Configuring a Google Workspace federation connection (SAML 2.0 or OIDC) is the correct approach for allowing external identity provider (IdP) users to access applications in your Okta org. This method establishes trust so users can authenticate with their Google credentials, fulfilling the requirement without importing them into the Universal Directory.

In a SAML assertion, the Audience URI (or Audience Restriction) must exactly match the Entity ID configured in the service provider (the application). A mismatch is a common cause of authentication failures, as the application will reject the SAML assertion, thinking it’s intended for a different service.

Okta FastPass is designed for modern, phishing-resistant access policies. An Access Policy for the specific application can be configured with rules that require either a signal from a managed device (via MDM integration) or authentication with a phishing-resistant factor like Okta Verify with biometrics, perfectly matching the security requirement.

The recommended practice is to deactivate staged users who will not become active employees. Deactivation preserves the user record and its history (which can be important for audit trails) while freeing up the staged ‘slot’ and clearly indicating the user is not active. Simply deleting them removes all historical record.

Okta’s Group Membership Expiration feature allows administrators to set a specific date and time for a user’s membership in a group to end automatically. By placing the contractor in a group assigned to the Adobe app and setting an expiration date, access is revoked automatically without manual intervention, ensuring compliance and clean-up.

The ‘Visibility’ settings in an application’s configuration control which users can see the app icon on their dashboard. If ‘Display application icon to users’ is checked but the user’s group is not included in the ‘Grant access to’ field, the user will have access credentials (can sign in if they know the direct link) but will not see the app tile, which is a common source of confusion.

To have Workday act as the authoritative source and push new users to Okta, you must configure Okta as a provisioning target within Workday. This is done by setting up the Workday Provisioning Agent in Okta and configuring the integration in the Workday admin console. This enables Workday to create, update, and deactivate users in Okta via the SCIM standard.

The most common reason for an IP-based sign-on rule not functioning is a mismatch between the user’s public IP address and the range defined in the zone. The user might be on a different subnet, using a VPN, or the corporate network might have multiple egress points. The administrator must verify the user’s sign-in logs to see the source IP and ensure the zone is correctly configured to include it.

Okta’s custom Administrator Roles allow for the principle of least privilege. You can create a role with only the necessary privileges (like resetting passwords and managing groups) and then scope that role to a specific group of users (the ‘Finance’ group). This gives the finance team the access they need without exposing other administrative functions or data.

Configuring a Google Workspace federation connection (SAML 2.0 or OIDC) is the correct approach for allowing external identity provider (IdP) users to access applications in your Okta org. This method establishes trust so users can authenticate with their Google credentials, fulfilling the requirement without importing them into the Universal Directory.0