399 Gcloud Platform 195c09f6

Google Cloud Platform with gcloud CLI

Comprehensive guide for gcloud CLI - command-line interface for Google Cloud Platform.

Installation

Linux

curl -O https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xf google-cloud-cli-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh
./google-cloud-sdk/bin/gcloud init

Debian/Ubuntu

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/cloud.google.gpg] https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install google-cloud-cli

macOS

curl -O https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-darwin-arm.tar.gz
tar -xf google-cloud-cli-darwin-arm.tar.gz
./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

Authentication

User Account

# Login with browser
gcloud auth login

# Login without browser (remote/headless)
gcloud auth login --no-browser

# List accounts
gcloud auth list

# Switch account
gcloud config set account user@example.com

Service Account

# Activate with key file
gcloud auth activate-service-account SA_EMAIL --key-file=key.json

# Create service account
gcloud iam service-accounts create SA_NAME \
  --display-name="Service Account"

# Create key
gcloud iam service-accounts keys create key.json \
  --iam-account=SA_EMAIL

# Grant role
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:SA_EMAIL" \
  --role="roles/compute.admin"

Service Account Impersonation (Recommended)

# Impersonate for single command
gcloud compute instances list \
  --impersonate-service-account=SA_EMAIL

# Set default impersonation
gcloud config set auth/impersonate_service_account SA_EMAIL

# Clear impersonation
gcloud config unset auth/impersonate_service_account

Why impersonation? Short-lived credentials, no key files, centralized management.

Configuration Management

Named Configurations

# Create configuration
gcloud config configurations create dev

# List configurations
gcloud config configurations list

# Activate configuration
gcloud config configurations activate dev

# Set properties
gcloud config set project my-project-dev
gcloud config set compute/region us-central1
gcloud config set compute/zone us-central1-a

# View properties
gcloud config list

# Delete configuration
gcloud config configurations delete dev

Multi-Environment Pattern

# Development
gcloud config configurations create dev
gcloud config set project my-project-dev
gcloud config set account dev@example.com

# Staging
gcloud config configurations create staging
gcloud config set project my-project-staging
gcloud config set auth/impersonate_service_account staging-sa@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com

# Production
gcloud config configurations create prod
gcloud config set project my-project-prod
gcloud config set auth/impersonate_service_account prod-sa@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Project Management

# List projects
gcloud projects list

# Create project
gcloud projects create PROJECT_ID --name="Project Name"

# Set active project
gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

# Get current project
gcloud config get-value project

# Enable API
gcloud services enable compute.googleapis.com
gcloud services enable container.googleapis.com

# List enabled APIs
gcloud services list

Output Formats

# JSON (recommended for scripting)
gcloud compute instances list --format=json

# YAML
gcloud compute instances list --format=yaml

# CSV
gcloud compute instances list --format="csv(name,zone,status)"

# Value (single field)
gcloud config get-value project --format="value()"

# Custom table
gcloud compute instances list \
  --format="table(name,zone,machineType,status)"

Filtering

# Server-side filtering (efficient)
gcloud compute instances list --filter="zone:us-central1-a"
gcloud compute instances list --filter="status=RUNNING"
gcloud compute instances list --filter="name~^web-.*"

# Multiple conditions
gcloud compute instances list \
  --filter="zone:us-central1 AND status=RUNNING"

# Negation
gcloud compute instances list --filter="NOT status=TERMINATED"

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Deploy to GCP

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - id: auth
        uses: google-github-actions/auth@v1
        with:
          credentials_json: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}

      - name: Set up Cloud SDK
        uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v1

      - name: Deploy
        run: |
          gcloud run deploy my-service \
            --image=gcr.io/${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}/my-image \
            --region=us-central1

GitLab CI

deploy:
  image: google/cloud-sdk:alpine
  script:
    - echo $GCP_SA_KEY | base64 -d > key.json
    - gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=key.json
    - gcloud config set project $GCP_PROJECT_ID
    - gcloud app deploy
  only:
    - main

Best Practices

Security

• Never commit credentials
• Use service account impersonation
• Grant minimal IAM permissions
• Rotate keys regularly

Performance

• Use server-side filtering: --filter
• Limit output: --limit=10
• Project only needed fields: --format="value(name)"
• Batch operations with --async

Maintainability

• Use named configurations for environments
• Document commands
• Use environment variables
• Implement error handling and retries

Troubleshooting

# Check authentication
gcloud auth list

# Re-authenticate
gcloud auth login
gcloud auth application-default login

# Check IAM permissions
gcloud projects get-iam-policy PROJECT_ID \
  --flatten="bindings[].members" \
  --filter="bindings.members:user@example.com"

# View configuration
gcloud config list

# Reset configuration
gcloud config configurations delete default
gcloud init

Quick Reference

Global Flags

Resources

• gcloud Reference: https://cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference
• Installation: https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install
• Authentication: https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication
• Cheatsheet: https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/cheatsheet