Salesforce cloud application

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

Using Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), your users can use their Google Cloud credentials to sign in to enterprise-cloud applications.

Set up SSO via SAML for Salesforce

Here's how to set up single sign-on (SSO) via SAML for the Salesforce® application.

Step 1: Set up Salesforce as a SAML 2.0 service provider (SP)
  1. Start your Salesforce application.
  2. Under Domain Management > My Domain, choose a domain name, entering it in the subdomain box.
  3. Under Security Controls > Single Sign-on Settings, click Edit and select the SAML enabled checkbox.
  4. Click New and fill in all the fields:
    1. Copy the Google Entity ID field value (your-domain-name.my.salesforce.com) into the Issuer field.
    2. Copy the Google Single Sign-On URL field value into the identity provider Login URL field.
    3. Enter your Salesforce domain name (from step 2) into the Entity Id field.
    4. Select HTTP Redirect.
  5. Copy the value for Salesforce Login URL (https://your-domain-name.my.salesforce.com?so={SF provided - domain specific id}). You will paste this into the Admin console ACS URL field (Step 1 under Enter the Salesforce specific service provider details).
  6. Click Save.
  7. Proceed to the next section to set up Google as a SAML identity provider (IdP).
Step 2: Set up Google as a SAML identity provider (IdP)
  1. In a new browser tab, sign in to your Admin console as a super administrator.
  2. Click Apps > SAML apps.
  3. Click the plus (+) icon in the bottom corner.
  4. Select the Salesforce item from the list. The values on the Google IDP Information page automatically populate.
  5. There are two ways to collect the service provider Setup information:

    You can copy the Entity ID and the Single Sign-On URL field values and download the X.509 Certificate, paste them into the appropriate service provider Setup fields, and then click Next
    or
    You can download the IDP metadata, upload it into the appropriate service provider Setup fields, and then  come back to the admin console and click Next.
  6. In the Basic application information window, the Application name and Description values automatically populate.
  7. Click Next.
Step 3: Enter service provider details in Google Admin console
  1. In the Service Provider Details section, enter the following URLs into the Entity ID, ACS URL, and Start URL fields:
            ACS URL: https://your-domain-name.my.salesforce.com?so={SF provided - domain specific id}
            Entity ID: https://your-domain-name.my.salesforce.com
            Start URL: https://your-domain-name.my.salesforce.com
  2. Leave Signed Response unchecked.
    When the Signed Response checkbox is unchecked, only the assertion is signed. When the Signed Response checkbox is checked, the entire response is signed.
  3. The default Name ID is the primary email. Multi-value input is not supported. You can change the Name ID mapping as per your requirement. Custom attributes of the user schema can also be used after creating them via Google Admin SDK APIs. The custom attributes for the user schema need to be created prior to setting up the Salesforce SAML application. 
  4. Click Next.
  5. (Optional) Click Add new mapping and enter a new name for the attribute you want to map.
  6. In the drop-down list, first select the Category and then choose a User attribute to map the attribute from the Google profile.
  7. Click Finish.
Step 4: Enable the Salesforce app
  1. Sign in to your Admin console.
  2. Go to Apps > SAML apps.
  3. Select Salesforce.

  4. At the top right of the gray box, click Edit Service Compose.

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

  6. To turn on or off a service only for users in an organizational unit:

    1. At the left, select the organizational unit.
    2. Select On or Off.
    3. To keep the service turned on or off even when the service is turned on or off for the parent organizational unit, click Override.
    4. If the organization's status is already Overridden, choose an option:
      • Inherit—Reverts to the same setting as its parent.
      • Save—Saves your new setting (even if the parent setting changes).

    Learn more about organizational structure.

  7. Ensure that your Salesforce user account email IDs match those in your Google domain.
Step 5: Verify that the SSO is working
  1. Open https://your-domain-name.my.salesforce.com.
  2. You should be automatically redirected to the Google sign in page.
  3. Enter your sign in credentials.
  4. After your sign in credentials are authenticated, you are automatically redirected back to Salesforce.
Step 6: Set up user provisioning for Salesforce

As a super administrator, you can automatically provision users in the Salesforce application.

Was this helpful?
How can we improve it?