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Google Distributed Cloud supports OpenID Connect
(OIDC) and Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol (LDAP) as authentication
mechanisms for interacting with a cluster's Kubernetes API server, using
GKE Identity Service. GKE Identity Service is an authentication service
that lets you bring your existing identity solutions for authentication to
multiple GKE Enterprise environments. Users can log in to and use
your GKE clusters from the command line (all providers) or from the
Google Cloud console (OIDC only), all using your existing identity provider.
GKE Identity Service works with any kind of bare metal cluster: admin, user,
hybrid, or standalone. You can use both on-premises and publicly reachable
identity providers. For example, if your enterprise runs an Active Directory
Federation Services
(ADFS)
server, the ADFS server could serve as your OpenID provider. You might also use
publicly-reachable identity provider services such as Okta. Identity provider
certificates may be issued by either a well-known public certificate authority
(CA), or by a private CA.
If you already use or want to use Google IDs to sign in to your GKE clusters
instead of an OIDC or LDAP provider, we recommend using connect gateway
for authentication. Find out more in Connecting to registered clusters with the
connect gateway.
Before you begin
To prompt users for consent and authorize their user account, a
browser-based authentication flow is used. Headless systems aren't
supported.
GKE Identity Service supports identity providers using the following
protocols:
OpenID Connect (OIDC). We provide
specific instructions for setup for some popular OpenID providers, including
Microsoft, but you can use any provider that implements OIDC.
Choose from the following cluster configuration options:
Configure your clusters at fleet level following the instructions in
Configuring clusters for fleet-level
GKE Identity Service (preview,
Google Distributed Cloud version 1.8 and higher). With this option, your
authentication configuration is centrally managed by Google Cloud.
Configure your clusters individually following the instructions in
Configuring clusters for GKE Identity Service with
OIDC. Because fleet-level setup is
a preview feature, you may want to use this option in production
environments, if you are using an earlier version of
Google Distributed Cloud, or if you require GKE Identity Service
features that aren't yet supported with fleet-level lifecycle
management.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Manage identity with GKE Identity Service\n\nGoogle Distributed Cloud supports [OpenID Connect\n(OIDC)](https://openid.net/connect/) and [Lightweight Directory\nAccess Protocol (LDAP)](https://ldap.com/) as authentication\nmechanisms for interacting with a cluster's Kubernetes API server, using\nGKE Identity Service. GKE Identity Service is an authentication service\nthat lets you bring your existing identity solutions for authentication to\nmultiple GKE Enterprise environments. Users can log in to and use\nyour GKE clusters from the command line (all providers) or from the\nGoogle Cloud console (OIDC only), all using your existing identity provider.\n\nGKE Identity Service works with any kind of bare metal cluster: admin, user,\nhybrid, or standalone. You can use both on-premises and publicly reachable\nidentity providers. For example, if your enterprise runs an [Active Directory\nFederation Services\n(ADFS)](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/active-directory-federation-services)\nserver, the ADFS server could serve as your OpenID provider. You might also use\npublicly-reachable identity provider services such as Okta. Identity provider\ncertificates may be issued by either a well-known public certificate authority\n(CA), or by a private CA.\n| **Note:** The GKE Identity Service runs as a Pod inside the cluster control plane. During cluster lifecycle phases, the API Server is dynamically configured to use the in-cluster GKE Identity Service as the authentication webhook for all incoming requests. The API Server [isn't able to use in-cluster\n| DNS](https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/issues/3772). As a result, the API Server is configured to access GKE Identity Service as a REST resource access. In audit logs, this invocation is recorded as a `CREATE` request to the Services or proxy resource by a `system:anonymous` user.\n\nFor an overview of how GKE Identity Service works, see [Introducing\nGKE Identity Service](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity).\n\nIf you already use or want to use Google IDs to sign in to your GKE clusters\ninstead of an OIDC or LDAP provider, we recommend using connect gateway\nfor authentication. Find out more in [Connecting to registered clusters with the\nconnect gateway](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/multicluster-management/gateway).\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\n- To prompt users for consent and authorize their user account, a\n browser-based authentication flow is used. Headless systems aren't\n supported.\n\n- To authenticate through the Google Cloud console, each cluster that you want to\n configure must be [registered with your project\n fleet](/kubernetes-engine/fleet-management/docs/fleet-creation).\n\nSetup process and options\n-------------------------\n\nGKE Identity Service supports identity providers using the following\nprotocols:\n\n- [OpenID Connect (OIDC)](https://openid.net/connect/). We provide\n specific instructions for setup for some popular OpenID providers, including\n Microsoft, but you can use any provider that implements OIDC.\n\n- [Lightweight Directory Access Protocol\n (LDAP)](https://ldap.com/). You can use\n GKE Identity Service to authenticate using LDAP with Active Directory\n or an LDAP server.\n\n### OIDC\n\n1. Register GKE Identity Service as a client with your OIDC provider\n following the instructions in [Configuring providers for\n GKE Identity Service](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/setup/provider).\n\n2. Choose from the following cluster configuration options:\n\n - Configure your clusters at fleet level following the instructions in\n [Configuring clusters for fleet-level\n GKE Identity Service](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/setup/fleet-cluster) (preview,\n Google Distributed Cloud version 1.8 and higher). With this option, your\n authentication configuration is centrally managed by Google Cloud.\n\n - Configure your clusters individually following the instructions in\n [Configuring clusters for GKE Identity Service with\n OIDC](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/setup/per-cluster). Because fleet-level setup is\n a preview feature, you may want to use this option in production\n environments, if you are using an earlier version of\n Google Distributed Cloud, or if you require GKE Identity Service\n features that aren't yet supported with fleet-level lifecycle\n management.\n\n3. Set up user access to your clusters, including role-based access control\n (RBAC), following the instructions in [Setting up user access for\n GKE Identity Service](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/setup/user-access).\n\n### LDAP\n\nTo get started with LDAP, follow the instructions in [Set up\nGKE Identity Service with\nLDAP](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/setup/ldap).\n\nAccess clusters\n---------------\n\nAfter GKE Identity Service has been set up, users can sign in to configured\nclusters using either the command line or the Google Cloud console.\n\n- Learn how to sign in to registered clusters with your OIDC or LDAP ID in\n [Accessing clusters using\n GKE Identity Service](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/accessing).\n\n- Learn how to sign in to clusters from the Google Cloud console in [Work\n with clusters from the\n Google Cloud console](/kubernetes-engine/fleet-management/docs/console)\n (OIDC only).\n\nTroubleshoot the login flow\n---------------------------\n\nTo troubleshoot [login flows that authenticate directly on the\nGKE Identity Service server with a fully qualified domain name\n(FQDN)](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/setup/authenticate-fqdn-access),\nyou can use the GKE Identity Service diagnostic utility. The diagnostic\nutility simulates login flows with your OIDC provider to quickly identify\nconfiguration problems. This tool requires a version 1.32 or higher cluster and\nonly supports OIDC. For more information, see [GKE Identity Service\ndiagnostic\nutility](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/identity/setup/anthos-v2-diagnostic-utility)."]]
