Passport with Google Workspace enables users to log into Mac computers using their Google Workspace credentials. This integration provides seamless authentication using your organization’s Google identity system.
Passport integrates with your Google Workspace instance using Secure LDAP to authenticate users at the macOS login screen. When users enter their Google Workspace credentials, Passport verifies them against your Google directory and creates or updates the local Mac user account.
Your organization’s Google Workspace instance needs to support Secure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Google has a list of supported licenses for the LDAP service here.
Every Google Workspace user who will sign in with Passport must have a Cloud Identity Premium license assigned in Google Workspace.
You need access to your organization’s super administrator account.
If your web browser automatically uncompresses .zip files, temporarily change that setting and download the file again, or compress the uncompressed folder before you upload it to your Passport Library Item.
Create a Secure LDAP Client and Download the Certificate
Passport uses Secure LDAP to communicate with Google to confirm login credentials and gather basic user and group information. When you create a new Secure LDAP client in Google Workspace, you’ll download a certificate to secure communications and turn the service on.
1
Sign in to Google Admin console
In a web browser, use your organization’s super administrator account to sign in to your organization’s Google Admin console at admin.google.com.
2
Access Apps section
In the left sidebar, click Apps.
3
Access LDAP
In the Apps section, click LDAP.
If LDAP does not appear, your edition may not include Secure LDAP. Business Starter and Business Standard do not offer the Secure LDAP service.
4
Add LDAP client when others already exist
If your organization already has one or more Secure LDAP clients, they appear in the list on the LDAP page you opened in the previous step. In the upper-right corner, select ADD CLIENT to create another client for Passport.
5
Add LDAP client when none exist yet
If your organization does not have any Secure LDAP clients yet, the LDAP apps page shows ADD LDAP CLIENT. Select ADD LDAP CLIENT to start creating the client for Passport.
6
Enter LDAP client name
In the LDAP client name field, enter a name like Iru Passport.
7
Enter description
In the Description field, enter a description like Passport: keep Mac login passwords in sync with Google Workspace.
8
Continue configuration
Select CONTINUE.
9
Configure user credentials verification
In the Verify user credentials section, select either Entire domain (your domain appears in parentheses), or if you want to limit Passport to certain accounts, select Selected organizational units, groups and excluded groups.
10
Configure user information reading
In the Read user information section, configure the same settings as you did in Verify user credentials (for example Entire domain or Selected organizational units when those options appear).
11
Enable System Attributes
Confirm that the checkbox for System Attributes is selected so that Passport can read the default user attributes.
12
Leave custom attributes deselected
Leave Public Custom Attributes and Private Custom Attributes deselected; Passport will not use custom user attributes.
13
Configure group information reading
In the Read group information section, set the switch to On so you can configure Passport to use a user’s Google Workspace group information to dynamically convert their local Mac account between standard and administrator privileges when they log in. You can turn this option on later if you don’t turn it on now.
14
Review and create LDAP client
Review your configuration, then select ADD LDAP CLIENT.
15
Download certificate
Select Download certificate.
16
Continue to Client Details
Select CONTINUE TO CLIENT DETAILS.
17
Access service settings
In the Service status section, select OFF or the disclosure control (chevron) to open the flow where you can turn the LDAP service on.
18
Enable service for everyone
On the Service status page, select ON for everyone.
Re-download Your Secure LDAP Certificate (optional)
After you configure the LDAP client in the previous section, you can always download the certificate that’s used to secure the LDAP communication between Passport and Google. There are many other options, including renaming a certificate, generating additional certificates, and deleting a certificate.
1
Sign in to Google Admin console
In a web browser, use your organization’s super administrator account to sign in to your organization’s Google Admin console at admin.google.com.
2
Access Apps section
In the left sidebar, click Apps.
3
Access LDAP
In the Apps section, click LDAP.
4
Select LDAP client
In the list of LDAP clients, select the LDAP client you created for use with Passport.
5
Access Authentication section
Open the Authentication section for the client.
6
Download certificate
In Certificates, select the download icon for the certificate row. The control’s tooltip reads Download certificate.
Collect group email prefixes for user provisioning
If you want Passport to set each user’s Mac account type from Google group membership, collect the Group email prefix for each group you plan to map. You will use those values under User provisioning on the Passport Library Item Iru Endpoint tab.
1
Open a group in Google Admin
In Google Admin, open a group you want to use for Passport user provisioning.
2
Copy the group email prefix
From Group email, copy everything before the @ symbol. Passport expects that prefix in the Library Item, not the group’s display name.
3
Paste the prefix into a document
Paste the prefix into a secure text document or internal runbook. If you use several groups, note which prefix belongs to which group.
4
Repeat for each group
Repeat the previous steps for every Google group you plan to reference in Passport.
When the Secure LDAP client and certificate are ready, open the Iru Endpoint tab to upload the certificate and complete the Library Item steps there.
Google Workspace Secure LDAP certificates expire. Generate, download, and upload a replacement before the current certificate expires so Passport can keep authenticating users without interruption.
1
Open your Passport LDAP client in Google Admin
Sign in to the Google Admin console, open Apps → LDAP, then select the LDAP client you use for Passport.
2
Review certificate expiration
Open the Authentication section for that client.
3
Note expiration dates for renewal planning
Note the Expiration date in the certificate table (and Earliest Certificate Expires in on the Apps → LDAP client list if you use that column) so you can plan renewal ahead of time.
4
Generate a new certificate
In Certificates, select GENERATE NEW CERTIFICATE. Do not wait until the current certificate has already expired if you can avoid it.
Return to the Authentication section for your Passport LDAP client in Google Admin. For the previous certificate row, open the row More menu (vertical ellipsis) and select DELETE CERTIFICATE.
In the Delete certificate dialog, read the warning, then select DELETE to confirm (or CANCEL to go back).
If you have not already, use Configure the Passport Library Item to add the Passport Library Item and set Name and Blueprints. The steps below are the Iru Endpoint configuration specific to Google Workspace Passport.
Provide the certificate that you downloaded from Google Workspace.
1
Select Google Workspace identity provider
In the Settings section, in the Authentication configuration section, click Identity provider and select Google Workspace.
2
Upload certificate
In Upload certificate from Google Workspace, drag your .zip file into the dashed area, or select click to upload to pick the same .zip from Google Workspace.
3
Select certificate file
In the Choose Files to Upload window, navigate to the folder that contains your compressed certificate file and select the compressed certificate file.
4
Upload file
Click Upload.
5
Wait for validation
If you see the Validating file message, wait a few moments for the validation to complete.
6
Confirm certificate display
Confirm that the compressed certificate file is displayed.
If you want Passport to set each user’s Mac account type from Google group membership, use the User provisioning steps below on the Passport Library Item Iru Endpoint tab. Use the Group email prefixes from Collect group email prefixes for user provisioning on the Google Workspace tab.
1
Configure user account type
In the Passport Library Item, click the User account type menu in the User provisioning section and select Specify per identity provider group.
2
Choose fallback account type
With User account type set to Specify per identity provider group, open the account type drop-down below it and select Administrator or Standard user. If a user’s IdP group membership returns both Administrator and Standard account types, the user is designated an Administrator.
3
Enter group prefixes
In each Identity provider group field, enter the part of Group email before the @ symbol, not the group’s display name. Add a row for each additional group as the Library Item shows, matching the prefixes from your document.
4
Set account types
For each Identity provider group row, set the Account type as appropriate.
5
Save Passport Library Item
In the Passport Library Item, click Save.
When User provisioning and related saves are complete in the Passport Library Item, switch back to the Google Workspace tab if you need to confirm the Secure LDAP client or download the certificate again.
In Iru Endpoint, open the Library, then open your Passport Library Item. Confirm Identity provider is set to Google Workspace under Authentication configuration.
2
Remove the old certificate
In Upload certificate from Google Workspace, select the trash icon on the existing certificate file row to remove it.
3
Upload the new certificate
Upload the new compressed certificate file you downloaded from Google Admin (the same file type and flow as in Library Item configuration above).
Correct email and password but sign-in still fails
If a user enters the correct Google Workspace email address and password but still cannot sign in with Passport, verify that they meet the Cloud Identity Premium license requirement for Passport.In Google Admin, open Users, select the user, then open Licenses. Confirm that Cloud Identity Premium is assigned to that user and enabled. If it is missing, assign the license, then have the user try again.
Secure LDAP certificate expired
Passport cannot authenticate users if the Secure LDAP certificate in Google Workspace has expired or is rejected. On the Google Workspace tab, Certificate expiration and renewal walks through generating and downloading a new certificate in Google Admin and removing the old certificate there. On the Iru Endpoint tab, Certificate expiration and renewal covers updating the Passport Library Item. Plan renewal before the expiration date so users do not lose sign-in access.