Learn how to create and manage service accounts for Polaris from the Polaris user interface.
Service accounts are a type of account used to perform automated tasks on behalf of a user or application. They are typically used in scenarios where a user is not present to provide authentication, such as in CI/CD pipelines or automated scripts.
Service accounts have their own set of credentials (access tokens) that can be used for authentication.
In Polaris, service accounts are managed by Organization Administrators, who can create, update, regenerate, and delete service accounts as needed.
Service account token expiration
Service account tokens expire one year after the creation date, and will also expire if unused for 30 days. To ensure your automated processes continue to function without interruption, you'll need to regenerate tokens—or create new ones—before expiration. If a service account token expires in seven days or less, the Service Accounts page displays a countdown of the number of days remaining until token expiry and a link to regenerate.
Monitor service account usage
Organization Administrators can monitor service account activity on the Audit Logs page (). When an action is performed using a service account token, the service account's friendly name appears in the Token Name column. Additionally, audit logs record when a service account's access token is regenerated, and when an organization- or application-level role is assigned or unassigned.
Select Service Account Tokens using the Event Type dropdown to view events related to service accounts.
Using service account tokens
Service account access tokens function identically to user access tokens for authentication purposes. After you create a service account, you can use the service account's access token for:
- Authentication in requests made to Polaris APIs.
- Authentication in CI pipelines that use the Bridge CLI (and Black Duck Security Scan plugins).