Manage GCP Service Directory IAM Permissions

The gcp:servicedirectory/serviceIamMember:ServiceIamMember resource, part of the Pulumi GCP provider, manages IAM permissions for Service Directory services by granting roles to identities. This guide focuses on three capabilities: non-authoritative single-member grants, authoritative role bindings, and full policy replacement.

Service Directory provides three IAM resources with different update behaviors. ServiceIamMember adds one identity to a role non-authoritatively. ServiceIamBinding replaces all members for a role authoritatively. ServiceIamPolicy replaces the entire policy. These resources reference existing Service Directory services and have strict compatibility rules: ServiceIamPolicy cannot be used with the other two, and ServiceIamBinding and ServiceIamMember can only coexist if they manage different roles. The examples are intentionally small. Combine them with your own Service Directory infrastructure.

Grant a role to a single member

Most IAM configurations start by granting a specific role to one identity without affecting other members who already have that role.

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

const member = new gcp.servicedirectory.ServiceIamMember("member", {
    name: example.name,
    role: "roles/viewer",
    member: "user:jane@example.com",
});

import pulumi
import pulumi_gcp as gcp

member = gcp.servicedirectory.ServiceIamMember("member",
    name=example["name"],
    role="roles/viewer",
    member="user:jane@example.com")

package main

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

func main() {
	pulumi.Run(func(ctx *pulumi.Context) error {
		_, err := servicedirectory.NewServiceIamMember(ctx, "member", &servicedirectory.ServiceIamMemberArgs{
			Name:   pulumi.Any(example.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.ServiceDirectory.ServiceIamMember("member", new()
    {
        Name = example.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.servicedirectory.ServiceIamMember;
import com.pulumi.gcp.servicedirectory.ServiceIamMemberArgs;
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 ServiceIamMember("member", ServiceIamMemberArgs.builder()
            .name(example.name())
            .role("roles/viewer")
            .member("user:jane@example.com")
            .build());

    }
}

resources:
  member:
    type: gcp:servicedirectory:ServiceIamMember
    properties:
      name: ${example.name}
      role: roles/viewer
      member: user:jane@example.com

The member property specifies the identity using formats like “user:jane@example.com” for user accounts or “serviceAccount:app@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com” for service accounts. The role property sets the permission level. This resource is non-authoritative: it adds the member to the role without removing other members, and multiple ServiceIamMember resources can grant the same role to different identities.

Grant a role to multiple members authoritatively

When you need to define the complete list of identities for a role, ServiceIamBinding replaces all existing members for that role.

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

const binding = new gcp.servicedirectory.ServiceIamBinding("binding", {
    name: example.name,
    role: "roles/viewer",
    members: ["user:jane@example.com"],
});

import pulumi
import pulumi_gcp as gcp

binding = gcp.servicedirectory.ServiceIamBinding("binding",
    name=example["name"],
    role="roles/viewer",
    members=["user:jane@example.com"])

package main

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

func main() {
	pulumi.Run(func(ctx *pulumi.Context) error {
		_, err := servicedirectory.NewServiceIamBinding(ctx, "binding", &servicedirectory.ServiceIamBindingArgs{
			Name: pulumi.Any(example.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.ServiceDirectory.ServiceIamBinding("binding", new()
    {
        Name = example.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.servicedirectory.ServiceIamBinding;
import com.pulumi.gcp.servicedirectory.ServiceIamBindingArgs;
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 ServiceIamBinding("binding", ServiceIamBindingArgs.builder()
            .name(example.name())
            .role("roles/viewer")
            .members("user:jane@example.com")
            .build());

    }
}

resources:
  binding:
    type: gcp:servicedirectory:ServiceIamBinding
    properties:
      name: ${example.name}
      role: roles/viewer
      members:
        - user:jane@example.com

The members property takes an array of identity strings. This resource is authoritative for the specified role: it replaces all members for that role while preserving other roles on the service. Only one ServiceIamBinding can manage each role; multiple bindings for the same role will conflict.

Replace the entire IAM policy

Some deployments require complete control over all IAM bindings on a service.

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.servicedirectory.ServiceIamPolicy("policy", {
    name: example.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.servicedirectory.ServiceIamPolicy("policy",
    name=example["name"],
    policy_data=admin.policy_data)

package main

import (
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi-gcp/sdk/v9/go/gcp/organizations"
	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi-gcp/sdk/v9/go/gcp/servicedirectory"
	"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 = servicedirectory.NewServiceIamPolicy(ctx, "policy", &servicedirectory.ServiceIamPolicyArgs{
			Name:       pulumi.Any(example.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.ServiceDirectory.ServiceIamPolicy("policy", new()
    {
        Name = example.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.servicedirectory.ServiceIamPolicy;
import com.pulumi.gcp.servicedirectory.ServiceIamPolicyArgs;
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 ServiceIamPolicy("policy", ServiceIamPolicyArgs.builder()
            .name(example.name())
            .policyData(admin.policyData())
            .build());

    }
}

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

The policyData property accepts the output from getIAMPolicy, which defines all role bindings in a single policy document. This resource is fully authoritative: it replaces the entire IAM policy, removing any bindings not defined in the policy data. ServiceIamPolicy cannot be used alongside ServiceIamBinding or ServiceIamMember because they will conflict over policy ownership.

Beyond these examples

These snippets focus on specific IAM management features: single-member grants, multi-member role bindings, and full policy replacement. They’re intentionally minimal rather than complete access control configurations.

The examples reference pre-existing infrastructure such as Service Directory services (referenced by name). They focus on configuring IAM permissions rather than provisioning the services themselves.

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

Conditional IAM bindings (condition property)
Custom role definitions
Federated identity configuration
Service creation and namespace setup

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 Service Directory ServiceIamMember resource reference for all available configuration options.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Resource Selection & Conflicts

What's the difference between ServiceIamPolicy, ServiceIamBinding, and ServiceIamMember?

ServiceIamPolicy is authoritative and replaces the entire IAM policy. ServiceIamBinding is authoritative for a specific role, replacing all members for that role while preserving other roles. ServiceIamMember is non-authoritative, adding a single member to a role without affecting other members.

Can I use ServiceIamPolicy with ServiceIamBinding or ServiceIamMember?

No, ServiceIamPolicy cannot be used with ServiceIamBinding or ServiceIamMember because they will conflict over the policy configuration.

Can I use ServiceIamBinding and ServiceIamMember together?

Yes, but only if they don’t grant privileges to the same role. Using both for the same role will cause conflicts.

Configuration & Identity Formats

What identity formats can I use for the member parameter?

You can use allUsers, allAuthenticatedUsers, user:{email}, serviceAccount:{email}, group:{email}, domain:{domain}, projectOwner/Editor/Viewer:{projectid}, or federated identities like principal://iam.googleapis.com/....

What properties are immutable after creation?

The member, role, and name properties are all immutable and cannot be changed after the resource is created.

Custom Roles & Advanced Usage

How do I specify a custom role?

Custom roles must use the format [projects|organizations]/{parent-name}/roles/{role-name}. For example, projects/my-project/roles/my-custom-role or organizations/my-org/roles/my-custom-role.

What format should I use when importing a resource with a custom role?

Use the full role name format: [projects/my-project|organizations/my-org]/roles/my-custom-role. Don’t use shortened role names for custom roles during import.

Using a different cloud?

Explore security guides for other cloud providers:

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