Welcome to Expel. Getting connected involves just a few steps:

Activate Your Expel Workbench Account
Add Users for Your Organization (Org Admins Only)
Connect Your Technologies
Browse Additional Setup Guides (Optional)

To watch a video, go to Initial Workbench Access and Setup.

You should also familiarize yourself with the various ways to get support, which is available right in Slack® or Microsoft Teams™ if you choose to integrate those systems.

Prerequisites

You must install an authenticator application such as Duo Mobile or Google Authenticator on your smartphone or other portable device with a built-in camera, or log in via SSO. Expel requires non-SSO users to set up their Workbench account with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and to use it every time they log in.
Make sure you have the appropriate level of access to your technologies to connect them to Expel (most integrations require admin access to complete this process).

Note

You must be logged in to Workbench to view some of the guides linked on this page (from Step 2 onward). You will be prompted to log in if it is required.

Step 1: Activate Your Expel Workbench Account

The Expel Workbench lets you see everything Expel is doing for you — it enables you to connect your technologies, manage various Expel-related settings, view your incidents and alerts, and toggle functionality like auto remediations. Here’s how to get your account set up.

SSO Users

Look for the Workbench app in your SSO platform and use it to log in. If you do not see it, contact the appropriate support person at your organization to get it added.

Non-SSO Users

Check your inbox for a "Welcome to Expel" email.
- This email includes a link to activate your Expel Workbench account.
- If you haven’t received the email (or can't find it), contact us at support@expel.com and we can resend it.
Select Set Up My Account and follow the instructions to configure your password and set up MFA with an authenticator app of your choice. You will have the option to scan a QR code or enter a secret key to add the account to the authenticator app.
You can now log in to Workbench using your email address (the one that received the Welcome email), the password you just created, and your authenticator app.

If you like, bookmark https://workbench.expel.io/auth/login for quick access to the login page.

Step 2: Add Users for Your Organization (Org Admins Only)

If you are not an organization admin user or do not need to add any additional users to Workbench at this time, you may skip this step and go to Step 3.

If your organization uses SSO for logins, you must make sure SSO is configured in Workbench and that every new Workbench user is assigned the Workbench app in their SSO. To configure SSO in Workbench, go to Connect Your Single Sign-On Tools and follow the instructions for your provider, then return to this setup guide to add your users:

Select Organization Settings in the left menu.
Select Users.
Select Add User.
Complete the fields and select Save.
SSO logins only - you must now also add (or ask someone at your organization to add) the Workbench app to the SSO platform for each of the users you created.

The new user account will appear with a "Locked" status until it is activated. After the user activates their account, the status will change to "Active" or "Assignable" based on the settings you chose.

If you need additional help with adding users or if you want to edit your users, refer to the Add and Manage Users in Workbench guide.

Step 3: Connect Your Technologies

Each vendor technology has a specific Expel onboarding process that usually includes some setup within the technology before adding it as a security device in Workbench. Certain types of on-prem technology (like AWS, Azure, GCP, Hyper-V, VMware, and Nutanix) may require you to use an assembler rather than adding it as a security device. You may also wish to configure an IP allow list.

To find setup instructions for your technology, do one of the following:

Locate the setup guide by finding the specific technology on the Help Center's Integrations page and selecting the hyperlink (if available) to go directly to the guide.
Search for your technology's setup guide by using the search function in the Help Center.
If you are an organization admin user, use the Setup buttons on your Welcome screen in Workbench to find links to your setup guides. For more information, go to About the Welcome Screen.
If you believe you may need an assembler, go to Assemblers (below) for links and setup instructions.

If you cannot find the setup guide you need, contact support for help.

Assemblers

Some technologies live on an internal, private network where a direct external connection cannot be established. These technologies will require the deployment of an Expel Assembler to connect.

To understand how our assemblers are built and how they work, go to the About the Assembler guide.
To deploy an assembler, go to the Add a New Assembler guide and follow the instructions; links will be provided at the end of that guide to configure your specific technology.
For a quick list of all assembler topics and the technologies that utilize them, go to the Get Started With Assembler page.

Step 4: Browse Additional Setup Guides (Optional)

There are a number of additional setup guides available depending on what you'd like to do. Here are some places to start:

When you've completed the setup process, you can start learning more about our dashboards.

About the Welcome Screen (Organization Admins Only)

If you are an organization admin user, you will see a Welcome screen when you log in to Workbench that will contain a list of your technologies to onboard. Select one of the Set up buttons to find a link to the appropriate setup guide.

After you have successfully connected, the Set up button will disappear and will be replaced by a connection status (as shown here).

If you know you are this user type but do not see the Welcome screen, try going to Dashboards > Alert Analysis.

Get Connected to Expel Workbench