Manage IAM authentication

This page provides instructions on common tasks for the IAM authentication feature for Memorystore for Redis Cluster. For more details on the feature, see About IAM authentication.

Create an instance with IAM authentication

To create a Memorystore for Redis Cluster instance that uses IAM authentication, run the create command:

gcloud redis clusters create INSTANCE_ID --region=REGION_ID --network=NETWORK --node-type=NODE_TYPE --shard-count=SHARD_COUNT --auth-mode=iam-auth

Replace the following:

• INSTANCE_ID is the ID of the Memorystore for Redis Cluster instance you're creating. Your instance ID must be 1 to 63 characters and use only lowercase letters, numbers, or hyphens. It must start with a lowercase letter and end with a lowercase letter or number.

• REGION_ID is the region where you want the instance placed.

• NETWORK is the network used to create your instance. It must use the format: projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/NETWORK_ID. The network ID used here must match the network ID used by the service connection policy. Otherwise, the create operation fails. For more details, see Networking.

• NODE_TYPE is your chosen node type. Accepted values are:

  • redis-shared-core-nano
  • redis-standard-small
  • redis-highmem-medium
  • redis-highmem-xlarge

• SHARD_COUNT determines the number of shards in your instance. Shard count determines the total memory capacity for storing cluster data. To see more details about cluster specification, see Cluster and node specification.

Grant permissions for IAM authentication

To grant an IAM access, grant the principal the roles/redis.dbConnectionUser role using the Grant IAM role instructions.

By default, granting a principal the roles/redis.dbConnectionUser role allows the principal to access all instances in your project.

Create a limited IAM admin role for an instance

You might want to create a role that can modify instance connection IAM permissions without granting full IAM admin access. This can be done by creating a limited IAM admin for the roles/redis.dbConnectionUser` role. For more details, visit Create limited IAM admins.

Connect to an instance that uses IAM authentication

1. If you don't already have a Compute Engine VM that uses the same authorized network as your Redis cluster, create one and connect to it by following Quickstart Using a Linux VM.

2. For your project, enable the Cloud Platform API scope. For more information about enabling this access scope, see Attach the service account and update the access scope. For more information about best practices for this scope, see Scopes best practice.

3. For your project, enable the Memorystore for Redis API.

   Memorystore for Redis API

4. Install redis-cli on the Compute Engine VM by running the following command from the Compute Engine SSH terminal:

   sudo apt-get install redis-tools
   

5. Run the following command to get an access token for your IAM user:

   gcloud auth print-access-token
   

6. Connect to your instance's discovery endpoint:

   redis-cli -h NETWORK_ADDRESS -p PORT -a ACCESS_TOKEN -c
   

   Replace the following:

   • NETWORK_ADDRESS is the instance's network address. To view the network address, see View instance information.

   • PORT is the instances port number. To view the port number, see View instance information.

   • ACCESS_TOKEN is the IAM access token retrieved in previous steps.

7. Run the CLUSTER SHARDS command to view your cluster topology. Take a note of one of the node's IP addresses and port numbers.

8. To use redis-cli to authenticate and connect to your node, use the following command:

   redis-cli -h NODE_IP_ADDRESS -p NODE_PORT -a ACCESS_TOKEN -c
   

   Replace the following:

   • NODE_IP_ADDRESS: the node's IP address that you found in the previous step
   • NODE_PORT: the node's port number that you found in the previous step
   • ACCESS_TOKEN: the IAM access token that you retrieved in previous steps

9. To verify that you have an authenticated connection to your node, run a Redis SET and GET command.

10. Delete the Compute Engine VM that you used to connect to the Redis cluster. This helps you avoid incurring charges to your Cloud Billing account.

Automate access token retrieval

1. (Optional) If you haven't already, create a service account for your application (see Creating and managing a service account).

   gcloud iam service-accounts create SA_NAME \
       --description="DESCRIPTION" \
       --display-name="DISPLAY_NAME"
   

   Replace the following:

   • SA_NAME is the name of the service account.
   • DESCRIPTION is an optional description of the service account.
   • DISPLAY_NAME is a service account name to display in the Google Cloud console.

2. Grant your service account redis.dbConnectionUser permission on your project.

   gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
   --member="serviceAccount:SA_NAME@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
   --role="ROLE_NAME"
   

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID
   • SA_NAME: the name of the service account
   • ROLE_NAME: a role name, such as redis.dbConnectionUser

3. Authenticate your application as the given service account. For more information, see Service accounts.

Code sample for connecting to an instance that uses IAM authentication

You can view a code sample that shows you how you can authenticate your application by using popular client libraries. In addition, you can see how to use this code sample to connect to an instance that uses IAM authentication.

Troubleshooting error messages with IAM authentication