Link your Shared Drive from Your Workspace

Modified on Mon, 18 Aug at 7:24 AM

Google Business and Enterprise account holders can link a dedicated Shared Drive from their Google Workspace to their Linarc company account. Once connected, the Shared Drive becomes available as an external drive for all projects.

After the initial setup and sync:

Linarc automatically creates a dedicated folder for each project inside the Shared Drive.
All folders and files in the project repository are mirrored in Google Drive.
Any changes—additions, deletions, or renaming—are synchronized between Linarc and Google Drive.
Synchronization applies to both manually uploaded files and system-generated items (e.g., RFIs, Submittals, Change Orders, T&M tickets, and more).
Files stored in the Shared Drive can be shared with both internal and external users at any time, based on the access permissions assigned in Google Drive.

This article explains how to link your Shared Drive in Google Workspace to your Linarc company drive.

For guidance on configuring Google Drive as an external drive at the project level, see Sync Project Files with Google Drive.

Setting up the integration requires two main steps:

Create a Shared Drive and Generate a JSON Key File
Link the Shared Drive to Your Company Account

Create a Shared Drive and Generate a JSON Key File

Tip: If you already have a Shared Drive and JSON key file ready, you can skip this step and move directly to linking your account.

This guide walks Google Workspace account users through creating a Shared Drive in Google Drive and generating a service account JSON key file. This file is required to link the Shared Drive with external platforms such as Linarc.

Prerequisites:
Before you begin, make sure you have:A Google Workspace account with admin privileges (Super Admin or Drive Admin).
Access to the Google Cloud Console (for creating service accounts).
Permissions to create and manage Shared Drives in your organization.

Step 1 - Create a Shared Drive in Google Drive

This section explains how to create a new shared drive. If you plan to use an existing shared drive, skip this step.

To create a new shared drive

Sign in to your Google Workspace account.
Go to 'Google Drive' (https://drive.google.com/)
Select 'Shared Drives' on the left
Click '+ New' to add a new drive and enter a name for it (e.g., Linarc Project Files).
Click 'Create'.

Step 2 - Set Up a Service Account in Google Cloud Console

The service account acts as a secure connector between Linarc and your Google Shared Drive. You can either create a new service account or use an existing one, provided it has the required permissions.

The service account must be granted access to the Shared Drive (typically as a Content Manager or higher).
The Google Drive API must be enabled in the associated Google Cloud project.
If the service account needs to impersonate users across your Workspace domain, you must enable domain-wide delegation for it. In most cases, simply granting access to the Shared Drive is sufficient. (Optional – only if required for your organization)

To create a service account

Open your Google Cloud Console. (https://console.cloud.google.com/)
Select or create a new Google Cloud Project dedicated to this integration from the top menu.
Click 'IAM & Admin' > 'Service Accounts' on the left.
Click '+ Create Service Account'
Enter a name (e.g., Linarc Integration Service Account).
Click 'Create and Continue'.
Assign the following roles:
- 'Editor' (to allow file and folder creation/updates).
- 'Drive API Admin' (or equivalent, to allow Drive access).
Click 'Done'.

To enable the Google Drive API

Select APIs and Services from the left-hand side menu of the cloud console screen, then click 'Library'
Search for Google Drive API and open it
Click 'Manage' in the Google Drive API and enable it.

To enable domain-wide delegation for your service account

Open the service account from the 'IAM & Admin' menu.
Under the 'Details' tab, click 'Show domain-wide delegation'.
Select the 'Enable Google Workspace Domain-wide Delegation' checkbox.
Enter a product name for the consent screen (e.g., Linarc Integration).
Click 'Save'.

Step 3 - Generate and Download the JSON Key File

Select the service account you just created from the list.
Open the 'Keys' tab.
Click 'Add Key' > 'Create New Key'.
Select 'JSON' and click 'Create'.

Download the JSON key to your computer.

Important: Keep this file secure. It contains credentials for the service account.

Step 4 - Grant the Service Account Access to the Shared Drive

Open the shared drive
Click 'Manage Members'
Add the service account email address (found in the JSON file or in Google Cloud Console).
Assign 'Content Manager' or 'Manager' role.
Click 'Send'.

Your service account now has the required permissions to manage files in the Shared Drive.

Link the Shared Drive to Your Company Account

Once the Shared Drive is configured with the proper access rights for the service account, you can link it to your Linarc company account as an external drive. This allows Linarc to authenticate using the service account and automatically push files from your project repositories into the Shared Drive.

Prerequisite: Keep the email address of the admin user and the JSON key file of the service account ready.

To link your Shared Drive with your company account

Log in to your company admin console
Click 'Integrations' at the top

Click the 'Configure' button under Google Drive to start

Enter the following details:

Drive Type - Select 'SHARED_DRIVE' from the drop-down.
Email- The email address of the admin user account that has access to the shared drive.
Account JSON - Click inside the 'Attach Files' box and upload the JSON key file obtained from the Google Drive page
Click the button to validate your details.

A confirmation is shown:

Click 'Confirm' to confirm your account preferences.

After the verification and authorization are successfully completed, the Shared Drive on your Google Workspace is linked with your company.

Once your Shared Drive is successfully linked to your company account, it will appear as an external drive option and will be available for use across all projects in Linarc.