How to automate user provisioning in Cloudshare for large teams

If you're drowning in spreadsheets and manual steps every time your team grows or changes, you're not alone. Automating user provisioning in Cloudshare is a must for large teams—unless you enjoy copy-pasting emails and cleaning up permission messes. This guide is for admins, IT folks, or anyone stuck with the job of onboarding (and offboarding) users in bulk. We'll walk through what actually works, what to skip, and how to keep your sanity.

Why bother automating user provisioning?

Manual provisioning is fine for five users. But once you hit 20, 50, or hundreds, it's a time sink and a recipe for mistakes. Automation helps you:

  • Cut down on busywork (nobody dreams of updating user lists)
  • Reduce errors (misspelled emails, wrong roles, lingering access)
  • Onboard and offboard people fast, without bottlenecks
  • Keep things secure—no more “I thought HR removed them last week?”

If you’re using Cloudshare to run training labs, demos, or sandboxes for a big crew, it’s time to automate.

Step 1: Understand Cloudshare’s provisioning options

Cloudshare offers a few ways to manage users. Before you start building scripts or shopping for integrations, know what’s built-in:

  • Manual user invite: Add users one-by-one via the web UI. Fine for tiny teams, but useless for large groups.
  • Bulk CSV upload: Upload a spreadsheet of users. Good for batch jobs, but still manual and not repeatable.
  • API access: Automate everything via REST API. Flexible, scriptable, but requires some technical chops.
  • SSO/SAML integration: Connect Cloudshare to your identity provider (e.g., Okta, Azure AD). Handles provisioning and authentication, but sometimes costs extra or needs IT help.

Honest take: For real automation, you’ll want either the API or SSO. If your company has SSO set up, that’s usually the smoothest path. If not, the API is your friend.

Step 2: Decide—API or SSO?

If your company has SSO (SAML/SCIM)

  • Pros: Once set up, users are added/removed automatically based on your identity provider.
  • Cons: Setup can be a pain, especially if you’re not already using Okta, Azure AD, or similar. Sometimes requires Cloudshare’s higher-tier plans.
  • Works best if: You already have an IT department managing SSO for other apps.

If you’re going the API route

  • Pros: Maximum flexibility. Works for any size team, and you can plug into your own HR/onboarding tools.
  • Cons: You’ll need to write and maintain scripts or use a tool like Zapier or PowerShell.
  • Works best if: You have someone comfortable with scripting and want to avoid SSO costs or delays.

Step 3: Prep your user data

No matter which path you take, you’ll need a clean list of users to provision. Here’s what to gather:

  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Role or group (optional, but usually helpful)
  • Any custom fields your org needs

Pro tip: Store this info in a central place—Google Sheet, HR system, or whatever your team actually uses. Trying to sync from three sources is a headache waiting to happen.

Step 4: Automate with SSO (if available)

If you’re lucky enough to have SSO and your plan supports it, here’s the high-level process:

  1. Check your Cloudshare plan
  2. Not all plans include SSO or SCIM provisioning. Make sure yours does, or talk to sales. Sometimes it’s an “enterprise” feature.
  3. Get your IT team involved
  4. You’ll need someone who manages your identity provider (Okta, Azure AD, OneLogin, etc.).
  5. Configure SSO in Cloudshare
  6. In the admin console, look for SSO/SAML/SCIM settings.
  7. Follow Cloudshare’s docs—these change often, so don’t rely on screenshots from two years ago.
  8. Map attributes
  9. Make sure the right fields (email, name, role) are mapped from your identity provider to Cloudshare.
  10. Test with a pilot group
  11. Don’t flip the switch for 500 users right away. Start with a few, make sure their access works, and check that offboarding removes access.
  12. Roll out to the full team
  13. Once you’re sure it works, roll out to everyone.

What can go wrong?

  • Attribute mismatches (wrong roles, missing fields)
  • Users getting duplicate accounts (usually due to email mismatches)
  • SSO not actually handling deprovisioning unless SCIM is enabled

What to skip: Don’t try to DIY SSO if you don’t control your identity provider. It’s more pain than it’s worth.

Step 5: Automate with the Cloudshare API

If SSO is out of reach, the API is your best bet. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Get API access

  • You’ll need an API key/token. This is usually under your Cloudshare account settings or admin section.
  • Keep it secret—treat this key like a password.

2. Read the API docs

  • Cloudshare’s API docs can be hit-or-miss. Go straight to their official documentation for the most current endpoints.
  • The endpoints you care about: create users, list users, update users, remove users.

3. Script your provisioning

Here’s a basic outline in Python. (You could use PowerShell, Bash, etc. if you prefer.)

python import requests

API_URL = "https://use.cloudshare.com/api/v3/users" API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"

users_to_add = [ {"email": "alice@example.com", "name": "Alice Smith"}, {"email": "bob@example.com", "name": "Bob Jones"}, # ...more users ]

headers = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json" }

for user in users_to_add: response = requests.post(API_URL, json=user, headers=headers) if response.status_code == 201: print(f"Added {user['email']}") else: print(f"Error adding {user['email']}: {response.text}")

Real talk: You’ll want to add error handling, logging, and maybe dry-run options before you run this on a big batch. And always test with a handful of users first.

4. Schedule your script

  • Use cron (Linux/Mac), Task Scheduler (Windows), or a simple CI/CD tool to run your script daily or as needed.
  • For HR-driven automation, trigger the script when the HR system changes (harder, but doable with webhooks or export files).

5. Handle removals and updates

  • Don’t forget to handle removing users who leave the company or change roles. Stale accounts are a security risk.
  • Use the API’s delete or update endpoints as part of your regular run.

What works: The API is reliable, but documentation can be sparse. If you get stuck, Cloudshare’s support is responsive, but don’t expect hand-holding on custom code.

What to ignore: Anything that tries to “sync” users by scraping the web UI or using browser automation. It’s brittle and breaks without warning.

Step 6: Audit and monitor your provisioning

Automation isn’t “set and forget.” Check your user lists regularly:

  • Compare Cloudshare users with your source of truth (HR, payroll, etc.)
  • Spot-check: Are ex-employees lingering? Are new hires getting access on time?
  • Set up alerts for script failures or API errors.

Tip: Even a basic weekly email summary (“5 added, 2 removed, 0 errors”) can catch problems early.

Step 7: Keep it simple—iterate as you grow

You don’t need a “perfect” solution on day one. Start with the basics:

  • Automate adds and removals
  • Test, test, test
  • Document how it works, so you’re not the only person who understands it

When you outgrow your first script (and you will), revisit SSO or more advanced integrations. Just don’t let “we’re waiting for IT” be an excuse for manual work that could be automated today.

Summary

Automating user provisioning in Cloudshare isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of upfront work. Stick to what’s proven—SSO if you have it, API scripts if you don’t—and ignore the shiny stuff that promises “no-code automation” unless you’ve seen it work. Start small, automate what matters, and improve as you go. Your future self (and your team) will thank you.