gcloud alpha compute instances create-with-container

NAME
gcloud alpha compute instances create-with-container - creates Compute Engine virtual machine instances running container images
SYNOPSIS
gcloud alpha compute instances create-with-containerINSTANCE_NAMES[INSTANCE_NAMES …][--accelerator=[count=COUNT],[type=TYPE]][--no-boot-disk-auto-delete][--boot-disk-device-name=BOOT_DISK_DEVICE_NAME][--boot-disk-interface=BOOT_DISK_INTERFACE][--boot-disk-provisioned-iops=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_IOPS][--boot-disk-provisioned-throughput=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_THROUGHPUT][--boot-disk-size=BOOT_DISK_SIZE][--boot-disk-type=BOOT_DISK_TYPE][--can-ip-forward][--container-arg=CONTAINER_ARG][--container-command=CONTAINER_COMMAND][--container-env=[KEY=VALUE, …,…]][--container-env-file=CONTAINER_ENV_FILE][--container-image=CONTAINER_IMAGE][--container-mount-disk=[mode=MODE],[mount-path=MOUNT-PATH],[name=NAME],[partition=PARTITION]][--container-mount-host-path=[host-path=HOSTPATH,mount-path=MOUNTPATH[,mode=MODE],…]][--container-mount-tmpfs=[mount-path=MOUNTPATH,…]][--container-privileged][--container-restart-policy=POLICY; default="always"][--container-stdin][--container-tty][--create-disk=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]][--description=DESCRIPTION][--discard-local-ssds-at-termination-timestamp=DISCARD_LOCAL_SSDS_AT_TERMINATION_TIMESTAMP][--disk=[auto-delete=AUTO-DELETE],[boot=BOOT],[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[force-attach=FORCE-ATTACH],[interface=INTERFACE],[mode=MODE],[name=NAME],[scope=SCOPE]][--[no-]enable-nested-virtualization][--external-ipv6-address=EXTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS][--external-ipv6-prefix-length=EXTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH][--graceful-shutdown][--graceful-shutdown-max-duration=GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN_MAX_DURATION][--host-error-timeout-seconds=HOST_ERROR_TIMEOUT_SECONDS][--identity=IDENTITY][--[no-]identity-certificate][--instance-termination-action=INSTANCE_TERMINATION_ACTION][--internal-ipv6-address=INTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS][--internal-ipv6-prefix-length=INTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH][--ipv6-address=IPV6_ADDRESS][--ipv6-network-tier=IPV6_NETWORK_TIER][--ipv6-prefix-length=IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH][--labels=[KEY=VALUE,…]][--local-nvdimm=[size=SIZE]][--local-ssd=[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[interface=INTERFACE],[size=SIZE]][--local-ssd-recovery-timeout=LOCAL_SSD_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT][--machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE][--max-run-duration=MAX_RUN_DURATION][--metadata=KEY=VALUE,[KEY=VALUE,…]][--metadata-from-file=KEY=LOCAL_FILE_PATH,[…]][--min-cpu-platform=PLATFORM][--network=NETWORK][--network-interface=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]][--network-performance-configs=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]][--network-tier=NETWORK_TIER][--numa-node-count=NUMA_NODE_COUNT][--preemptible][--private-ipv6-google-access-type=PRIVATE_IPV6_GOOGLE_ACCESS_TYPE][--private-network-ip=PRIVATE_NETWORK_IP][--provisioning-model=PROVISIONING_MODEL][--request-valid-for-duration=REQUEST_VALID_FOR_DURATION][--resource-policies=[RESOURCE_POLICY,…]][--no-restart-on-failure][--shielded-integrity-monitoring][--shielded-secure-boot][--shielded-vtpm][--[no-]skip-guest-os-shutdown][--source-instance-template=SOURCE_INSTANCE_TEMPLATE][--stack-type=STACK_TYPE][--subnet=SUBNET][--tags=TAG,[TAG,…]][--termination-time=TERMINATION_TIME][--threads-per-core=THREADS_PER_CORE][--visible-core-count=VISIBLE_CORE_COUNT][--zone=ZONE][--address=ADDRESS    |--no-address][--confidential-compute    |--confidential-compute-type=CONFIDENTIAL_COMPUTE_TYPE][--custom-cpu=CUSTOM_CPU--custom-memory=CUSTOM_MEMORY :--custom-extensions--custom-vm-type=CUSTOM_VM_TYPE][--image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT--image=IMAGE    |--image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY][--maintenance-policy=MAINTENANCE_POLICY    |--on-host-maintenance=MAINTENANCE_POLICY][--public-dns    |--no-public-dns][--public-ptr    |--no-public-ptr][--public-ptr-domain=PUBLIC_PTR_DOMAIN    |--no-public-ptr-domain][--reservation=RESERVATION--reservation-affinity=RESERVATION_AFFINITY; default="any"][--scopes=[SCOPE,…]    |--no-scopes][--service-account=SERVICE_ACCOUNT    |--no-service-account][GCLOUD_WIDE_FLAG]
DESCRIPTION
(ALPHA)(DEPRECATED) The option to deploy a containerduring VM creation using the container startup agent is deprecated. Usealternative services to run containers on your VMs. Learn more athttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/containers/migrate-containers.

gcloud alpha compute instances create-with-container createsCompute Engine virtual machines that runs a Docker image. For example:

gcloudalphacomputeinstancescreate-with-containerinstance-1--zoneus-central1-a--container-image=gcr.io/google-containers/busybox

creates an instance called instance-1, in the us-central1-a zone, running the'busybox' image.

For more examples, refer to theEXAMPLES section below.

EXAMPLES
To run the gcr.io/google-containers/busybox image on an instance named'instance-1' that executes 'echo "Hello world"' as a run command, run:
gcloudalphacomputeinstancescreate-with-containerinstance-1--container-image=gcr.io/google-containers/busybox--container-command='echo "Hello world"'

To run the gcr.io/google-containers/busybox image in privileged mode, run:

gcloudalphacomputeinstancescreate-with-containerinstance-1--container-image=gcr.io/google-containers/busybox--container-privileged
POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS
INSTANCE_NAMES [INSTANCE_NAMES …]
Names of the instances to create. For details on valid instance names, refer tothe criteria documented under the field 'name' at:https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/reference/rest/v1/instances
FLAGS
--accelerator=[count=COUNT],[type=TYPE]
Attaches accelerators (e.g. GPUs) to the instances.
type
The specific type (e.g. nvidia-tesla-t4 for NVIDIA T4) of accelerator to attachto the instances. Use 'gcloud compute accelerator-types list' to learn about allavailable accelerator types.
count
Number of accelerators to attach to each instance. The default value is 1.
--boot-disk-auto-delete
Automatically delete boot disks when their instances are deleted. Enabled bydefault, use--no-boot-disk-auto-delete to disable.
--boot-disk-device-name=BOOT_DISK_DEVICE_NAME
The name the guest operating system will see for the boot disk. This option canonly be specified if a new boot disk is being created (as opposed to mounting anexisting persistent disk).
--boot-disk-interface=BOOT_DISK_INTERFACE
Indicates the interface to use for the boot disk. The value must be one of thefollowing:
  • SCSI
  • NVME
--boot-disk-provisioned-iops=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_IOPS
Indicates how many IOPS to provision for the disk. This sets the number of I/Ooperations per second that the disk can handle.
--boot-disk-provisioned-throughput=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_THROUGHPUT
Indicates how much throughput to provision for the disk. This sets the number ofthroughput mb per second that the disk can handle.
--boot-disk-size=BOOT_DISK_SIZE
The size of the boot disk. This option can only be specified if a new boot diskis being created (as opposed to mounting an existing persistent disk). The valuemust be a whole number followed by a size unit ofKB for kilobyte,MB for megabyte,GB for gigabyte, orTB for terabyte. For example,10GB will produce a 10 gigabyte disk. Disksize must be a multiple of 1 GB. Default size unit isGB.
--boot-disk-type=BOOT_DISK_TYPE
The type of the boot disk. This option can only be specified if a new boot diskis being created (as opposed to mounting an existing persistent disk). To get alist of available disk types, run$gcloud compute disk-typeslist.
--can-ip-forward
If provided, allows the instances to send and receive packets with non-matchingdestination or source IP addresses.
--container-arg=CONTAINER_ARG
Argument to append to container entrypoint or to override container CMD. Eachargument must have a separate flag. Arguments are appended in the order offlags. Example:

Assuming the default entry point of the container (or an entry point overriddenwith --container-command flag) is a Bourne shell-compatible executable, in orderto execute 'ls -l' command in the container, the user could use:

--container-arg="-c" --container-arg="ls -l"

Caveat: due to the nature of the argument parsing, it's impossible to providethe flag value that starts with a dash (-) without the= sign (that is,--container-arg "-c" will not workcorrectly).

Default: None. (no arguments appended)

--container-command=CONTAINER_COMMAND
Specifies what executable to run when the container starts (overrides defaultentrypoint), eg.nc.

Default: None (default container entrypoint is used)

--container-env=[KEY=VALUE, …,…]
Declare environment variables KEY with value VALUE passed to container. Only thelast value of KEY is taken when KEY is repeated more than once.

Values, declared with --container-env flag override those with the same KEY fromfile, provided in --container-env-file.

--container-env-file=CONTAINER_ENV_FILE
Declare environment variables in a file. Values, declared with --container-envflag override those with the same KEY from file.

File with environment variables in format used by docker (almost). This means:

  • Lines are in format KEY=VALUE.
  • Values must contain equality signs.
  • Variables without values are not supported (this is different from dockerformat).
  • If# is first non-whitespace character in a line the line isignored as a comment.
  • Lines with nothing but whitespace are ignored.
--container-image=CONTAINER_IMAGE
Full container image name, which should be pulled onto VM instance, eg.docker.io/tomcat.
--container-mount-disk=[mode=MODE],[mount-path=MOUNT-PATH],[name=NAME],[partition=PARTITION]
Mounts a disk to the specified mount path in the container. Multiple ' flags areallowed. Must be used with--disk or--create-disk.
name
Name of the disk. If exactly one additional disk is attached to the instanceusing--disk or--create-disk, specifying disk namehere is optional. The name of the single additional disk will be used bydefault.
mount-path
Path on container to mount to. Mount paths with spaces and commas (and otherspecial characters) are not supported by this command.
partition
Optional. The partition of the disk to mount. Multiple partitions of a disk canbe mounted. Can't be used with --create-disk.
mode
Volume mount mode:rw (read/write) orro (read-only).Defaults torw. Fails if the disk mode isro andvolume mount mode isrw.
--container-mount-host-path=[host-path=HOSTPATH,mount-path=MOUNTPATH[,mode=MODE],…]
Mounts a volume by using host-path.
host-path
Path on host to mount from.
mount-path
Path on container to mount to. Mount paths with spaces and commas (and otherspecial characters) are not supported by this command.
mode
Volume mount mode: rw (read/write) or ro (read-only).

Default: rw.

--container-mount-tmpfs=[mount-path=MOUNTPATH,…]
Mounts empty tmpfs into container at MOUNTPATH.
mount-path
Path on container to mount to. Mount paths with spaces and commas (and otherspecial characters) are not supported by this command.
--container-privileged
Specify whether to run container in privileged mode.

Default:--no-container-privileged.

--container-restart-policy=POLICY; default="always"
Specify whether to restart a container on exit.POLICYmust be one of:never,on-failure,always.
--container-stdin
Keep container STDIN open even if not attached.

Default:--no-container-stdin.

--container-tty
Allocate a pseudo-TTY for the container.

Default:--no-container-tty.

--create-disk=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]
Creates and attaches persistent disks to the instances.
name
Specifies the name of the disk. This option cannot be specified if more than oneinstance is being created. Must specify this option if attaching the disk to acontainer with--container-mount-disk.
description
Optional textual description for the disk being created.
mode
Specifies the mode of the disk. Supported options arero for read-only andrw for read-write. If omitted,rw is used as a default. It is an error tocreate a disk inro mode if attaching it to a container with--container-mount-disk.
image
Specifies the name of the image that the disk will be initialized with. A newdisk will be created based on the given image. To view a list of public imagesand projects, run$gcloud compute imageslist. It is best practice to use image when a specific version of animage is needed. If both image and image-family flags are omitted a blank diskwill be created.
image-family
The image family for the operating system that the boot disk will be initializedwith. Compute Engine offers multiple Linux distributions, some of which areavailable as both regular and Shielded VM images. When a family is specifiedinstead of an image, the latest non-deprecated image associated with that familyis used. It is best practice to use --image-family when the latest version of animage is needed.
image-project
The Google Cloud project against which all image and image family referenceswill be resolved. It is best practice to define image-project. A full list ofavailable image projects can be generated by runninggcloud compute imageslist.
  • If specifying one of our public images, image-project must be provided.
  • If there are several of the same image-family value in multiple projects,image-project must be specified to clarify the image to be used.
  • If not specified and either image or image-family is provided, the currentdefault project is used.
size
The size of the disk. The value must be a whole number followed by a size unitofKB for kilobyte,MB for megabyte,GB for gigabyte, orTB for terabyte. For example,10GB will produce a 10 gigabyte disk. Disksize must be a multiple of 1 GB. If not specified, the default image size willbe used for the new disk.
type
The type of the disk. To get a list of available disk types, run $gcloud compute disk-typeslist. The default disk type ispd-standard.
device-name
An optional name to display the disk name in the guest operating system. Must bethe same asname if used with--container-mount-disk.If omitted, a device name of the formpersistent-disk-N is used. Ifomitted and used with--container-mount-disk (where thename of the container mount disk is the same as in this flag), adevice name equal to diskname is used.
provisioned-iops
Indicates how many IOPS to provision for the disk. This sets the number of I/Ooperations per second that the disk can handle. Value must be between 10,000 and120,000.
provisioned-throughput
Indicates how much throughput to provision for the disk. This sets the number ofthroughput mb per second that the disk can handle.
disk-resource-policy
Resource policy to apply to the disk. Specify a full or partial URL. Forexample:
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/my-project/regions/us-central1/resourcePolicies/my-resource-policy
  • projects/my-project/regions/us-central1/resourcePolicies/my-resource-policy

For more information, see the following docs:

auto-delete
Ifyes, this persistent disk will beautomatically deleted when the instance is deleted. However, if the disk islater detached from the instance, this option won't apply. The default value forthis isyes.
architecture
Specifies the architecture or processor type that this disk can support. Foravailable processor types on Compute Engine, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/cpu-platforms.
storage-pool
The name of the storage pool in which the new disk is created. The new disk andthe storage pool must be in the same location.
interface
The interface to use with the disk. The value must be one of the following:
  • SCSI
  • NVME
multi-writer
Ifyes, the disk is created in multi-writermode so that it can be attached with read-write access to two VMs. The defaultvalue isno. The multi-writer featurerequires specialized filesystems, among other restrictions. For moreinformation, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/sharing-disks-between-vms.
replica-zones
Required for each regional disk associated with the instance. Specify the URLsof the zones where the disk should be replicated to. You must provide exactlytwo replica zones, and one zone must be the same as the instance zone.
labels
List of label KEY=VALUE pairs separated by: character to add tothe disk.

Example:Key1=Value1:Key2=Value2:Key3=Value3.Keys must start with a lowercase character and contain only hyphens(-), underscores (_), lowercase characters, andnumbers. Values must contain only hyphens (-), underscores(_), lowercase characters, and numbers.

--description=DESCRIPTION
Specifies a textual description of the instances.
--discard-local-ssds-at-termination-timestamp=DISCARD_LOCAL_SSDS_AT_TERMINATION_TIMESTAMP
Required to be set totrue and only allowed for VMs that have oneor more local SSDs, use --instance-termination-action=STOP, and use either--max-run-duration or --termination-time.

This flag indicates the value that you want Compute Engine to use for the--discard-local-ssd flag in the automaticgcloud compute instancesstop command. This flag only supports thetrue value,which discards local SSD data when automatically stopping this VM during itsterminationTimestamp.

For more information about the--discard-local-ssd flag, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/local-ssd#stop_instance.

--disk=[auto-delete=AUTO-DELETE],[boot=BOOT],[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[force-attach=FORCE-ATTACH],[interface=INTERFACE],[mode=MODE],[name=NAME],[scope=SCOPE]
Attaches an existing disk to the instances.
name
The disk to attach to the instances. If you create more than one instance, youcan only attach a disk in read-only mode. By default, you attach a zonal disklocated in the same zone of the instance. If you want to attach a regional disk,you must specify the disk using its URI; for example,projects/myproject/regions/us-central1/disks/my-regional-disk.
mode
The mode of the disk. Supported options arero for read-only mode andrw for read-write mode. If omitted,rw is used as a default value. If you userw when creating more than one instance,you encounter errors.
boot
If set toyes, you attach a boot disk. Thevirtual machine then uses the first partition of the disk for the root filesystems. The default value for this isno.
device-name
An optional name to display the disk name in the guest operating system. Must bethe same asname if used with--container-mount-disk.If omitted, a device name of the formpersistent-disk-N is used. Ifomitted and used with--container-mount-disk (where thename of the container mount disk is the same as in this flag), adevice name equal to diskname is used.
auto-delete
If set toyes, the persistent disk isautomatically deleted when the instance is deleted. However, if you detach thedisk from the instance, deleting the instance doesn't delete the disk. Thedefault value isyes.
interface
The interface to use for the disk. The value must be one of the following:
  • SCSI
  • NVME
scope
Can bezonal orregional. Ifzonal, the disk is interpreted as a zonaldisk in the same zone as the instance (default). Ifregional, the disk is interpreted as aregional disk in the same region as the instance. The default value for this iszonal.
force-attach
Ifyes, this persistent disk willforce-attached to the instance even it is already attached to another instance.The default value is 'no'.
--[no-]enable-nested-virtualization
If set to true, enables nested virtualization for the instance. Use--enable-nested-virtualization to enable and--no-enable-nested-virtualization to disable.
--external-ipv6-address=EXTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS
Assigns the given external IPv6 address to the instance that is created. Theaddress must be the first IP address in the range. This option can be used onlywhen creating a single instance.
--external-ipv6-prefix-length=EXTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH
The prefix length of the external IPv6 address range. This field should be usedtogether with--external-ipv6-address. Only the /96 IP addressrange is supported, and the default value is 96.
--graceful-shutdown
Enables graceful shutdown for the instance.
--graceful-shutdown-max-duration=GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN_MAX_DURATION
Specifies the maximum time for the graceful shutdown. After this time, theinstance is set to STOPPING even if tasks are still running. Specify the time asthe number of hours, minutes, or seconds followed by h, m, and s respectively.For example, specify 30m for 30 minutes or 20m10s for 20 minutes and 10 seconds.The value must be between 1 second and 1 hour.
--host-error-timeout-seconds=HOST_ERROR_TIMEOUT_SECONDS
The timeout in seconds for host error detection. The value must be set with 30second increments, with a range of 90 to 330 seconds. If unset, the defaultbehavior of the host error recovery is used.
--identity=IDENTITY
The workload identity to use for the instance.
--[no-]identity-certificate
Enables or disables managed workload identities on a VM. Use--identity-certificate to enable and--no-identity-certificate to disable.
--instance-termination-action=INSTANCE_TERMINATION_ACTION
Specifies the termination action that will be taken upon VM preemption(--provisioning-model=SPOT) or automatic instance termination(--max-run-duration or --termination-time).

INSTANCE_TERMINATION_ACTION must be one of:

DELETE
Permanently delete the VM.
STOP
Default only for Spot VMs. Stop the VM without preserving memory. The VM can berestarted later.
--internal-ipv6-address=INTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS
Assigns the given internal IPv6 address or range to the instance that iscreated. The address must be the first IP address in the range or from a /96 IPaddress range. This option can be used only when creating a single instance.
--internal-ipv6-prefix-length=INTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH
Optional field that indicates the prefix length of the internal IPv6 addressrange. It should be used together with --internal-ipv6-address. Only /96 IPaddress range is supported and the default value is 96. If not set, either theprefix length from --internal-ipv6-address will be used or the default value of96 will be assigned.
--ipv6-address=IPV6_ADDRESS
Assigns the given external IPv6 address to the instance that is created. Theaddress must be the first IP address in the range. This option can be used onlywhen creating a single instance.
--ipv6-network-tier=IPV6_NETWORK_TIER
Specifies the IPv6 network tier that will be used to configure the instancenetwork interface IPv6 access config.IPV6_NETWORK_TIERmust be (only one value is supported):
PREMIUM
High quality, Google-grade network tier.
--ipv6-prefix-length=IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH
The prefix length of the external IPv6 address range. This field should be usedtogether with--ipv6-address. Only the /96 IP address range issupported, and the default value is 96.
--labels=[KEY=VALUE,…]
List of label KEY=VALUE pairs to add.

Keys must start with a lowercase character and contain only hyphens(-), underscores (_), lowercase characters, andnumbers. Values must contain only hyphens (-), underscores(_), lowercase characters, and numbers.

--local-nvdimm=[size=SIZE]
Attaches a local NVDIMM to the instances.
size
Optional. Size of the NVDIMM disk. The value must be a whole number followed bya size unit ofKB for kilobyte,MB for megabyte,GB for gigabyte, orTB for terabyte. For example,3TB will produce a 3 terabyte disk. Allowedvalues are: 3TB and 6TB and the default is 3 TB.
--local-ssd=[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[interface=INTERFACE],[size=SIZE]
Attaches a local SSD to the instances.
device-name
Optional. A name that indicates the disk name the guest operating system willsee. Can only be specified ifinterface isSCSI. Ifomitted, a device name of the formlocal-ssd-N will be used.
interface
Optional. The kind of disk interface exposed to the VM for this SSD. Validvalues areSCSI andNVME. SCSI is the default and is supportedby more guest operating systems. NVME might provide higher performance.
size
Optional. The only valid value is375GB.Specify the--local-ssd flag multiple timesif you need multiple375GB local SSDpartitions. You can specify a maximum of 24 local SSDs for a maximum of9TB attached to an instance.
--local-ssd-recovery-timeout=LOCAL_SSD_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT
Specifies the maximum amount of time a Local Ssd Vm should wait while recoveryof the Local Ssd state is attempted. Its value should be in between 0 and 168hours with hour granularity and the default value being 1 hour.
--machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE
Specifies the machine type used for the instances. To get a list of availablemachine types, run 'gcloud compute machine-types list'. If unspecified, thedefault type is n1-standard-1.
--max-run-duration=MAX_RUN_DURATION
Limits how long this VM instance can run, specified as a duration relative tothe last time when the VM began running. Format the duration, MAX_RUN_DURATION,as the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds followed by d, h, m, and srespectively. For example, specify30m for a duration of 30 minutesor specify1d2h3m4s for a duration of 1 day, 2 hours, 3 minutes,and 4 seconds. Alternatively, to specify a timestamp, use --termination-timeinstead.

If neither --max-run-duration nor --termination-time is specified (default), theVM instance runs until prompted by a user action or system event. If either isspecified, the VM instance is scheduled to be automatically terminated at theVM's termination timestamp (terminationTimestamp) using the actionspecified by --instance-termination-action.

Note: TheterminationTimestamp is removed whenever the VM isstopped or suspended and redefined whenever the VM is rerun. For--max-run-duration specifically, theterminationTimestamp is thesum of MAX_RUN_DURATION and the time when the VM last entered theRUNNING state, which changes whenever the VM is rerun.

--metadata=KEY=VALUE,[KEY=VALUE,…]
Metadata to be made available to the guest operating system running on theinstances. Each metadata entry is a key/value pair separated by an equals sign.Each metadata key must be unique and have a max of 128 bytes in length. Eachvalue must have a max of 256 KB in length. Multiple arguments can be passed tothis flag, e.g.,--metadatakey-1=value-1,key-2=value-2,key-3=value-3. The combinedtotal size for all metadata entries is 512 KB.

In images that have Compute Engine tools installed on them, such as theofficial images, thefollowing metadata keys have special meanings:

startup-script
Specifies a script that will be executed by the instances once they startrunning. For convenience,--metadata-from-file can be used to pullthe value from a file.
startup-script-url
Same asstartup-script except that thescript contents are pulled from a publicly-accessible location on the web.For startup scripts on Windows instances, the following metadata keys havespecial meanings:windows-startup-script-url,windows-startup-script-cmd,windows-startup-script-bat,windows-startup-script-ps1,sysprep-specialize-script-url,sysprep-specialize-script-cmd,sysprep-specialize-script-bat, andsysprep-specialize-script-ps1. For moreinformation, seeRunning startupscripts.
--metadata-from-file=KEY=LOCAL_FILE_PATH,[…]
Same as--metadata except that the valuefor the entry will be read from a local file. This is useful for values that aretoo large such asstartup-script contents.
--min-cpu-platform=PLATFORM
When specified, the VM will be scheduled on host with specified CPU architectureor a newer one. To list available CPU platforms in given zone, run:
gcloudalphacomputezonesdescribeZONE--format="value(availableCpuPlatforms)"

Default setting is "AUTOMATIC".

CPU platform selection is available only in selected zones.

You can find more information on-line:https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/specify-min-cpu-platform

--network=NETWORK
Specifies the network that the VM instances are a part of. If--subnet is also specified, subnet must be a subnetwork of thenetwork specified by this--network flag. If neither is specified,the default network is used.
--network-interface=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]
Adds a network interface to the instance. Mutually exclusive with any of theseflags:--address,--network,--network-tier,--subnet,--private-network-ip,--stack-type,--ipv6-network-tier,--internal-ipv6-address,--internal-ipv6-prefix-length,--ipv6-address,--ipv6-prefix-length,--external-ipv6-address,--external-ipv6-prefix-length. This flag can be repeated to specifymultiple network interfaces.

The following keys are allowed:

address
Assigns the given external address to the instance that is created. Specifyingan empty string will assign an ephemeral IP. Mutually exclusive with no-address.If neither key is present the instance will get an ephemeral IP.
network
Specifies the network that the interface will be part of. If subnet is alsospecified it must be subnetwork of this network. If neither is specified, thisdefaults to the "default" network.
no-address
If specified the interface will have no external IP. Mutually exclusive withaddress. If neither key is present the instance will get an ephemeral IP.
network-tier
Specifies the network tier of the interface.NETWORK_TIER must be one of:PREMIUM,STANDARD. The default value isPREMIUM.
private-network-ip
Assigns the given RFC1918 IP address to the interface.
subnet
Specifies the subnet that the interface will be part of. If network key is alsospecified this must be a subnetwork of the specified network.
nic-type
Specifies the Network Interface Controller (NIC) type for the interface.NIC_TYPE must be one of:GVNIC,VIRTIO_NET.
stack-type
Specifies whether IPv6 is enabled on the interface.STACK_TYPE must be one of:IPV4_ONLY,IPV4_IPV6,IPV6_ONLY. Thedefault value isIPV4_ONLY.
ipv6-network-tier
Specifies the IPv6 network tier that will be used to configure the instancenetwork interface IPv6 access config.IPV6_NETWORK_TIER must bePREMIUM (currently only one value is supported).
internal-ipv6-address
Assigns the given internal IPv6 address or range to the instance that iscreated. The address must be the first IP address in the range or from a /96 IPaddress range. This option can be used only when creating a single instance.
internal-ipv6-prefix-length
Optional field that indicates the prefix length of the internal IPv6 addressrange. It should be used together with internal-ipv6-address. Only /96 IPaddress range is supported and the default value is 96. If not set, either theprefix length from --internal-ipv6-address will be used or the default value of96 will be assigned.
external-ipv6-address
Assigns the given external IPv6 address to the instance that is created. Theaddress must be the first IP address in the range. This option can be used onlywhen creating a single instance.
external-ipv6-prefix-length
The prefix length of the external IPv6 address range. This field should be usedtogether with external-ipv6-address. Only the /96 IP address range is supported,and the default value is 96.
aliases
Specifies the IP alias ranges to allocate for this interface. If there aremultiple IP alias ranges, they are separated by semicolons.

For example:

--aliases="10.128.1.0/24;range1:/32"
Each IP alias range consists of a range name and an IP range separated by acolon, or just the IP range. The range name is the name of the range within thenetwork interface's subnet from which to allocate an IP alias range. Ifunspecified, it defaults to the primary IP range of the subnet. The IP range canbe a CIDR range (e.g.192.168.100.0/24), a single IP address (e.g.192.168.100.1), or a netmask in CIDR format (e.g./24). If the IP range is specified by CIDR range or single IPaddress, it must belong to the CIDR range specified by the range name on thesubnet. If the IP range is specified by netmask, the IP allocator will pick anavailable range with the specified netmask and allocate it to this networkinterface.
network-attachment
Specifies the network attachment that this interface should connect to. Mutuallyexclusive with--network and--subnet flags.
vlan
VLAN ID of a Dynamic Network Interface, must be an integer in the range from 2to 255 inclusively.
--network-performance-configs=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]
Configures network performance settings for the instance. If this flag is notspecified, the instance will be created with its default network performanceconfiguration.
total-egress-bandwidth-tier
Total egress bandwidth is the available outbound bandwidth from a VM, regardlessof whether the traffic is going to internal IP or external IP destinations. Thefollowing tier values are allowed: [DEFAULT,TIER_1]
--network-tier=NETWORK_TIER
Specifies the network tier that will be used to configure the instance.NETWORK_TIER must be one of:PREMIUM,STANDARD. The default value isPREMIUM.
--numa-node-count=NUMA_NODE_COUNT
The number of virtual NUMA nodes for the instance. Valid values are: 0, 1, 2, 4or 8. Setting NUMA node count to 0 means using the default setting.
--preemptible
If provided, instances will be preemptible and time-limited. Instances might bepreempted to free up resources for standard VM instances, and will only be ableto run for a limited amount of time. Preemptible instances can not be restartedand will not migrate.
--private-ipv6-google-access-type=PRIVATE_IPV6_GOOGLE_ACCESS_TYPE
The private IPv6 Google access type for the VM.PRIVATE_IPV6_GOOGLE_ACCESS_TYPE must be one of:enable-bidirectional-access,enable-outbound-vm-access,inherit-subnetwork.
--private-network-ip=PRIVATE_NETWORK_IP
Specifies the RFC1918 IP to assign to the instance. The IP should be in thesubnet or legacy network IP range.
--provisioning-model=PROVISIONING_MODEL
Specifies the provisioning model for your VM instances. This choice affects theprice, availability, and how long your VM instances can run.PROVISIONING_MODEL must be one of:
FLEX_START
The VM instance is provisioned using the Flex Start provisioning model and has alimited runtime.
RESERVATION_BOUND
The VM instances run for the entire duration of their associated reservation.You can only specify this provisioning model if you want your VM instances toconsume a specific reservation with either a calendar reservation mode or adense deployment type.
SPOT
Compute Engine may stop a Spot VM instance whenever it needs capacity. BecauseSpot VM instances don't have a guaranteed runtime, they come at a discountedprice.
STANDARD
The default option. The STANDARD provisioning model gives you full control overyour VM instances' runtime.
--request-valid-for-duration=REQUEST_VALID_FOR_DURATION
When you create an instance by using the FLEX_START provisioning model, you canspecify the duration to wait for available resources. If the instance creationrequest is still pending after this duration, then the request fails. Youspecify a duration by using numbers followed byh,m,ands for hours, minutes, and seconds, respectively. For example,specify30m for a duration of 30 minutes, or1h2m3sfor 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 3 seconds. Longer durations give you higher chancesthat your instance creation request succeeds when resources are in high demand.
--resource-policies=[RESOURCE_POLICY,…]
A list of resource policy names to be added to the instance. The policies mustexist in the same region as the instance.
--restart-on-failure
The instances will be restarted if they are terminated by Compute Engine. Thisdoes not affect terminations performed by the user. Enabled by default, use--no-restart-on-failure to disable.
--shielded-integrity-monitoring
Enables monitoring and attestation of the boot integrity of the instance. Theattestation is performed against the integrity policy baseline. This baseline isinitially derived from the implicitly trusted boot image when the instance iscreated. This baseline can be updated by usinggcloud compute instancesupdate-container --shielded-learn-integrity-policy. On Shielded VMinstances, integrity monitoring is enabled by default. For information about howto modify Shielded VM options, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/modifying-shielded-vm.For information about monitoring integrity on Shielded VM instances, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/integrity-monitoring."
--shielded-secure-boot
The instance boots with secure boot enabled. On Shielded VM instances, SecureBoot is not enabled by default. For information about how to modify Shielded VMoptions, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/modifying-shielded-vm.
--shielded-vtpm
The instance boots with the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) enabled. A TPM is ahardware module that can be used for different security operations such asremote attestation, encryption, and sealing of keys. On Shielded VM instances,vTPM is enabled by default. For information about how to modify Shielded VMoptions, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/modifying-shielded-vm.
--[no-]skip-guest-os-shutdown
If enabled, then, when the instance is stopped or deleted, the instance isimmediately stopped without giving time to the guest OS to cleanly shut down.Use--skip-guest-os-shutdown to enable and--no-skip-guest-os-shutdown to disable.
--source-instance-template=SOURCE_INSTANCE_TEMPLATE
The name of the instance template that the instance will be created from. Aninstance template can be a global/regional resource.

Users can override instance properties using other flags.

--stack-type=STACK_TYPE
Specifies whether IPv6 is enabled on the default network interface. If notspecified, IPV4_ONLY will be used.STACK_TYPE must beone of:
IPV4_IPV6
The network interface can have both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
IPV4_ONLY
The network interface will be assigned IPv4 addresses
IPV6_ONLY
The network interface will be assigned IPv6 addresses
--subnet=SUBNET
Specifies the subnet that the VM instances are a part of. If--network is also specified, subnet must be a subnetwork of thenetwork specified by the--network flag.
--tags=TAG,[TAG,…]
Specifies a list of tags to apply to the instance. These tags allow networkfirewall rules and routes to be applied to specified VM instances. Seegcloud computefirewall-rules create(1) for more details.

To read more about configuring network tags, read this guide:https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/add-remove-network-tags

To list instances with their respective status and tags, run:

gcloudcomputeinstanceslist--format='table(name,status,tags.list())'

To list instances tagged with a specific tag,tag1, run:

gcloudcomputeinstanceslist--filter='tags:tag1'
--termination-time=TERMINATION_TIME
Limits how long this VM instance can run, specified as a time. Format the time,TERMINATION_TIME, as a RFC 3339 timestamp. For more information, seehttps://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3339.Alternatively, to specify a duration, use --max-run-duration instead.

If neither --termination-time nor --max-run-duration is specified (default), theVM instance runs until prompted by a user action or system event. If either isspecified, the VM instance is scheduled to be automatically terminated at theVM's termination timestamp (terminationTimestamp) using the actionspecified by --instance-termination-action.

Note: TheterminationTimestamp is removed whenever the VM isstopped or suspended and redefined whenever the VM is rerun. For--termination-time specifically, theterminationTimestamp remainsthe same whenever the VM is rerun, but any requests to rerun the VM fail if thespecified timestamp is in the past.

--threads-per-core=THREADS_PER_CORE
The number of visible threads per physical core. To disable simultaneousmultithreading (SMT) set this to 1. Valid values are: 1 or 2.

For more information about configuring SMT, see:https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/configuring-simultaneous-multithreading.

--visible-core-count=VISIBLE_CORE_COUNT
The number of physical cores to expose to the instance's guest operating system.The number of virtual CPUs visible to the instance's guest operating system isthis number of cores multiplied by the instance's count of visible threads perphysical core.
--zone=ZONE
Zone of the instances to create. If not specified, you might be prompted toselect a zone (interactive mode only).gcloud attempts to identify theappropriate zone by searching for resources in your currently active project. Ifthe zone cannot be determined,gcloud prompts you for a selection withall available Google Cloud Platform zones.

To avoid prompting when this flag is omitted, the user can set thecompute/zone property:

gcloudconfigsetcompute/zoneZONE

A list of zones can be fetched by running:

gcloudcomputezoneslist

To unset the property, run:

gcloudconfigunsetcompute/zone

Alternatively, the zone can be stored in the environment variableCLOUDSDK_COMPUTE_ZONE.

At most one of these can be specified:
--address=ADDRESS
Assigns the given external address to the instance that is created. The addressmight be an IP address or the name or URI of an address resource. This optioncan only be used when creating a single instance.
--no-address
If provided, the instances are not assigned external IP addresses. To pullcontainer images, you must configure private Google access if using ContainerRegistry or configure Cloud NAT for instances to access container imagesdirectly. For more information, see:
At most one of these can be specified:
--confidential-compute
(DEPRECATED) The instance boots with Confidential Computing enabled.Confidential Computing is based on Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV), an AMDvirtualization feature for running confidential instances.

The --confidential-compute flag will soon be deprecated. Please use--confidential-compute-type=SEV instead

--confidential-compute-type=CONFIDENTIAL_COMPUTE_TYPE
The instance boots with Confidential Computing enabled. Confidential Computingcan be based on Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) or Secure EncryptedVirtualization - Secure Nested Paging (SEV-SNP), both of which are AMDvirtualization features for running confidential instances. Trust DomaineXtension based on Intel virtualization features for running confidentialinstances is also supported.CONFIDENTIAL_COMPUTE_TYPEmust be one of:
SEV
Secure Encrypted Virtualization
SEV_SNP
Secure Encrypted Virtualization - Secure Nested Paging
TDX
Trust Domain eXtension
Custom machine type extensions.
--custom-cpu=CUSTOM_CPU
A whole number value specifying the number of cores that are needed in thecustom machine type.

For some machine types, shared-core values can also be used. For example, for E2machine types, you can specifymicro,small, ormedium.

This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this groupare specified.

--custom-memory=CUSTOM_MEMORY
A whole number value indicating how much memory is desired in the custom machinetype. A size unit should be provided (eg. 3072MB or 9GB) - if no units arespecified, GB is assumed.

This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this groupare specified.

--custom-extensions
Use the extended custom machine type.
--custom-vm-type=CUSTOM_VM_TYPE
Specifies a custom machine type. The default isn1. For moreinformation about custom machine types, see:https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/general-purpose-machines#custom_machine_types
--image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT
The Google Cloud project against which all image and image family referenceswill be resolved. It is best practice to define image-project. A full list ofavailable projects can be generated by runninggcloud projects list.
  • If specifying one of our public images, image-project must be provided.
  • If there are several of the same image-family value in multiple projects,image-project must be specified to clarify the image to be used.
  • If not specified and either image or image-family is provided, the currentdefault project is used.
At most one of these can be specified:
--image=IMAGE
Specifies the boot image for the instances. For each instance, a new boot diskwill be created from the given image. Each boot disk will have the same name asthe instance. To view a list of public images and projects, run$gcloud compute imageslist. It is best practice to use--image when a specificversion of an image is needed.

When using this option,--boot-disk-device-name and--boot-disk-size can be used to overridethe boot disk's device name and size, respectively.

--image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY
The image family for the operating system that the boot disk will be initializedwith. Compute Engine offers multiple Linux distributions, some of which areavailable as both regular and Shielded VM images. When a family is specifiedinstead of an image, the latest non-deprecated image associated with that familyis used. It is best practice to use--image-family when the latestversion of an image is needed.

By default,debian-12 is assumed for thisflag.

Maintenance Behavior.

At most one of these can be specified:

--maintenance-policy=MAINTENANCE_POLICY
(DEPRECATED) Specifies the behavior of the VMs when their host machines undergomaintenance. The default is MIGRATE. For more information, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/host-maintenance-options.

The --maintenance-policy flag is now deprecated. Please use--on-host-maintenance instead.MAINTENANCE_POLICY must be one of:

MIGRATE
The instances should be migrated to a new host. This will temporarily impact theperformance of instances during a migration event.
TERMINATE
The instances should be terminated.
--on-host-maintenance=MAINTENANCE_POLICY
Specifies the behavior of the VMs when their host machines undergo maintenance.The default is MIGRATE. For more information, seehttps://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/host-maintenance-options.MAINTENANCE_POLICY must be one of:
MIGRATE
The instances should be migrated to a new host. This will temporarily impact theperformance of instances during a migration event.
TERMINATE
The instances should be terminated.
At most one of these can be specified:
--public-dns
Assigns a public DNS name to the instance.
--no-public-dns
If provided, the instance will not be assigned a public DNS name.
At most one of these can be specified:
--public-ptr
Creates a DNS PTR record for the external IP of the instance.
--no-public-ptr
If provided, no DNS PTR record is created for the external IP of the instance.Mutually exclusive with public-ptr-domain.
At most one of these can be specified:
--public-ptr-domain=PUBLIC_PTR_DOMAIN
Assigns a custom PTR domain for the external IP of the instance. Mutuallyexclusive with no-public-ptr.
--no-public-ptr-domain
If both this flag and --public-ptr are specified, creates a DNS PTR record forthe external IP of the instance with the PTR domain name being the DNS name ofthe instance.
Specifies the reservation for the instance.
--reservation=RESERVATION
The name of the reservation, required when--reservation-affinityis one of:specific,specific-then-any-reservation orspecific-then-no-reservation.
--reservation-affinity=RESERVATION_AFFINITY; default="any"
The type of reservation for the instance.RESERVATION_AFFINITY must be one of:
any
Consume any available, matching reservation.
none
Do not consume from any reserved capacity.
specific
Must consume from a specific reservation.
specific-then-any-reservation
Prefer to consume from a specific reservation, but still consume any availablematching reservation if the specified reservation is not available or exhausted.
specific-then-no-reservation
Prefer to consume from a specific reservation, but still consume from theon-demand pool if the specified reservation is not available or exhausted.
At most one of these can be specified:
--scopes=[SCOPE,…]
If not provided, the instance will be assigned the default scopes, describedbelow.

SCOPE can be either the full URI of the scope or an alias.Defaultscopes are assigned to all instances. Available aliases are:

AliasURI
bigqueryhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/bigquery
cloud-platformhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform
cloud-source-reposhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.full_control
cloud-source-repos-rohttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.read_only
compute-rohttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute.readonly
compute-rwhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute
datastorehttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/datastore
defaulthttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
gke-defaulthttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
logging-writehttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
monitoringhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring
monitoring-readhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.read
monitoring-writehttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write
pubsubhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub
service-controlhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
service-managementhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
sql (deprecated)https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice
sql-adminhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice.admin
storage-fullhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.full_control
storage-rohttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
storage-rwhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_write
taskqueuehttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/taskqueue
tracehttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
userinfo-emailhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email
DEPRECATION WARNING:https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlserviceaccount scope andsql alias do not provide SQL instance managementcapabilities and have been deprecated. Please, usehttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice.adminorsql-admin to manage your Google SQL Service instances.
--no-scopes
Create instance without scopes
At most one of these can be specified:
--service-account=SERVICE_ACCOUNT
A service account is an identity attached to the instance. Its access tokens canbe accessed through the instance metadata server and are used to authenticateapplications on the instance. The account can be set using an email addresscorresponding to the required service account.

If not provided, the instance will use the project's default service account.

--no-service-account
Create instance without service account
GCLOUD WIDE FLAGS
These flags are available to all commands:--access-token-file,--account,--billing-project,--configuration,--flags-file,--flatten,--format,--help,--impersonate-service-account,--log-http,--project,--quiet,--trace-token,--user-output-enabled,--verbosity.

Run$gcloud help for details.

NOTES
This command is currently in alpha and might change without notice. If thiscommand fails with API permission errors despite specifying the correct project,you might be trying to access an API with an invitation-only early accessallowlist. These variants are also available:
gcloudcomputeinstancescreate-with-container
gcloudbetacomputeinstancescreate-with-container

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Last updated 2025-11-04 UTC.