Connect Gusto to Active Directory

ezOnboard connects to Gusto as an authorized application. You don’t need a service user or API key. A Primary admin or full access admin must authorize the connection.

Sign in to Gusto and check the connecting admin’s role. If needed, the Primary admin can grant full access from Permissions. ezOnboard only reads employee data and needs no additional payroll or benefits access.

Start the connection in the ezOnboard portal or Gusto’s App directory. Sign in, choose your company and review the read-only access to people, jobs, departments and dismissals. Gusto sets these permissions during its application review.

Choose Authorize. The connection covers one company and stays active until an admin disconnects it. Use this authorization to add Gusto as an HR source in step 5.

The agent runs as a Windows service on a domain-joined server with Windows Server 2019 or later. It connects to Gusto and ezOnboard over outbound HTTPS. No inbound firewall rules are needed.

Download the signed MSI and enrollment bundle from the portal. Save the install code. The portal shows it only once. Run the MSI, enter the code and choose a service account, preferably a group managed service account. The installer checks the domain connection, LDAP access, outbound access and clock before making changes.

Run the installer’s delegation script once as a domain administrator. It lets the agent’s service account create, update and disable accounts only in the OUs you choose. The agent doesn’t need Domain Admin rights.

Include the OUs for staff accounts, disabled accounts and managed groups. The agent blocks changes outside these OUs, even if a rule requests them.

In the portal, add Gusto as an HR source using the authorization from a Gusto admin. Your credentials are encrypted with your organization’s key and sent to your agent. The agent reads Gusto from your network. Nobody at ezOnboard can read the credentials.

Choose a field to match people across both systems, usually work email or employee ID. The agent checks Gusto every five minutes and catches up on any missed changes.

Choose which Gusto fields update each directory attribute. Start with the defaults below, add custom fields or combine values. For example, build a display name from first and last names, format a job title or look up an office address by site.

Blank Gusto fields leave directory values unchanged unless you configure the mapping to clear them.

Rules define who gets an account, which OU it belongs in, how it’s named and which groups it joins. They also control offboarding. Use Gusto fields, such as department and site, to make those choices.

Our implementation team helps you write the rules. With approvals enabled, your team must approve each rule change before the agent uses it.

Run a dry run for your whole workforce. The agent matches Gusto records to existing accounts by employee ID, then work email, and previews changes without applying them. If two accounts match one person, that action stops for review.

Review the planned changes and the rules behind them in the portal. Adjust your rules and repeat the dry run until the results match your expectations.

Turn off dry run to apply changes. If a run would disable or move more accounts than your safety limits allow, it stops and alerts your team before making changes. We review the first runs with you.

HR continues working in Gusto. Your rules handle new accounts, updates and offboarding on schedule. Get alerts by email, in the portal or by webhook when a run stops, the HR feed stops updating or the agent stops reporting. An inactive feed never triggers offboarding.