Access control guide

This page describes how Cloud Logging uses Identity and Access Management (IAM) to control access to logging data in Google Cloud resources.

Overview

IAM permissions and roles determine how you can use the Logging API, the Logs Explorer, and the gcloud command-line tool.

Logs reside in log buckets within Google Cloud projects, organizations, folders, and billing accounts. Each of these Google Cloud resources can have its own set of members with their own sets of Cloud Logging roles and permissions.

To use Logging with the logging data in a Google Cloud project, you must be a member and have an IAM role that grants you permission to use Logging. The following IAM roles apply to Logging:

• roles/logging.viewer (Logs Viewer) gives you read-only access to all features of Logging, except Access Transparency logs and Data Access audit logs.

• roles/logging.privateLogViewer (Private Logs Viewer) includes roles/logging.viewer, plus the ability to read Access Transparency logs and Data Access audit logs. This role applies only to the _Required and _Default buckets.

• roles/logging.logWriter (Logs Writer) can be granted to service accounts to give applications just enough permissions to write logs. This role does not grant viewing permissions.

• roles/logging.bucketWriter (Logs Buckets Writer) can be granted to service accounts to give Cloud Logging just enough permissions to write logs to a log bucket. To restrict this role to a specific bucket, use an IAM condition; see Routing logs from one project to another bucket in a different project for an example.

• roles/logging.configWriter (Logs Configuration Writer) gives you the permissions to create logs-based metrics, exclusions, buckets, and views, and to export sinks. To use the Logs Explorer (console) for these actions, add roles/logging.viewer.

• roles/logging.admin (Logging Admin) grants you all permissions related to Logging.

• roles/logging.viewAccessor (Logs View Accessor) gives you permission to read logs in a view. To restrict this role to a view in a specific bucket, use an IAM condition; see Reading logs from a bucket for an example.

• roles/viewer (Project Viewer) is the same as roles/logging.viewer. The role gives you read-only access to all Logging features except for Access Transparency logs and Data Access audit logs. This role applies only to the _Required and _Default buckets.

• roles/editor (Project Editor) includes the permissions of roles/logging.viewer, plus permissions to write log entries, delete logs, and create logs-based metrics. The role does not let you create export sinks or read Access Transparency logs or Data Access audit logs.

• roles/owner (Project Owner) gives you full access to Logging, including Access Transparency logs and Data Access audit logs.

For more details about Logging roles and permissions, see Permissions and roles on this page.

Granting roles

To grant a role to a member, you must have the set of permissions found in roles/owner (Project Owner). To learn how to grant roles, see Granting, changing, and revoking access.

If you are trying to access a Google Cloud resource and lack the necessary permissions, contact the member who is listed as the Owner for the resource.

Permissions and roles

The following table lists the IAM roles that grant access to Cloud Logging. Each role has a specific set of logging permissions. Roles can be assigned to members of the listed resource types.

Note: If you have a custom role, verify you have the right permissions for the operations you need to perform. A recent change to IAM settings might have caused you to lose permissions you previously had.

In the table, a.b.{x,y} means a.b.x and a.b.y.

Role name	Role title	Logging permissions	Resource type
roles/ logging.viewer	Logs Viewer	logging.logEntries.list logging.logMetrics.{list, get} logging.logs.list logging.logServiceIndexes.list logging.logServices.list logging.sinks.{list, get} logging.buckets.{list, get} logging.usage.get resourcemanager.projects.get logging.queries.{get, list, update, create, delete}	project, organization, folder, billing account
roles/ logging.privateLogViewer	Private Logs Viewer	roles/logging.viewer permissions, plus: logging.privateLogEntries.list	project, organization, folder, billing account
roles/ logging.logWriter	Logs Writer	logging.logEntries.create	project, organization, folder, billing account
roles/ logging.configWriter	Logs Configuration Writer	logging.buckets.{list, create, get, update, delete, undelete} logging.cmekSettings.{get, update} logging.exclusions.{list, create, get, update, delete} logging.locations.{list, get} logging.logMetrics.{list, create, get, update, delete} logging.logs.list logging.logServiceIndexes.list logging.logServices.list logging.sinks.{list, create, get, update, delete} logging.views.{list, create, get, update, delete} resourcemanager.projects.{get, list}	project, organization, folder, billing account
roles/ logging.bucketWriter	Logs Bucket Writer	logging.buckets.write	project
roles/ logging.viewAccessor	Logs View Accessor	logging.views.{access, listLogs, listResourceKeys, listResourceValues}	project, organization folder, billing account
roles/ logging.admin	Logging Admin	logging.exclusions.{list, create, get, update, delete} logging.locations.{list, get} logging.logEntries.{create, list} logging.logMetrics.{list, create, get, update, delete} logging.logs.{delete, list} logging.logServiceIndexes.list logging.logServices.list logging.privateLogEntries.list logging.sinks.{list, create, get, update, delete} logging.buckets.{list, get, update, create, delete, undelete} logging.views.{list, access, create, get, update, delete, listLogs, listResourceKeys, listResourceValues} logging.cmekSettings.{get, update} logging.usage.get resourcemanager.projects.{get, list} logging.queries.{get, list, update, create, delete}	project, organization, folder, billing account
roles/viewer	Viewer	logging.logEntries.list logging.logMetrics.{list, get} logging.logs.list logging.logServiceIndexes.list logging.logServices.list logging.sinks.{list, get} resourcemanager.projects.get logging.queries.{get, list, update, create, delete}	project, organization, folder
roles/editor	Editor	roles/viewer Logging permissions, plus: logging.logEntries.create logging.logMetrics.{create, update, delete} logging.logs.delete logging.queries.{get, list, update, create, delete}	project, organization, folder
roles/owner	Owner	roles/editor Logging permissions, plus: logging.privateLogEntries.list logging.sinks.{create, update, delete} logging.queries.{get, list, update, create, delete}	project, organization, folder

Custom roles

To create a custom role with Logging permissions, do the following:

• For a role granting permissions for the Logging API, choose from the permissions in API permissions.

• For a role granting permissions to use the Logs Explorer, choose from permission groups in Console permissions.

• For a role granting permissions to use gcloud logging, go to the overview of the gcloud tool.

For more information on custom roles, see Understanding IAM custom roles.

API permissions

Logging API methods require specific IAM permissions. The following table lists the permissions needed by the API methods.

Note: If you're interested in logs held in Google Cloud organizations, billing accounts, and folders, note that those resources have their own API methods for logs and sinks. Rather than repeating all the methods in the table, only the projects methods are shown individually.

Logging method	Required permission	Resource type
billingAccounts.logs.*	logging.logs.* (See projects.logs.*)	billing accounts
billingAccounts.sinks.*	logging.sinks.* (See projects.sinks.*.)	billing accounts
billingAccounts.locations.buckets.*	logging.buckets.* (See projects.locations.buckets.*.)	billing accounts
entries.list	logging.logEntries.list or logging.privateLogEntries.list	projects, organizations, folders, billing accounts
entries.write	logging.logEntries.create	projects, organizations, folders, billing accounts
folders.logs.*	logging.logs.* (See projects.logs.*)	folders
folders.sinks.*	logging.sinks.* (See projects.sinks.*)	folders
folders.locations.buckets.*	logging.buckets.* (See projects.locations.buckets.*)	folders
monitoredResourceDescriptors.list	(none)	(none)
organizations.logs.*	logging.logs.* (See projects.logs.*)	organizations
organizations.sinks.*	logging.sinks.* (See projects.sinks.*)	organizations
organizations.locations.buckets.*	logging.buckets.* (See projects.locations.buckets.*)	organizations
projects.exclusions.create	logging.exclusions.create	projects
projects.exclusions.delete	logging.exclusions.delete	projects
projects.exclusions.get	logging.exclusions.get	projects
projects.exclusions.list	logging.exclusions.list	projects
projects.exclusions.patch	logging.exclusions.update	projects
projects.logs.list	logging.logs.list	projects
projects.logs.delete	logging.logs.delete	projects
projects.sinks.list	logging.sinks.list	projects
projects.sinks.get	logging.sinks.get	projects
projects.sinks.create	logging.sinks.create	projects
projects.sinks.update	logging.sinks.update	projects
projects.sinks.delete	logging.sinks.delete	projects
projects.locations.buckets.list	logging.buckets.list	projects
projects.locations.buckets.get	logging.buckets.get	projects
projects.locations.buckets.patch	logging.buckets.update	projects
projects.locations.buckets.create	logging.buckets.create	projects
projects.locations.buckets.delete	logging.buckets.delete	projects
projects.locations.buckets.undelete	logging.buckets.undelete	projects
projects.metrics.list	logging.logMetrics.list	projects
projects.metrics.get	logging.logMetrics.get	projects
projects.metrics.create	logging.logMetrics.create	projects
projects.metrics.update	logging.logMetrics.update	projects
projects.metrics.delete	logging.logMetrics.delete	projects

Console permissions

The following table lists the permissions needed to use the Logs Explorer.

In the table, a.b.{x,y} means a.b.x and a.b.y.

Console activity	Required permissions
Minimal read-only access	logging.logEntries.list logging.logs.list logging.logServiceIndexes.list logging.logServices.list resourcemanager.projects.get
Add ability to view Data Access audit logs	Add logging.privateLogEntries.list
Add ability to view Access Transparency logs	Add logging.privateLogEntries.list
Add ability to view logs-based metrics	Add logging.logMetrics.{list, get}
Add ability to view exports	Add logging.sinks.{list, get}
Add ability to view logs usage	Add logging.usage.get
Add ability to exclude logs	Add logging.exclusions.{list, create, get, update, delete}
Add ability to export logs	Add logging.sinks.{list, create, get, update, delete}
Add ability to create logs-based metrics	Add logging.logMetrics.{list, create, get, update, delete}

Command-line permissions

gcloud logging commands are controlled by IAM permissions.

To use any of the gcloud logging commands, you must have the serviceusage.services.use permission.

You must also have the IAM role that corresponds to the log's location, and to your use case. For details, go to command-line interface permissions.

Access to exported logs

To create a sink, in order to export logs, you must have the permissions of roles/logging.configWriter or roles/logging.admin or roles/owner.

Once a sink begins exporting logs, it has full access to all incoming log entries. Sinks can export private log entries, including Access Transparency logs and Data Access audit logs.

Once your log entries have been exported, access to the exported copies is controlled entirely by IAM permissions and roles on the destinations: Cloud Storage, BigQuery, or Pub/Sub.

Logging access scopes

Access scopes are the legacy method of specifying permissions for your Compute Engine VM instances. The following access scopes apply to the Logging API:

Access scope	Permissions granted
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.read	roles/logging.viewer
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write	roles/logging.logWriter
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.admin	Full access to the Logging API.
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform	Full access to the Logging API and to all other enabled Google Cloud APIs.

Best practices

• Now that IAM roles are available, a reasonable practice is to give all your VM instances the "Full access to all enabled Google Cloud APIs" scope:

  https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform

  You can grant specific IAM roles in your VM instance's service account to restrict access to specific APIs. For details, see Service account permissions.

• When creating a custom role that includes permissions to manage exclusions, you are encouraged to grant the logging.sinks.* permissions to the role instead of granting the logging.exclusions.* permissions.

  Managing exclusions is part of log sinks, so all permissions related to managing sinks, including exclusions, are included in the logging.sinks.* permissions.