Service Account Creation

Create the access key

https://console.developers.google.com

Select the top left panel to access various administrative features.

Create Project

From the top left panel, go to “IAM & Admin” and select “Create Project.”

Fill out the project details, such as name, organization, and location, then click “CREATE.”Create a service account

Create a service account.

Navigate to “IAM & Admin” and then to “Service Accounts.”

Click “CREATE SERVICE ACCOUNT” in the service accounts dashboard.

Provide a name for the service account and proceed by clicking “CREATE AND CONTINUE.”

Assign a role (e.g., Basic -> Owner) to the service account and click “CONTINUE.”

Optionally, grant user access and finalize by clicking “DONE.”

In the service account details, use the action button (three vertical dots) to manage keys.

Select “ADD KEY” and then “Create new key,” choosing the JSON format, which will be downloaded to your desktop.

Note: If there is an issue generating a key, follow additional troubleshooting steps provided: GWS Enable Service Account Key Creation

Copy OAuth 2 Client ID - this will be required.

Enabling API Services

Navigate to the APIs & Services dashboard from the top left panel.

Click “ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES” and search for the required APIs in the API library. Enable as needed.

The table below gives the list of APIs required to be enabled for different data source

Data source	API
	Google Drive API
Full email messages and metadata Email attachments Custom labels and organization Account settings and filters Email history changes	Gmail API
User account activities Security settings Domain settings Mobile device management Chrome OS device information Role assignments and definitions	Admin SDK API
File creation and deletion events Document editing history Sharing and permission changes File access logs Comments and collaborations	Drive Activity API
Export logs and details	Google Vault API
Permissions and access reasons for resources	Policy Troubleshooter API

Enable Domain-Wide Delegation

https://admin.google.com

Navigate to “API controls.”

Select MANAGE DOMAIN-WIDE DELEGATION

Click “Add new” and input the Client ID copied earlier.

Provide OAuth scopes for the necessary APIs and authorize.

Note: All these scopes can be used together in a comma-delimited list to provide comprehensive access permissions for a cloud forensic investigation.

Full Scopes:

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.user.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.reports.audit.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.activity.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.rolemanagement.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.domain.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.device.chromeos.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.device.mobile.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.settings.basic,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.settings.sharing

Scope	Key Data Collected
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly`	Access to read all user email messages and metadata
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.settings.basic`	Access to manage basic Gmail settings such as filters and forwarding
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.settings.sharing`	Access to manage Gmail delegate settings
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.user.readonly`	Access to read user information in your domain
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.rolemanagement.readonly`	Access to read roles and permissions assigned to users
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.domain.readonly`	Access to read domain settings and configurations
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.device.chromeos.readonly`	Access to read Chrome OS device information in your domain
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.device.mobile.readonly`	Access to read mobile device information in your domain
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.reports.audit.readonly`	Access to read audit logs of activities within your domain
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly`	Access to read all files a user can access in Google Drive
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly`	Access to read metadata of all files in Google Drive
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.activity.readonly`	Access to read historical file activities in Google Drive