Get, List, and Delete Instance Templates

This page describes how to get, list, and delete instance templates.

Before you begin

Get information about an instance template

When you view an existing instance template, you can see its name, unique ID,creation timestamp, and all the instance properties that it specifies.

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Instance Templates page.

    Go to the Instance templates page

  2. Click the name of the instance template to see the details of thetemplate.

gcloud

To get information about a regional or a global instance template, use theinstance-templates describe command.

For a regional instance template, use the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates describeINSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME_OR_ID \    --region=REGION

For a global instance template, use the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates describeINSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME_OR_ID

Go

import("context""fmt"compute"cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"computepb"cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1/computepb")// getInstanceTemplate retrieves an instance template, which you can use to create virtual machine// (VM) instances and managed instance groups (MIGs).funcgetInstanceTemplate(projectID,templateNamestring)(*computepb.InstanceTemplate,error){// projectID := "your_project_id"// templateName := "your_template_name"ctx:=context.Background()instanceTemplatesClient,err:=compute.NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient(ctx)iferr!=nil{returnnil,fmt.Errorf("NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient: %w",err)}deferinstanceTemplatesClient.Close()req:=&computepb.GetInstanceTemplateRequest{Project:projectID,InstanceTemplate:templateName,}returninstanceTemplatesClient.Get(ctx,req)}

Java

importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.GetInstanceTemplateRequest;importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplate;importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplatesClient;importjava.io.IOException;publicclassGetInstanceTemplate{publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args)throwsIOException{// TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.// projectId: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.// templateName: name of the template to retrieve.StringprojectId="your-project-id";StringtemplateName="template-name";getInstanceTemplate(projectId,templateName);}//  Retrieve an instance template, which you can use to create virtual machine//  (VM) instances and managed instance groups (MIGs).publicstaticvoidgetInstanceTemplate(StringprojectId,StringtemplateName)throwsIOException{try(InstanceTemplatesClientinstanceTemplatesClient=InstanceTemplatesClient.create()){GetInstanceTemplateRequestgetInstanceTemplateRequest=GetInstanceTemplateRequest.newBuilder().setProject(projectId).setInstanceTemplate(templateName).build();InstanceTemplateinstanceTemplate=instanceTemplatesClient.get(getInstanceTemplateRequest);System.out.println("Instance Template retrieved: "+instanceTemplate.getName());}}}

Node.js

/** * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample. */// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';// const templateName = 'your_template_name';constcompute=require('@google-cloud/compute');// Retrieve an instance template, which you can use to create// virtual machine (VM) instances and managed instance groups (MIGs).asyncfunctiongetInstanceTemplate(){constinstanceTemplatesClient=newcompute.InstanceTemplatesClient();const[instance]=awaitinstanceTemplatesClient.get({project:projectId,instanceTemplate:templateName,});console.log('Instance template:',instance);}getInstanceTemplate();

Python

fromgoogle.cloudimportcompute_v1defget_instance_template(project_id:str,template_name:str)->compute_v1.InstanceTemplate:"""    Retrieve an instance template, which you can use to create virtual machine    (VM) instances and managed instance groups (MIGs).    Args:        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.        template_name: name of the template to retrieve.    Returns:        InstanceTemplate object that represents the retrieved template.    """template_client=compute_v1.InstanceTemplatesClient()returntemplate_client.get(project=project_id,instance_template=template_name)

REST

To get information about a regional instance template, use theregionInstanceTemplates.get methodas follows:

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/instanceTemplates/INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME_OR_ID

To get information about a global instance template, use theinstanceTemplates.get methodas follows:

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/[PROJECT_ID]/global/instanceTemplates/[INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME_OR_ID]

List instance templates

To get a list of instance templates you created:

Console

The Instance Templates page lists all of the instance templates in yourproject.

Go to the Instance Templates page

gcloud

To get a list of all regional instance templates, use thefollowing command:

gcloud compute instance-templates list \    --regions

To get a list of regional instance templates in a specific region, use thefollowing command:

gcloud compute instance-templates list \    --filter="region:(REGION)"

To get a list of global instance templates, use the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates list \    --global

To get a list of all instance templates, including the regional and global,use the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates list

Go

import("context""fmt""io"compute"cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"computepb"cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1/computepb""google.golang.org/api/iterator")// listInstanceTemplates prints a list of InstanceTemplate objects available in a project.funclistInstanceTemplates(wio.Writer,projectIDstring)error{// projectID := "your_project_id"ctx:=context.Background()instanceTemplatesClient,err:=compute.NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient(ctx)iferr!=nil{returnfmt.Errorf("NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient: %w",err)}deferinstanceTemplatesClient.Close()req:=&computepb.ListInstanceTemplatesRequest{Project:projectID,}it:=instanceTemplatesClient.List(ctx,req)for{instance,err:=it.Next()iferr==iterator.Done{break}iferr!=nil{returnerr}fmt.Fprintf(w,"- %s %s\n",instance.GetName(),instance.GetProperties().GetMachineType())}returnnil}

Java

importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplate;importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplatesClient;importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplatesClient.ListPagedResponse;importjava.io.IOException;publicclassListInstanceTemplates{publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args)throwsIOException{// TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.// projectId: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.StringprojectId="your-project-id";listInstanceTemplates(projectId);}// Get a list of InstanceTemplate objects available in a project.publicstaticListPagedResponselistInstanceTemplates(StringprojectId)throwsIOException{try(InstanceTemplatesClientinstanceTemplatesClient=InstanceTemplatesClient.create()){intcount=0;System.out.println("Listing instance templates...");ListPagedResponsetemplates=instanceTemplatesClient.list(projectId);for(InstanceTemplateinstanceTemplate:templates.iterateAll()){System.out.printf("%s. %s%n",++count,instanceTemplate.getName());}returntemplates;}}}

Node.js

/** * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample. */// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';constcompute=require('@google-cloud/compute');// Print a list of instance template objects available in a project.asyncfunctionlistInstanceTemplates(){constinstanceTemplatesClient=newcompute.InstanceTemplatesClient();constinstanceTemplates=instanceTemplatesClient.listAsync({project:projectId,});forawait(constinstanceTemplateofinstanceTemplates){console.log(` -${instanceTemplate.name}`);}}listInstanceTemplates();

Python

from__future__importannotationsfromcollections.abcimportIterablefromgoogle.cloudimportcompute_v1deflist_instance_templates(project_id:str)->Iterable[compute_v1.InstanceTemplate]:"""    Get a list of InstanceTemplate objects available in a project.    Args:        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.    Returns:        Iterable list of InstanceTemplate objects.    """template_client=compute_v1.InstanceTemplatesClient()returntemplate_client.list(project=project_id)

REST

To get a list of regional instance templates, make aregionInstanceTemplates.listrequest:

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT/regions/REGION/instanceTemplates

To get a list of global instance templates, make ainstanceTemplates.listrequest:

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/instanceTemplates

Delete an instance template

Deleting an instance template removes it from your list of templates. Youcannot delete an instance template if a managed instance group references it.

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Instance Templates page.

    Go to the Instance Templates page

  2. Select the instance templates you want to delete.
  3. ClickDelete.

gcloud

Using the Google Cloud CLI, run:

gcloud compute instance-templates deleteINSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME

For a regional instance template,INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME mustcontain the full URL of the template. For example,https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/example-project/regions/us-central1/instanceTemplates/example-regional-instance-template.

Go

import("context""fmt""io"compute"cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"computepb"cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1/computepb")// deleteInstanceTemplate deletes an instance template.funcdeleteInstanceTemplate(wio.Writer,projectID,templateNamestring)error{// projectID := "your_project_id"// templateName := "your_template_name"ctx:=context.Background()instanceTemplatesClient,err:=compute.NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient(ctx)iferr!=nil{returnfmt.Errorf("NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient: %w",err)}deferinstanceTemplatesClient.Close()req:=&computepb.DeleteInstanceTemplateRequest{Project:projectID,InstanceTemplate:templateName,}op,err:=instanceTemplatesClient.Delete(ctx,req)iferr!=nil{returnfmt.Errorf("unable to delete instance template: %w",err)}iferr=op.Wait(ctx);err!=nil{returnfmt.Errorf("unable to wait for the operation: %w",err)}fmt.Fprintf(w,"Instance template deleted\n")returnnil}

Java

importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.DeleteInstanceTemplateRequest;importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplatesClient;importcom.google.cloud.compute.v1.Operation;importjava.io.IOException;importjava.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;importjava.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;importjava.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;publicclassDeleteInstanceTemplate{publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args)throwsIOException,ExecutionException,InterruptedException,TimeoutException{// TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.// projectId: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.// templateName: name of the new template to create.StringprojectId="your-project-id";StringtemplateName="template-name";deleteInstanceTemplate(projectId,templateName);}// Delete an instance template.publicstaticvoiddeleteInstanceTemplate(StringprojectId,StringtemplateName)throwsIOException,ExecutionException,InterruptedException,TimeoutException{try(InstanceTemplatesClientinstanceTemplatesClient=InstanceTemplatesClient.create()){DeleteInstanceTemplateRequestdeleteInstanceTemplateRequest=DeleteInstanceTemplateRequest.newBuilder().setProject(projectId).setInstanceTemplate(templateName).build();Operationresponse=instanceTemplatesClient.deleteAsync(deleteInstanceTemplateRequest).get(3,TimeUnit.MINUTES);if(response.hasError()){System.out.println("Instance template deletion failed ! ! "+response);return;}System.out.printf("Instance template deletion operation status for %s: %s ",templateName,response.getStatus());}}}

Node.js

/** * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample. */// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';// const templateName = 'your_template_name';constcompute=require('@google-cloud/compute');// Delete an instance template.asyncfunctiondeleteInstanceTemplate(){constinstanceTemplatesClient=newcompute.InstanceTemplatesClient();const[response]=awaitinstanceTemplatesClient.delete({project:projectId,instanceTemplate:templateName,});letoperation=response.latestResponse;constoperationsClient=newcompute.GlobalOperationsClient();// Wait for the create operation to complete.while(operation.status!=='DONE'){[operation]=awaitoperationsClient.wait({operation:operation.name,project:projectId,});}console.log('Instance template deleted.');}deleteInstanceTemplate();

Python

from__future__importannotationsimportsysfromtypingimportAnyfromgoogle.api_core.extended_operationimportExtendedOperationfromgoogle.cloudimportcompute_v1defwait_for_extended_operation(operation:ExtendedOperation,verbose_name:str="operation",timeout:int=300)->Any:"""    Waits for the extended (long-running) operation to complete.    If the operation is successful, it will return its result.    If the operation ends with an error, an exception will be raised.    If there were any warnings during the execution of the operation    they will be printed to sys.stderr.    Args:        operation: a long-running operation you want to wait on.        verbose_name: (optional) a more verbose name of the operation,            used only during error and warning reporting.        timeout: how long (in seconds) to wait for operation to finish.            If None, wait indefinitely.    Returns:        Whatever the operation.result() returns.    Raises:        This method will raise the exception received from `operation.exception()`        or RuntimeError if there is no exception set, but there is an `error_code`        set for the `operation`.        In case of an operation taking longer than `timeout` seconds to complete,        a `concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` will be raised.    """result=operation.result(timeout=timeout)ifoperation.error_code:print(f"Error during{verbose_name}: [Code:{operation.error_code}]:{operation.error_message}",file=sys.stderr,flush=True,)print(f"Operation ID:{operation.name}",file=sys.stderr,flush=True)raiseoperation.exception()orRuntimeError(operation.error_message)ifoperation.warnings:print(f"Warnings during{verbose_name}:\n",file=sys.stderr,flush=True)forwarninginoperation.warnings:print(f" -{warning.code}:{warning.message}",file=sys.stderr,flush=True)returnresultdefdelete_instance_template(project_id:str,template_name:str)->None:"""    Delete an instance template.    Args:        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.        template_name: name of the template to delete.    """template_client=compute_v1.InstanceTemplatesClient()operation=template_client.delete(project=project_id,instance_template=template_name)wait_for_extended_operation(operation,"instance template deletion")

REST

To delete a regional instance template, make aregionInstanceTemplates.delete request:

DELETE https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/instanceTemplates/INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME

To delete a global instance template, make ainstanceTemplates.deleterequest:

DELETE https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/instanceTemplates/INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME

Sometimes the VMs in a managed instance group can be out of sync with therest of the group, and use a different instance template than the rest of thegroup. If a VM in a managed instance group uses a different template thanwhat is specified on the group, that VM will continue to use its templateforrepair even if that templateis deleted. For more information about applying a new instance template, seeApplying new configurations to VMs in a MIG.

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Last updated 2025-12-15 UTC.