G Suite for Education: Deployment Guide

This guide serves as a resource for domain administrators in charge of

moving their student and/or faculty/staff populations to Google Apps for
Education. Inside youll find a step-by-step outline for completing the
technical aspects of your deployment, including relevant help center
articles and videos. Google Apps deployments typically take between 1 day
and 6 weeks. This material is targeted towards IT administrators (or others)
looking to learn more about the technical aspects of a Google Apps
deployment. If you wish to connect with other schools as you deploy, or if
you have additional technical questions, please visit our community
support forum. This forum is directly managed by our EDU team.

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Bookmarked task checklist Relevant links
Google Apps for Education Privacy Notice Privacy Notice
Best Practices: Domain Setup Options
1. Choose domain name(s) - select an option below
Multiple Domains & Limitations
2. Sign up your domain(s) for Google Apps Sign Up for Google Apps
3. Decide on your organizational structure Create an Organizational Structure
Turn Services On/Off for Orgs
Set up a Walled Garden
4. Decide on mail flow - select an option below
Configure dual delivery through legacy server Dual Delivery through Legacy Server
Configure dual delivery through Google Dual Delivery through Google
Configure split delivery through Google Split Delivery through Google
5. Provision users in Google Apps
Choose a method for creating users in Apps Provisioning Options Overview
If performing a CSV upload: CSV Upload Help Center Article
Create CSV file of users (500 users per file) CSV Upload How-To Video
Upload via the control panel & wait for email stating the upload is complete
If using Google Apps Directory Sync (GADS):
Download GADS GADS General Info/Download Page
Watch the GADS Technical Overview GADS How-To Video
Read the GADS Admin Guide GADS Admin Guide
Configure GADS
Run simulation sync, correct any issues, run actual sync
6. Google Classroom setup
Manual creation of classes Creating a Class
Classroom API Classroom API
3rd Party Options
7. Implement authentication - select an option below
Store
passwords in Google Apps Reset Google Apps passwords
Enter Admin contact information for users
Configure Single Sign-on Learn more about SSO
8. Data migration - select an option below
No data migration necessary
Migrate data for users (server side migration options) Email Migration Options
Let users migrate their own data (client side migration options) Email Migration Options
9. Additional Resources
Domain Best Practices Guide Domain Best Practices
Take a look at YouTube settings for Google Apps YouTube settings for Google Apps
Google Apps Marketplace & Chrome Web Store Marketplace & Chrome Web Store
Connect with other admins through our forums EDU Forums
Professional Development & Training Resources Guide to Going Google Resources

If youd like additional assistance, you can find partners that are able to assist in the Google Apps Marketplace.

If you are also interested in how you can pilot devices, specific information can be found in Google Devices for
Education Pilot Guide.

If youre interested in more detailed information about switching to Google Apps, please take a look at:
Guide to Going Google
Google Apps Deployment site
Google Apps Technical Transition Guide

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Google Apps for Education Privacy Notice

Please review the Google Apps for Education Privacy Notice for information on how Google collects and uses
information from Google Apps for Education accounts specifically. You can also visit the Google for Education Trust
site for answers to FAQ.

1. Domain Set-Up
There are many ways to setup your domains. Here are the more common setups weve seen. Please before making a
decision, check Best Practices Guide (Domain Setup Options)

(NOTE: Signing your production domain up for Google Apps will NOT affect your current mail flow).

A. Managing one domain/Google Apps instance (Best option)

Register mydistrict.edu (example domain name) and provision both teacher, staff, and student accounts within
this Google Apps account. If contact sharing is turned on, all users will have access to contact information of
users provisioned in the domain.

B. Managing multiple domains in one Google Apps instance (Recommended)

Register your production domain in Google Apps. For example, if you currently use mydistrict.edu for your
teacher email accounts, register that as your primary domain. Then, add an additional domain for your students,
like students.mydistrict.org, in the same Google Apps instance. If contact sharing is turned on, all users will have
access to contact information of users provisioned in the domain.

C. Managing multiple Google Apps instances (Not recommended, due to inability to collaborate seamlessly between
separate Google Apps instances)
Register mydistrict.edu for your teachers and staff and students.mydistrict.edu for your students as two separate
Google Apps instances. Youll manage these using two separate control panels. If contact sharing is turned on, by
default users will only have access to contact information of users provisioned in their individual Google Apps
instance. If youd like to add contact information of users outside of the Google Apps instance, youll need to
create contact objects using the Shared Contacts API, Google Apps Directory Sync or a marketplace tool.

2. Sign Up for Google Apps

Once you decide on the domain name(s) thatll be associated with your production Google Apps instance(s), youll sign
up here. Please note that you must already own, or be able to purchase, these domain names. To take full advantage
of Google Apps for Education, domain verification is a required step. If verification sounds a little too technical for you,
dont worry, you now have access to 1:1, step-by-step domain verification support with the help of a Google Support
specialist completely free of charge.

To get in touch, follow these instructions. Please note that you'll need to have already signed up for GAFE before
calling Support.

3. Decide on your organizational structure

Organizational units allow you to segment your user population (i.e. you can create an organization for students and
another for faculty - you could further break down the student organization by grade). Administrators can turn
services on or off for different organizational units. Organizational units also allow for email delivery to be restricted

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for certain populations. You configure email delivery settings so that some users can only email users within the
domain (and receive emails from users within the domain).

For best practices, review best practices document.

For step-by-step instructions on how to do so, please see this link.

4. Mail Architecture
Will you be changing your MX records to point to Google? Will some users remain on your legacy server, while other
users will start using Google Apps? Youll want to consider your current mail architecture/flow and think about the
best way to adjust moving forward so that mail can be delivered to users within Google Apps. Youll also want to
consider how your legacy server will handle emails sent from within the legacy server to user who may be on Google
Apps.

General information on mail delivery options can be found here.

Dual Delivery through Legacy Server

In this scenario, your MX records will

not change - theyll continue to point
to your legacy server. On your
Google Apps domain youll set up a
domain alias (for example,
g.school.edu) with MX records
pointing to Google Apps. Youll then
forward from your legacy server to
the domain alias that youve set up.

Dual Delivery through Google

In this scenario, your MX records will

point to Google. Youll then set up
email routing in your Google Apps
control panel to send mail back to
your legacy server for all accounts.
Instructions on configuring email
routing can be found here.

Split delivery through Google Apps

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In this scenario, your MX records will

point to Google. Youll then set up
email routing in your Google Apps
control panel to send mail back to
your legacy server for accounts that
are not found in Google. Instructions
on configuring email routing can be
found here.

5. Provisioning
There are a few different options when it comes to creating users and youll want to choose the one that works best
for your institution. General information on provisioning options can be found here. Please review best practices
document to see what is the best option for you.

1. Manual provisioning
2. CSV Upload
CSV uploads can be used to upload up to 500 users at a time. If you choose a CSV upload, youll format your file as
a table and include headers to define each field, like this:

Cell A1: Email Address | Cell B1: First Name | Cell C1: Last Name | Cell D1: Password

3. Google Apps Directory Sync

Google Apps Directory Sync allows you to automatically provision users, groups, and contacts based on the user
data in your LDAP server, such as Microsoft Active Directory. Google Apps Directory Sync connects to your Google
Apps directory and adds/deletes user accounts to match your existing organizational schema. The Google Apps
Directory Sync configuration wizard guides you through customizing your synchronization and mapping of your
LDAP user list to your Google Apps users, nicknames, shared contacts, and groups. To manage your
synchronization, you can perform test synchronizations, and configure change limits, notifications, and scheduled
synchronizations.

If youre interested in using Google Apps Directory Sync, youll want to take a look at the following:
Watch the Google Apps Directory Sync Technical Overview
Read the GADS Admin Guide

4. Provisioning API
The Provisioning API allows for users to be created programmatically. If youre interested in learning more, take a
look at the Provisioning API documentation.

5. Provisioning partner: please ask Google representatives to find the best partner for you needs.

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6. Google Classroom Setup

Will you be prepopulating Google Classroom classes automatically or will you have teachers create their own classes?

Teachers creating their own classes

To manually create a class, a teacher can follow the instructions as noted here.

Classroom API

Weve recently launched the Classroom API which allows developers to automatically create and populate classes.
This can all be completed by the Google Administrator with no interaction from students or teachers. Developers
will want to review the following:
Classroom API Home
Classroom API Guides

3rd Party Options

With the new Classroom API, 3rd party developers, can easily integrate with Google Classroom to create and
populate classes. Some great examples of this are:
Google Apps Manager (GAM)
New Visions - rosterSync

The rosterSync tool is really easy to use as it's a Google Sheet Add-on and allows you to create and update Google
Classroom rosters using Student Information System (SIS) CSV exports and data stored in Google Sheets. If you want a
quick and easy way to create and populate Google Classroom, you can use this tool.

7. Authentication
Will your users be authenticating straight to Google (using the default Google login page)? Or are you looking to
integrate login with other services that you have at your school?

If your users will have passwords stored in Google, then you will need to either sync passwords from an existing
campus system or create new passwords for users in Apps. If youre looking to sync passwords from Active Directory,
youll want to take a look at the following:
Auth Magic
SSO Easy

We recommend that you enter the Admin or Help desk contact information for end user password recovery, so users
can contact the right team in case of any login issues, it only takes 1minute! See this article for the specific steps.

If youre interested in integrating logins with other services at your institution, you should take a look at our Single
Sign-On articles/resources. NOTE: Single Sign-On works for browser based interactions. If your users will be
interacting with Google Apps via mail clients or mobile devices, they will need a password stored in Google Apps.
Learn more about SSO
SAML SSO with Apps
Shibboleth SSO and Apps
SSO in Apps Marketplace

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8. Data Migration
Data migrations can be performed server side (run by IT) or client side (run by the end user). The data that can be
migrated from your legacy server will depend on the legacy server youre looking to migrate from. More information
on migration options can be found here.

No migration
Pros: Reduces overall time/complexity of deployment as there is no need for IT admins to migrate data.
Cons: Users may want some of their legacy account data and may not know how to keep it.

Client side
Pros: Reduces overall time/complexity of deployment as there is no need for IT admins to migrate data.
Cons: Help Desk/IT admins may be contacted by users for help, since users run these migrations on their own.

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Server Side
Pros: Since user data is transferred without user intervention, it can make the transition to Google Apps more
positive.
Cons: Can increase overall time/complexity of deployment as IT admins need to migrate data.

9. Additional Resources
YouTube settings for Google Apps
This feature is integrated directly into the Google Apps Admin console under YouTube settings [Apps > Additional
Google services > YouTube]. In addition to restricting video content, admins will be able to delegate approvers to
whitelist additional content for signed-in users on the domain. More information here.

Google Apps Marketplace

If youre interested additional applications or are looking for someone to assist you with your Google Apps
deployment, please take a look at the Google Apps Marketplace.

Connect with other admins through our forums

You can use our Google Apps for Education Community forums to connect with other Google Apps domain
administrators, ask for tips, and share best practices.

Chrome Web Store

Take a look at additional web applications that you can install on your Chrome browser.

Professional Development & Training Resources

If youre looking for professional development and training resources to assist your user population in your move
to Google Apps, please take a look at the resources in the Guide to Going Google. Youll find professional
development plans, ideas for starting to use Google Apps in the classroom, and training resources.

Extra Credit: Here are some recommended resources to stay up to date after youve deployed Google Apps
Recommended bandwidth limits
Track product updates and releases
Look at the Apps Status Dashboard and the Google Apps Known Issues page before contacting support
Check out the Google Enterprise Blog
Learn more about Google in Education and follow our Google+ page

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