How OIDC can simplify authentication of GitLab CI/CD pipelines with Google Cloud

The integration of cloud services and GitLab through GitOps has gained traction, with continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) being commonly used for application deployment and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform managing cloud environments. GitLab CI is central to these processes, but the rise in software supply chain attacks necessitates enhanced security measures, such as OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication, which GitLab 15.7 supports through ID tokens. While traditional static key methods for integrating Google Cloud and GitLab CI pose security risks, OIDC offers solutions by eliminating the need for long-term key management and reducing leakage risks. To facilitate this, GitLab's Infrastructure Security Team has developed a Terraform module and CI template to simplify the secure integration of Google Cloud and GitLab CI, enabling temporary token issuance and proper management of service account usage. This tutorial outlines the steps for using the OIDC modules, including setting up Google Cloud service accounts, Workload Identity pools, and configuring GitLab CI pipelines, thus reinforcing security and usability for both internal and external applications.

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