Predefined GKE roles


IAM provides predefined roles that grant access to specific Google Cloud resources and prevent unauthorized access to other resources.

RoleTitleDescriptionLowest resource
roles/container.adminKubernetes Engine AdminProvides access to full management of clusters and their Kubernetes API objects.To set a service account on nodes, you must also have the Service Account User role (roles/iam.serviceAccountUser) on the user-managed service account that your nodes will use.Project
roles/container.cloudKmsKeyUserKubernetes Engine KMS Crypto Key UserAllow the Kubernetes Engine service agent in the cluster project to call KMS with user provided crypto keys to sign payloads.
roles/container.clusterAdminKubernetes Engine Cluster AdminProvides access to management of clusters.To set a service account on nodes, you must also have the Service Account User role (roles/iam.serviceAccountUser) on the user-managed service account that your nodes will use.Project
roles/container.clusterViewerKubernetes Engine Cluster ViewerProvides access to get and list GKE clusters.
roles/container.defaultNodeServiceAccountKubernetes Engine Default Node Service AccountLeast privilege role to use as the default service account for GKE Nodes.
roles/container.developerKubernetes Engine DeveloperProvides access to Kubernetes API objects inside clusters.Project
roles/container.hostServiceAgentUserKubernetes Engine Host Service Agent UserAllows the Kubernetes Engine service account in the host project to configure shared network resources for cluster management. Also gives access to inspect the firewall rules in the host project.
roles/container.viewerKubernetes Engine ViewerProvides read-only access to resources within GKE clusters, such as nodes, pods, and GKE API objects.Project