GCP Secret Manager

Store and manage secrets securely in Google Cloud Platform.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Managing secrets in GCP environments
• Integrating secrets with GKE workloads via Workload Identity
• Storing API keys, database credentials, or TLS certificates
• Implementing secret versioning and rotation
• Meeting compliance requirements for centralized secret management

Prerequisites

• GCP project with billing enabled
• gcloud CLI installed and authenticated
• Secret Manager API enabled (secretmanager.googleapis.com)
• IAM permissions: roles/secretmanager.admin for management, roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor for reading
• For GKE: Workload Identity configured on the cluster

Enable the API

# Enable Secret Manager API
gcloud services enable secretmanager.googleapis.com

# Verify it's enabled
gcloud services list --enabled --filter="name:secretmanager"

Secret Creation and Management

# Create a secret (creates the secret resource, not the value)
gcloud secrets create db-password \
  --replication-policy="automatic" \
  --labels="env=production,team=platform"

# Add the secret value (first version)
echo -n "S3cur3P@ssw0rd!" | gcloud secrets versions add db-password --data-file=-

# Create secret with value in one command
echo -n '{"username":"dbadmin","password":"S3cur3P@ss!","host":"10.0.1.5","port":5432}' | \
  gcloud secrets create db-credentials --data-file=- \
  --replication-policy="automatic" \
  --labels="env=production,team=platform"

# Create with specific region replication
gcloud secrets create regional-secret \
  --replication-policy="user-managed" \
  --locations="us-central1,us-east1"

# Create with customer-managed encryption key (CMEK)
gcloud secrets create sensitive-secret \
  --replication-policy="user-managed" \
  --locations="us-central1" \
  --kms-key-name="projects/my-project/locations/us-central1/keyRings/my-ring/cryptoKeys/my-key"

# Access the latest version
gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=db-password

# Access a specific version
gcloud secrets versions access 3 --secret=db-password

# Add a new version (rotation)
echo -n "N3wS3cur3P@ss!" | gcloud secrets versions add db-password --data-file=-

# List all secrets
gcloud secrets list --format="table(name, createTime, labels)"

# List versions of a secret
gcloud secrets versions list db-password --format="table(name, state, createTime)"

# Disable a version (makes it inaccessible but recoverable)
gcloud secrets versions disable 1 --secret=db-password

# Enable a disabled version
gcloud secrets versions enable 1 --secret=db-password

# Destroy a version (permanent)
gcloud secrets versions destroy 1 --secret=db-password

# Delete the entire secret
gcloud secrets delete db-password

# Set expiration on a secret
gcloud secrets update db-password \
  --expire-time="2026-06-01T00:00:00Z"

# Set TTL-based expiration
gcloud secrets update temp-token \
  --ttl="2592000s"  # 30 days

# Update labels
gcloud secrets update db-password \
  --update-labels="rotation=enabled,last-rotated=2025-01-15"

# Add version aliases
gcloud secrets versions update 5 --secret=db-password --set-aliases="production"

IAM Bindings

# Grant secret accessor role to a service account
gcloud secrets add-iam-policy-binding db-password \
  --member="serviceAccount:myapp-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor"

# Grant access to a specific secret version
gcloud secrets add-iam-policy-binding db-password \
  --member="serviceAccount:myapp-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/secretmanager.secretVersionAccessor" \
  --condition='expression=resource.name.endsWith("versions/latest"),title=latest-only'

# Grant admin to security team
gcloud secrets add-iam-policy-binding db-password \
  --member="group:security-team@example.com" \
  --role="roles/secretmanager.admin"

# View IAM policy for a secret
gcloud secrets get-iam-policy db-password

# Remove access
gcloud secrets remove-iam-policy-binding db-password \
  --member="serviceAccount:old-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor"

# Project-level IAM for all secrets
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding my-project \
  --member="serviceAccount:myapp-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor" \
  --condition='expression=resource.name.startsWith("projects/my-project/secrets/myapp-"),title=myapp-secrets-only'

Workload Identity for GKE

# Enable Workload Identity on cluster (if not already)
gcloud container clusters update my-cluster \
  --zone us-central1-a \
  --workload-pool=my-project.svc.id.goog

# Create GCP service account for the workload
gcloud iam service-accounts create myapp-gke-sa \
  --display-name="MyApp GKE Service Account"

# Grant secret accessor role
gcloud secrets add-iam-policy-binding db-password \
  --member="serviceAccount:myapp-gke-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor"

# Bind Kubernetes SA to GCP SA
gcloud iam service-accounts add-iam-policy-binding \
  myapp-gke-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
  --role="roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser" \
  --member="serviceAccount:my-project.svc.id.goog[production/myapp-sa]"

Kubernetes Manifests

# Kubernetes service account annotated with GCP SA
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: myapp-sa
  namespace: production
  annotations:
    iam.gke.io/gcp-service-account: "myapp-gke-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com"
---
# Secrets Store CSI Driver for GCP
apiVersion: secrets-store.csi.x-k8s.io/v1
kind: SecretProviderClass
metadata:
  name: gcp-secrets
  namespace: production
spec:
  provider: gcp
  parameters:
    secrets: |
      - resourceName: "projects/my-project/secrets/db-password/versions/latest"
        path: "db-password"
      - resourceName: "projects/my-project/secrets/db-credentials/versions/latest"
        path: "db-credentials"
      - resourceName: "projects/my-project/secrets/api-key/versions/latest"
        path: "api-key"
  secretObjects:
    - secretName: myapp-secrets
      type: Opaque
      data:
        - objectName: db-password
          key: DB_PASSWORD
        - objectName: api-key
          key: API_KEY
---
# Deployment using the secrets
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myapp
  namespace: production
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: myapp
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: myapp-sa
      containers:
        - name: myapp
          image: gcr.io/my-project/myapp:v1.0.0
          env:
            - name: DB_PASSWORD
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: myapp-secrets
                  key: DB_PASSWORD
          volumeMounts:
            - name: secrets
              mountPath: "/var/secrets"
              readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets
          csi:
            driver: secrets-store.csi.k8s.io
            readOnly: true
            volumeAttributes:
              secretProviderClass: "gcp-secrets"

Application SDK Examples

Python

from google.cloud import secretmanager
from google.api_core import exceptions
import json

def get_secret(project_id: str, secret_id: str, version: str = "latest") -> str:
    """Access a secret version from GCP Secret Manager."""
    client = secretmanager.SecretManagerServiceClient()
    name = f"projects/{project_id}/secrets/{secret_id}/versions/{version}"

    try:
        response = client.access_secret_version(request={"name": name})
        return response.payload.data.decode("UTF-8")
    except exceptions.NotFound:
        raise ValueError(f"Secret {secret_id} version {version} not found")
    except exceptions.PermissionDenied:
        raise PermissionError(f"No access to secret {secret_id}")

def get_json_secret(project_id: str, secret_id: str) -> dict:
    """Access and parse a JSON secret."""
    raw = get_secret(project_id, secret_id)
    return json.loads(raw)

def create_secret(project_id: str, secret_id: str, value: str, labels: dict = None) -> str:
    """Create a new secret with an initial version."""
    client = secretmanager.SecretManagerServiceClient()
    parent = f"projects/{project_id}"

    secret_config = {
        "replication": {"automatic": {}},
    }
    if labels:
        secret_config["labels"] = labels

    secret = client.create_secret(
        request={"parent": parent, "secret_id": secret_id, "secret": secret_config}
    )

    client.add_secret_version(
        request={"parent": secret.name, "payload": {"data": value.encode("UTF-8")}}
    )
    return secret.name

def rotate_secret(project_id: str, secret_id: str, new_value: str) -> str:
    """Add a new version to rotate the secret."""
    client = secretmanager.SecretManagerServiceClient()
    parent = f"projects/{project_id}/secrets/{secret_id}"

    version = client.add_secret_version(
        request={"parent": parent, "payload": {"data": new_value.encode("UTF-8")}}
    )
    return version.name

def list_secrets(project_id: str, filter_str: str = "") -> list:
    """List all secrets in a project."""
    client = secretmanager.SecretManagerServiceClient()
    parent = f"projects/{project_id}"

    secrets = []
    for secret in client.list_secrets(request={"parent": parent, "filter": filter_str}):
        secrets.append({
            "name": secret.name.split("/")[-1],
            "created": secret.create_time.isoformat(),
            "labels": dict(secret.labels),
        })
    return secrets

# Usage
creds = get_json_secret("my-project", "db-credentials")
connection_string = (
    f"postgresql://{creds['username']}:{creds['password']}"
    f"@{creds['host']}:{creds['port']}/mydb"
)

Go

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    secretmanager "cloud.google.com/go/secretmanager/apiv1"
    secretmanagerpb "cloud.google.com/go/secretmanager/apiv1/secretmanagerpb"
)

func getSecret(projectID, secretID, version string) (string, error) {
    ctx := context.Background()
    client, err := secretmanager.NewClient(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create client: %w", err)
    }
    defer client.Close()

    name := fmt.Sprintf("projects/%s/secrets/%s/versions/%s", projectID, secretID, version)
    result, err := client.AccessSecretVersion(ctx, &secretmanagerpb.AccessSecretVersionRequest{
        Name: name,
    })
    if err != nil {
        return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to access secret: %w", err)
    }

    return string(result.Payload.Data), nil
}

func main() {
    secret, err := getSecret("my-project", "db-password", "latest")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Error: %v", err)
    }
    fmt.Printf("Secret: %s\n", secret)
}

Node.js

const { SecretManagerServiceClient } = require('@google-cloud/secret-manager');

const client = new SecretManagerServiceClient();

async function getSecret(projectId, secretId, version = 'latest') {
  const name = `projects/${projectId}/secrets/${secretId}/versions/${version}`;
  const [response] = await client.accessSecretVersion({ name });
  return response.payload.data.toString('utf8');
}

async function main() {
  const password = await getSecret('my-project', 'db-password');
  console.log(`Secret retrieved, length: ${password.length}`);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Secret Rotation with Cloud Functions

"""cloud_function_rotation.py - Triggered by Pub/Sub on secret rotation events."""

import functions_framework
from google.cloud import secretmanager
import secrets
import string

@functions_framework.cloud_event
def rotate_secret(cloud_event):
    """Handle secret rotation events from Pub/Sub."""
    data = cloud_event.data
    secret_name = data.get("name", "")

    if "db-password" not in secret_name:
        print(f"Skipping non-DB secret: {secret_name}")
        return

    client = secretmanager.SecretManagerServiceClient()

    alphabet = string.ascii_letters + string.digits + "!@#$%^&*"
    new_password = ''.join(secrets.choice(alphabet) for _ in range(32))

    parent = "/".join(secret_name.split("/")[:4])
    client.add_secret_version(
        request={
            "parent": parent,
            "payload": {"data": new_password.encode("UTF-8")},
        }
    )
    print(f"Rotated secret: {parent}")

Rotation Schedule with Cloud Scheduler

# Create a Pub/Sub topic for rotation events
gcloud pubsub topics create secret-rotation

# Configure secret to publish rotation events
gcloud secrets update db-password \
  --add-topics="projects/my-project/topics/secret-rotation" \
  --event-types="SECRET_ROTATE"

# Set up rotation schedule
gcloud secrets update db-password \
  --next-rotation-time="2025-04-01T00:00:00Z" \
  --rotation-period="2592000s"  # 30 days

Terraform Configuration

resource "google_secret_manager_secret" "db_password" {
  project   = var.project_id
  secret_id = "db-password"

  replication {
    auto {}
  }

  labels = {
    env  = "production"
    team = "platform"
  }

  rotation {
    next_rotation_time = "2025-04-01T00:00:00Z"
    rotation_period    = "2592000s"
  }

  topics {
    name = google_pubsub_topic.secret_rotation.id
  }
}

resource "google_secret_manager_secret_version" "db_password" {
  secret      = google_secret_manager_secret.db_password.id
  secret_data = var.db_password
}

resource "google_secret_manager_secret_iam_member" "app_accessor" {
  project   = var.project_id
  secret_id = google_secret_manager_secret.db_password.secret_id
  role      = "roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor"
  member    = "serviceAccount:${google_service_account.app.email}"
}

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Solution
"Secret Manager API not enabled"	API not activated in project	Run gcloud services enable secretmanager.googleapis.com
"Permission denied" on access	Missing secretAccessor role	Grant roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor on the specific secret
Workload Identity not working	K8s SA not bound to GCP SA	Verify annotation on K8s SA; check IAM binding with workloadIdentityUser
"Secret version is in DISABLED state"	Version was disabled	Enable with gcloud secrets versions enable VERSION --secret=SECRET
High latency on secret access	No client-side caching	Cache secrets in memory with TTL; use CSI driver for GKE
CMEK decrypt fails	KMS key permissions missing	Grant roles/cloudkms.cryptoKeyEncrypterDecrypter to Secret Manager SA
Rotation function not triggered	Pub/Sub topic not configured	Verify topic is attached to secret; check Cloud Function subscription

Best Practices

• Use Workload Identity for GKE instead of exported service account keys
• Implement IAM least-privilege at the individual secret level, not project level
• Enable audit logging for all secret access (Cloud Audit Logs)
• Use secret versions for safe rollback during rotation issues
• Set expiration dates or TTLs on temporary secrets
• Integrate with Cloud KMS for customer-managed encryption keys
• Use labels consistently for organization and automation
• Monitor secret access patterns with Cloud Monitoring
• Implement rotation schedules for all long-lived credentials
• Use conditional IAM bindings to restrict access by resource name pattern

Related Skills

• hashicorp-vault - Multi-cloud secrets
• gcp-gke - GKE integration
• aws-secrets-manager - AWS secret management
• azure-keyvault - Azure secret management