Configure Workload Identity Federation with deployment pipelines

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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.

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. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

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

   gcloud init

4. 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.

   If an authentication error is returned, and you are using an external identity provider (IdP), confirm that you have signed in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

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

Azure DevOps

To let an Azure DevOps pipeline authenticate to Google Cloud, you first configure a service connection for Azure Resource Manager. This connection lets the pipeline obtain an ID token, which it can then exchange for Google Cloud credentials.

To create a service connection for Azure Resource Manager, do the following:

1. In Azure DevOps, open your project and go to Project Settings.
2. Go to Pipelines > Service connections.
3. Click Create service connection.
4. Select Azure Resource Manager.
5. Click Next.

6. Configure the following settings:

   • Identity type: App registration (automatic)
   • Credential: Workload identity federation

   • Scope level: Subscription.

     You must select a subscription even if you're not planning to use the service connection to access Azure resources.

   • Service connection name: Enter a name such as google-cloud.

7. Click Save.

In a later step, you'll need the issuer and subject identifier of the service connection. To look up these details, do the following:

1. Click the service connection you just created.
2. Click Manage App registration.
3. Select Manage > Certificate & secrets > Federated credentials.
4. Click the federated credential.

5. On the Edit a credential page, find the following identifiers:

   • Issuer: uniquely identifies your Azure DevOps organization
   • Subject identifier: uniquely identifies the service connection

Azure DevOps automatically grants access on the subscription that you selected as scope to the service principal associated with your new service connection. Because you're not planning to use the service connection to access Azure resources, you can revoke this access by doing the following:

1. In the Azure portal, open the subscription that you selected as scope.
2. Go to Access control (IAM) > Role assignments.
3. Find the role assignment for the service connection and remove it.

GitHub Actions

You don't need to make any configuration changes in your GitHub account.

After you configure a workload identity pool to trust your GitHub repository, you can let workflows in that repository use their GitHub OIDC token to obtain short-lived Google Cloud credentials.

GitLab SaaS

You don't need to make any configuration changes in your GitLab account.

After you configure a workload identity pool to trust your GitLab group, you can enable Workload Identity Federation for individual CI/CD jobs.

Terraform Cloud

You don't need to make any configuration changes in your Terraform Cloud account.

After you configure a workload identity pool to trust Terraform Cloud, you can enable Workload Identity Federation for individual workspaces.

Azure DevOps

The Azure DevOps ID token includes a sub claim that contains the subject identifier of your service connection. The subject identifier uses the following format:

sc://ORGANIZATION/PROJECT/CONNECTION

Use the following attribute mapping to map this identifier to google.subject:

google.subject=assertion.sub

GitHub Actions

Your attribute mappings can use any of the claims in the GitHub Actions OIDC token. These token claim keys and their values are controlled by GitHub. At minimum, you should map google.subject to assertion.sub, which corresponds to the GitHub Actions OIDC token subject:

google.subject=assertion.sub

The value for the GitHub Actions OIDC token subject can vary depending on the source event. Other claim attributes can include:

• repository: Contains the owner and repository name–for example "google/guava".

• repository_id: Contains the unique repository ID–for example "20300177".

• repository_owner: Contains the owner, which can be a username or the name of a GitHub organization–for example "google".

• repository_owner_id: Contains the unique owner ID–for example "1342004".

This list is a subset of the possible claims–see the GitHub documentation on example claims for a complete list. Be sure to map any claims that you plan to use as attribute conditions or as part of a future principalSet condition.

GitLab SaaS

Your attribute mappings can use the claims embedded in the GitLab ID token as source attributes, including the following:

• sub: the project name and Git reference—for example, project_path:groupname/projectname:ref_type:branch:ref:main.
• namespace_id: the unique group ID.
• project_id: the unique project ID.
• user_id: the unique user ID.
• environment: the environment that the job applies to.
• ref_path: the Git reference—for example refs/heads/main.

The following attribute mapping sets google.subject to the sub claim from the GitLab ID token. Because the sub claim contains both the project name and Git reference, this mapping lets you control access by repository and branch:

google.subject=assertion.sub

Controlling access by repository and branch can be useful if certain branches (for example, main) need different access to resources than other branches (for example, feature branches).

In some cases, it might be sufficient to only differentiate access by project or group. The following mapping therefore includes two additional attributes that contain the GitLab project_id and namespace_id:

google.subject=assertion.sub
attribute.project_id=assertion.project_id
attribute.namespace_id=assertion.namespace_id

Terraform Cloud

Your attribute mappings can use the claims embedded in the Terraform Cloud OIDC token, including the following

• terraform_organization_id: Contains the unique ID of the organization—for example org-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
• terraform_workspace_id: Contains the unique ID of the workspace—for example ws-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
• terraform_workspace_name: Contains the display name of the workspace.
• sub: Contains the display name of the organization, workspace, and phase—for example organization:example-org:workspace:example-workspace:run_phase:apply.

The following attribute mapping sets google.subject to the terraform_workspace_id claim from the Terraform Cloud OIDC token:

google.subject=assertion.terraform_workspace_id

This mapping lets you control access to Google Cloud resources by workspace.

Azure DevOps

Optionally, use an attribute condition to restrict access to certain service connections. For example, the following condition limits access to connections in a certain Azure DevOps project:

assertion.sub.startsWith('sc://ORGANIZATION/PROJECT/')

Replace the following:

• ORGANIZATION: the name of your Azure DevOps organization.
• PROJECT: the name of your Azure DevOps project.

GitHub Actions

Use the following attribute condition to restrict access to tokens issued by your GitHub organization:

assertion.repository_owner=='ORGANIZATION'

Replace ORGANIZATION with the name of your GitHub organization.

Optionally, extend the attribute condition to restrict access to a subset of workflows or branches. For example, the following condition limits access to workflows that use the Git branch main:

assertion.repository_owner=='ORGANIZATION' && assertion.ref=='refs/heads/main'

GitLab SaaS

Use the following attribute condition to restrict access to tokens issued by your GitLab group

assertion.namespace_id=='GROUP_ID'

Replace GROUP_ID with the group ID that's shown on your GitLab group's home page.

Optionally, extend the attribute condition to restrict access to a subset of projects, branches, or environments. For example, the following condition limits access to jobs that use the environment production:

assertion.namespace_id=='GROUP_ID' && assertion.environment=='production'

Terraform Cloud

Use the following attribute condition to restrict access to tokens issued by your Terraform Cloud organization:

assertion.terraform_organization_id=='ORGANIZATION_ID'

Replace ORGANIZATION_ID with the unique ID of your organization—for example org-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Optionally, extend the attribute condition to restrict access to a subset of workflows or branches. For example, the following attribute condition limits access to a specific workspace:

assertion.terraform_organization_id=='ORGANIZATION_ID' && assertion.terraform_workspace_id=='WORKSPACE_ID'

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the New workload provider and pool page.

   Go to New workload provider and pool

2. Under Create an identity pool, enter the following:

   • Name: Name for the pool. The name is also used as the pool ID. You can't change the pool ID later.
   • Description: Text that describes the purpose of the pool.

3. Click Continue.

4. Configure provider settings:

   Azure DevOps

   • Select a provider: OpenID Connect (OIDC).
   • Provider name: the name of the Azure DevOps project, or a custom name.
   • Provider ID: the name of the Azure DevOps project, or a custom ID. You cannot change the provider ID later.
   • Issuer URL: the service connection issuer that you've looked up previously.

   • Audiences: Select Allowed audiences and paste the following value

     api://AzureADTokenExchange
     

   GitHub Actions

   • Select a provider: OpenID Connect (OIDC).
   • Provider name: Name for the provider.
   • Provider ID: ID for the provider. You cannot change the provider ID later.
   • Issuer URL: https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com/
   • Audiences: Default audience

   GitLab SaaS

   • Select a provider: OpenID Connect (OIDC).
   • Provider name: Name for the provider.
   • Provider ID: ID for the provider. You cannot change the provider ID later.
   • Issuer URL: https://gitlab.com
   • Audiences: Default audience

   Terraform Cloud

   • Select a provider: OpenID Connect (OIDC).
   • Provider name: Name for the provider.
   • Provider ID: ID for the provider. You cannot change the provider ID later.
   • Issuer URL: https://app.terraform.io
   • Audiences: Default audience

5. Click Continue.

6. Under Configure provider attributes, add the attribute mappings that you've identified previously.

7. Under Attribute conditions, enter the attribute condition that you've identified previously.

8. Click Save to create the workload identity pool and provider.

gcloud

1. Create a new workload identity pool:

   gcloud iam workload-identity-pools create POOL_ID \
       --location="global" \
       --description="DESCRIPTION" \
       --display-name="DISPLAY_NAME"
   

   Replace the following values:

   • POOL_ID: the unique ID for the pool
   • DISPLAY_NAME: the name of the pool
   • DESCRIPTION: the description of the pool. This description appears when granting access to pool identities

2. Add a workload identity pool provider:

   Azure DevOps

   gcloud iam workload-identity-pools providers create-oidc PROVIDER_ID \
       --location="global" \
       --workload-identity-pool="POOL_ID" \
       --issuer-uri="ISSUER" \
       --allowed-audiences="api://AzureADTokenExchange" \
       --attribute-mapping="MAPPINGS" \
       --attribute-condition="CONDITIONS"
   

   Replace the following values:

   • PROVIDER_ID: the name of the Azure DevOps project, or a custom ID for the provider.
   • POOL_ID: the ID of the pool
   • ISSUER: the service connection issuer that you've looked up previously.
   • MAPPINGS: a comma-separated list of attribute mappings that you've identified previously
   • CONDITIONS: the attribute condition that you identified previously

   GitHub Actions

   gcloud iam workload-identity-pools providers create-oidc PROVIDER_ID \
       --location="global" \
       --workload-identity-pool="POOL_ID" \
       --issuer-uri="https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com/" \
       --attribute-mapping="MAPPINGS" \
       --attribute-condition="CONDITIONS"
   

   Replace the following values:

   • PROVIDER_ID: the unique ID for the provider
   • POOL_ID: the ID of the pool
   • MAPPINGS: a comma-separated list of attribute mappings that you've identified previously
   • CONDITIONS: the attribute condition that you identified previously

   GitLab SaaS

   gcloud iam workload-identity-pools providers create-oidc PROVIDER_ID \
       --location="global" \
       --workload-identity-pool="POOL_ID" \
       --issuer-uri="https://gitlab.com" \
       --attribute-mapping="MAPPINGS" \
       --attribute-condition="CONDITIONS"
   

   Replace the following values:

   • PROVIDER_ID: the unique ID for the provider
   • POOL_ID: the ID of the pool
   • MAPPINGS: a comma-separated list of attribute mappings that you've identified previously
   • CONDITIONS: the attribute condition that you identified previously

   Terraform Cloud

   gcloud iam workload-identity-pools providers create-oidc PROVIDER_ID \
       --location="global" \
       --workload-identity-pool="POOL_ID" \
       --issuer-uri="https://app.terraform.io" \
       --attribute-mapping="MAPPINGS" \
       --attribute-condition="CONDITIONS"
   

   Replace the following values:

   • PROVIDER_ID: the unique ID for the provider.
   • POOL_ID: the ID of the pool.
   • MAPPINGS: a comma-separated list of attribute mappings that you've identified previously.
   • CONDITIONS: the attribute condition that you've identified previously.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Workload Identity Pools page.

   Go to Workload Identity Pools

2. Find the workload identity pool that contains the provider, and then click the arrow_right Expand node icon for the pool.

3. Find the workload identity pool provider that you want to edit and click edit Edit.

4. In Attribute conditions, enter the attribute condition that you've identified previously.

5. To update the workload identity pool and provider, click Save.

gcloud

To update the workload identity pool provider, run the following command:

gcloud iam workload-identity-pools providers update-oidc PROVIDER_ID \
    --location="global" \
    --workload-identity-pool="POOL_ID" \
    --attribute-condition="CONDITIONS"

Replace the following values:

• PROVIDER_ID: the unique ID for the provider
• POOL_ID: the ID of the pool
• CONDITIONS: the attribute condition that you've identified previously

Direct resource access

You can grant access to a federated identity directly on resources by using the Google Cloud console or the gcloud CLI.

Service account impersonation

1. To create a service account for the external workload, do the following:

   1. Enable the IAM, Security Token Service, and Service Account Credentials APIs.

      Enable the APIs

   2. Create a service account that represents the workload. We recommend that you use a dedicated service account for each workload. The service account doesn't need to be in the same project as the workload identity pool, but you must refer to the project that contains the service account.

   3. Grant the service account access to resources that you want external identities to access.

2. To let the federated identity impersonate the service account, do the following:

gcloud iam service-accounts add-iam-policy-binding SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL \
    --role=roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser \
    --member="principal://iam.googleapis.com/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/POOL_ID/subject/SUBJECT"

gcloud iam service-accounts add-iam-policy-binding SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL \
    --role=roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser \
    --member="principalSet://iam.googleapis.com/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/POOL_ID/group/GROUP"

gcloud iam service-accounts add-iam-policy-binding SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL \
    --role=roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser \
    --member="principalSet://iam.googleapis.com/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/POOL_ID/attribute.ATTRIBUTE_NAME/ATTRIBUTE_VALUE"

Azure DevOps

Edit your azure-pipelines.yml file and add the following to your job configuration:

variables:
- name: Azure.WorkloadIdentity.Connection
  value: CONNECTION
- name: GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.ProjectNumber
  value: PROJECT_NUMBER
- name: GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.Pool
  value: POOL_ID
- name: GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.Provider
  value: PROVIDER_ID
- name: GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.ServiceAccount
  value: SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL
- name: GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
  value: $(Pipeline.Workspace)/.workload_identity.wlconfig

steps:
  - task: AzureCLI@2
    inputs:
      connectedServiceNameARM: $(Azure.WorkloadIdentity.Connection)
      addSpnToEnvironment: true
      scriptType: 'bash'
      scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
      inlineScript: |
        echo $idToken > $(Pipeline.Workspace)/.workload_identity.jwt
        cat << EOF > $GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
        {
          "type": "external_account",
          "audience": "//iam.googleapis.com/projects/$(GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.ProjectNumber)/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/$(GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.Pool)/providers/$(GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.Provider)",
          "subject_token_type": "urn:ietf:params:oauth:token-type:jwt",
          "token_url": "https://sts.googleapis.com/v1/token",
          "credential_source": {
            "file": "$(Pipeline.Workspace)/.workload_identity.jwt"
          },
          "service_account_impersonation_url": "https://iamcredentials.googleapis.com/v1/projects/-/serviceAccounts/$(GoogleCloud.WorkloadIdentity.ServiceAccount):generateAccessToken"
        }
        EOF

Replace the following values:

• CONNECTION: the name of your service connection
• PROJECT_NUMBER: the project number of the project that contains the workload identity pool
• POOL_ID: the ID of the workload identity pool
• PROVIDER_ID: the ID of the workload identity pool provider
• SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL: the email address of the service account

The configuration does the following:

1. Uses the AzureCLI task to obtain an ID token for the service connection, and makes it available in a variable named idToken.
2. Saves the ID token to a temporary file named .workload_identity.jwt.
3. Creates a credential configuration file that instructs client libraries to read the ID token from .workload_identity.jwt and uses it to impersonate a service account.
4. Sets the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to point to the credential configuration file.

GitHub Actions

The google-github-actions/auth action lets you automatically generate a credential configuration file during workflow execution. Client libraries and tools such as terraform can then use this credential configuration file to automatically obtain Google credentials.

Edit your GitHub Actions YAML file and add the following:

• Allow the job to fetch a GitHub ID token by adding the following configuration:

  permissions:
    id-token: write
    contents: read
  

• Add a step to create a credentials configuration file:

  - id: 'auth'
    name: 'Authenticate to Google Cloud'
    uses: 'google-github-actions/auth@v1'
    with:
      create_credentials_file: true
      workload_identity_provider: 'projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/POOL_ID/providers/PROVIDER_ID'
      service_account: 'SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL'
  

Replace the following values:

• PROJECT_NUMBER: The project number of the project that contains the workload identity pool.
• POOL_ID: The ID of the workload identity pool.
• PROVIDER_ID: The ID of the workload identity pool provider.
• SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL: Replace with the email address of the service account.

The following example configures the GitHub Action:

jobs:
  build:
    # Allow the job to fetch a GitHub ID token
    permissions:
      id-token: write
      contents: read

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - id: 'auth'
        name: 'Authenticate to Google Cloud'
        uses: 'google-github-actions/auth@v1'
        with:
          create_credentials_file: true
          workload_identity_provider: 'projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/POOL_ID/providers/PROVIDER_ID'
          service_account: 'SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL'

For further details on using the google-github-actions/auth action, see Setting up Workload Identity Federation.

GitLab SaaS

Edit your .gitlab-ci.yml file and add the following to the job configuration:

job:
  variables:
    WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_PROJECT_NUMBER: PROJECT_NUMBER
    WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_POOL: POOL_ID
    WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_PROVIDER: PROVIDER_ID
    SERVICE_ACCOUNT: SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL
    GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS: $CI_BUILDS_DIR/.workload_identity.wlconfig

  id_tokens:
    WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_TOKEN:
      aud: https://iam.googleapis.com/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/POOL_ID/providers/PROVIDER_ID

  script:
    - |-
      echo $WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_TOKEN > $CI_BUILDS_DIR/.workload_identity.jwt
      cat << EOF > $GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
      {
        "type": "external_account",
        "audience": "//iam.googleapis.com/projects/$WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/$WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_POOL/providers/$WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_PROVIDER",
        "subject_token_type": "urn:ietf:params:oauth:token-type:jwt",
        "token_url": "https://sts.googleapis.com/v1/token",
        "credential_source": {
          "file": "$CI_BUILDS_DIR/.workload_identity.jwt"
        },
        "service_account_impersonation_url": "https://iamcredentials.googleapis.com/v1/projects/-/serviceAccounts/$SERVICE_ACCOUNT:generateAccessToken"
      }
      EOF

Replace the following values:

• PROJECT_NUMBER: the project number of the project that contains the workload identity pool
• POOL_ID: the ID of the workload identity pool
• PROVIDER_ID: the ID of the workload identity pool provider
• SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL: the email address of the service account

The configuration does the following:

1. Instructs GitLab to issue an ID token, and makes it available in the environment variable named WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_TOKEN. The ID token uses your workload identity pool provider as audience.
2. Saves the ID token to a temporary file named .workload_identity.jwt.
3. Creates a credential configuration file that instructs client libraries to read the ID token from .workload_identity.jwt and uses it to impersonate a service account.
4. Sets the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to point to the credential configuration file.

Terraform Cloud

Configure your Terraform Cloud workspace so that it uses Workload Identity Federation to authenticate to Google Cloud using service account impersonation:

1. In Terraform Cloud, open your workspace and go to Variables.

2. Add the following variables:

   Variable category	Key	Value
   Environment variable	TFC_GCP_PROVIDER_AUTH	true
   Environment variable	TFC_GCP_RUN_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL	The email address of the service account, for example terraform@my-project-123.iam.gserviceaccount.com
   Environment variable	TFC_GCP_PROJECT_NUMBER	The project number of the project that contains the workload identity pool
   Environment variable	TFC_GCP_WORKLOAD_POOL_ID	The ID of the workload identity pool
   Environment variable	TFC_GCP_WORKLOAD_PROVIDER_ID	The ID of the workload identity pool provider

   Optionally, you can add additional environment variables to let Terrform Cloud use different service accounts for the plan and apply phases. For more information see Optional Environment Variables.

3. In the list of variables, verify that Category is set to env for the five variables that you added in the previous step.

4. Verify that your Terraform configuration uses version 4.48.0 or newer of the Google Cloud provider, and update it if necessary, as follows:

   terraform {
     required_providers {
       google = {
         source  = "hashicorp/google"
         version = "~> 4.48.0"
       }
     }
   }
   

5. Submit the changes to your source code repository.