Manage GCP GKE Backup Plan IAM Policies

The gcp:gkebackup/backupPlanIamPolicy:BackupPlanIamPolicy resource, part of the Pulumi GCP provider, manages IAM policies for GKE Backup for GKE backup plans, controlling who can access and manage backup configurations. This guide focuses on three capabilities: authoritative policy replacement, role-level member binding, and incremental member addition.

GCP provides three related resources for managing backup plan IAM: BackupPlanIamPolicy (authoritative, replaces entire policy), BackupPlanIamBinding (authoritative for a single role, preserves other roles), and BackupPlanIamMember (non-authoritative, adds individual members). BackupPlanIamPolicy cannot be used with the other two resources, as they will conflict. BackupPlanIamBinding and BackupPlanIamMember can coexist only if they manage different roles. The examples are intentionally small. Combine them with your own backup plan references and organizational access patterns.

Set the complete IAM policy authoritatively

When you need full control over who can access a backup plan, replacing any existing permissions ensures no unexpected access remains.

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as gcp from "@pulumi/gcp";

const admin = gcp.organizations.getIAMPolicy({
    bindings: [{
        role: "roles/viewer",
        members: ["user:jane@example.com"],
    }],
});
const policy = new gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamPolicy("policy", {
    project: basic.project,
    location: basic.location,
    name: basic.name,
    policyData: admin.then(admin => admin.policyData),
});

import pulumi
import pulumi_gcp as gcp

admin = gcp.organizations.get_iam_policy(bindings=[{
    "role": "roles/viewer",
    "members": ["user:jane@example.com"],
}])
policy = gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamPolicy("policy",
    project=basic["project"],
    location=basic["location"],
    name=basic["name"],
    policy_data=admin.policy_data)

package main

import (
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi-gcp/sdk/v9/go/gcp/gkebackup"
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi-gcp/sdk/v9/go/gcp/organizations"
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi/sdk/v3/go/pulumi"
)

func main() {
	pulumi.Run(func(ctx *pulumi.Context) error {
		admin, err := organizations.LookupIAMPolicy(ctx, &organizations.LookupIAMPolicyArgs{
			Bindings: []organizations.GetIAMPolicyBinding{
				{
					Role: "roles/viewer",
					Members: []string{
						"user:jane@example.com",
					},
				},
			},
		}, nil)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		_, err = gkebackup.NewBackupPlanIamPolicy(ctx, "policy", &gkebackup.BackupPlanIamPolicyArgs{
			Project:    pulumi.Any(basic.Project),
			Location:   pulumi.Any(basic.Location),
			Name:       pulumi.Any(basic.Name),
			PolicyData: pulumi.String(admin.PolicyData),
		})
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		return nil
	})
}

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Pulumi;
using Gcp = Pulumi.Gcp;

return await Deployment.RunAsync(() => 
{
    var admin = Gcp.Organizations.GetIAMPolicy.Invoke(new()
    {
        Bindings = new[]
        {
            new Gcp.Organizations.Inputs.GetIAMPolicyBindingInputArgs
            {
                Role = "roles/viewer",
                Members = new[]
                {
                    "user:jane@example.com",
                },
            },
        },
    });

    var policy = new Gcp.GkeBackup.BackupPlanIamPolicy("policy", new()
    {
        Project = basic.Project,
        Location = basic.Location,
        Name = basic.Name,
        PolicyData = admin.Apply(getIAMPolicyResult => getIAMPolicyResult.PolicyData),
    });

});

package generated_program;

import com.pulumi.Context;
import com.pulumi.Pulumi;
import com.pulumi.core.Output;
import com.pulumi.gcp.organizations.OrganizationsFunctions;
import com.pulumi.gcp.organizations.inputs.GetIAMPolicyArgs;
import com.pulumi.gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamPolicy;
import com.pulumi.gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamPolicyArgs;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Map;
import java.io.File;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class App {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Pulumi.run(App::stack);
    }

    public static void stack(Context ctx) {
        final var admin = OrganizationsFunctions.getIAMPolicy(GetIAMPolicyArgs.builder()
            .bindings(GetIAMPolicyBindingArgs.builder()
                .role("roles/viewer")
                .members("user:jane@example.com")
                .build())
            .build());

        var policy = new BackupPlanIamPolicy("policy", BackupPlanIamPolicyArgs.builder()
            .project(basic.project())
            .location(basic.location())
            .name(basic.name())
            .policyData(admin.policyData())
            .build());

    }
}

resources:
  policy:
    type: gcp:gkebackup:BackupPlanIamPolicy
    properties:
      project: ${basic.project}
      location: ${basic.location}
      name: ${basic.name}
      policyData: ${admin.policyData}
variables:
  admin:
    fn::invoke:
      function: gcp:organizations:getIAMPolicy
      arguments:
        bindings:
          - role: roles/viewer
            members:
              - user:jane@example.com

The BackupPlanIamPolicy resource replaces the entire IAM policy for the backup plan. The policyData property accepts output from the getIAMPolicy data source, which defines bindings (role-to-members mappings). This approach gives you complete control but removes any permissions not explicitly listed.

Grant a role to multiple members at once

Teams often need to grant the same role to several users or service accounts without affecting other roles already assigned.

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as gcp from "@pulumi/gcp";

const binding = new gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamBinding("binding", {
    project: basic.project,
    location: basic.location,
    name: basic.name,
    role: "roles/viewer",
    members: ["user:jane@example.com"],
});

import pulumi
import pulumi_gcp as gcp

binding = gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamBinding("binding",
    project=basic["project"],
    location=basic["location"],
    name=basic["name"],
    role="roles/viewer",
    members=["user:jane@example.com"])

package main

import (
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi-gcp/sdk/v9/go/gcp/gkebackup"
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi/sdk/v3/go/pulumi"
)

func main() {
	pulumi.Run(func(ctx *pulumi.Context) error {
		_, err := gkebackup.NewBackupPlanIamBinding(ctx, "binding", &gkebackup.BackupPlanIamBindingArgs{
			Project:  pulumi.Any(basic.Project),
			Location: pulumi.Any(basic.Location),
			Name:     pulumi.Any(basic.Name),
			Role:     pulumi.String("roles/viewer"),
			Members: pulumi.StringArray{
				pulumi.String("user:jane@example.com"),
			},
		})
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		return nil
	})
}

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Pulumi;
using Gcp = Pulumi.Gcp;

return await Deployment.RunAsync(() => 
{
    var binding = new Gcp.GkeBackup.BackupPlanIamBinding("binding", new()
    {
        Project = basic.Project,
        Location = basic.Location,
        Name = basic.Name,
        Role = "roles/viewer",
        Members = new[]
        {
            "user:jane@example.com",
        },
    });

});

package generated_program;

import com.pulumi.Context;
import com.pulumi.Pulumi;
import com.pulumi.core.Output;
import com.pulumi.gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamBinding;
import com.pulumi.gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamBindingArgs;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Map;
import java.io.File;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class App {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Pulumi.run(App::stack);
    }

    public static void stack(Context ctx) {
        var binding = new BackupPlanIamBinding("binding", BackupPlanIamBindingArgs.builder()
            .project(basic.project())
            .location(basic.location())
            .name(basic.name())
            .role("roles/viewer")
            .members("user:jane@example.com")
            .build());

    }
}

resources:
  binding:
    type: gcp:gkebackup:BackupPlanIamBinding
    properties:
      project: ${basic.project}
      location: ${basic.location}
      name: ${basic.name}
      role: roles/viewer
      members:
        - user:jane@example.com

The BackupPlanIamBinding resource is authoritative for a single role but preserves other roles on the backup plan. The members property accepts a list of identities (users, service accounts, groups). If you later modify this binding, it replaces the member list for that role only.

Add a single member to a role incrementally

When onboarding individual users or service accounts, you can add them without replacing the entire member list.

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as gcp from "@pulumi/gcp";

const member = new gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamMember("member", {
    project: basic.project,
    location: basic.location,
    name: basic.name,
    role: "roles/viewer",
    member: "user:jane@example.com",
});

import pulumi
import pulumi_gcp as gcp

member = gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamMember("member",
    project=basic["project"],
    location=basic["location"],
    name=basic["name"],
    role="roles/viewer",
    member="user:jane@example.com")

package main

import (
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi-gcp/sdk/v9/go/gcp/gkebackup"
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi/sdk/v3/go/pulumi"
)

func main() {
	pulumi.Run(func(ctx *pulumi.Context) error {
		_, err := gkebackup.NewBackupPlanIamMember(ctx, "member", &gkebackup.BackupPlanIamMemberArgs{
			Project:  pulumi.Any(basic.Project),
			Location: pulumi.Any(basic.Location),
			Name:     pulumi.Any(basic.Name),
			Role:     pulumi.String("roles/viewer"),
			Member:   pulumi.String("user:jane@example.com"),
		})
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		return nil
	})
}

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Pulumi;
using Gcp = Pulumi.Gcp;

return await Deployment.RunAsync(() => 
{
    var member = new Gcp.GkeBackup.BackupPlanIamMember("member", new()
    {
        Project = basic.Project,
        Location = basic.Location,
        Name = basic.Name,
        Role = "roles/viewer",
        Member = "user:jane@example.com",
    });

});

package generated_program;

import com.pulumi.Context;
import com.pulumi.Pulumi;
import com.pulumi.core.Output;
import com.pulumi.gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamMember;
import com.pulumi.gcp.gkebackup.BackupPlanIamMemberArgs;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Map;
import java.io.File;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class App {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Pulumi.run(App::stack);
    }

    public static void stack(Context ctx) {
        var member = new BackupPlanIamMember("member", BackupPlanIamMemberArgs.builder()
            .project(basic.project())
            .location(basic.location())
            .name(basic.name())
            .role("roles/viewer")
            .member("user:jane@example.com")
            .build());

    }
}

resources:
  member:
    type: gcp:gkebackup:BackupPlanIamMember
    properties:
      project: ${basic.project}
      location: ${basic.location}
      name: ${basic.name}
      role: roles/viewer
      member: user:jane@example.com

The BackupPlanIamMember resource adds one member to a role non-authoritatively. Other members for the same role are preserved. This is useful for incremental access grants where you don’t want to manage the full member list in one place.

Beyond these examples

These snippets focus on specific IAM management approaches: authoritative policy replacement, role-level binding management, and incremental member addition. They’re intentionally minimal rather than full access control configurations.

The examples reference pre-existing infrastructure such as GKE backup plans (project, location, name references). They focus on IAM policy configuration rather than provisioning backup plans themselves.

To keep things focused, common IAM patterns are omitted, including:

Conditional IAM bindings (condition blocks)
Custom role definitions
Policy conflict resolution strategies
Etag-based optimistic concurrency control

These omissions are intentional: the goal is to illustrate how each IAM resource type is wired, not provide drop-in access control modules. See the BackupPlanIamPolicy resource reference for all available configuration options.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Resource Selection & Conflicts

Why am I getting conflicts between my IAM resources?

BackupPlanIamPolicy cannot be used with BackupPlanIamBinding or BackupPlanIamMember because they will conflict over the policy. Use BackupPlanIamPolicy alone, or use BackupPlanIamBinding and BackupPlanIamMember without BackupPlanIamPolicy.

Can I use BackupPlanIamBinding and BackupPlanIamMember together?

Yes, but only if they grant different roles. Using both for the same role will cause conflicts.

What's the difference between BackupPlanIamPolicy, BackupPlanIamBinding, and BackupPlanIamMember?

BackupPlanIamPolicy is authoritative and replaces the entire IAM policy. BackupPlanIamBinding is authoritative for a specific role and preserves other roles. BackupPlanIamMember is non-authoritative and preserves other members for the role.

Configuration & Usage

How do I set the IAM policy using BackupPlanIamPolicy?

Use the gcp.organizations.getIAMPolicy data source to generate policyData, then pass it to the BackupPlanIamPolicy resource as shown in the examples.

Using a different cloud?

Explore security guides for other cloud providers:

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