SAML log events

The audit log page has been replaced with a new audit and investigation page. For information about this change, go to Improved audit and investigation experience: What's new in Google Workspace.

You can use the audit and investigation page to run searches related to SAML log events. There you can view a record of actions to track your users' successful and unsuccessful sign-ins to SAML applications. Entries usually appear within an hour of the user action.

For a full list of services and activities that you can investigate, such as Google Drive or user activity, read through the data sources for the audit and investigation page.

Forward log event data to Google Cloud

Supported editions for this feature: Enterprise; Education Standard and Education Plus, Voice Premier.  Compare your edition

You can opt in to share the log event data with Google Cloud. If you turn on sharing, data is forwarded to Cloud Logging, where you can query and view your logs, and control how you route and store your logs.

Open the audit and investigation page

Access SAML log event data

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. On the left, click ReportingAudit and investigationSAML log events.

Filter the data

1. Open the log events as described above in Access SAML log event data.
2. Click Add a filter, and then select an attribute.
3. In the pop-up window, select an operatorselect a valueclick Apply.
4. (Optional) To create multiple filters for your search:

   1. Click Add a filter and repeat step 3.
   2. (Optional) To add a search operator, above Add a filter, select AND or OR.
5. Click Search.

Note: Using the Filter tab, you can include simple parameter and value pairs to filter the search results. You can also use the Condition builder tab, where the filters are represented as conditions with AND/OR operators.

Attribute descriptions

For this data source, you can use the following attributes when searching log event data:

Attribute	Description
Actor	Email address of the user who performed the action
Actor group name	Group name of the actor
Actor organizational unit	Organizational unit of the actor
Application name	The SAML application that initiated the event
Date	The date and time the event occurred (displayed in your browser's default time zone)
Event	Two types of events are logged: Successful and failed sign-in attempts
Failure type	For failed sign-in attempts, a failure type is displayed. Go to Failure types and solutions below for details.
Initiated by	The provider who initiated the event. Can be the identity provider or the service provider.
IP address	The internet protocol (IP) address used by the user to sign in to the SAML application. This might reflect the user's physical location, but not necessarily. For example, it could instead be a proxy server or a virtual private network (VPN) address.
Response second level status	Status information about the success or failure of the SAML request. For details on status codes, go to SAML v2.0 Core, Section 3.2.2.2.
Response status	Status information about the success or failure of the SAML request. For details on status codes, go to SAML v2.0 Core, Section 3.2.2.2.

Filter data by failure type

1. Open the log events as described above in Access SAML log event data.
2. Click Add a filterFailure type.
3. From the drop down list, select an option.
4. Click Apply.

Failure types and solutions

The following failure types are recorded in the log events:

Failure type	Solution
Application not configured	Verify that the service provider settings (including the Entity ID) are configured correctly in the Admin console
Application not enabled for user	In the User access section of the the app's settings page in Admin console, verify that the application is ON for the organization that contains the user
Bad request	The request was malformed, or the ACS URL in the request does not match the one configured in Admin console. Check that the ACS URL configured for the service provider is correct.
Invalid name ID mapping	There is a mismatch between the NAMEID parameter in the application and the one configured in the app's settings in the Admin console. Check that the schema still exists and reconfigure the NAMEID mapping for the application.
Invalid service provider ID	Check that the configuration on the service provider side matches the app-id field configured in Admin console. Ensure that the SP ID being passed in the request URL is the same as the app-id.
Name ID mapping unavailable	The mapped attribute for NAMEID mapping could not be found. As administrator, check that the schema still exists and reconfigure the NAMEID mapping for the application.
Passive authentication failed	The user could not be logged into the identity provider (IdP). Sign back in to the IdP from your browser.
Unknown	Login failed for an unknown reason
User is unauthorized	Verify that the application is ON for the organization or group that contains the user

Manage log event data

Manage search results column data

You can control which data columns appear in your search results. 

1. At the top-right of the search results table, click Manage columns.
2. (Optional) To remove current columns, click Remove.
3. (Optional) To add columns, next to Add new column, click the Down arrowand select the data column.
   Repeat as needed.
4. (Optional) To change the order of the columns, drag the data column names.
5. Click Save.

Export search result data

1. At the top of the search results table, click Export all.
2. Enter a nameclick Export.
   The export displays below the search results table under Export action results.
3. To view the data, click the name of your export.
   The export opens in Google Sheets.

Create reporting rules

Go to Create and manage reporting rules.

When and how long is data available?

Go to Data retention and lag times.

Related topics

• Data sources for the audit and investigation page