Audit logging in GCP - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Audit Logging Setup in Google Cloud Platform

📖 Scenario: You are a cloud administrator responsible for tracking changes and access in your Google Cloud Platform (GCP) project. Audit logs help you see who did what and when, which is important for security and troubleshooting.

🎯 Goal: Set up audit logging for a GCP project by creating a log sink that exports admin activity logs to a Cloud Storage bucket.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Cloud Storage bucket named exactly audit-log-bucket

Create a log sink named exactly admin-activity-sink

Configure the sink to export ADMIN_ACTIVITY logs

Set the sink destination to the audit-log-bucket

Print the sink's full name to confirm creation

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Audit logging is essential in cloud environments to track user actions and system changes for security and compliance.

💼 Career

Cloud administrators and DevOps engineers often configure audit logging to meet organizational policies and troubleshoot issues.

1

Create a Cloud Storage bucket

Create a Cloud Storage bucket named audit-log-bucket using the gsutil command.

GCP

# Your code here

Hint

Use gsutil mb followed by the bucket URL to create the bucket.

2

Define the log sink name and destination

Create variables SINK_NAME set to admin-activity-sink and DESTINATION set to storage.googleapis.com/audit-log-bucket.

GCP

gsutil mb gs://audit-log-bucket/
# Define sink name and destination
# Your code here

Hint

Assign the exact strings to the variables SINK_NAME and DESTINATION.

3

Create the log sink for admin activity logs

Use the gcloud logging sinks create command with $SINK_NAME as the sink name, $DESTINATION as the destination, and filter for logName: "cloudaudit.googleapis.com%2Factivity" to capture admin activity logs.

GCP

gsutil mb gs://audit-log-bucket/
SINK_NAME=admin-activity-sink
DESTINATION=storage.googleapis.com/audit-log-bucket
# Create the log sink for admin activity logs
# Your code here

Hint

Use gcloud logging sinks create with the sink name, destination, and a filter for admin activity logs.

4

Print the full sink name

Print the full sink name using gcloud logging sinks describe $SINK_NAME --format='value(name)'.

GCP

gsutil mb gs://audit-log-bucket/
SINK_NAME=admin-activity-sink
DESTINATION=storage.googleapis.com/audit-log-bucket
gcloud logging sinks create $SINK_NAME $DESTINATION --log-filter='logName="projects/'$(gcloud config get-value project)'/logs/cloudaudit.googleapis.com%2Factivity"'
# Print the sink's full name
# Your code here

Hint

Use gcloud logging sinks describe with --format='value(name)' to print only the sink name.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of audit logging in Google Cloud Platform?

easy

A. To create virtual machines

B. To record actions for security and troubleshooting

C. To speed up network traffic

D. To increase storage capacity automatically

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand audit logging function

   Audit logging captures user and system actions in your cloud environment.

2. Step 2: Identify the purpose

   This helps with security monitoring and troubleshooting issues.

3. Final Answer:

   To record actions for security and troubleshooting -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Audit logging = record actions [OK]

Hint: Audit logs track actions for security and fixes [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing audit logs with storage or network features
• Thinking audit logs create resources
• Assuming audit logs improve performance

2. Which command correctly creates a sink to export audit logs to a Cloud Storage bucket named my-logs-bucket?

easy

A. gcloud logging sinks create my-sink storage.googleapis.com/my-logs-bucket --log-filter="resource.type=\"gce_instance\""

B. gcloud logging create sink my-sink storage://my-logs-bucket

C. gcloud logs create sink my-sink gs://my-logs-bucket

D. gcloud logging sinks add my-sink storage.googleapis.com/my-logs-bucket

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify correct gcloud command syntax

   The correct command uses gcloud logging sinks create followed by sink name and destination URL.

2. Step 2: Verify destination format

   Cloud Storage buckets use storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET_NAME format.

3. Final Answer:

   gcloud logging sinks create my-sink storage.googleapis.com/my-logs-bucket --log-filter="resource.type=\"gce_instance\"" -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Correct sink creation syntax = gcloud logging sinks create my-sink storage.googleapis.com/my-logs-bucket --log-filter="resource.type=\"gce_instance\"" [OK]

Hint: Use 'gcloud logging sinks create' with full storage URL [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using wrong command verbs like 'create sink' or 'add sink'
• Incorrect bucket URL format (missing storage.googleapis.com)
• Using 'gs://' instead of full URL

3. Given this filter in a sink configuration: resource.type="bigquery_resource" AND protoPayload.methodName="jobservice.jobcompleted", what logs will be exported?

medium

A. Only logs from Compute Engine instances

B. All error logs from Cloud Storage

C. All BigQuery job completion audit logs

D. All network traffic logs

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the resource type filter

   The filter specifies resource.type="bigquery_resource", so logs relate to BigQuery.

2. Step 2: Analyze the method name filter

   protoPayload.methodName="jobservice.jobcompleted" means only job completion events are included.

3. Final Answer:

   All BigQuery job completion audit logs -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Filter matches BigQuery job completions = All BigQuery job completion audit logs [OK]

Hint: Filter resource and method to find exported logs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing resource types with unrelated services
• Ignoring methodName filter
• Assuming all logs are exported

4. You created a sink to export audit logs to a Pub/Sub topic but logs are not appearing. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. The sink lacks permission to publish to the Pub/Sub topic

B. The sink filter is too broad and excludes all logs

C. Audit logging is disabled in the project

D. The Pub/Sub topic name is misspelled in the sink

Solution

1. Step 1: Check sink permissions

   Sinks need permission to write to destinations like Pub/Sub topics.

2. Step 2: Identify common permission issue

   If logs do not appear, the sink likely lacks the pubsub.publisher role on the topic.

3. Final Answer:

   The sink lacks permission to publish to the Pub/Sub topic -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Missing sink permissions = The sink lacks permission to publish to the Pub/Sub topic [OK]

Hint: Check sink destination permissions first when logs missing [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming audit logging is off without checking
• Blaming filter without verifying permissions
• Ignoring typo in topic name

5. You want to export only admin activity audit logs for Cloud Storage buckets in your project to a BigQuery dataset for analysis. Which sink filter is correct?

hard

A. resource.type="gcs_bucket" AND severity="ERROR"

B. logName:"cloudaudit.googleapis.com/activity" AND resource.type="gcs_bucket" AND protoPayload.methodName:"storage.objects.create"

C. logName:"cloudaudit.googleapis.com/data_access" AND resource.type="gcs_bucket"

D. logName:"cloudaudit.googleapis.com/admin_activity" AND resource.type="gcs_bucket"

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify admin activity logs

   Admin activity logs use logName:"cloudaudit.googleapis.com/admin_activity".

2. Step 2: Filter for Cloud Storage buckets

   Use resource.type="gcs_bucket" to target storage buckets.

3. Step 3: Confirm filter matches requirement

   logName:"cloudaudit.googleapis.com/admin_activity" AND resource.type="gcs_bucket" correctly combines admin activity logs with GCS buckets.

4. Final Answer:

   logName:"cloudaudit.googleapis.com/admin_activity" AND resource.type="gcs_bucket" -> Option D

5. Quick Check:

   Admin activity + GCS bucket filter = logName:"cloudaudit.googleapis.com/admin_activity" AND resource.type="gcs_bucket" [OK]

Hint: Use admin_activity logName for admin logs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using data_access logs instead of admin_activity
• Filtering by specific methods unnecessarily
• Confusing severity with log type