This guide provides step-by-step instructions to sync G Suite (Google Workspace) with SmartPass. This integration automatically rosters your students and staff, allows them to sign in with Google SSO, and also optionally pulls in class rosters from Google Classroom.
We highly recommend automatically rostering your students and staff through some integration. However, syncing your classes is not a requirement to use SmartPass. The Schedules feature can still be used even if classes are not being synced. Instead, teachers or admins would utilize the schedules feature by creating classes themselves inside SmartPass.
1. Create a new G Suite admin for the SmartPass sync
There are two options to authenticate SmartPass with your school or district's G Suite account.
The first option allows you to automatically sync your classes from Google Classroom in addition to automatically rostering students and staff. This option requires the use of a Super Admin account.
The second option only rosters students and staff, but does not require a Super Admin account. Instead, you'll create an account with a minimal set of admin permissions.
Option 1: Sync with a Super Admin account
Option 1: Sync with a Super Admin account
To avoid losing access when an individual leaves your school, please consider following these steps to make a new G Suite Super Admin account. Learn more about making Super Admin accounts here.
Alternatively, you may decide to use an existing Super Admin account. If you decide to do this you may skip ahead to "Link SmartPass to Your G-Suite"
Steps to create a new Super Admin account dedicated to SmartPass:
Sign in to the G Suite admin console here: https://admin.google.com/
Under Users, create an account dedicated to the SmartPass sync.
For example:
[email protected](Be sure to save the password for later use.)Next, go to the following page: https://admin.google.com/ac/roles, hover over Super Admin and click Assign Admin.
Click "Assign Users" and enter in the
[email protected]email we created above.Click "Assign Role"
Option 1 will sync the following information:
- Student and staff accounts
- Classes from Google Classroom (only available with a super admin account)
Option 2: Sync with a non Super Admin account
Option 2: Sync with a non Super Admin account
To avoid losing access when an individual leaves your school, please consider following these steps to make a new G Suite account.
Sign in to the G Suite Admin Console.
Under Users, create an account dedicated to the SmartPass sync.
For example: [email protected] (Be sure to save the password for later use.)
Go to the following page: https://admin.google.com/ac/roles and click on Create New Role.
Assign it a name such as SmartPass Sync Admin Role and click Continue.
Check your permissions so that they read as such:
Admin Console Privileges > Organizational Units > Read
Admin Console Privileges > Users > Read
Admin API Privileges > Organizational Units > Read
Admin API Privileges > Users > Read
Make sure these permissions are enabled for 'All organizational Units' and that your role is set for "All Organizational Units".
Option 2 will sync only students and staff accounts.
2. Link SmartPass to your G Suite
Next, we will link your SmartPass account to your G Suite account.
Locate your SmartPass admin account credentials given to you by your Customer Success Manager.
Typically, you can find these credentials in your SmartPass Onboarding Plan, and it looks like the following:[email protected].
Navigate to our web app (https://app.smartpass.app) and sign in with the account.
On the left, select Accounts, then select Integrations. Then, click on the Setup G Suite button and follow the prompts.
When you are prompted to sign in with a Google account, sign in with the [email protected] account created in the previous steps above.
If successful, you will be redirected back to SmartPass where you can configure and link the Google OUs.
3. Configure Organizational Units to sync
In SmartPass, you can sync any number and any level of OUs into each SmartPass account type.
Sample OU Sharing:
Students: /Students/2022, /Students/2023, /Students/2024, /Students/2025
Teachers: /Staff
Admins: /Staff/Administration
Start by determining what OUs you need for each account type and follow the below steps. If you want to sync your accounts by Google Groups (email groups), please check our FAQ at the bottom of this guide.
Once you've determined the OUs to sync, navigate back to the G Suite settings page under Accounts > Integrations > GSuite Settings in SmartPass:
Click on Edit accounts syncing, then click the Add button to search for and add the appropriate OUs for each account type.
Click Save on the top right, then click Save. When completed, it will take up to 24 hours for your accounts to sync with SmartPass. Alternatively, you can contact our Support Team or your Customer Success Manager so that we can run the initial sync for you.
Congratulations! Your SmartPass account sync is good to go. If you run into any issues, please contact us! We are happy to help.
Syncing Classes From Google Classroom
Syncing Classes From Google Classroom
If you set up your bell schedule you will be able to sync your classes in from Google Classroom.
Once your bell schedule is uploaded and approved you will see your classes load on the classes tab for either you and/or your teachers to accept.
If you are not seeing any classes sync after your schedule is added check first that your teachers have classes in Google Classroom.
If you have classes in Google but they are not syncing, head to your integrations button on your accounts tab to review the status of your sync/permissions and confirm you are set up and sharing the correct OUs and have the proper permissions set.
You might see an alert notifying you need to verify the permissions set on your google admin account used for the sync to allow classes to be shared. The account used to do the sync must be a Super Admin, so please adjust this if needed.
Important Notes
Important Notes
In SmartPass, Admins can also be Teachers and vice-versa. Sync any OUs that contain only your building administrators to the Admin user types so that they can automatically be assigned both Teacher and Admin roles in SmartPass.
Accounts that have been suspended in Google, are automatically excluded from the G Suite sync. Those accounts will not appear in SmartPass.
Optional: Use the Google Instant Login Link
Optional: Use the Google Instant Login Link
On your school's website and student/staff dashboards, instead of linking to our regular sign-in page, you can link to our special sign-in link for Google:
The link will skip the step where users enter their email addresses and instantly take them to the Google sign-in page.
FAQ
How Does G-Suite Integration work?
SmartPass uses Google’s Admin SDK to periodically pull user info from G Suite. The Admin SDK covers a wide number of G Suite management use cases and permissions that are not needed for SmartPass. We only request the permissions that we need to sync users.
Unfortunately, Google does not currently provide a better API for this purpose, and other services also use the Admin SDK.
In SmartPass, you will configure which Google Organizational Units (OUs) to sync your users from and what account types they should map to: either student, teacher, or admin.
When does syncing occur?
The sync between SmartPass and Google happens once every 24 hours at 11:00 PM EST. The sync usually takes a few hours to complete.
If you need to sync during the day, please contact our Support Team for assistance via chat or email.
How do I sync accounts using Google Groups?
To sync accounts using Google Groups (email groups), you'll need to add the following permissions to the SmartPass Sync account created above:
Admin Console Privileges > Groups
Admin API Privileges > Groups > Read
After you add these permissions, send us a chat and let us know the email address for the groups you'd like to sync and which role each group should have (Admin, Teacher, or Student).
I am getting an error code. What should I do?
Please check our guide on Troubleshooting Google Workspace Error 400, which contains troubleshooting steps to resolve the most common issues that result in an error code when trying to authorize Google Workspace Directory integration with SmartPass.
What do I need to prepare for next school year?
As a new school year approaches, it's essential to ensure a seamless transition for your entire SmartPass system, including roster information.
Please view our 📝 Back to School Checklist guide for Summer actions when using the G Suite integration.