This page describes how to view and implement recommendations about setting a
password policy for instances that don't have an instance password
policy enabled for built-in authentication users. Password policies help prevent
the creation of weak passwords and help with compliance. This
[recommender](https://docs.cloud.google.com/recommender/docs/overview) is called **Enable instance password policy**.

Every day, this recommender proactively detects instances that don't
have an instance password policy enabled and provides insights and
recommendations to improve your instance security. You can view insights and
detailed recommendations about these instances by using
the Google Cloud console, [gcloud CLI](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud.md.txt), or the
[Recommender API](https://docs.cloud.google.com/recommender/docs/using-api).

## Before you begin

Ensure that you [enable the Recommender API](https://docs.cloud.google.com/recommender/docs/enabling).

### Required roles and permissions

To get the permissions to view and work with insights and recommendations,
ensure that you have the required [Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/postgres/project-access-control#roles).

| Tasks | Roles |
|---|---|
| View recommendations | `recommender.cloudsqlViewer` or `cloudsql.admin`. |
| Apply recommendations | `cloudsql.editor` or `cloudsql.admin`. |

For more information about IAM roles, see [IAM basic and predefined roles reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/understanding-roles) and [Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/granting-changing-revoking-access.md.txt).

<br />

## List the recommendations

To list the recommendations, follow these steps:

### Console

To list recommendations about instance security, follow these steps:

1. Go to the **Cloud SQL Instances** page.

   [Go to Cloud SQL Instances](https://console.cloud.google.com/sql/instances)
2. View the **Issues** column in the instance table.

Alternatively, follow these steps:

1. Go to the **Active Assist**.

   [Go to the Active Assist](https://console.cloud.google.com/home/recommendations/)

   For more information, see [Exploring recommendations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/recommender/docs/recommendation-hub/identify-configuration-problems).
2. In the **All recommendations** card, click **Security**.

### gcloud

Run the [`gcloud recommender recommendations list`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/recommender/recommendations/list) command as follows:

```
gcloud recommender recommendations list \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--location=LOCATION \
--recommender=google.cloudsql.instance.SecurityRecommender \
--filter=recommenderSubtype=ENABLE_INSTANCE_PASSWORD_POLICY
```

Replace the following:

- <var translate="no">PROJECT_ID</var>: Your project ID.
- <var translate="no">LOCATION</var>: A region where your instances are located, such as us-central1.

### API

Call the [`recommendations.list`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/recommender/docs/reference/rest/v1beta1/projects.locations.recommenders.recommendations/list.md.txt) method as follows:

```
GET https://recommender.googleapis.com/v1beta1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION/recommenders/google.cloudsql.instance.SecurityRecommender/recommendations?filter=recommenderSubtype=ENABLE_INSTANCE_PASSWORD_POLICY
```

Replace the following:

- <var translate="no">PROJECT_ID</var>: Your project ID.
- <var translate="no">LOCATION</var>: A region where your instances are located, such as `us-central1`.

## View insights and detailed recommendations

To view insights and detailed recommendations, follow these steps:

### Console

After listing the recommendations, click a recommendation.
The recommendation panel appears, which contains insights and detailed recommendations.

### gcloud

Run the [`gcloud recommender insights list`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/recommender/insights/list) command as follows:

```
gcloud recommender insights list \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--location=LOCATION \
--insight-type=google.cloudsql.instance.SecurityInsight \
--filter=insightSubtype=INSTANCE_PASSWORD_POLICY_NOT_ENABLED

```

Replace the following:

- <var translate="no">PROJECT_ID</var>: Your project ID.
- <var translate="no">LOCATION</var> : A region where your instances are located, such as `us-central1`.

### API

Call the [`insights.list`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/recommender/docs/reference/rest/v1beta1/projects.locations.insightTypes.insights/list.md.txt) method as follows:

```
GET https://recommender.googleapis.com/v1beta1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION/insightTypes/google.cloudsql.instance.SecurityInsight/insights?filter=insightSubtype=INSTANCE_PASSWORD_POLICY_NOT_ENABLED

```

Replace the following:

- <var translate="no">PROJECT_ID</var>: Your project ID.
- <var translate="no">LOCATION</var>: A region where your instances are located, such as `us-central1`.

## Apply the recommendation

### Console

To implement the recommendation, click **Manage password policy** and [enable instance password policies](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/postgres/built-in-authentication.md.txt#instance_password_policies)
on your instance.

### gcloud

To implement the recommendation, [enable instance password policies](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/postgres/built-in-authentication.md.txt#instance_password_policies)
on your instance.

### API

To implement the recommendation, [enable instance password policies](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/postgres/built-in-authentication.md.txt#instance_password_policies)
on your instance.

## What's next

- [Enable instance password policies](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/postgres/built-in-authentication.md.txt#instance_password_policies)
- [Google Cloud recommenders](https://docs.cloud.google.com/recommender/docs/recommenders.md.txt)
- [Blog: Maximize your Cloud ROI](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/management-tools/active-assist-comes-to-google-cloud)