Create a test table
This page describes the steps to create a small Bigtable table that you can use to test code snippets. The table contains time-series data for smartphones and tablets.
These instructions use the Google Cloud console and the
cbt CLI
, a
command-line interface built specifically for Bigtable.
Before you begin
Before creating a test table, complete the following prerequisites.
Set up authentication
In the Google Cloud console, activate Cloud Shell.
At the bottom of the Google Cloud console, a Cloud Shell session starts and displays a command-line prompt. Cloud Shell is a shell environment with the Google Cloud CLI already installed and with values already set for your current project. It can take a few seconds for the session to initialize.
For information about setting up authentication for a production environment, see Set up Application Default Credentials for code running on Google Cloud.
Grant IAM role
To get the permissions that you need to create a test table,
ask your administrator to grant you the
Bigtable Administrator (roles/bigtable.admin) IAM role on your project.
For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.
You might also be able to get the required permissions through custom roles or other predefined roles.
Install the
cbt CLI
Run the following command to install the
cbt CLI
:
gcloud components install cbt
Create an instance
In the project of your choice, create a test instance to store your test table. The table is small, so you only need a single-node instance.
Open the Create instance page in the Google Cloud console.
For Instance name, enter
Test instance.For Instance ID, enter
test-instance.For Storage type, select SSD.
For Cluster ID, enter
test-instance-c1.For Region, select a region near you.
For Zone, select a zone in the region you selected.
Under Nodes, enter
1.Click Create to create the instance.
Connect to the instance
Configure the
cbtCLI to use your project and instance by creating a.cbtrcfile, replacingPROJECT_IDwith the ID for the project where you created your Bigtable instance:echo project = PROJECT_ID >> ~/.cbtrc && echo instance = test-instance >> ~/.cbtrc
Verify that you set up the
.cbtrcfile correctly:cat ~/.cbtrc
The terminal displays the contents of the
.cbtrcfile, which looks similar to the following:project = PROJECT_ID instance = test-instance
Now you can use the
cbtCLI with your instance.
Create a test table
Create a table named
test_tablethat has two column families. For each column family, set a garbage collection policy to keep a maximum of 2 cells per column:cbt createtable test_table "families=stats_summary:maxversions=2,stats_detail:maxversions=2,cell_plan:maxversions=2"List the column families:
cbt ls test_tableThe terminal displays output similar to the following:
Family Name GC Policy ----------- --------- stats_detail versions() > 2 stats_summary versions() > 2 cell_plan versions() > 2
Populate the table
Copy the following commands into your terminal window and press
Enter.cbt set test_table phone#4c410523#20190501 stats_summary:connected_cell=1 stats_summary:connected_wifi=1 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190405.003 cell_plan:data_plan_01gb=true cell_plan:data_plan_05gb=true cbt set test_table phone#4c410523#20190502 stats_summary:connected_cell=1 stats_summary:connected_wifi=1 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190405.004 cell_plan:data_plan_05gb=true cbt set test_table phone#4c410523#20190505 stats_summary:connected_cell=0 stats_summary:connected_wifi=1 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190406.000 cbt set test_table phone#5c10102#20190501 stats_summary:connected_cell=1 stats_summary:connected_wifi=1 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190401.002 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb=true cbt set test_table tablet#5c10102#20190502 stats_summary:connected_cell=1 stats_summary:connected_wifi=0 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190406.000 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb=trueUse the
cbt readcommand to read the data you added to the table:cbt read test_tableThe terminal displays output similar to the following. Note that timestamps are automatically assigned to cells because your write request does not include timestamps.
---------------------------------------- phone#4c410523#20190501 cell_plan:data_plan_01gb @ 2023/09/23-11:44:10.535000 "true" cell_plan:data_plan_05gb @ 2023/09/23-11:44:10.535000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2023/09/23-11:44:10.535000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2023/09/23-11:44:10.535000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2023/09/23-11:44:10.535000 "PQ2A.190405.003" ---------------------------------------- phone#4c410523#20190502 cell_plan:data_plan_05gb @ 2023/09/23-11:44:11.545000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2023/09/23-11:44:11.545000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2023/09/23-11:44:11.545000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2023/09/23-11:44:11.545000 "PQ2A.190405.004" ---------------------------------------- phone#4c410523#20190505\ stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2023/09/23-11:44:12.503000 "0" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2023/09/23-11:44:12.503000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2023/09/23-11:44:12.503000 "PQ2A.190406.000" ---------------------------------------- phone#5c10102#20190501 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb @ 2023/09/23-11:44:13.553000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2023/09/23-11:44:13.553000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2023/09/23-11:44:13.553000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2023/09/23-11:44:13.553000 "PQ2A.190401.002" ---------------------------------------- tablet#5c10102#20190502 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb @ 2023/09/23-11:44:14.480000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2023/09/23-11:44:14.480000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2023/09/23-11:44:14.480000 "0" stats_summary:os_build @ 2023/09/23-11:44:14.480000 "PQ2A.190406.000"Optional: Write new values to the same rows and columns. Bigtable creates new cells with new timestamps to store the new versions of the data. Copy the following commands into your terminal window and press
Enter.cbt set test_table phone#4c410523#20190501 stats_summary:connected_cell=2 stats_summary:connected_wifi=5 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190405.003 cell_plan:data_plan_01gb=true cell_plan:data_plan_05gb=false cbt set test_table phone#4c410523#20190502 stats_summary:connected_cell=2 stats_summary:connected_wifi=5 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190405.004 cell_plan:data_plan_05gb=false cbt set test_table phone#4c410523#20190505 stats_summary:connected_cell=1 stats_summary:connected_wifi=4 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190406.000 cbt set test_table phone#5c10102#20190501 stats_summary:connected_cell=3 stats_summary:connected_wifi=3 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190401.002 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb=false cbt set test_table tablet#5c10102#20190502 stats_summary:connected_cell=2 stats_summary:connected_wifi=0 stats_summary:os_build=PQ2A.190406.000 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb=falseUse the
cbt readcommand to read all of the data in the table:cbt read test_tableThe terminal displays output similar to the following. Each column now contains two cells with unique timestamps.
---------------------------------------- phone#4c410523#20190501 cell_plan:data_plan_01gb @ 2024/07/09-17:48:21.191000 "true" cell_plan:data_plan_01gb @ 2024/07/09-17:46:09.369000 "true" cell_plan:data_plan_05gb @ 2024/07/09-17:48:21.191000 "false" cell_plan:data_plan_05gb @ 2024/07/09-17:46:09.369000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:48:21.191000 "2" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:46:09.369000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:48:21.191000 "5" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:46:09.369000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:48:21.191000 "PQ2A.190405.003" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:46:09.369000 "PQ2A.190405.003" ---------------------------------------- phone#4c410523#20190502 cell_plan:data_plan_05gb @ 2024/07/09-17:48:22.205000 "false" cell_plan:data_plan_05gb @ 2024/07/09-17:46:10.455000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:48:22.205000 "2" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:46:10.455000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:48:22.205000 "5" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:46:10.455000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:48:22.205000 "PQ2A.190405.004" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:46:10.455000 "PQ2A.190405.004" ---------------------------------------- phone#4c410523#20190505 stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:48:23.206000 "1" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:46:11.402000 "0" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:48:23.206000 "4" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:46:11.402000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:48:23.206000 "PQ2A.190406.000" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:46:11.402000 "PQ2A.190406.000" ---------------------------------------- phone#5c10102#20190501 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb @ 2024/07/09-17:48:24.172000 "false" cell_plan:data_plan_10gb @ 2024/07/09-17:46:12.388000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:48:24.172000 "3" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:46:12.388000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:48:24.172000 "3" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:46:12.388000 "1" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:48:24.172000 "PQ2A.190401.002" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:46:12.388000 "PQ2A.190401.002" ---------------------------------------- tablet#5c10102#20190502 cell_plan:data_plan_10gb @ 2024/07/09-17:48:25.194000 "false" cell_plan:data_plan_10gb @ 2024/07/09-17:46:13.391000 "true" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:48:25.194000 "2" stats_summary:connected_cell @ 2024/07/09-17:46:13.391000 "1" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:48:25.194000 "0" stats_summary:connected_wifi @ 2024/07/09-17:46:13.391000 "0" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:48:25.194000 "PQ2A.190406.000" stats_summary:os_build @ 2024/07/09-17:46:13.391000 "PQ2A.190406.000"
Use the test data
You can now use the test_table on the test-instance to test code samples or queries.
Clean up
To avoid incurring charges to your Google Cloud account for the resources created during these steps, delete the instance as soon as you finish testing. Deleting the .cbtrc file leaves you ready to work on a different project.
If you want to keep the instance but delete the table, you can use the
deletetablecommand:cbt deletetable test_tableIf you don't plan to use the instance for further testing, delete the instance. This action also deletes the table.
cbt deleteinstance test-instanceDelete the .cbtrc file:
rm ~/.cbtrc