Securing virtual machines with IAP

This page explains how you can use Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) TCP forwarding to enable administrative access to VM instances that do not have external IP addresses or do not permit direct access over the internet.

IAP TCP forwarding allows you to establish an encrypted tunnel over which you can forward SSH, RDP, and other traffic to VM instances. IAP TCP forwarding also provides you fine-grained control over which users are allowed to establish tunnels and which VM instances users are allowed to connect to.

To learn more about how IAP TCP forwarding works, see the TCP forwarding overview.

Preparing your project for IAP TCP forwarding

This section walks you through the necessary steps to enable IAP TCP forwarding in your Google Cloud project.

Note: If you're behind a corporate proxy and aren't using Cloud VPN between your on-premises network and your VPC network, you need to allowlist the IAP for TCP domain on your corporate network.

Create a firewall rule

To allow IAP to connect to your VM instances, create a firewall rule that:

• applies to all VM instances that you want to be accessible by using IAP.
• allows ingress traffic from the IP range 35.235.240.0/20. This range contains all IP addresses that IAP uses for TCP forwarding.
• allows connections to all ports that you want to be accessible by using IAP TCP forwarding, for example, port 22 for SSH and port 3389 for RDP.

Console

To allow RDP and SSH access to all VM instances in your network, do the following:

1. Open the Firewall Rules page.

   Open the Firewall Rules page

   The remaining steps appear in the Google Cloud console.

2. Select a Google Cloud project. Show me.
3. On the Firewall Rules page, click Create firewall rule.
4. Configure the following settings:
   • Name: allow-ingress-from-iap
   • Direction of traffic: Ingress
   • Target: All instances in the network
   • Source filter: IP ranges
   • Source IP ranges: 35.235.240.0/20
   • Protocols and ports: Select TCP and enter 22,3389 to allow both RDP and SSH.
5. Click Create.

gcloud

To allow RDP access to all VM instances in your network, run:

gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-rdp-ingress-from-iap \
  --direction=INGRESS \
  --action=allow \
  --rules=tcp:3389 \
  --source-ranges=35.235.240.0/20

For SSH access, run:

gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-ssh-ingress-from-iap \
  --direction=INGRESS \
  --action=allow \
  --rules=tcp:22 \
  --source-ranges=35.235.240.0/20

For other protocols, run

gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-ingress-from-iap \
  --direction=INGRESS \
  --action=allow \
  --rules=tcp:PORT \
  --source-ranges=35.235.240.0/20

where PORT is the port used by the protocol.

Note: The default-allow-ssh and default-allow-rdp default rules allow SSH and RDP connections from all IP addresses, not only from IAP. Consider disabling or deleting these rules if you want to prevent direct SSH or RDP access to your VM instances.

Grant roles for IAP TCP forwarding

To control which users and groups are allowed to use IAP TCP forwarding and which VM instances they're allowed to connect to, grant the appropriate Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles on the project.

If you are using OS Login (recommended), see Configuring OS Login roles on user accounts.

The following table shows the predefined roles you need to grant to trusted administrators for TCP forwarding and related tasks:

Task	Roles	More information
TCP forwarding	IAP-secured Tunnel User (roles/iap.tunnelResourceAccessor)	See Grant access to all VM instances in a project or Grant access to a specific VM.
SSH access	Compute Instance Admin (v1) (roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1)
Use a service account	Service Account User (roles/iam.serviceAccountUser)	See The serviceAccountUser role.

Note: If you are working in a project that you created, you have the permissions you need to perform these tasks.

If you want to create custom roles with only the specific permissions needed for this task, see Permissions details.

You can grant a user or group access to all VM instances in a project, or to a specific VM, depending on how you grant the required roles.

Tags are not supported

Granting permission using tags for IAP TCP forwarding is not currently supported.

Grant access to all VM instances in a project

You can give a user or group access to all VM instances in a project by granting the required IAM roles at the project level:

Console

1. Open the IAM & Admin page in the Google Cloud console.

   Open the IAM & Admin page

   The remaining steps appear in the Google Cloud console.

2. On the IAM & Admin page, click Add and configure the following:
   • New principals: Specify the user or group you want to grant access.
   • Select a role: Select Cloud IAP > IAP-Secured Tunnel User.
3. Optionally, click Add condition and configure a condition:
   • Title: Enter a name for the condition.
   • Expression: Enter a condition that a user must meet to gain the permissions in the IAP-Secured Tunnel User role.

   For example, the following CEL expression grants access only to port 22:

   destination.port == 22

   You can also grant access based on the access level:

   destination.port == 22 &&
   "FULL_ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME" in request.auth.access_levels

   Where FULL_ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME is an existing access level and uses the following format:

   accessPolicies/POLICY_NAME/accessLevels/ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME

4. Click Add another role and configure the following:
   • Select a role Select Compute Engine > Compute Instance Admin (v1).
5. Click Save.

gcloud

Grant the two roles to the user by running the following commands:

gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
    --member=user:EMAIL \
    --role=roles/iap.tunnelResourceAccessor
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
    --member=user:EMAIL \
    --role=roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1

Replace the following:

• PROJECT_ID: ID of the project
• EMAIL: email address of the user you want to grant access, for example [e-mail].

Grant access to a specific VM

To grant a user or group access to a specific VM, you grant the roles/iap.tunnelResourceAccessor role on that VM. The other roles must be granted on the project.

Console

1. Open the IAP admin page and select the SSH and TCP Resources tab.

   Open the Chrome Enterprise Premium admin page

   The remaining steps appear in the Google Cloud console.

2. On the SSH and TCP Resources tab of the IAP admin page, select the VM instances that you want to configure.
3. Click Show info panel if the info panel is not visible.

4. Click Add principal and configure the following:

   • New principals: Specify the user or group you want to grant access.
   • Select a role: Select Cloud IAP > IAP-Secured Tunnel User.

5. Optionally, click Add condition and configure a condition:

   • Title: Enter a name for the condition.
   • Expression: Enter a condition that a user must meet to gain the permissions in the IAP-Secured Tunnel User role.

   For example, the following CEL expression grants access only to port 22:

         destination.port == 22

   You can also grant access based on the access level:

       destination.port == 22 &&
       "FULL_ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME" in request.auth.access_levels

   Where FULL_ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME is an existing access level and uses the format accessPolicies/POLICY_NAME/accessLevels/ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME.

6. Click Save.

API

To edit your application's policy.json file, follow the process below. See Managing access to Chrome Enterprise Premium-secured resources for more information about using the IAM API to manage access policies.

1. Export the following variables.

   export IAP_BASE_URL=https://iap.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/iap_tunnel
   # Replace POLICY_FILE.JSON with the name of JSON file to use for setIamPolicy
   export JSON_NEW_POLICY=POLICY_FILE.JSON
   

2. Get the IAM policy for the Compute Engine instance using the getIamPolicy method. The empty data bit at the end turns the curl request into POST instead of GET.

   curl -i -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
        ${IAP_BASE_URL}/zones/ZONE_NAME/instances/INSTANCE_ID or INSTANCE_NAME:getIamPolicy \
        -d ''

3. Grant the iap.tunnelResourceAccessor role to your principals by modifying the IAM policy JSON file.
   

4. Optionally, grant the role only to principals that meet specific criteria, based on IAM Conditions and access levels.

   The following is an example of an edited policy.json file that grants the iap.tunnelResourceAccessor role to a group of VM instance admins, giving them access to Chrome Enterprise Premium-secured tunnel resources. An IAM condition has been added to make the resources accessible only to principals in the VM instance admins group with a private IP address of 10.0.0.1 on port 22 using the destination.ip and destination.port IAM Conditions. They must also meet the requirements of the ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME access level.

   Note that if a principal has the Owner role, they have permission to use IAP for TCP forwarding.

   
   Example policy.json file

   {
     "policy": {
       "bindings": [
         {
           "role": "roles/iap.tunnelResourceAccessor",
           "members": ["group:[e-mail]"],
           "condition": {
             "expression": "\"accessPolicies/POLICY_NAME/accessLevels/ACCESS_LEVEL_NAME\" in request.auth.access_levels && destination.ip == \"10.0.0.1\" && destination.port == 22",
             "title": "CONDITION_NAME"
           }
         }
       ]
     }
   }

   To find a policy name , call accessPolicies.list:

   GET https://accesscontextmanager.googleapis.com/v1/accessPolicies
   

5. Set your new policy.json file using the setIamPolicy method.

   curl -i -H "Content-Type:application/json" \
             -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
             ${IAP_BASE_URL}/zones/ZONE_NAME/instances/INSTANCE_ID or INSTANCE_NAME:setIamPolicy \
             -d @${JSON_NEW_POLICY}
   

Permissions details

The required permissions vary depending on how a user will use IAP TCP forwarding:

Scenarios		Permissions required
All		iap.tunnelInstances.accessViaIAP
Using gcloud compute [start-iap-tunnel, ssh, scp]		compute.instances.get compute.instances.list
Using gcloud compute [ssh, scp]		compute.projects.get
	VM using OS Login	Please see these instructions
	Not using OS Login	compute.instances.setMetadata compute.projects.setCommonInstanceMetadata compute.globalOperations.get
SSH to VM using a service account		iam.serviceAccounts.actAs
SSH from the browser		Please see these instructions

For example, if a user wants to connect using gcloud compute ssh to a VM not using OS Login, but that uses a service account, the user would need the following permissions:

• iap.tunnelInstances.accessViaIAP
• compute.instances.get
• compute.instances.list
• compute.projects.get
• compute.instances.setMetadata
• compute.projects.setCommonInstanceMetadata
• compute.globalOperations.get
• iam.serviceAccounts.actAs

Tunneling SSH connections

You can connect to Linux instances that don't have an external IP address by tunneling SSH traffic through IAP.

When you use IAP tunnelling, the IAP proxies connect to the primary internal IPv4 address of nic0 on the VM.

Console

To connect to your instance, use the SSH button in the Google Cloud console. Your instance's access configuration (defined through IAM permissions) must allow TCP tunneling through IAP.

gcloud

To connect to your instance, use the gcloud compute ssh command. Your instance's access configuration (defined through IAM permissions) must allow TCP tunneling through IAP.

gcloud compute ssh INSTANCE_NAME

Replace INSTANCE_NAME with the name of the instance to SSH into.

If the instance doesn't have an external IP address, the connection automatically uses IAP TCP tunneling. If the instance does have an external IP address, the connection uses the external IP address instead of IAP TCP tunneling.

You can use the --tunnel-through-iap flag so that gcloud compute ssh always uses IAP TCP tunneling.

Use the --internal-ip flag so that gcloud compute ssh never uses IAP TCP tunneling and instead directly connects to the internal IP of the VM. Doing so is useful for clients that are connected to the same VPC network as the target VM.

Note: The gcloud tool requires you to specify the instance you want to connect to. To tunnel using gcloud, you need to provide the name of the instance.

IAP Desktop

You can use IAP Desktop to connect to a VM instance by using SSH and IAP TCP forwarding.

1. In the application, select File > Add Google Cloud project.

2. Enter the ID or name of your project and click OK.

3. In the Project Explorer window, right-click the VM instance you want to connect to and select Connect.

For more information on IAP Desktop, see the GitHub project page.

Note: IAP Desktop is an open-source project and not an officially supported Google product.

PuTTY app

You can set up the PuTTY Windows terminal emulator app so that it uses IAP TCP forwarding to connect to a VM instance. Your instance's access configuration (defined through IAM permissions) must allow TCP tunneling through IAP.

Before you configure the PuTTY app, use the gcloud compute ssh command once to ensure that you have a private SSH key on your local computer and that your public SSH key is published to Compute Engine:

1. Open a command prompt and run the following command to connect to the VM instance:

   gcloud compute ssh INSTANCE_NAME `
     --tunnel-through-iap `
     --project PROJECT_ID `
     --zone ZONE
   

   Replace the following:

   • INSTANCE_NAME: name of the instance to connect to
   • PROJECT_ID: project ID of the project the VM instance is located in
   • ZONE: zone where the VM instance is located

   If necessary, confirm that you want to generate SSH keys by pressing Y.

2. On the VM, determine your username by running the following command:

   whoami
   

   You need this username later.

You can now configure the PuTTY app to use IAP TCP forwarding:

1. Open the PuTTY app and select the category Connection > Proxy.

2. Configure the following proxy settings:

   • For Proxy type, select Local.

   • In the Telnet command, or local proxy command field, enter the following:

     gcloud.cmd compute start-iap-tunnel %host %port --listen-on-stdin --project PROJECT_ID --zone ZONE
     

     Replace the following:

     • PROJECT_ID: Project ID of the project the VM instance is located in
     • ZONE: Zone where the VM instance is located

   • For Print proxy diagnostics in the terminal window, select Only until session starts.

3. Select the category Connection > SSH > Auth.

4. Click Browse and paste the following file name, then click Open:

   %USERPROFILE%\.ssh\google_compute_engine.ppk
   

5. Select the category Session.

6. Configure the following proxy settings:

   • In the Host name (or IP address) field, enter the following:

     USERNAME@INSTANCE_NAME
     

     Replace the following:

     • USERNAME: the Linux username you determined earlier
     • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM instance that you want to connect to

   • Saved sessions: Enter a name for the session.

7. Click Save.

8. Click Open to start the SSH session.

Note: If the PuTTY app displays a message proxy: - Invalid Credentials, then your gcloud CLI credentials might have expired. To refresh these credentials, open a command prompt, run a command such as gcloud auth print-identity-token and re-enter your credentials.

ssh

You can directly use the ssh command with a ProxyCommand option that uses gcloud to start the tunnel. Use this to generate the full ssh command:

gcloud compute ssh INSTANCE_NAME --dry-run

Tunneling RDP connections

You can connect to Windows instances that don't have an external IP address by tunneling RDP traffic through IAP:

IAP Desktop

You can use IAP Desktop to connect to the Remote Desktop of one or more VM instances by using IAP TCP forwarding.

1. In the application, select File > Add Google Cloud project.

2. Enter the ID or name of your project and click OK.

3. In the Project Explorer window, right-click the VM instance you want to connect to and select Connect.

For more information on IAP Desktop, see the GitHub project page.

Note: IAP Desktop is an open-source project and not an officially supported Google product.

gcloud

To connect to the Remote Desktop of a VM instance, you first create a tunnel.

1. Use the gcloud compute start-iap-tunnel command to create an encrypted tunnel to the RDP port of the VM instance.

   gcloud compute start-iap-tunnel INSTANCE_NAME 3389 \
       --local-host-port=localhost:LOCAL_PORT \
       --zone=ZONE
   

   Replace INSTANCE_NAME with the name of the VM instance you want to connect to. Replace LOCAL_PORT with the localhost port where you want the proxy to be bound or use 0 to have an unused one selected automatically. Replace ZONE with the zone where the VM instance is located.

2. gcloud performs a connectivity test with the VM instance, then opens a tunnel and shows a port number.

   Listening on port [LOCAL_PORT].
   

   All traffic sent to localhost:LOCAL_PORT is forwarded to the VM instance. The port is only accessible by applications running on your local computer.

3. Leave gcloud running and open the Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection app.

4. Enter the tunnel endpoint as computer name:

   localhost:LOCAL_PORT
   

   Replace LOCAL_PORT with the port number shown when the tunnel was opened by gcloud.

5. Click Connect.

Note: Because you are instructing the client to connect to localhost instead of the VM instance name, you might see a warning indicating that the identity of the remote computer cannot be verified.

Tunneling other TCP connections

You can use IAP TCP forwarding for other TCP-based protocols by using the gcloud compute start-iap-tunnel command to allocate a local port. The local port tunnels data traffic from the local machine to the remote machine in an HTTPS stream. IAP then receives the data, applies access controls, and forwards the unwrapped data to the remote port. Conversely, any data from the remote port is also wrapped before it's sent to the local port where it's then unwrapped.

gcloud

Create an encrypted tunnel to a port of the VM instance:

gcloud compute start-iap-tunnel INSTANCE_NAME INSTANCE_PORT \
    --local-host-port=localhost:LOCAL_PORT \
    --zone=ZONE

Replace INSTANCE_NAME and INSTANCE_PORT with the name and port of the VM instance you want to connect to. Replace LOCAL_PORT with the localhost port where you want the proxy to be bound. Replace ZONE with the zone where the VM instance is located.

gcloud performs a connectivity test with the VM instance, then opens a tunnel and shows a port number.

Listening on port [LOCAL_PORT].

All traffic sent to localhost:LOCAL_PORT is forwarded to the VM instance. The port is only accessible by applications running on your local computer.

Increasing the IAP TCP upload bandwidth

To increase the IAP TCP upload bandwidth consider installing NumPy in the same machine where gcloud CLI is installed.

Linux

Note: The leading $ sign in the first command is also part of the command and not a terminal prompt symbol.

To install NumPy using pip in Unix platforms, run the following command in a new terminal instance:

$(gcloud info --format="value(basic.python_location)") -m pip install numpy

For more information see: NumPy.org

If the error message persists after installing NumPy, complete the following step: Run the following command to allow gcloud to access external packages:

export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_SITEPACKAGES=1

Note: The export command only exports for the current open terminal, to make this change permanent and across all terminal instances, consider adding the export command to your .bashrc file.

Windows

To install NumPy using pip in Windows platforms, run the following command in a new PowerShell instance:

start (gcloud info --format="value(basic.python_location)") "-m pip install numpy"

For more information see: NumPy.org

If the message still persists after installing NumPy, another step is necessary. Run the following command to allow gcloud to access external packages:

$env:CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_SITEPACKAGES="1"

Known limitations

Bandwidth: IAP's TCP forwarding feature isn't intended for bulk transfer of data. IAP reserves the right to rate-limit users abusing this service.

Connection length: IAP automatically disconnects sessions after one hour of inactivity. Currently gcloud compute start-iap-tunnel attempts to reestablish the tunnel if it becomes disconnected.

Next steps

• Set richer context rules by applying access levels.
• See access requests by enabling Cloud Audit Logs.
• Learn more about IAP.