Secure access to SaaS applications

This page guides you through the process of securing your SaaS applications through the Chrome Enterprise Premium secure gateway.

A Chrome Enterprise Premium secure gateway functions as a forward proxy, enforcing a zero trust access framework and delivering granular, context-aware control over who accesses your SaaS applications.

How securing access to SaaS applications works

The following is a high level overview of how a secure gateway protects your SaaS applications:

The client-side browser settings route application traffic through a secure gateway proxy.
The secure gateway checks Context-Aware Access policies to authorize client (user and device) access.
If client access is allowed, the gateway forwards traffic to the application using unique source IP addresses assigned to that gateway and Google Cloud region. These assigned IP addresses are reserved exclusively for the gateway that you create and cannot be used by other users or gateways. To control access, you can add these dedicated source IP addresses to an allowlist in your SaaS application.

Required roles

Ask your administrator to grant the following roles:

Cloud BeyondCorp Admin (roles/beyondcorp.admin) to set up Chrome Enterprise Premium on the project
Access Context Manager Admin (roles/accesscontextmanager.policyAdmin) to read and add new access levels
Service Usage Viewer (roles/serviceusage.serviceUsageViewer) to use the Google Cloud console

Learn more about Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles.

Before you begin

Before setting up the secure gateway, verify that you have the following:

A Chrome Enterprise Premium license.
Access to the Google Admin console with an administrator account.
The Google Cloud service enabled for users.
A Google Cloud project with an assigned billing account and the following API enabled: BeyondCorp API
A SaaS application that you want to protect. The application must support IP allowlisting to enforce security checks by the secure gateway.

Limitations

A Chrome Enterprise Premium secure gateway has the following limitations:

IPv6 connectivity: Chrome Enterprise Premium secure gateway doesn't support SaaS applications that use IPv6 connectivity.
Identity provider as a SaaS application: An Identity provider must not be configured as a SaaS application to be protected by the secure gateway, if the end-user's authentication with secure gateway is dependent on the same IdP.

Set up your shell environment

To streamline the setup process and interact with the secure gateway APIs, define the following environment variables in your working shell.

General parameters
```
PROJECT_ID=PROJECT_ID
APPLICATION_ID=APPLICATION_ID
APPLICATION_DISPLAY_NAME="APPLICATION_DISPLAY_NAME"
HOST_NAME=HOST_NAME
```
Replace the following:
- PROJECT_ID: The ID of the project where the secure gateway is created.
- APPLICATION_ID: The ID of your application, such as github. The name can be up to 63 characters, and can contain lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. The first character must be a letter, and the last character can be a letter or number.
- APPLICATION_DISPLAY_NAME: The human-readable name to display.
- HOST_NAME: The hostname of your application. For example, github.com. The hostname can be up to 253 characters long, and must adhere to one of the following formats:
  - A valid IPv4 address
  - A valid IPv6 address
  - A valid DNS name
  - An asterisk (*)
  - An asterisk (*) followed by a valid DNS name
Secure gateway parameters
```
SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID=SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID
SECURITY_GATEWAY_DISPLAY_NAME="SECURITY_GATEWAY_DISPLAY_NAME"
```
Replace the following:
- SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID: The ID of the secure gateway. The ID can be up to 63 characters, and can contain lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. The first character should be a letter, and the last character can be a letter or number.
- SECURITY_GATEWAY_DISPLAY_NAME: The human-readable name of the secure gateway. The name can be up to 63 characters long and can only contain printable characters.

Create a secure gateway

A Chrome Enterprise Premium secure gateway is a fundamental building block for establishing secure connections to your applications. It allocates a dedicated project and network, providing isolation and security.

console

To create a secure gateway resource, do the following:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the secure gateway page.
Go to secure gateway
Select the project you want to create the secure gateway for.
To create a secure gateway, click Create new gateway and wait for the gateway creation process to complete.
You can track the progress in the Notifications section of the Google Cloud console.
Before you create a SaaS application resource, we recommend that you create SaaS egress hubs. The hubs flag represents the regional resources required for enabling egress connectivity to the target application. You can configure one hub for each region, and each hub provides two IP addresses. A Secure Gateway can have at most 20 hubs. You can specify the following regions:
- africa-south1
- asia-east1
- asia-south1
- asia-south2
- asia-southeast1
- europe-central2
- europe-north1
- europe-southwest1
- europe-west1
- europe-west2
- europe-west3
- europe-west4
- europe-west8
- europe-west9
- northamerica-northeast1
- northamerica-northeast2
- northamerica-south1
- southamerica-east1
- southamerica-west1
- us-central1
- us-east1
- us-east4
- us-east5
- us-west1
In the Google Cloud console, go to the SaaS Egress Hubs page.
Go to SaaS Egress Hubs
Select the project you want to create the SaaS Egress Hubs for.
To add a SaaS egress hub, click Add SaaS egress hub.
From the drop-down list, select the regions where you'd like to add the egress hubs. To add the egress hubs, click Add SaaS egress hub to add more than one hub. After you're done, click Save to create the egress hubs.

gcloud

To create a secure gateway resource, run the following command. For the --hubs flag, specify one or more regions from the following list.

gcloud beyondcorp security-gateways create SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --location=global \
    --display-name="SECURITY_GATEWAY_DISPLAY_NAME" \
    --hubs=us-central1 \
    --service-discovery={}

The hubs flag sets the regional resources required for enabling egress connectivity to the target application. You can have one hub for each region, and each hub provides two IP addresses. A Secure Gateway can have at most 20 hubs. You can specify the following regions:

africa-south1
asia-east1
asia-south1
asia-south2
asia-southeast1
europe-central2
europe-north1
europe-southwest1
europe-west1
europe-west2
europe-west3
europe-west4
europe-west8
europe-west9
northamerica-northeast1
northamerica-northeast2
northamerica-south1
southamerica-east1
southamerica-west1
us-central1
us-east1
us-east4
us-east5
us-west1

REST

To create a secure gateway resource, call the Create API method with the gateway details in the request body. For the hubs flag, specify one or more regions from the following list.

curl \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -X POST \
    -d '{ "display_name": "SECURITY_GATEWAY_DISPLAY_NAME", "hubs": { "us-central1": {} }, "service_discovery": {} }' \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways?security_gateway_id=SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID"

The hubs flag represents the regional resources required for enabling egress connectivity to the target application. You can have one hub for each region, and each hub provides two IP addresses. A Secure Gateway can have at most 20 hubs. You can specify the following regions:

africa-south1
asia-east1
asia-south1
asia-south2
asia-southeast1
europe-central2
europe-north1
europe-southwest1
europe-west1
europe-west2
europe-west3
europe-west4
europe-west8
europe-west9
northamerica-northeast1
northamerica-northeast2
northamerica-south1
southamerica-east1
southamerica-west1
us-central1
us-east1
us-east4
us-east5
us-west1

Configure a SaaS application

After you create a secure gateway, you can configure your SaaS applications to use the secure gateway for secure access.

console

To configure SaaS egress hubs, do the following:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the SaaS Egress Hubs page.
Go to SaaS Egress Hubs
On the SaaS Egress Hubs page, find the table listing the hubs. For each region you intend to use, copy all the IP addresses listed in the Static dedicated egress IPs column. Each region provides two IP addresses.
Add the IP addresses to the IP allowlist of your SaaS application. For example, for a GitHub application, you can follow this guide: Managing allowed IP addresses for your organization.

gcloud

To configure SaaS egress hubs, do the following:

Get the IP addresses allocated by the secure gateway for each hub. Two IP addresses are allocated for a region.

gcloud beyondcorp security-gateways describe SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --location=global

The following is a sample GET response of a secure gateway with hubs. In the example, hubs are created in the us-central1 and us-east1 regions, and all of the IP addresses returned in the response must be allowed in the SaaS application.

createTime: 'CREATE_TIME'
displayName: My secure gateway
hubs:
  us-central1:
    internetGateway:
      assignedIps:
      -   IP_ADDRESS_1
      -   IP_ADDRESS_2
  us-east1:
    internetGateway:
      assignedIps:
      -   IP_ADDRESS_1
      -   IP_ADDRESS_2
name: projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID
state: RUNNING
updateTime: 'UPDATE_TIME'

Add the IP addresses to the IP allowlist of your SaaS application. For example, for a GitHub application, you can follow this guide: Managing allowed IP addresses for your organization.

REST

To configure SaaS egress hubs, do the following:

Get the IP addresses allocated by the secure gateway for each hub. Two IP addresses are allocated for a region.

curl \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID"

{
  "securityGateways": [
    {
      "name": "projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID",
      "createTime": "CREATE_TIME",
      "updateTime": "UPDATE_TIME",
      "displayName": "My secure gateway",
      "state": "RUNNING",
      "hubs": {
        "us-central1": {
          "internetGateway": {
            "assignedIps": [
              "IP_ADDRESS_1",
              "IP_ADDRESS_2",
            ]
          }
        },
        "us-east1": {
          "internetGateway": {
            "assignedIps": [
              "IP_ADDRESS_1",
              "IP_ADDRESS_2",
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Add the IP addresses to the IP allowlist of your SaaS application. For example, for a GitHub application, you can follow this guide: Managing allowed IP addresses for your organization.

Create an application resource

The following information guides you through the process of setting up and configuring a secure gateway application resource.

Create a secure gateway application resource in Google Cloud

The Google Cloud application resource is a sub-resource of the secure gateway resource. Create an application resource by using the Google Cloud console or calling the Create API.

console

To create a SaaS application, do the following:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the secure gateway page.
Go to secure gateway
To create an application, click Add application.
Select the application type: Public application.
If SaaS egress hubs aren't yet configured for this secure gateway, you will be prompted to create them. Public applications require at least one SaaS egress hub. To configure SaaS egress hubs, click Go to SaaS egress hubs and add one or more regions.
After you have one or more egress hubs, click Next.
Enter the application details:
- Application name: Enter a name, for example, GitHub.
- Domain matchers: Enter a comma-separated list of domain patterns to route through the secure gateway. Include the port in the format domain:port. Wildcards (*) are allowed. For example: github.com:443.
To configure your SaaS application, click Continue.
Configure your SaaS application to allow traffic from the secure gateway:

Carefully note or copy all the IP addresses listed for the regions you are using. These IP addresses are unique to your secure gateway.
Sign in to your SaaS application's administration console.
Navigate to the network settings or security settings where IP allowlists are managed.
Add all the IP addresses obtained to the application's IP allowlist.

To add the application, click Continue.
Optional: Define an access policy: Select an Access Context Manager access policy. You can skip this step for this guide.
To create, save your settings and create the application, click Create.

gcloud

To create a SaaS application using gcloud, run the following command:

gcloud beyondcorp security-gateways applications create APPLICATION_ID \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --security-gateway=SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID \
    --location=global \
    --display-name="APPLICATION_DISPLAY_NAME" \
    --endpoint-matchers="hostname=HOST_NAME,ports=443"

REST

To create a SaaS application using the REST API, run the following command:

curl \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -X POST \
    -d "{ \"display_name\": \"APPLICATION_DISPLAY_NAME\", \"endpoint_matchers\": [{hostname: \"HOST_NAME\", ports: 443}] }" \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID/applications?application_id=APPLICATION_ID"

Configure an access policy

You can apply an access policy to control access at the application level. If no access policy is configured, access to the application is denied by default.

console

Create a policy for multiple applications

To configure an access policy, do the following:

To create a policy that applies to multiple applications linked to the secure gateway, go to the Policies page.
Go to Policies
To add access policies to applications, click Create Policy.
From the drop-down list, select the applications that you'd like the policies to apply to.
Add principals to the policy:
Principals can be users, groups, domains, or service accounts. These principals are granted or denied access based on the access levels you assign.
1. To add a principal, click Add principal.
2. In the Principal field, enter the email address of the user, group, service account, or the domain name.
3. In the Access Levels drop-down, select one or more predefined Context-Aware Access levels. Access is granted only if the principal meets the conditions of the selected access levels.
To add more principals, click Add principal again and repeat the substeps.

You can create and manage access levels in Access Context Manager.
To apply the policy to the application, click Create Policy.

Modify an application-level access policy

To modify a policy for a single application, go to the Applications page.
Go to Applications
To find the application that you want to edit, do the following:
1. In the Applications list, search for the application that you want to modify.
2. To view the application details, click the More actions menu () and select View Details.
To edit the application, click Edit.
Add principals to the policy:
Principals can be users, groups, domains, or service accounts. These principals are granted or denied access based on the access levels you assign.
1. To add a principal, click Add principal.
2. In the Principal field, enter the email address of the user, group, service account, or the domain name.
3. In the Access Levels drop-down list, select one or more predefined Context-Aware Access levels. Access is granted only if the principal meets the conditions of the selected access levels.
To add more principals, click Add principal again and repeat the substeps.

You can create and manage access levels in Access Context Manager.
To apply the policy to the application, click Save.

gcloud

Safely update an access policy

The setIamPolicy command replaces the entire existing policy with the one that you provide. To avoid accidentally removing existing permissions, we recommend that you use the following "read-modify-write" pattern. This pattern helps prevent accidental removal of existing permissions.

Read: Get the current access policy.
Modify: Edit the policy file locally to add or change permissions.
Write: Apply your updated policy file.

Set a Service Discovery gateway-level policy

Before granting a user access to an application, make sure the user has Service Discovery permissions at the Secure Gateway level. You will need to set an access policy by following the same "read-modify-write" pattern.

Retrieve the current policy and save it to a file named gateway_policy.json.

gcloud beta beyondcorp security-gateways get-iam-policy SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --location=global > gateway_policy.json

Next, open the gateway_policy.json file in a text editor and add the required principals to the members list for the roles/beyondcorp.serviceDiscoveryUser role, similar to the application-level modifications.

The gateway_policy.json file is similar to the following example:

{
  "version": 3,
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/beyondcorp.serviceDiscoveryUser",
      "members": [
        "group:existing-group@example.com"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
}

You can also add other types of members, such as serviceAccount, user, group, principal, and principalSet, in policy bindings. For more information, see IAM principals.

Apply the updated policy:

gcloud beta beyondcorp security-gateways set-iam-policy SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID gateway_policy.json \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --location=global

Set an application-level access policy

Get the current policy

Retrieve the current policy. The etag field prevents conflicting updates if multiple administrators make changes simultaneously.

The following command retrieves the policy and saves it to a file named policy.json.

gcloud beta beyondcorp security-gateways applications get-iam-policy APPLICATION_ID \
    --security-gateway=SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --location=global > policy.json

Replace the following:

APPLICATION_ID: the ID of the application resource
SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID: the ID of the secure gateway
PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project where the secure gateway is configured

The command creates a policy.json file that contains the current policy.

Modify the policy file

Open the policy.json file in a text editor. To grant a group access to use the secure gateway, add the group to the members list for the roles/beyondcorp.sgApplicationUser role.

The policy.json file is similar to the following example:

{
  "version": 3,
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/beyondcorp.sgApplicationUser",
      "members": [
        "group:existing-group@example.com"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
}

To add an additional group, add a new entry to the members array. Include a comma after the preceding entry. The following example adds new-group@example.com:

{
  "version": 3,
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/beyondcorp.sgApplicationUser",
      "members": [
        "group:existing-group@example.com",
        "group:new-group@example.com"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
}

You can also add other types of members, such as serviceAccount, user, group, principal, and principalSet, in policy bindings. For more information, see IAM principals.

Apply the updated policy

After editing and saving your policy.json file, apply it to the resource using the setIamPolicy command. This command uses the etag from your file to ensure that you update the correct version.

gcloud beta beyondcorp security-gateways applications set-iam-policy APPLICATION_ID policy.json \
    --security-gateway=SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --location=global

Replace the following:

APPLICATION_ID: the ID of the application resource
SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID: the ID of the secure gateway
PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project where the secure gateway is configured

Add a conditional access policy

You can also set access policies with conditions. Conditions specify requirements, such as a user's IP address originating from a specific location. (The access level can be defined in either an organization-level access policy or a scoped access policy.)

The following example policy grants access only if the source IP address is within a specified access level:

  {
    "version": 3,
    "bindings": [
      {
        "role": "roles/beyondcorp.sgApplicationUser",
        "members": [
          "group:group@example.com"
        ],
        "condition": {
          "expression": "request.auth.access_levels.contains('accessPolicies/1234567890/accessLevels/in_us')",
          "title": "Source IP must be in US"
        }
      }
    ],
    "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
  }

To apply this policy, follow the steps described earlier.

REST

Safely update an access policy

Read: Save the current access policy to a file.
Modify: Edit the policy file locally to add or change permissions.
Write: Apply your updated policy file.

Set a Service Discovery gateway-level policy

To grant service discovery permissions, you must set an access policy on the security gateway instead of an individual application. This follows the same "read-modify-write" pattern.

Retrieve the current policy and save it to a file named gateway_policy.json.

curl \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID:getIamPolicy" > gateway_policy.json

The gateway_policy.json file is similar to the following example:

{
  "version": 3,
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/beyondcorp.serviceDiscoveryUser",
      "members": [
        "group:existing-group@example.com"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
}

You can also add other types of members, such as serviceAccount, user, group, principal, and principalSet, in policy bindings. For more information, see IAM principals.

Apply the updated policy:

jq '{policy: .}' gateway_policy.json | curl -X POST \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d @- \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID:setIamPolicy"

Set an application-level access policy

Get the current policy

Retrieve the current policy. The etag field prevents conflicting updates if multiple administrators make changes simultaneously.

The following command retrieves the policy and saves it to a file named policy.json.

curl \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID/applications/APPLICATION_ID:getIamPolicy" > policy.json

Replace the following:

PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project where the secure gateway is configured
SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID: the ID of the secure gateway
APPLICATION_ID: the ID of the application resource

The command creates a policy.json file that contains the current policy.

Modify the policy file

To grant a group access to use the secure gateway, do the following:

Open the policy.json file in a text editor.
Add the group to the members list for the roles/beyondcorp.securityGatewayUser role.

The policy.json file is similar to the following example:

{
  "version": 3,
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/beyondcorp.sgApplicationUser",
      "members": [
        "group:existing-group@example.com"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
}

To add an additional group, add a new entry to the members array. Include a comma after the preceding entry. The following example adds new-group@example.com:

{
  "version": 3,
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/beyondcorp.sgApplicationUser",
      "members": [
        "group:existing-group@example.com",
        "group:new-group@example.com"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
}

You can also add other types of members, such as serviceAccount, user, group, principal, and principalSet, in policy bindings. For more information, see IAM principals.

Apply the updated policy

After editing and saving your policy.json file, apply it to the resource using the setIamPolicy command. This command uses the etag from your file to ensure that you update the correct version.

jq '{policy: .}' policy.json | curl -X POST \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d @- \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID/applications/APPLICATION_ID:setIamPolicy"

Replace the following:

PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project where the secure gateway is configured
SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID: the ID of the secure gateway
APPLICATION_ID: the ID of the application resource

Add a conditional access policy

The following example policy grants access only if the source IP address is within a specified access level:

{
  "version": 3,
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/beyondcorp.sgApplicationUser",
      "members": [
        "group:group@example.com"
      ],
      "condition": {
        "expression": "request.auth.access_levels.contains('accessPolicies/1234567890/accessLevels/in_us')",
        "title": "Source IP must be in US"
      }
    }
  ],
  "etag": "BwXN8_d-bOM="
}

To apply this policy, follow the steps described earlier.

Enhance Security with Context-Aware Access

To further enhance security and ensure that only managed Google Chrome instances can access your web applications through the Security Gateway, we recommend adding a Context-Aware Access (CAA) rule. This rule verifies that the user's Chrome profile is under management, preventing potential misuse from unmanaged or malicious browsers.

Note: This feature requires the installation and setup of the Endpoint Verification extension.

You can implement this by adding a condition to your Access Context Manager custom access levels. Here is an example condition you can adapt:

  device.chrome.management_state == ChromeManagementState.CHROME_MANAGEMENT_STATE_PROFILE_MANAGED

For more information about how to configure, check, and manage this state, see Chrome browser attributes.

Install the Chrome Enterprise Premium extension

The Chrome Enterprise Premium extension is an integral part of a secure gateway, and it helps with authentication. Install the extension for all of the users of the secure gateway. For information about deploying the extension, see View and configure apps and extensions. To install the Chrome Enterprise Premium extension, do the following:

Go to the Google Admin console.
Click Chrome browser > Apps & Extensions.
Click the Users & browsers tab.
To add the Chrome extension, click the + button, and then select Add Chrome app or extension by ID.
Search for the Secure Enterprise Browser extension using the following ID, and then set its installation policy to Force install for all of the users in the organization unit or group:
```
ekajlcmdfcigmdbphhifahdfjbkciflj
```

Click the installed extension, and in the Policy for extensions field, enter the following JSON value:

{
  "securityGateway": {
    "Value": {
      "authentication": {},
      "context": { "resource": "projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID" },
      "serviceDiscovery": { "routes": {} }
    }
  }
}

Replace the following:

PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project where the secure gateway is configured
SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID: the ID of the secure gateway

To save the configuration, click Save.

Legacy PAC file setup

When enabled, Service Discovery allows the Chrome Browser client to automatically detect and route traffic to your configured applications through the secure gateway, eliminating the need for manual routing configurations using a PAC file.

If Service Discovery is not enabled on your secure gateway, you have a legacy setup. You will need to configure a PAC file to control routing on the Chrome Browser client.

To check whether you have the legacy setup, use the following commands to see if service discovery is enabled:

gcloud

gcloud beyondcorp security-gateways describe SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --location=global | grep -i "serviceDiscovery"

REST

curl --silent \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    "https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID" | grep -i "serviceDiscovery"

If the command returns no output, your gateway uses the legacy setup. For gateways that use the legacy setup, routing is handled by using a hosted PAC file.

Step 1: Create and host the PAC file

Create a file named pac_config.js with the following JavaScript, replacing HOST_NAME with your application's domain (for example, myapp.example.com):

function FindProxyForURL(url, host) {
  const PROXY = "HTTPS via.prod.securegateway.goog:443";
  const sites = ["HOST_NAME"];

  for (const site of sites) {
    if (shExpMatch(url, 'https://' + site + '/*') || shExpMatch(url, '*.' + site + '/*')) {
      return PROXY;
    }
  }
  return 'DIRECT';
}

Upload the PAC file to a hosting service, such as a Cloud Storage bucket.
- Ensure the file is publicly downloadable.
- Set the HTTP header Cache-Control to no-cache so browsers always fetch the latest routing rules.
Copy the public URL of the uploaded PAC file.

Step 2: Apply the PAC file in the Google Admin console

Go to the Google Admin console.
Navigate to Devices > Chrome > Settings.
Select your organizational unit or group, then click Proxy mode.
Under Proxy mode, select Always use the proxy auto-config specified below.
Enter the public URL of your hosted PAC file into the provided field.
Click Save.

Step 3: Configure the Chrome Enterprise Premium extension

The extension is required to handle authentication. This extension policy differs from the standard configuration because it excludes the serviceDiscovery block.

In the Google Admin console, navigate to Chrome browser > Apps & Extensions.
Go to the Users & browsers tab and ensure the Secure Enterprise Browser extension (ekajlcmdfcigmdbphhifahdfjbkciflj) is added and enforced.

Click the extension, and in the Policy for extensions field, enter the following JSON value:

{
  "securityGateway": {
    "Value": {
      "authentication": {},
      "context": {
        "resource": "projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID"
      }
    }
  }
}

Click Save.

Transition to the service discovery setup

To transition your legacy secure gateway from a PAC file setup to the newer service discovery setup, you must manually enable the feature and update your configurations.

Enable service discovery on your secure gateway: Update your existing gateway to enable service discovery.

REST

curl -X PATCH \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{ "service_discovery": {} }' \
"https://beyondcorp.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/securityGateways/SECURITY_GATEWAY_ID?updateMask=service_discovery"

Set the gateway-level access policy: Grant users the roles/beyondcorp.serviceDiscoveryUser role at the gateway level so they can use service discovery. Follow the instructions in the Set a Service Discovery gateway-level policy section.
Update the Chrome Enterprise Premium extension configuration: Follow the instructions in the Install the Chrome Enterprise Premium extension section to update your extension policy. The new JSON configuration must include the "serviceDiscovery": { "routes": {} } block.
Remove the legacy PAC file: Once service discovery is active, the legacy PAC file is no longer needed.
1. In the Google Admin console, navigate to Devices > Chrome > Settings > User & browser settings > Network.
2. Find the Proxy mode setting.
3. Remove the proxy auto-config (PAC) URL or switch the setting from Always use the proxy auto-config specified below to an appropriate mode for your network, such as Allow user to configure.
4. Click Save.

End user experience

When the setup is complete, end users who access the protected SaaS application are granted or denied access based on the access policy applied to the application.

Accessing the application in Chrome

The Chrome Enterprise Premium extension is required to direct traffic through the secure gateway. The extension handles the authentication between the user and the secure gateway. The extension is automatically installed through the domain policy.

When users access the SaaS application that you configured, their traffic goes through the secure gateway, which checks if they satisfy the access policy. If the users pass the access policy checks, they're granted access to the application.

When browser access to the application is rejected by the authorization policy, users receive an Access denied message.

Secure access to SaaS applications Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

How securing access to SaaS applications works

Required roles

Before you begin

Limitations

Set up your shell environment

Create a secure gateway

console

gcloud

REST

Configure a SaaS application

console

gcloud

REST

Create an application resource

Create a secure gateway application resource in Google Cloud

console

gcloud

REST

Configure an access policy

console

Create a policy for multiple applications

Modify an application-level access policy

gcloud

Safely update an access policy

Set a Service Discovery gateway-level policy

Set an application-level access policy

Get the current policy

Modify the policy file

Apply the updated policy

Add a conditional access policy

REST

Safely update an access policy

Set a Service Discovery gateway-level policy

Set an application-level access policy

Get the current policy

Modify the policy file

Apply the updated policy

Add a conditional access policy

Enhance Security with Context-Aware Access

Install the Chrome Enterprise Premium extension

Legacy PAC file setup

gcloud

REST

Step 1: Create and host the PAC file

Step 2: Apply the PAC file in the Google Admin console

Step 3: Configure the Chrome Enterprise Premium extension

Transition to the service discovery setup

REST

End user experience

Accessing the application in Chrome

What's next

Secure access to SaaS applications