Disable and enable service accounts

This page explains how to disable and enable service accounts using the Identity and Access Management (IAM) API, the Google Cloud console, and the gcloud CLI.

Before you begin

• Enable the IAM API.

  Enable the API

• Set up authentication.

  Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:

  Console

  When you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.

  gcloud

  In the Google Cloud console, activate Cloud Shell.

  Activate Cloud Shell

  At the bottom of the Google Cloud console, a Cloud Shell session starts and displays a command-line prompt. Cloud Shell is a shell environment with the Google Cloud CLI already installed and with values already set for your current project. It can take a few seconds for the session to initialize.

  C#

  To use the .NET samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

  C++

  To use the C++ samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

  Go

  To use the Go samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

  Java

  To use the Java samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

  Python

  To use the Python samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

  REST

  To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.

  Install the Google Cloud CLI, then initialize it by running the following command:

  gcloud init

  For more information, see Authenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

• Understand IAM service accounts

Required roles

To get the permissions that you need to manage service accounts, ask your administrator to grant you the Service Account Admin (roles/iam.serviceAccountAdmin) IAM role on the project. For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

You might also be able to get the required permissions through custom roles or other predefined roles.

To learn more about this role, see Service Accounts roles.

IAM basic roles also contain permissions to manage service accounts. You should not grant basic roles in a production environment, but you can grant them in a development or test environment.

Disable a service account

Similar to deleting a service account, when you disable a service account, applications will no longer have access to Google Cloud resources through that service account. If you disable the default App Engine and Compute Engine service accounts, the instances will no longer have access to resources in the project. If you attempt to disable an already disabled service account, it will have no effect.

Unlike deleting a service account, disabled service accounts can easily be re-enabled as necessary. We recommend disabling a service account before deleting it to make sure no critical applications are using the service account.

namespace iam = ::google::cloud::iam_admin_v1;
[](std::string const& name) {
  iam::IAMClient client(iam::MakeIAMConnection());
  google::iam::admin::v1::DisableServiceAccountRequest request;
  request.set_name(name);
  auto response = client.DisableServiceAccount(request);
  if (!response.ok()) throw std::runtime_error(response.message());
  std::cout << "ServiceAccount successfully disabled.\n";
}

using System;
using Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2;
using Google.Apis.Iam.v1;
using Google.Apis.Iam.v1.Data;

public partial class ServiceAccounts
{
    public static void DisableServiceAccount(string email)
    {
        var credential = GoogleCredential.GetApplicationDefault()
            .CreateScoped(IamService.Scope.CloudPlatform);
        var service = new IamService(new IamService.Initializer
        {
            HttpClientInitializer = credential
        });

        var request = new DisableServiceAccountRequest();

        string resource = "projects/-/serviceAccounts/" + email;
        service.Projects.ServiceAccounts.Disable(request, resource).Execute();
        Console.WriteLine("Disabled service account: " + email);
    }
}

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	iam "google.golang.org/api/iam/v1"
)

// disableServiceAccount disables a service account.
func disableServiceAccount(w io.Writer, email string) error {
	// email:= service-account@your-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com
	ctx := context.Background()
	service, err := iam.NewService(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("iam.NewService: %w", err)
	}

	request := &iam.DisableServiceAccountRequest{}
	_, err = service.Projects.ServiceAccounts.Disable("projects/-/serviceAccounts/"+email, request).Do()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("Projects.ServiceAccounts.Disable: %w", err)
	}
	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Disabled service account: %v", email)
	return nil
}

import com.google.cloud.iam.admin.v1.IAMClient;
import com.google.iam.admin.v1.DisableServiceAccountRequest;
import java.io.IOException;

public class DisableServiceAccount {

  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
    // TODO(Developer): Replace the below variables before running.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    String serviceAccountName = "your-service-account-name";

    disableServiceAccount(projectId, serviceAccountName);
  }

  // Disables a service account.
  public static void disableServiceAccount(String projectId, String accountName)
          throws IOException {
    String email = String.format("%s@%s.iam.gserviceaccount.com", accountName, projectId);

    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests.
    // This client only needs to be created once, and can be reused for multiple requests.
    try (IAMClient iamClient = IAMClient.create()) {
      iamClient.disableServiceAccount(DisableServiceAccountRequest.newBuilder()
              .setName(String.format("projects/%s/serviceAccounts/%s", projectId, email))
              .build());

      System.out.println("Disabled service account: " + accountName);
    }
  }
}

import time

from google.cloud import iam_admin_v1
from google.cloud.iam_admin_v1 import types


def disable_service_account(project_id: str, account: str) -> types.ServiceAccount:
    """
    Disables a service account.

    project_id: ID or number of the Google Cloud project you want to use.
    account: ID or email which is unique identifier of the service account.
    """

    iam_admin_client = iam_admin_v1.IAMClient()
    request = types.DisableServiceAccountRequest()
    name = f"projects/{project_id}/serviceAccounts/{account}"
    request.name = name

    iam_admin_client.disable_service_account(request=request)
    time.sleep(5)  # waiting to make sure changes applied

    get_request = types.GetServiceAccountRequest()
    get_request.name = name

    service_account = iam_admin_client.get_service_account(request=get_request)
    if service_account.disabled:
        print(f"Disabled service account: {account}")
    return service_account

POST https://iam.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/serviceAccounts/SA_ID:disable

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d "" \
     "https://iam.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/serviceAccounts/SA_ID:disable"

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -Uri "https://iam.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/serviceAccounts/SA_ID:disable" | Select-Object -Expand Content

Enable a service account

After enabling a disabled service account, applications will regain access to Google Cloud resources through that service account.

You can enable a disabled service account whenever you need to. If you attempt to enable an already enabled service account, it will have no effect.

namespace iam = ::google::cloud::iam_admin_v1;
[](std::string const& name) {
  iam::IAMClient client(iam::MakeIAMConnection());
  google::iam::admin::v1::EnableServiceAccountRequest request;
  request.set_name(name);
  auto response = client.EnableServiceAccount(request);
  if (!response.ok()) throw std::runtime_error(response.message());
  std::cout << "ServiceAccount successfully enabled.\n";
}

using System;
using Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2;
using Google.Apis.Iam.v1;
using Google.Apis.Iam.v1.Data;

public partial class ServiceAccounts
{
    public static void EnableServiceAccount(string email)
    {
        var credential = GoogleCredential.GetApplicationDefault()
            .CreateScoped(IamService.Scope.CloudPlatform);
        var service = new IamService(new IamService.Initializer
        {
            HttpClientInitializer = credential
        });

        var request = new EnableServiceAccountRequest();

        string resource = "projects/-/serviceAccounts/" + email;
        service.Projects.ServiceAccounts.Enable(request, resource).Execute();
        Console.WriteLine("Enabled service account: " + email);
    }
}

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	iam "google.golang.org/api/iam/v1"
)

// enableServiceAccount enables a service account.
func enableServiceAccount(w io.Writer, email string) error {
	// email:= service-account@your-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com
	ctx := context.Background()
	service, err := iam.NewService(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("iam.NewService: %w", err)
	}

	request := &iam.EnableServiceAccountRequest{}
	_, err = service.Projects.ServiceAccounts.Enable("projects/-/serviceAccounts/"+email, request).Do()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("Projects.ServiceAccounts.Enable: %w", err)
	}
	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Enabled service account: %v", email)
	return nil
}

import com.google.cloud.iam.admin.v1.IAMClient;
import com.google.iam.admin.v1.EnableServiceAccountRequest;
import java.io.IOException;


public class EnableServiceAccount {

  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
    // TODO(Developer): Replace the below variables before running.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    String serviceAccountName = "your-service-account-name";

    enableServiceAccount(projectId, serviceAccountName);
  }

  // Enables a service account.
  public static void enableServiceAccount(String projectId, String accountName)
          throws IOException {
    String email = String.format("%s@%s.iam.gserviceaccount.com", accountName, projectId);

    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests.
    // This client only needs to be created once, and can be reused for multiple requests.
    try (IAMClient iamClient = IAMClient.create()) {
      iamClient.enableServiceAccount(EnableServiceAccountRequest.newBuilder()
              .setName(String.format("projects/%s/serviceAccounts/%s", projectId, email))
              .build());

      System.out.println("Enabled service account: " + email);
    }
  }
}

import time

from google.cloud import iam_admin_v1
from google.cloud.iam_admin_v1 import types


def enable_service_account(project_id: str, account: str) -> types.ServiceAccount:
    """
    Enables a service account.

    project_id: ID or number of the Google Cloud project you want to use.
    account: ID or email which is unique identifier of the service account.
    """

    iam_admin_client = iam_admin_v1.IAMClient()
    request = types.EnableServiceAccountRequest()
    name = f"projects/{project_id}/serviceAccounts/{account}"
    request.name = name

    iam_admin_client.enable_service_account(request=request)
    time.sleep(5)  # waiting to make sure changes applied

    get_request = types.GetServiceAccountRequest()
    get_request.name = name

    service_account = iam_admin_client.get_service_account(request=get_request)
    if not service_account.disabled:
        print(f"Enabled service account: {account}")
    return service_account

POST https://iam.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/serviceAccounts/SA_ID:enable

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d "" \
     "https://iam.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/serviceAccounts/SA_ID:enable"

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -Uri "https://iam.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/serviceAccounts/SA_ID:enable" | Select-Object -Expand Content

What's next

• Learn how to delete and undelete service accounts.
• Review the process for granting IAM roles to all types of principals, including service accounts.
• Explore how you can use role recommendations to downscope permissions for all principals, including service accounts.
• Understand how to attach service accounts to resources.