Connect using an IAM account

This page explains the process of logging into an AlloyDB for PostgreSQL instance using an account prepared with Identity and Access Management (IAM). It illustrates the process by showing how to perform an IAM-based login using the psql command-line client.

For an overview of connecting to AlloyDB instances, see Connection overview.

Before you begin

Your project, cluster, instances, and IAM user accounts all require preparation before you can log in to an AlloyDB instance using IAM credentials.

For more information, see Manage IAM authentication.

Authenticate with an OAuth 2.0 token

A user or an application can authenticate with an AlloyDB database by following these steps:

  1. If you haven't already done so, authorize the Google Cloud CLI using the same user or service account that you want to log in to your AlloyDB instance with.

  2. Request an OAuth 2.0 token from Google Cloud using the gcloud auth print-access-token command:

    gcloud auth print-access-token

    The Google Cloud prints an OAuth 2.0 token as the output of this command.

    For additional security, you can restrict the token for use with only AlloyDB authentication by following these alternative steps:

    1. Add the alloydb.login scope to your current environment's access credentials using the gcloud auth application-default login command, if you have not already done so:

      gcloud auth application-default login --scopes=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/alloydb.login,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email,openid

    2. Print a restricted OAuth 2.0 token using the gcloud auth application-default print-access-token command, scoping the token only to AlloyDB authentication:

      gcloud auth application-default print-access-token –-scopes=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/alloydb.login

    The OAuth 2.0 token lets you—or anyone—make authenticated requests to Google Cloud on your behalf. Treat the token with the same level of security as a password. Either store the token securely, or avoid storing it at all. The example use of psql later on this page demonstrates a way to request, use, and discard an OAuth 2.0 token in a single action.

  3. Log in to an AlloyDB instance with standard PostgreSQL techniques, using these credentials:

    • Present the access token you acquired in the previous step as your password.

    • For an IAM user account, the database username is the account's full email address.

    • For an IAM service account, the database username is the account's email address without the .gserviceaccount.com suffix.

The following psql command demonstrates one way to log in to an IAM user on the command line. It assigns the output of gcloud auth print-access-token to the PGPASSWORD environment variable, which psql subsequently uses as a database login password.

PGPASSWORD=$(gcloud auth print-access-token) psql \
  -h INSTANCE_ADDRESS \
  -U USERNAME \
  -d DATABASE

Replace the following:

  • INSTANCE_ADDRESS: The IP address of the AlloyDB instance to connect to.

  • USERNAME: An identifier for the IAM user to authenticate with the instance.

    For an IAM user account, supply the user account's full email address. For example, kai@altostrat.com.

    For an IAM service account, supply the service account's address without the .gserviceaccount.com suffix. For example, to specify the service account my-service@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com, you would use the value my-service@my-project.iam here.

  • DATABASE: The name of the database to connect to.

Note that psql truncates passwords entered on the command line that are longer than 100 characters. To use psql with an OAuth 2.0 token as a login password, you must set the PGPASSWORD environment variable as demonstrated in this example, rather than manually paste it when prompted.

Authenticate automatically using the AlloyDB Auth Proxy

You can use the AlloyDB Auth Proxy to automatically authenticate an IAM-based AlloyDB user. This lets that user connect to an instance without the need to provide an OAuth 2.0 token.

To do this, run the Auth Proxy client with the --auto-iam-authn flag enabled.

Adding the --auto-iam-authn flag allows authentication only from the IAM account that you use to run the proxy client. That account can use the proxy client to sign in without a token. The proxy client declines connection from all other users.

For example, if you run the proxy client using the IAM user account kai@altostrat.com, then you can use that proxy client to automatically authenticate the kai@altostrat.com database user without specifying an OAuth 2.0 token. This automatic authentication does not work with any other database user.

For more information about running the Auth Proxy, see Connect using the AlloyDB Auth Proxy.

Troubleshoot IAM authentication

To determine the cause of a failed IAM-based authentication attempt, follow these steps:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Logs Explorer page:

    Go to Logs Explorer

  2. Under Resource type, click AlloyDB instance.

  3. Under Severity, click Alert.

    If Alert is not an option, then there are no authentication failures logged within the selected time window. You may need to adjust the window using the Logs Explorer controls.

  4. Under Query results, check the log entries for one of the following messages:

    Request had invalid authentication credentials.
    The access token is invalid.
    Caller does not have required permission to use project.
    The IAM principal doesn't have the necessary IAM roles or permissions. The full error message specifies the missing roles or permissions.
    IAM principal does not match database user.

    The authenticated IAM principal specified by the access token doesn't match the database user that you want to connect as.

    To view the principal specified by the token, run the following command:

    curl -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d "access_token=ACCESS_TOKEN" https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v1/tokeninfo

    Replace ACCESS_TOKEN with the OAuth 2.0 access token.

    Request had insufficient scopes.
    The access token does not contain either the alloydb.login scope or the cloud-platform scope. At least one of these scopes is required.