How to upload file to google drive with service account credential

Question

I wanted to upload the files to my Google Drive using a Google service account credentials.

I downloaded credential as a JSON file from Google Developer Console, and got credential from it.

Here is my code snippet.

google_drive_service = discovery.build('drive', 'v3',
          credentials=ServiceAccountCredentials.from_json_keyfile_name
                           os.path.join(settings.CLIENT_PATH, settings.CLIENT_SECRET_FILE),
                           scopes=settings.SCOPES))


media = MediaFileUpload(tmp_file_path, mimetype=tmp_file.content_type, resumable=True)
google_drive_service.files().create(body=file_metadata, media_body=media, fields='id').execute()

The code runs and there is no error, however I can't find out the files uploaded to my Google Drive account. I am not sure why files are not uploaded. Would you like to help me to fix this problem?

Answer 1

The issue you are having is that a service account is not you. you have uploaded a file to the service accounts Google drive account not your personal drive account. Try doing a file list you should see the file.

Suggestion. Take the service account email address and share a directory on your personal Google drive account with it like you would share with any other user. The Service account will then be able to upload to this directory. Just make sure to set the permissions on the file after you upload it granting your personal drive account access to the file. When the file is uploaded it will be owned by the service account.