Use custom organization policies

This page shows you how to use Organization Policy Service custom constraints to restrict specific operations on the following Google Cloud resources:

• monitoring.googleapis.com/AlertPolicy
• monitoring.googleapis.com/NotificationChannel
• monitoring.googleapis.com/Snooze

To learn more about Organization Policy, see Custom organization policies.

About organization policies and constraints

The Google Cloud Organization Policy Service gives you centralized, programmatic control over your organization's resources. As the organization policy administrator, you can define an organization policy, which is a set of restrictions called constraints that apply to Google Cloud resources and descendants of those resources in the Google Cloud resource hierarchy. You can enforce organization policies at the organization, folder, or project level.

Organization Policy provides predefined constraints for various Google Cloud services. However, if you want more granular, customizable control over the specific fields that are restricted in your organization policies, you can also create custom constraints and use those custom constraints in an organization policy.

Policy inheritance

By default, organization policies are inherited by the descendants of the resources on which you enforce the policy. For example, if you enforce a policy on a folder, Google Cloud enforces the policy on all projects in the folder. To learn more about this behavior and how to change it, refer to Hierarchy evaluation rules.

Before you begin

1. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

2. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

4. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

5. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

   gcloud init

6. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

7. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

8. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

9. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

   gcloud init

10. Ensure that you know your organization ID.

Required roles

To get the permissions that you need to manage custom organization policies, ask your administrator to grant you the Organization Policy Administrator (roles/orgpolicy.policyAdmin) IAM role on the organization resource. For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

You might also be able to get the required permissions through custom roles or other predefined roles.

Create a custom constraint

A custom constraint is defined in a YAML file by the resources, methods, conditions, and actions that are supported by the service on which you are enforcing the organization policy. Conditions for your custom constraints are defined using Common Expression Language (CEL). For more information about how to build conditions in custom constraints using CEL, see the CEL section of Creating and managing custom constraints.

To create a custom constraint, create a YAML file using the following format:

name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/CONSTRAINT_NAME
resourceTypes:
- RESOURCE_NAME
methodTypes:
- CREATE
- UPDATE
condition: "CONDITION"
actionType: ACTION
displayName: DISPLAY_NAME
description: DESCRIPTION

Replace the following:

• ORGANIZATION_ID: your organization ID, such as 123456789.

• CONSTRAINT_NAME: the name you want for your new custom constraint. A custom constraint must start with custom., and can only include uppercase letters, lowercase letters, or numbers. For example, alertDocHasProject. The maximum length of this field is 70 characters.

• RESOURCE_NAME: the fully qualified name of the Google Cloud resource containing the object and field you want to restrict. For example, monitoring.googleapis.com/AlertPolicy.

• CONDITION: a CEL condition that is written against a representation of a supported service resource. This field has a maximum length of 1000 characters. See Supported resources for more information about the resources available to write conditions against. For example, resource.documentation.content.contains('${resource.project}').

• ACTION: the action to take if the condition is met. Possible values are ALLOW and DENY.

• DISPLAY_NAME: a human-friendly name for the constraint. This field has a maximum length of 200 characters.

• DESCRIPTION: a human-friendly description of the constraint to display as an error message when the policy is violated. This field has a maximum length of 2000 characters.

For more information about how to create a custom constraint, see Defining custom constraints.

Set up a custom constraint

After you have created the YAML file for a new custom constraint, you must set it up to make it available for organization policies in your organization. To set up a custom constraint, use the gcloud org-policies set-custom-constraint command:

gcloud org-policies set-custom-constraint CONSTRAINT_PATH

Replace CONSTRAINT_PATH with the full path to your custom constraint file. For example, /home/user/customconstraint.yaml. Once completed, your custom constraints are available as organization policies in your list of Google Cloud organization policies. To verify that the custom constraint exists, use the gcloud org-policies list-custom-constraints command:

gcloud org-policies list-custom-constraints --organization=ORGANIZATION_ID

Replace ORGANIZATION_ID with the ID of your organization resource. For more information, see Viewing organization policies.

Enforce a custom organization policy

You can enforce a boolean constraint by creating an organization policy that references it, and then applying that organization policy to a Google Cloud resource.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Organization policies page.

   Go to Organization policies

2. From the project picker, select the project for which you want to set the organization policy.
3. From the list on the Organization policies page, select your constraint to view the Policy details page for that constraint.
4. To configure the organization policy for this resource, click Manage policy.
5. On the Edit policy page, select Override parent's policy.
6. Click Add a rule.
7. In the Enforcement section, select whether enforcement of this organization policy is on or off.
8. Optional: To make the organization policy conditional on a tag, click Add condition. Note that if you add a conditional rule to an organization policy, you must add at least one unconditional rule or the policy cannot be saved. For more information, see Setting an organization policy with tags.
9. If this is a custom constraint, you can click Test changes to simulate the effect of this organization policy. For more information, see Test organization policy changes with Policy Simulator.
10. To finish and apply the organization policy, click Set policy. The policy requires up to 15 minutes to take effect.

gcloud

To create an organization policy that enforces a boolean constraint, create a policy YAML file that references the constraint:

      name: projects/PROJECT_ID/policies/CONSTRAINT_NAME
      spec:
        rules:
        - enforce: true
    

Replace the following:

• PROJECT_ID: the project on which you want to enforce your constraint.
• CONSTRAINT_NAME: the name of the constraint you want to enforce. For example, alertDocHasProject.

To enforce the organization policy containing the constraint, run the following command:

    gcloud org-policies set-policy POLICY_PATH
    

Replace POLICY_PATH with the full path to your organization policy YAML file. The policy requires up to 15 minutes to take effect.

Test the custom organization policy

The following example creates a custom constraint and policy that checks whether the documentation of an alerting policy mentions the project name.

Before you begin, replace the following:

• ORGANIZATION_ID: The unique numeric identifier of the organization. For information about getting this identifier, see Getting your organization ID.
• PROJECT_ID: The identifier of the project.

Create the constraint

1. Save the following file as constraint-alert-doc-has-project.yaml:

       actionType: DENY
       condition: resource.documentation.content.contains('${resource.project}')
       description: Requires documentation to include the project name.
       displayName: Alerting policy documentation must include project name.
       methodTypes:
         - CREATE
         - UPDATE
       name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.alertDocHasProject
       resourceTypes:
         - monitoring.googleapis.com/AlertPolicy
   

   Replace ORGANIZATION_ID with your organization ID.

   This constraint prevents an alerting policy from being created or updated if the name of the resource project is missing from the alerting policy documentation.

2. Apply the constraint:

   gcloud org-policies set-custom-constraint ~/constraint-alert-doc-has-project.yaml
   

3. Verify that the constraint exists:

   gcloud org-policies list-custom-constraints --organization=ORGANIZATION_ID
   

   The output is similar to the following:

   CUSTOM_CONSTRAINT: custom.alertDocHasProject
   ACTION_TYPE: DENY
   METHOD_TYPES: CREATE,UPDATE
   RESOURCE_TYPES: monitoring.googleapis.com/AlertPolicy
   DISPLAY_NAME: Alerting policy documentation must include the project name.
   

Create the policy

1. Save the following file as policy-alert-doc-has-project.yaml:

   name: projects/PROJECT_ID/policies/custom.alertDocHasProject
   spec:
     rules:
     - enforce: true
   

   Replace PROJECT_ID with your project ID.

2. Apply the policy:

   gcloud org-policies set-policy ~/policy-alert-doc-has-project.yaml
   

3. Verify that the policy exists:

   gcloud org-policies list --project=PROJECT_ID
   

   The output is similar to the following:

   CONSTRAINT: custom.alertDocHasProject
   LIST_POLICY: -
   BOOLEAN_POLICY: SET
   ETAG: CKSx5LwGEPjBuKwD-
   

After you apply the policy, wait for about two minutes for Google Cloud to start enforcing the policy.

Test the policy

Try to create an alerting policy with documentation that excludes the resource project name.

  gcloud alpha monitoring policies create \
    --display-name="CPU Utilization - 5% Threshold" \
    --project=PROJECT_ID \
    --condition-display-name="Condition 1" \
    --condition-filter='resource.type="gce_instance" AND metric.type="compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization"' \
    --duration='60s' \
    --if='>5' \
    --combiner='AND' \
    --documentation='The ${metric.display_name} of the ${resource.type} ${resource.label.instance_id} has exceeded 5% for over 60 seconds.' \

Replace PROJECT_ID with your project ID.

The output is the following:

  Operation denied by custom org policies: ["customConstraints/alertDocHasProject": "Alerting policy documentation must include project name."]

Example custom organization policies for common use cases

The following table provides the syntax of some custom constraints for common use cases:

Description	Constraint syntax
Alerting policies must have only one condition	actionType: DENY condition: "resource.conditions.size() > 1" description: Requires alerting policies to have only one condition. displayName: Alerting policies must have only one condition methodTypes: - CREATE - UPDATE name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.oneCondition resourceTypes: - monitoring.googleapis.com/AlertPolicy
Alerting policies must use at least two notification channels	actionType: DENY condition: "resource.notificationChannels.size() < 2" description: Alerting policies must use at least two notification channels. displayName: Policies must have a backup notification channel methodTypes: - CREATE - UPDATE name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.alertOnTwoChannels resourceTypes: - monitoring.googleapis.com/AlertPolicy
Only allow email notification channels	actionType: DENY condition: "resource.type != 'email'" description: Requires notification channels to use only the email channel type. displayName: Always use email for notification channels methodTypes: - CREATE - UPDATE name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.emailChannelsOnly resourceTypes: - monitoring.googleapis.com/NotificationChannel
Snoozes must be less than one hour	actionType: DENY condition: "int(resource.interval.endTime) > int(resource.interval.startTime) + 3600" description: Requires snoozes to be under 1 hour. displayName: Snooze must be less than 1 hour methodTypes: - CREATE - UPDATE name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.setMaxSnooze resourceTypes: - monitoring.googleapis.com/Snooze

Cloud Monitoring supported resources

The following table lists the Cloud Monitoring resources that you can reference in custom constraints.

Resource	Field
monitoring.googleapis.com/AlertPolicy	resource.alertStrategy.autoClose
	resource.alertStrategy.notificationChannelStrategy.notificationChannelNames
	resource.alertStrategy.notificationChannelStrategy.renotifyInterval
	resource.alertStrategy.notificationRateLimit.period
	resource.combiner
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.aggregations.alignmentPeriod
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.aggregations.crossSeriesReducer
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.aggregations.groupByFields
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.aggregations.perSeriesAligner
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.duration
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.filter
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.trigger.count
	resource.conditions.conditionAbsent.trigger.percent
	resource.conditions.conditionMatchedLog.filter
	resource.conditions.conditionMatchedLog.labelExtractors
	resource.conditions.conditionMonitoringQueryLanguage.duration
	resource.conditions.conditionMonitoringQueryLanguage.evaluationMissingData
	resource.conditions.conditionMonitoringQueryLanguage.query
	resource.conditions.conditionMonitoringQueryLanguage.trigger.count
	resource.conditions.conditionMonitoringQueryLanguage.trigger.percent
	resource.conditions.conditionPrometheusQueryLanguage.alertRule
	resource.conditions.conditionPrometheusQueryLanguage.duration
	resource.conditions.conditionPrometheusQueryLanguage.evaluationInterval
	resource.conditions.conditionPrometheusQueryLanguage.labels
	resource.conditions.conditionPrometheusQueryLanguage.query
	resource.conditions.conditionPrometheusQueryLanguage.ruleGroup
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.booleanTest.column
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.daily.periodicity
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.hourly.minuteOffset
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.hourly.periodicity
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.minutes.periodicity
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.query
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.rowCountTest.comparison
	resource.conditions.conditionSql.rowCountTest.threshold
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.aggregations.alignmentPeriod
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.aggregations.crossSeriesReducer
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.aggregations.groupByFields
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.aggregations.perSeriesAligner
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.comparison
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.denominatorAggregations.alignmentPeriod
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.denominatorAggregations.crossSeriesReducer
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.denominatorAggregations.groupByFields
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.denominatorAggregations.perSeriesAligner
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.denominatorFilter
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.duration
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.evaluationMissingData
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.filter
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.forecastOptions.forecastHorizon
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.thresholdValue
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.trigger.count
	resource.conditions.conditionThreshold.trigger.percent
	resource.conditions.displayName
	resource.conditions.name
	resource.displayName
	resource.documentation.content
	resource.documentation.links.displayName
	resource.documentation.links.url
	resource.documentation.mimeType
	resource.documentation.subject
	resource.enabled
	resource.name
	resource.notificationChannels
	resource.severity
monitoring.googleapis.com/NotificationChannel	resource.description
	resource.displayName
	resource.enabled
	resource.type
monitoring.googleapis.com/Snooze	resource.criteria.policies
	resource.displayName
	resource.interval.endTime
	resource.interval.startTime

What's next

• Learn more about Organization Policy Service.
• Learn more about how to create and manage organization policies.
• See the full list of predefined organization policy constraints.