Google Drive API / SDK, change owner using service account fails

Question

I try to update the owner permission of some files in google drive using google drive api v2 programmatically.(like Google Admin Console does on "Drive / Transfer Ownership" form) I created a service account and use its ID combined with a super-admin account to create credentials and "DriveService" object. I able to list all files shared with me and enumerate the "Owners" collection of "File". Adding a new permission to a file (role="writer") works fine. If I try to change the new permission to role ="owner" I get an INTERNAL ERROR 500.

Had anyone seen that error before and how can I work around?

This is my code:

// ---------------------- BUILD CREDENTIALS -------------------------------
Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2.ServiceAccountCredential m_Creds = new ServiceAccountCredential(
                new ServiceAccountCredential.Initializer(<MY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT>)
                    {
                        Scopes = new[]
                                     {
                                         DriveService.Scope.Drive,
                                         DriveService.Scope.DriveFile,
                                         DriveService.Scope.DriveAppdata
                                     }
                        ,
                        User = <MY_ADMIN_ACCOUNT>
                    }.FromCertificate(certificate));

// ---------------------- BUILD CLIENTINIT -------------------------------
var myCInit = new BaseClientService.Initializer
            {
                ApplicationName = "Testapplication",
                HttpClientInitializer = m_Creds
            };

string myAccountname = "Test User1"; // accountname to look for
string myNewAccountEmail = "Test.User2@mydomain.com"; // email of new owner account

// ---------------------- DRIVE SERVIVE CREATION -------------------------------
var myDService = new DriveService(myCInit);

// ----------------------- GET THE FILE LIST------------------------------------ 
var myFList = myDService.Files.List().Execute();

         foreach (Google.Apis.Drive.v2.Data.File currF in myFList.Items)
            {

             foreach (Google.Apis.Drive.v2.Data.User currUser in currF.Owners)
                {
                    if (currUser.DisplayName.StartsWith(myAccountname))
                    {
                        // create new permission for new owner
                        Permission p = new Permission();
                        p.Role = "writer";
                        p.Type = "user";
                        p.Value = myNewAccountEmail;
                        myDService.Permissions.Insert(p, currF.Id).Execute(); // works fine, creates new permission

                        // get permission id 
                        var myNewID = myDService.Permissions.GetIdForEmail(myNewAccountEmail).Execute();

                        // get my newly created permission
                        p = myDService.Permissions.Get(currF.Id, myNewID.Id).Execute();
                        p.Role = "owner";

                        // create update request                            
                        var myUpdR = myDService.Permissions.Update(p, currF.Id,myNewID.Id);
                        myUpdR.TransferOwnership = true; // yes, we want to be an owner

                        myUpdR.Execute();  // this call gets an "internal error 500"
                    }
                }
            }

Any help is appreciated.

Thx. TL

Answer 1

The problem is that you first of must be in the same domain for the one that is changing the ownership to the other user. This due to a security aspect.

The other one is that changing the file, it has to be pointed to a destination (folder id) and the best way I found out to work, is that the destination-users share a folder to the source-user. And then it is able to procedee with the change permission of the file.

I did it in this sequence to make this possible:

1. Upload file using admin-user and point it to the folderId that destination-users have shared.

2. InsertPermission (fileId, user.email, "user", "owner")

3. RemoveOwnPermission, by sending in the admin-user email and remove it on the file.

Answer 2

You can change owner only inside a domain.