210 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
210 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: concepts, howto
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stage: Manage
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group: Authentication and Authorization
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info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
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---
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# Personal access tokens **(FREE)**
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> - Notifications for expiring tokens [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/3649) in GitLab 12.6.
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> - Token lifetime limits [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/3649) in GitLab 12.6.
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> - Additional notifications for expiring tokens [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/214721) in GitLab 13.3.
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> - Prefill for token name and scopes [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/334664) in GitLab 14.1.
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Personal access tokens can be an alternative to [OAuth2](../../api/oauth2.md) and used to:
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- Authenticate with the [GitLab API](../../api/index.md#personalprojectgroup-access-tokens).
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- Authenticate with Git using HTTP Basic Authentication.
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In both cases, you authenticate with a personal access token in place of your password.
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WARNING:
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The ability to create personal access tokens without expiry was
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[deprecated](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/369122) in GitLab 15.4 and is planned for removal in GitLab
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16.0. When this ability is removed, existing personal access tokens without an expiry are planned to have an expiry added.
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The automatic adding of an expiry occurs on GitLab.com during the 16.0 milestone. The automatic adding of an expiry
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occurs on self-managed instances when they are upgraded to GitLab 16.0. This change is a breaking change.
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Personal access tokens are:
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- Required when [two-factor authentication (2FA)](account/two_factor_authentication.md) is enabled.
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- Used with a GitLab username to authenticate with GitLab features that require usernames. For example,
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[GitLab-managed Terraform state backend](../infrastructure/iac/terraform_state.md#use-your-gitlab-backend-as-a-remote-data-source)
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and [Docker container registry](../packages/container_registry/index.md#authenticate-with-the-container-registry),
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- Similar to [project access tokens](../project/settings/project_access_tokens.md) and [group access tokens](../group/settings/group_access_tokens.md), but are attached
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to a user rather than a project or group.
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NOTE:
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Though required, GitLab usernames are ignored when authenticating with a personal access token.
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There is an [issue for tracking](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/212953) to make GitLab
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use the username.
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For examples of how you can use a personal access token to authenticate with the API, see the [API documentation](../../api/index.md#personalprojectgroup-access-tokens).
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Alternately, GitLab administrators can use the API to create [impersonation tokens](../../api/index.md#impersonation-tokens).
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Use impersonation tokens to automate authentication as a specific user.
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## Create a personal access token
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/348660) in GitLab 15.3, default expiration of 30 days is populated in the UI.
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You can create as many personal access tokens as you like.
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1. In the top-right corner, select your avatar.
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1. Select **Edit profile**.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Access Tokens**.
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1. Enter a name and optional expiry date for the token.
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1. Select the [desired scopes](#personal-access-token-scopes).
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1. Select **Create personal access token**.
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Save the personal access token somewhere safe. After you leave the page,
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you no longer have access to the token.
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### Prefill personal access token name and scopes
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You can link directly to the Personal Access Token page and have the form prefilled with a name and
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list of scopes. To do this, you can append a `name` parameter and a list of comma-separated scopes
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to the URL. For example:
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```plaintext
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https://gitlab.example.com/-/profile/personal_access_tokens?name=Example+Access+token&scopes=api,read_user,read_registry
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```
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WARNING:
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Personal access tokens must be treated carefully. Read our [token security considerations](../../security/token_overview.md#security-considerations)
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for guidance on managing personal access tokens (for example, setting a short expiry and using minimal scopes).
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## Revoke a personal access token
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At any time, you can revoke a personal access token.
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1. In the top-right corner, select your avatar.
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1. Select **Edit profile**.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Access Tokens**.
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1. In the **Active personal access tokens** area, next to the key, select **Revoke**.
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## View the last time a token was used
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Token usage is updated once every 24 hours. It is updated each time the token is used to request
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[API resources](../../api/api_resources.md) and the [GraphQL API](../../api/graphql/index.md).
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To view the last time a token was used:
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1. In the top-right corner, select your avatar.
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1. Select **Edit profile**.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Access Tokens**.
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1. In the **Active personal access tokens** area, next to the key, view the **Last Used** date.
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## Personal access token scopes
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A personal access token can perform actions based on the assigned scopes.
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| Scope | Access |
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|--------------------|--------|
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| `api` | Read-write for the complete API, including all groups and projects, the Container Registry, and the Package Registry. |
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| `read_user` | Read-only for endpoints under `/users`. Essentially, access to any of the `GET` requests in the [Users API](../../api/users.md). |
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| `read_api` | Read-only for the complete API, including all groups and projects, the Container Registry, and the Package Registry. ([Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/28944) in GitLab 12.10.) |
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| `read_repository` | Read-only (pull) for the repository through `git clone`. |
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| `write_repository` | Read-write (pull, push) for the repository through `git clone`. |
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| `read_registry` | Read-only (pull) for [Container Registry](../packages/container_registry/index.md) images if a project is private and authorization is required. Available only when the Container Registry is enabled. |
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| `write_registry` | Read-write (push) for [Container Registry](../packages/container_registry/index.md) images if a project is private and authorization is required. Available only when the Container Registry is enabled. ([Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/28958) in GitLab 12.10.) |
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| `sudo` | API actions as any user in the system (if the authenticated user is an administrator). |
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## When personal access tokens expire
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Personal access tokens expire on the date you define, at midnight UTC.
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- GitLab runs a check at 01:00 AM UTC every day to identify personal access tokens that expire in the next seven days. The owners of these tokens are notified by email.
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- GitLab runs a check at 02:00 AM UTC every day to identify personal access tokens that expire on the current date. The owners of these tokens are notified by email.
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- In GitLab Ultimate, administrators can
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[limit the lifetime of access tokens](../admin_area/settings/account_and_limit_settings.md#limit-the-lifetime-of-access-tokens).
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## Create a personal access token programmatically **(FREE SELF)**
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You can create a predetermined personal access token
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as part of your tests or automation.
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Prerequisite:
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- You need sufficient access to run a
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[Rails console session](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#starting-a-rails-console-session)
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for your GitLab instance.
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To create a personal access token programmatically:
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1. Open a Rails console:
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```shell
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sudo gitlab-rails console
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```
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1. Run the following commands to reference the username, the token, and the scopes.
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The token must be 20 characters long. The scopes must be valid and are visible
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[in the source code](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/lib/gitlab/auth.rb).
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For example, to create a token that belongs to a user with username `automation-bot`:
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```ruby
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user = User.find_by_username('automation-bot')
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token = user.personal_access_tokens.create(scopes: [:read_user, :read_repository], name: 'Automation token')
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token.set_token('token-string-here123')
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token.save!
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```
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This code can be shortened into a single-line shell command by using the
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[Rails runner](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#using-the-rails-runner):
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```shell
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sudo gitlab-rails runner "token = User.find_by_username('automation-bot').personal_access_tokens.create(scopes: [:read_user, :read_repository], name: 'Automation token'); token.set_token('token-string-here123'); token.save!"
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```
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## Revoke a personal access token programmatically **(FREE SELF)**
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You can programmatically revoke a personal access token
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as part of your tests or automation.
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Prerequisite:
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- You need sufficient access to run a [Rails console session](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#starting-a-rails-console-session)
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for your GitLab instance.
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To revoke a token programmatically:
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1. Open a Rails console:
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```shell
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sudo gitlab-rails console
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```
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1. To revoke a token of `token-string-here123`, run the following commands:
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```ruby
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token = PersonalAccessToken.find_by_token('token-string-here123')
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token.revoke!
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```
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This code can be shortened into a single-line shell command using the
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[Rails runner](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#using-the-rails-runner):
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```shell
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sudo gitlab-rails runner "PersonalAccessToken.find_by_token('token-string-here123').revoke!"
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```
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<!-- ## Troubleshooting
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Include any troubleshooting steps that you can foresee. If you know beforehand what issues
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one might have when setting this up, or when something is changed, or on upgrading, it's
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important to describe those, too. Think of things that may go wrong and include them here.
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This is important to minimize requests for support, and to avoid doc comments with
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questions that you know someone might ask.
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Each scenario can be a third-level heading, e.g. `### Getting error message X`.
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If you have none to add when creating a doc, leave this section in place
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but commented out to help encourage others to add to it in the future. -->
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## Alternatives to personal access tokens
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For Git over HTTPS, an alternative to personal access tokens is [Git Credential Manager](account/two_factor_authentication.md#git-credential-manager),
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which securely authenticates using OAuth.
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