP Connection for Google, you must have a Google Apps for Business or Education account established with Google and register the EmpowerID Web application for your organization in the APIs Console of your Google Apps account. This creates a set of values known by Google and the EmpowerID web application that allow the two to enter into a federated trust relationship. These values include the Client ID and the Client Secret (these values are generated by Google and are used with the Google SAML Attributes created by EmpowerID), as well as the Redirect URI (this value is entered by you to tell Google where to post the assertion of a user's identity to the EmpowerID Assertion Consumer Service). 

For specific directions on registering EmpowerID as an application in Google, see the information provided by Google at https://console.developers.google.com.

When registering EmpowerID in Google, use the following URL as the Callback or Return URL, replacing "FQDN_OF_YOUR_EMPOWERID_SERVER" with the FQDN of the EmpowerID Web server in your environment.

https://FQDN_OF_YOUR_EMPOWERID_SERVER/WebIdPForms/oauth/v2


Once the IDP Connection has been set up for Google, you can create a link similar to the one below to allow users to login to EmpowerID using Google. Be sure to replace "FQDN_OF_YOUR_EMPOWERID_SERVER" with the FQDN or fully resolvable DNS of the EmpowerID Web server in your environment and "Google" with the name of the SSO connection you create for Google in EmpowerID.

https://FQDN_OF_YOUR_EMPOWERID_SERVER/WebIdPForms/Login/Portal/Google?returnUrl=%2WebIdPForms%2F




To add the Client ID and Client Secret to the Google OAuth Connection

  1. From the Navigation Sidebar of the EmpowerID Web interface, expand Admin > SSO Connections and click OAuth.
  2. From the OAuth Applications management page, click the OAuth Service Provider tab and then search for Facebook.
  3. From the OAuth Service Provider grid, click the Google link.
  4. From the OAuth Service Provider Details page that appears, click the Edit button for the specific Google connection you want to edit. By default, EmpowerID includes one connection. However, you can add as many connections for Google as your organization needs.
  5. In the OAuth Connection pane that appears, type the APP ID Google generated for your application in the Consumer Key field and the App Secret in the Consumer Secret field.
  6. Click Save to close the OAuth Connection pane.

    Next, add a login tile for Google to the desired IdP Domains. This allows your users to authenticate to EmpowerID with their Google credentials. If you have not set up an IdP Domain for your environment, you can do so by following the directions in the below drop-down.

To add a login tile for Google

  1. From the Navigation Sidebar, expand Admin > Applications and Directories > SSO Connections and click SSO Components.
  2. From the IdP Domains tab of the SSO Components page, click the IdP Domains link for the domain in which you want the login tile to appear.
  3. In the SAML Domain Name Details page that appears, click the Edit link. Edit links have the Pencil icon.
  4. In the IdP Domain Details page that appears, click the OAuth Identity Providers tab, check the box beside Google and then click Save.


To test the Google IDP connection

  1. Log out of the EmpowerID Web application and navigate your browser to the domain name you configured for the IdP connection.
  2. Click the Login using Google button.
  3. This redirects your browser to the login for Google. Sign in as you normally would.
  4. This directs you to the Request for Permission page for Google. Click Allow to allow EmpowerID to access the information it needs to link the account to your EmpowerID Person.




  5. Back in the EmpowerID Web application, click Yes to indicate that you have an EmpowerID login.




    Users without EmpowerID Persons can request EmpowerID accounts by clicking No. This initiates the Create User Account workflow, which displays a form in the browser to allow the user to fill in the appropriate information. If a user submits the request, EmpowerID routes that request to those individuals in your environment with the ability to approve or deny the request and returns the user to the EmpowerID web login.

  6. Type your EmpowerID Login or Email in the form and click Submit. The EmpowerID Person must have a valid email address as EmpowerID sends a one-time password to that address.




  7. Check your email for the one-time password.

  8. Back in the EmpowerID Web interface, type the one-time password into the Password form and click Submit.




    Upon successful submission of the one-time password, EmpowerID logs the user in and joins the Google account to their EmpowerID Person account.


    If you have set up the user's Password Manager policy to require the user accumulate a specific number of trust points beyond those granted by the identity provider, EmpowerID will direct the user through any Multi-factor methods you have enabled on the policy until they reach the needed point threshold to log in.

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