Google Cloud Storage

Google Cloud Storage is massively scalable object storage for unstructured data offered by Google as part of the Cloud Computing product suite.

The Braze and Google Cloud Storage integration allows you to stream Currents data to Google Cloud Storage. You can later use an ETL process (Extract, Transform, Load) to transfer your data to other locations, such as Google BigQuery.

Prerequisites

Integration

To integrate with Google Cloud Storage, you must set up the appropriate credentials that allow Braze to get information about the storage buckets being written to (storage.buckets.get) and create objects within that bucket (storage.objects.create).

This can be done using the following instructions, which will walk you through creating a role and service account that will generate a private key to use in your Currents integration.

Step 1: Create role

Create a new role in your Google Cloud Platform Console by navigating to IAM & admin > Roles > + Create Role.

Give the role a name, then select +Add Permissions and choose the following:

• storage.objects.create
• storage.objects.delete
• storage.objects.list
• storage.objects.get
• storage.buckets.get

When you’re finished, select Create.

Step 2: Create a new service account

Step 2.1: Create the service account

Create a new service account in your Google Cloud Platform Console by navigating to IAM & admin > Service Accounts and selecting Create Service Account.

Next, give the service account a name and grant it access to your newly created custom role.

Step 2.2: Create a key

At the bottom of the page, use the Create Key button to create a JSON private key to use in Braze. After the key is created, it will download onto your machine.

Step 3: Set up Currents in Braze

In Braze, navigate to Currents > + Create Current > Google Cloud Storage Data Export and provide your integration name and contact email.

Next, upload your JSON private key under GCS JSON Credentials and provide your CGS bucket name and GCS prefix (optional).

Finally, scroll to the bottom of the page and select which message engagement events or customer behavior events you would like to export. When completed, launch your Current.

Step 4: Set up Google Cloud Storage exports

To set up Google Cloud Storage (GCS) exports, go to Technology Partners > Google Cloud Storage, enter your GCS credentials, and select Make this the default data export destination.

Keep in mind that the organization and contents of any exported files will be identical across AWS S3, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Storage integrations.

Step 5: Test your service account credentials (optional)

Your Google Cloud IAM service account must have the following permissions:

• storage.objects.create
• storage.objects.delete
• storage.objects.list
• storage.objects.get
• storage.buckets.get

To verify these permissions in the Braze dashboard, go to the Google Cloud Storage page, then select Test Credentials.

Export behavior

Users that have integrated a cloud data storage solution, and are trying to export APIs, dashboard reports, or CSV reports will experience the following:

• All API exports will not return a download URL in the response body and must be retrieved through data storage.
• All dashboard reports and CSV reports will be sent to the users email for download (no storage permissions required) and backed up on Data Storage.

Troubleshooting

Google Cloud Storage Credentials are invalid

If you receive the following error when attempting enter your credentials:

1
Google Cloud Storage Credentials are invalid. Please ensure that your credentials string, bucket name, and prefix are valid. You do not have read permission.

Ensure that your Google Cloud IAM service account has the following permissions:

• storage.objects.create
• storage.objects.delete
• storage.objects.list
• storage.objects.get
• storage.buckets.get

After verifying, you can test your credentials in the Braze dashboard.