Create encryption keys with Cloud KMS

This quickstart shows you how to create and use encryption keys with Cloud Key Management Service in a project you own. These instructions use the Google Cloud console to create key rings, keys, and key versions in Cloud KMS. For instructions that use other methods, see Autokey overview, Create a key ring, and Create a key.

This quickstart uses the command line to send requests to the Cloud KMS API. For programming examples that use the client libraries to send requests to the Cloud KMS API, see Encrypting and Decrypting.

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. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  3. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

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

    gcloud init

  5. Create or select a Google Cloud project.

    Roles required to select or create a project

    • Select a project: Selecting a project doesn't require a specific IAM role—you can select any project that you've been granted a role on.
    • Create a project: To create a project, you need the Project Creator role (roles/resourcemanager.projectCreator), which contains the resourcemanager.projects.create permission. Learn how to grant roles.

    • Create a Google Cloud project:

      gcloud projects create PROJECT_ID

      Replace PROJECT_ID with a name for the Google Cloud project you are creating.

    • Select the Google Cloud project that you created:

      gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

      Replace PROJECT_ID with your Google Cloud project name.

  6. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

  7. Enable the Cloud KMS API:

    Roles required to enable APIs

    To enable APIs, you need the serviceusage.services.enable permission. If you created the project, then you likely already have this permission through the Owner role (roles/owner). Otherwise, you can get this permission through the Service Usage Admin role (roles/serviceusage.serviceUsageAdmin). Learn how to grant roles. 

    gcloud services enable cloudkms.googleapis.com

  8. Grant roles to your user account. Run the following command once for each of the following IAM roles: roles/cloudkms.admin, roles/cloudkms.cryptoKeyEncrypterDecrypter 

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID --member="user:USER_IDENTIFIER" --role=ROLE

    Replace the following:

    • PROJECT_ID: Your project ID.
    • USER_IDENTIFIER: The identifier for your user account. For example, myemail@example.com.
    • ROLE: The IAM role that you grant to your user account.

  9. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  10. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

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

    gcloud init

  12. Create or select a Google Cloud project.

    Roles required to select or create a project

    • Select a project: Selecting a project doesn't require a specific IAM role—you can select any project that you've been granted a role on.
    • Create a project: To create a project, you need the Project Creator role (roles/resourcemanager.projectCreator), which contains the resourcemanager.projects.create permission. Learn how to grant roles.

    • Create a Google Cloud project:

      gcloud projects create PROJECT_ID

      Replace PROJECT_ID with a name for the Google Cloud project you are creating.

    • Select the Google Cloud project that you created:

      gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

      Replace PROJECT_ID with your Google Cloud project name.

  13. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

  14. Enable the Cloud KMS API:

    Roles required to enable APIs

    To enable APIs, you need the serviceusage.services.enable permission. If you created the project, then you likely already have this permission through the Owner role (roles/owner). Otherwise, you can get this permission through the Service Usage Admin role (roles/serviceusage.serviceUsageAdmin).