Ensure oslogin is enabled for a Project

Using Google Cloud Console

1. Go to the VM compute metadata page using https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/metadata
2. Click EDIT
3. Add a metadata entry where the key is enable-oslogin and the value is TRUE
4. Click SAVE to apply the changes
5. For every instance that overrides the project setting, go to the VM Instances page at https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/instances.
6. Click the name of the instance from which you want to remove the metadata value
7. At the top of the instance details page, click EDIT to edit the instance settings
8. Under Custom metadata, remove any entry with the key enable-oslogin and the value FALSE
9. At the bottom of the instance details page, click SAVE to apply your changes to the instance

Using Google Cloud CLI

1. Configure oslogin on the project:

gcloud compute project-info add-metadata --metadata enable-oslogin=TRUE

1. Remove instance metadata that overrides the project setting:

gcloud compute instances remove-metadata <instanceName> --keys=enable-oslogin

Optionally, you can enable two factor authentication for OS login. For more information, see: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/oslogin/setup-two-factor-authentication.

Default Value

By default, the parameter enable-oslogin is not set, which is equivalent to setting it to FALSE.

References

1. https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/managing-instance-access
2. https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/managing-instance-access#enable_oslogin
3. https://cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/compute/instances/remove-metadata
4. https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/oslogin/setup-two-factor-authentication

Notes

1. In order to use osLogin, instances using Custom Images must have the latest version of the Linux Guest Environment installed. The following image families do not yet support OS Login:

Project cos-cloud (Container-Optimized OS) image family cos-stable
All project coreos-cloud (CoreOS) image families
Project suse-cloud (SLES) image family sles-11
All Windows Server and SQL Server image families

1. Project enable-oslogin can be overridden by setting the enable-oslogin parameter to an instance metadata individually.

Multiple Remediation Paths

Google Cloud

SERVICE-WIDE (RECOMMENDED when many resources are affected): Enforce Organization Policies at org/folder level so new resources inherit secure defaults.

gcloud org-policies set-policy policy.yaml

ASSET-LEVEL: Use the product-specific remediation steps above for only the impacted project/resources.

PREVENTIVE: Use org policy constraints/custom constraints and enforce checks in deployment pipelines.

References for Service-Wide Patterns

• GCP Organization Policy overview: https://cloud.google.com/resource-manager/docs/organization-policy/overview
• GCP Organization policy constraints catalog: https://cloud.google.com/resource-manager/docs/organization-policy/org-policy-constraints
• gcloud org-policies: https://cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/org-policies

Operational Rollout Workflow

Use this sequence to reduce risk and avoid repeated drift.

1. Contain at Service-Wide Scope First (Recommended)

• Google Cloud: apply organization policy constraints at org/folder scope.

gcloud org-policies set-policy policy.yaml

2. Remediate Existing Affected Assets

• Execute the control-specific Console/CLI steps documented above for each flagged resource.
• Prioritize internet-exposed and production assets first.

3. Validate and Prevent Recurrence

• Re-scan after each remediation batch.
• Track exceptions with owner and expiry date.
• Add preventive checks in IaC/CI pipelines.