Some operating system images are customized specifically to run on Compute Engine and have notable differences from the standard images that come directly from the operating system vendors.
The following sections provide more information about these differences.
CentOS
CentOS Linux is a free operating system that is derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
CentOS Stream is a distribution that is continuously delivered and tracks just ahead of RHEL development. CentOS Stream is positioned as a midstream development platform between Fedora Linux and RHEL.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using the RHEL
yum-cron
or dnf-automatic
tool. The updates have the following behaviors:
- The
yum-cron
ordnf-automatic
does not upgrade VMs between major versions of the operating system. - The upgrade tool is configured to only apply updates marked by the vendor as security updates.
- Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
The CentOS and CentOS Stream images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard CentOS images:
Account configuration
- There are no local users configured with passwords.
Bootloader configuration
- To force faster boot times, the boot timeout in the grub configuration is set to
0
. - The I/O scheduler is set to
noop
.
Network configuration
- IPv6 is enabled.
- The DHCP client is set to retry every 10 seconds instead of every 5 minutes. The client is also set to
persistent mode
instead ofoneshot
. - The SSH server configuration is set up as follows:
- Password authentication is disabled.
- To prevent SSH disconnections,
ServerAliveInterval
andClientAliveInterval
are set to 7 minutes. - Root login is disabled.
/etc/udev/rules.d/75-persistent-net-generator.rules
is disabled.- To prevent MAC addresses from persisting,
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
is removed. - By default, all traffic is allowed through the guest firewall because the VPC firewall rules overrides the guest firewall rules. The guest firewall rules remains enabled and can be configured through normal CentOS methods.
- VMs based on Google-provided Linux images get their interface MTU
from the attached VPC MTU. VMs based on custom images or older
Linux images may have their MTU's hardcoded. In these cases, you have to change
the setting yourself if you want to connect the interface to a network with an
MTU other than
1460
. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Package system and repository configuration
- Google Cloud repositories are enabled to install packages for the Compute Engine
guest environment
and the Google Cloud CLI.
- Repositories are set to use the CentOS default mirror network.
- For CentOS Stream 8, the PowerTools repository is enabled.
- For CentOS 7, EPEL is enabled.
- Automatic updates are configured as follows:
- For CentOS 7, automatic updates are enabled by using
yum-cron
. - For CentOS Stream, automatic updates are enabled by using
dnf automatic
. - For all versions, the
update_cmd
property is set tosecurity
.However, by default CentOS does not offer security tagged repositories. - IPv6 endpoints are disabled in the
yum
ordnf config
files for all versions.
- For CentOS 7, automatic updates are enabled by using
Storage configuration
- By default, images are 20 GB. This is the recommended minimum size.
- The partition table is
GPT
, and there is anEFI
partition to support booting onUEFI
. - The floppy module is disabled because there is no floppy disk controller on Compute Engine .
Time configuration
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
This operating system is supported by an open source project or community.
- For issues related to the operating system, please follow the CentOS community support guidance.
- For questions specific to using this operating system on Google Cloud, post your questions to the gce-discussion forum.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | centos-cloud |
centos-stream-9 |
GA | TBD | Free | |
CentOS Stream 8 | centos-cloud |
centos-stream-8 |
GA | May 2024 | Free | |
CentOS 8 | N/A | N/A | N/A | EOL | Dec 2021 | N/A |
CentOS 7 | centos-cloud |
centos-7 |
GA | June 30, 2024 | Free | |
CentOS 6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | EOL | November 30, 2020 | N/A |
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | ||
CentOS Stream 8 | ||
CentOS 8 | ||
CentOS 7 | ||
CentOS 6 |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | ||||
CentOS Stream 8 | ||||
CentOS 8 | ||||
CentOS 7 | ||||
CentOS 6 |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | ||
CentOS Stream 8 | ||
CentOS 8 | ||
CentOS 7 | ||
CentOS 6 |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | |
CentOS Stream 8 | |
CentOS 8 | |
CentOS 7 | |
CentOS 6 |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | ||||
CentOS Stream 8 | ||||
CentOS 8 | ||||
CentOS 7 | ||||
CentOS 6 |
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | |||
CentOS Stream 8 | |||
CentOS 8 | |||
CentOS 7 | |||
CentOS 6 |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
CentOS Stream 9 | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/centos-cloud/global/licenses/centos-stream-9
|
CentOS Stream 8 | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/centos-cloud/global/licenses/centos-stream
|
CentOS 8 | EOL | EOL |
CentOS 7 | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/centos-cloud/global/licenses/centos-7
|
CentOS 6 | EOL | EOL |
Container-Optimized OS (COS)
Container-Optimized OS from Google is an operating system image for your Compute Engine instances that is optimized for running Docker containers.
For more information about Container-Optimized OS, see the Container-Optimized OS overview or release notes.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using Automatic updates. The updates have the following behaviors:
- These automatic updates from the operating system vendor do not upgrade instances between major versions of the operating system.
- Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
Network configuration
- VMs based on Google-provided Linux images get their interface MTU
from the attached VPC MTU. VMs based on custom images or older
Linux images may have their MTU's hardcoded. In these cases, you have to change
the setting yourself if you want to connect the interface to a network with an
MTU other than
1460
. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Support
This operating system has premium support available for purchase. For information about purchasing and using premium support, see the Google Cloud support page.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
COS 97 LTS | cos-cloud |
cos-97-lts |
GA | March 2024 | Free | |
COS 93 LTS | cos-cloud |
cos-93-lts |
GA | October 2023 | Free | |
COS 89 LTS | cos-cloud |
cos-89-lts |
GA | March 2023 | Free | |
COS 85 LTS | cos-cloud |
cos-85-lts |
GA | September 2022 | Free | |
COS 81 LTS | EOL | EOL | EOL | September 2021 | Free |
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
COS 97 LTS | ||
COS 93 LTS | ||
COS 89 LTS | ||
COS 85 LTS | ||
COS 81 LTS |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
COS 97 LTS | ||||
COS 93 LTS | ||||
COS 89 LTS | ||||
COS 85 LTS | ||||
COS 81 LTS |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
COS 97 LTS | ||
COS 93 LTS | ||
COS 89 LTS | ||
COS 85 LTS | ||
COS 81 LTS |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
COS 97 LTS | |
COS 93 LTS | |
COS 89 LTS | |
COS 85 LTS | |
COS 81 LTS |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
COS 97 LTS | ||||
COS 93 LTS | ||||
COS 89 LTS | ||||
COS 85 LTS | ||||
COS 81 LTS |
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
COS 97 LTS | |||
COS 93 LTS | |||
COS 89 LTS | |||
COS 85 LTS | |||
COS 81 LTS |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
COS 97 LTS | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
|
COS 93 LTS | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
|
COS 89 LTS | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
|
COS 85 LTS | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
|
COS 81 LTS | EOL | EOL |
Debian
Debian is a free operating system offered by the Debian community.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using the Debian
UnattendedUpgrades
tool. The updates have the following behaviors:
- The
UnattendedUpgrades
tool does not upgrade VMs between major versions of the operating system. - The
UnattendedUpgrades
tool is configured to only automatically apply updates obtained from the Debian security repository. - Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
The Debian image build configuration is available in an open source GitHub repository.
- For Debian 10+, the build tools come from the Debian Cloud team image project.
- For Debian 9, build tools come from the now deprecated bootstrap-vz project.
Debian images are always built with the latest Debian packages which reflect the most recent Debian point release.
The Debian images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard Debian images:
Account configuration
- There are no local users configured with passwords.
Bootloader configuration
- To force faster boot times, the boot timeout in the grub configuration is set to
0
. - The I/O scheduler is set to
noop
. - To allow SCSI block multi-queue usage,
scsi_mod.use_blk_mq
is enabled.
Network configuration
- IPv6 is enabled.
- The SSH server configuration is set up as follows:
- Password authentication is disabled.
- Root login is disabled.
- To prevent MAC addresses from persisting,
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
is removed. - Debian 9 does not use predictive network interface naming. In the grub kernel command-line
arguments,
net.ifnames=0
is set. Therefore, network interfaces still use the traditional ethN naming, with the default interface always beingeth0
. - VMs based on Google-provided Linux images get their interface MTU
from the attached VPC MTU. VMs based on custom images or older
Linux images may have their MTU's hardcoded. In these cases, you have to change
the setting yourself if you want to connect the interface to a network with an
MTU other than
1460
. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Package system and repository configuration
- Google Cloud repositories are enabled to install packages for the Compute Engine guest environment and the Google Cloud CLI. The guest environment packages and the Google Cloud CLI packages are installed and enabled by default.
- The APT sources are set to use the Debian CDN.
- The
Unattended-upgrades
package is installed and configured to download and install Debian security updates daily. This can be configured or disabled by changing the values in/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades
and/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/02periodic
. - For Debian 10, the
cloud-initramfs-growroot
package is removed and replaced with the Google supportedgce-disk-expand
package. - Debian 10+ includes the following:
- The
linux-image-cloud-amd64
kernel instead of the generic Debian kernel. - The
haveged
package to provide entropy.
- The
Storage configuration
- Images are 10 GB by default.
- The partition table is
GPT
, and there is anEFI
partition to support booting onUEFI
. There is also an MBR boot block to support BIOS. - The floppy module is disabled because there is no floppy disk controller on Compute Engine.
Time configuration
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
This operating system is supported by an open source project or community.
- For issues related to the operating system, please follow the Debian community support guidance.
- For questions specific to using this operating system on Google Cloud, post your questions to the gce-discussion forum.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Debian 11 | debian-cloud |
debian-11 |
GA | TBD | Free | |
Debian 10 | debian-cloud |
debian-10 |
GA | TBD | Free | |
Debian 9 | debian-cloud |
debian-9 |
LTS1 | June 2022 | Free | |
Debian 8 | debian-cloud |
N/A | EOL | June 2018 | Free | |
Debian 7 | debian-cloud |
N/A | EOL | April 2016 | Free |
1Debian LTS: Debian is supporting this release with Debian LTS. Critical security updates are provided via the Debian LTS project for the duration of the LTS lifecycle.
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
Debian 11 | ||
Debian 10 | ||
Debian 9 | ||
Debian 8 | ||
Debian 7 |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Debian 11 | ||||
Debian 10 | ||||
Debian 9 | ||||
Debian 8 | ||||
Debian 7 |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
Debian 11 | ||
Debian 10 | ||
Debian 9 | ||
Debian 8 | ||
Debian 7 |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
Debian 11 | |
Debian 10 | |
Debian 9 | |
Debian 8 | |
Debian 7 |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Debian 11 | ||||
Debian 10 | ||||
Debian 9 | ||||
Debian 8 | ||||
Debian 7 |
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
Debian 11 | |||
Debian 10 | |||
Debian 9 | |||
Debian 8 | |||
Debian 7 |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
Debian 11 | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/licenses/debian-11-bullseye
|
Debian 10 | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/licenses/debian-10-buster
|
Debian 9 | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/licenses/debian-9-stretch
|
Debian 8 | EOL | EOL |
Debian 7 | EOL | EOL |
Fedora CoreOS
Fedora CoreOS is a distribution that provides features that are needed to run modern infrastructure stacks. Fedora CoreOS uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. Compute Engine provides Fedora CoreOS images built and supported by Fedora.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using the FedoraCoreOS automatic update tool. The updates have the following behaviors:
- These automatic updates from the operating system vendor do not upgrade instances between major versions of the operating system.
- Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
Network configuration
- VMs based on Google-provided Linux images get their interface MTU
from the attached VPC MTU. VMs based on custom images or older
Linux images may have their MTU's hardcoded. In these cases, you have to change
the setting yourself if you want to connect the interface to a network with an
MTU other than
1460
. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Support
This operating system is supported by an open source project or community.
- For issues related to the operating system, please follow the Fedora CoreOS community support guidance.
- For questions specific to using this operating system on Google Cloud, post your questions to the gce-discussion forum.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | fedora-coreos-cloud |
fedora-coreos-stable |
Fedora | GA | TBD | Free |
Fedora CoreOS Testing | fedora-coreos-cloud |
fedora-coreos-testing |
Fedora | GA | TBD | Free |
Fedora CoreOS Next | fedora-coreos-cloud |
fedora-coreos-next |
Fedora | GA | TBD | Free |
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | ||
Fedora CoreOS Testing | ||
Fedora CoreOS Next |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | ||||
Fedora CoreOS Testing | ||||
Fedora CoreOS Next |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | ||
Fedora CoreOS Testing | ||
Fedora CoreOS Next |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | |
Fedora CoreOS Testing | |
Fedora CoreOS Next |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | ||||
Fedora CoreOS Testing | ||||
Fedora CoreOS Next |
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | |||
Fedora CoreOS Testing | |||
Fedora CoreOS Next |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
Fedora CoreOS Stable | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/fedora-coreos-cloud/global/licenses/fedora-coreos-stable
|
Fedora CoreOS Testing | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/fedora-coreos-cloud/global/licenses/fedora-coreos-testing
|
Fedora CoreOS Next | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/fedora-coreos-cloud/global/licenses/fedora-coreos-next
|
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is an open-source Linux operating system that provides both server and desktop operating systems.
RHEL images are premium resources that incur additional fees to use. A Compute Engine RHEL image has an on-demand license and does not require a RHEL subscription. If you want to use an existing RHEL subscription, you can use the Red Hat Cloud Access feature.
To view a list of frequently asked questions when running RHEL on Compute Engine, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux FAQ.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using the RHEL
yum-cron
tool. The updates have the following behaviors:
- These automatic updates from the operating system vendor do not upgrade instances between major versions of the operating system.
- Starting with RHEL 7, the operating system is also configured to only apply updates marked by the vendor as security updates.
- Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
The RHEL image build configuration is available in an open source GitHub repository.
RHEL images are always built with the latest RHEL packages, which reflect the most recent point release. Currently, you cannot pin a VM to a point release.
RHEL for SAP images are tagged to the specific point release they are built for as supported by Red Hat.
The RHEL images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard RHEL images:
Account configuration
- There are no local users configured with passwords.
Bootloader configuration
- To force faster boot times, the boot timeout in the grub configuration is set to
0
. - The I/O scheduler is set to
noop
.
Network configuration
- IPv6 is enabled.
- The DHCP client is set to retry every 10 seconds instead of every 5 minutes. The client is also set
to
persistent mode
instead ofoneshot
. - The SSH server configuration is set up as follows:
- Password authentication is disabled.
- To prevent SSH disconnections,
ServerAliveInterval
andClientAliveInterval
are set to 7 minutes. - Root login is disabled.
/etc/udev/rules.d/75-persistent-net-generator.rules
is disabled.- To prevent MAC addresses from persisting,
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
is removed. - By default, all traffic is allowed through the guest firewall because the VPC firewall rules overrides the guest firewall rules. The guest firewall rules remains enabled and can be configured through normal RHEL methods.
- VMs based on Google-provided Linux images get their interface MTU
from the attached VPC MTU. VMs based on custom images or older
Linux images may have their MTU's hardcoded. In these cases, you have to change
the setting yourself if you want to connect the interface to a network with an
MTU other than
1460
. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Package and repository configuration
- Google Cloud repositories are enabled to install packages for the Compute Engine guest environment and the Google Cloud CLI.
- For RHEL 7, EPEL is enabled.
- RHEL for SAP yum vars are set to peg the client to the supported RHEL for SAP point release.
- RHEL content comes from the Compute Engine Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI) servers.
- The Google
RHUI
client package, which contains the configuration needed to access RHEL content, is installed. - The Red Hat
subscription-manager
package is removed because it is not used for pay as you go images. - Automatic updates are enabled as follows:
- For RHEL 7, by using
yum-cron
. - For RHEL 8+, by using
dnf automatic
. - For all versions, the
update_cmd
property is set tosecurity
. - IPv6 endpoints are disabled in the
yum
ordnf config
files.
- For RHEL 7, by using
Storage configuration
- By default, images are 20 GB. This is the recommended minimum size.
- The partition table is
GPT
, and there is anEFI
partition to support booting onUEFI
. - The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Time configuration
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
Google partners with RedHat to provide support for RHEL images.
For questions specific to using this operating system on Google Cloud, complete one of the following steps:
- If you have paid support with Google Cloud, file a support case through Google Cloud support.
- Post your questions to the gce-discussion forum.
In some cases, such as scenarios where the issue is directly tied to the operating system, Google Cloud works with the operating system vendor to help troubleshoot your issue.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RHEL 9 | rhel-cloud |
rhel-9 |
GA | May 2032 | On-demand1 | |
RHEL 8 | rhel-cloud |
rhel-8 |
GA | May 2029 | On-demand/BYOS1,2 | |
RHEL 7 | rhel-cloud |
rhel-7 |
GA | June 2024 | On-demand/BYOS1,2 | |
RHEL 6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | EOS ELS |
November 30, 2020
June 30, 2024 |
BYOS2
ELS3 |
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | rhel-sap-cloud |
rhel-8-4-sap-ha |
GA | May 2025 | On-demand1 | |
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | rhel-sap-cloud |
rhel-8-2-sap-ha |
GA | April 2024 | On-demand1 | |
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | rhel-sap-cloud |
rhel-8-1-sap-ha |
GA | November 2023 | On-demand1 | |
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | rhel-sap-cloud |
rhel-7-9-sap-ha |
GA | June 2024 | On-demand1 | |
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | rhel-sap-cloud |
rhel-7-7-sap-ha |
GA | August 2023 | On-demand1 | |
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | rhel-sap-cloud |
rhel-7-6-sap-ha |
GA | October 2022 | On-demand1 | |
RHEL 7.4 for SAP | N/A | N/A | EOS | August 2021 | On-demand1 |
1On-demand: This OS is available from Google Cloud with an on-demand license.
2BYOS: You can apply your existing subscription or license from the OS vendor to the Google-provided OS image. For more information about working with existing license or subscription, contact your Google Cloud account representative. The Google-provided image contains enhancements that might not be included if you bring your own OS image.
3ELS: For information about how to append the ELS Add-On to RHEL 6 VMs that have on-demand licenses for their images, see Append RHEL ELS licenses.
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
RHEL 9 | ||
RHEL 8 | ||
RHEL 7 | ||
RHEL 6 | ||
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | ||
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | ||
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.4 for SAP |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
RHEL 9 | ||||
RHEL 8 | ||||
RHEL 7 | ||||
RHEL 6 | ||||
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.4 for SAP |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
RHEL 9 | ||
RHEL 8 | ||
RHEL 7 | ||
RHEL 6 | ||
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | ||
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | ||
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | ||
RHEL 7.4 for SAP |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
RHEL 9 | |
RHEL 8 | |
RHEL 7 | |
RHEL 6 | |
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | |
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | |
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | |
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | |
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | |
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | |
RHEL 7.4 for SAP |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
RHEL 9 | ||||
RHEL 8 | ||||
RHEL 7 | ||||
RHEL 6 | ||||
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | ||||
RHEL 7.4 for SAP |
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
RHEL 9 | |||
RHEL 8 | |||
RHEL 7 | |||
RHEL 6 | |||
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | |||
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | |||
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | |||
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | |||
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | |||
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | |||
RHEL 7.4 for SAP |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
RHEL 9 | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-server
|
RHEL 8 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-server
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-byos
|
|
RHEL 7 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-server
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-byos
|
|
RHEL 6 | BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-6-byos
|
ELS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-6-els
|
|
RHEL 8.4 for SAP | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
|
BYOS | N/A | |
RHEL 8.2 for SAP | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
|
BYOS | N/A | |
RHEL 8.1 for SAP | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
|
BYOS | N/A | |
RHEL 7.9 for SAP | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-sap
|
BYOS | N/A | |
RHEL 7.7 for SAP | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-sap
|
BYOS | N/A | |
RHEL 7.6 for SAP | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-sap
|
BYOS | N/A | |
RHEL 7.4 for SAP | BYOS | N/A |
Rocky Linux
Rocky Linux is a free, open, community enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using the
dnf-automatic
tool. The updates have the following behaviors:
dnf-automatic
does not upgrade VMs between major versions of the operating system.- The upgrade tool is configured to only apply updates marked by the vendor as security updates.
- Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
The Rocky Linux images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard Rocky Linux images:
Account configuration
- There are no local users configured with passwords.
Bootloader configuration
- To force faster boot times, the boot timeout in the grub configuration is set to
0
.
Network configuration
- IPv6 is enabled.
- The DHCP client is set to retry every 10 seconds instead of every 5 minutes. The client is also set to
persistent mode
instead ofoneshot
. - The SSH server configuration is set up as follows:
- Password authentication is disabled.
- To prevent SSH disconnections,
ServerAliveInterval
andClientAliveInterval
are set to 7 minutes. - Root login is disabled.
/etc/udev/rules.d/75-persistent-net-generator.rules
is disabled.- To prevent MAC addresses from persisting,
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
is removed. - By default, all traffic is allowed through the guest firewall because the VPC firewall rules overrides the guest firewall rules. The guest firewall rules remains enabled and can be configured through normal Rocky Linux methods.
- VMs based on Google-provided Linux images get their interface MTU
from the attached VPC MTU. VMs based on custom images or older
Linux images may have their MTU's hardcoded. In these cases, you have to change
the setting yourself if you want to connect the interface to a network with an
MTU other than
1460
. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Package system and repository configuration
- Google Cloud repositories are enabled to install packages for the Compute Engine
guest environment
and the Google Cloud CLI.
- Repositories are set to use the Rocky Linux default mirror network.
- The PowerTools repository is enabled.
- Automatic updates are configured as follows:
- Automatic updates are enabled by using
dnf automatic
. - For all versions, the
update_cmd
property is set tosecurity
.However, by default Rocky Linux does not offer security tagged repositories. - IPv6 endpoints are disabled in the
dnf config
file.
- Automatic updates are enabled by using
Storage configuration
- By default, images are 20 GB.
- The partition table is
GPT
, and there is anEFI
partition to support booting onUEFI
. - The floppy module is disabled because there is no floppy disk controller on Compute Engine .
Time configuration
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
Google partners with CIQ to provide support for Rocky Linux images.
For questions about using this operating system on Google Cloud, complete one of the following steps:
- If you have paid support with Google Cloud, file a support case through Google Cloud support.
- Post your questions to the gce-discussion forum.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 | rocky-linux-cloud |
rocky-linux-8 |
GA | June 2031 | Free |
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported* |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 |
*Patch compliance reporting: For all supported Rocky Linux operating
systems, you can run patch jobs and
create patch deployments.
However, patch compliance reporting is not supported and these VMs are
displayed in the No data
category on the OS patch management dashboard.
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
Rocky Linux 8 | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rocky-linux-cloud/global/licenses/rocky-linux-8
|
SQL Server
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to "Auto download and schedule the install" for Microsoft updates. To configure Windows Server automatic updates, see Configure Automatic Updates.
Image configuration
- SQL Server images are similar to the standard Windows Server operating system images, but they include SQL Server preinstalled and have the same Notable differences as standard Windows Server images.
- Windows images provided by Google have a hardcoded MTU. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Support
Google partners with Microsoft to provide support for SQL Server images. If you have questions about using SQL Server images and have a support plan with Google Cloud, contact Google Cloud support. Otherwise, use the gce-discussion forum. If your issue is with the SQL Server image, Google Cloud reports the issue to Microsoft on your behalf.
Version support
To use SQL Server on a Linux VM with an on-demand / pay-as-you-go (PAYG) license, see Using SQL Server on Linux.
Version | Image project | Image family | Enterprise | Standard | Web | Express |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SQL Server 2019 | windows-sql-cloud |
sql-web-2019-win-2022
|
||||
SQL Server 2017 | windows-sql-cloud |
sql-web-2017-win-2022
|
||||
SQL Server 2016 | windows-sql-cloud |
sql-web-2016-win-2019
|
||||
SQL Server 2014 | windows-sql-cloud |
sql-web-2014-win-2012-r2
|
||||
SQL Server 2012 | windows-sql-cloud |
sql-web-2012-win-2012-r2
|
Windows Server version support
Version | Windows 2012 R2 | Windows 2016 | Windows 2019 | Windows 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|
SQL Server 2019 Enterprise | ||||
SQL Server 2019 Standard | ||||
SQL Server 2019 Web | ||||
SQL Server 2017 Enterprise | ||||
SQL Server 2017 Standard | ||||
SQL Server 2017 Web | ||||
SQL Server 2017 Express | ||||
SQL Server 2016 Enterprise | ||||
SQL Server 2016 Standard | ||||
SQL Server 2016 Web | ||||
SQL Server 2014 Enterprise | ||||
SQL Server 2014 Standard | ||||
SQL Server 2014 Web | ||||
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise | ||||
SQL Server 2012 Standard | ||||
SQL Server 2012 Web |
License strings
Version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
SQL Server 2019 Enterprise | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-enterprise |
SQL Server 2019 Standard | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-standard |
SQL Server 2019 Web | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-web |
SQL Server 2017 Enterprise | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-enterprise |
SQL Server 2017 Standard | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-standard |
SQL Server 2017 Web | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-web |
SQL Server 2017 Express | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-express |
SQL Server 2016 Enterprise | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2016-enterprise |
SQL Server 2016 Standard | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2016-standard |
SQL Server 2016 Web | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2016-web |
SQL Server 2014 Enterprise | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2014-enterprise |
SQL Server 2014 Standard | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2014-standard |
SQL Server 2014 Web | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2014-web |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2012-enterprise |
SQL Server 2012 Standard | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2012-standard |
SQL Server 2012 Web | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2012-web |
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), a versatile server operating system for deploying highly available enterprise-class IT services in mixed IT environments with improved performance and reduced risk.
SUSE images are premium resources that incur additional fees to use.
To view a list of frequently asked questions when running SLES on Compute Engine, see SUSE Linux Enterprise Server FAQ.
Automatic updates
This operating system is not configured to install updates by default. For more information about configuring automatic updates for SLES, see SUSE documentation.
Image configuration
SLES and SLES for SAP images are built and maintained by SUSE. SLES images are built with the latest SLES packages reflected in their release.
The SUSE images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard SUSE images:
Account configuration
- There are no local users configured with passwords.
Network configuration
- IPv6 is enabled.
- The SSH server configuration is set to disable password authentication.
- SLES does not use predictive network interface naming. In the grub kernel command-line arguments,
net.ifnames=0
is set. Therefore, network interfaces use the traditional ethN naming, with the default interface always beingeth0
. - VMs based on Google-provided Linux images get their interface MTU
from the attached VPC MTU. VMs based on custom images or older
Linux images may have their MTU's hardcoded. In these cases, you have to change
the setting yourself if you want to connect the interface to a network with an
MTU other than
1460
. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Package system and repository configuration
- The guest environment for Compute Engine packages are installed from the packages that are supplied by SUSE.
- SLES instances register with a SUSE run SMT service for Compute Engine and are configured to use SUSE regional mirrors in Compute Engine.
Storage configuration
- Images are 10 GB by default.
- The partition table is
GPT
, and there is anEFI
partition to support booting onUEFI
. There is also an MBR boot block to support BIOS. - The floppy module is disabled because there is no floppy disk controller on Compute Engine.
Time configuration
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
Google partners with SUSE to provide support for SUSE images.
For questions specific to using this operating system on Google Cloud, complete one of the following steps:
- If you have paid support with Google Cloud, file a support case through Google Cloud support.
- Post your questions to the gce-discussion forum.
In some cases, such as scenarios where the issue is directly tied to the operating system, Google Cloud works with the operating system vendor to help troubleshoot your issue.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | suse-cloud |
sles-15 |
SUSE | GA | TBD | On-demand/BYOS1,2 |
SLES 15 SP2 | suse-byos-cloud |
N/A | SUSE | GA | Dec 2024 | BYOS2 |
SLES 15 SP1 | suse-byos-cloud |
N/A | SUSE | GA | Jan 2024 | BYOS2 |
SLES 15 | suse-byos-cloud |
N/A | SUSE | GA | Dec 2022 | BYOS2 |
SLES 12 SP5 | suse-cloud |
sles-12 |
SUSE | GA | Oct 2027 | On-demand/BYOS1,2 |
SLES 12 SP4 | suse-byos-cloud |
N/A | SUSE | GA | June 2023 | BYOS2 |
SLES 12 SP3 | suse-byos-cloud |
N/A | SUSE | GA | June 2022 | BYOS2 |
SLES 12 SP2 | N/A | N/A | SUSE | EOL | March 2021 | EOL |
SLES 12 SP1 | N/A | N/A | SUSE | EOL | May 2020 | EOL |
SLES 11 SP4 | suse-byos-cloud |
sles-11-byos |
SUSE | LTSS3 | March 2022 | BYOS2 with LTSS3 |
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | suse-sap-cloud |
sles-15-sp3-sap |
SUSE | GA | TBD | On-demand/BYOS |
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | suse-sap-cloud |
sles-15-sp2-sap |
SUSE | GA | Dec 2024 | On-demand/BYOS |
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | suse-sap-cloud |
sles-15-sp1-sap |
SUSE | GA | Jan 2024 | On-demand/BYOS |
SLES 15 for SAP | suse-sap-cloud |
sles-15-sap |
SUSE | GA | Dec 2022 | On-demand/BYOS1,2 |
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | suse-sap-cloud |
sles-12-sp5-sap |
SUSE | GA | Oct 2027 | On-demand/BYOS1,2 |
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | suse-sap-cloud |
sles-12-sp4-sap |
SUSE | GA | June 2023 | On-demand/BYOS |
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | suse-sap-cloud |
sles-12-sp3-sap |
SUSE | GA | June 2022 | On-demand/BYOS1,2 |
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | N/A | N/A | SUSE | EOL | March 2021 | EOL |
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP | N/A | N/A | SUSE | EOL | May 2020 | EOL |
1On-demand: This OS is available from Google Cloud with an on-demand license.
2BYOS: You can apply your existing subscription from SUSE using the BYOS OS
image from the suse-byos-cloud
project. The image that is provided by SUSE for BYOS
contains enhancements that might not be included if you bring your own OS image.
3LTSS: Support for this operating system is only offered through the Long Term Service Pack Support (LTSS) that is available when using BYOS licenses from SUSE.
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | ||
SLES 15 SP2 | ||
SLES 15 SP1 | ||
SLES 15 | ||
SLES 12 SP5 | ||
SLES 12 SP4 | ||
SLES 12 SP3 | ||
SLES 12 SP2 | ||
SLES 12 SP1 | ||
SLES 11 SP4 | ||
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | ||
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | ||
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | ||
SLES 15 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | ||||
SLES 15 SP2 | ||||
SLES 15 SP1 | ||||
SLES 15 | ||||
SLES 12 SP5 | ||||
SLES 12 SP4 | ||||
SLES 12 SP3 | ||||
SLES 12 SP2 | ||||
SLES 12 SP1 | ||||
SLES 11 SP4 | ||||
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | ||||
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | ||||
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | ||||
SLES 15 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | ||
SLES 15 SP2 | ||
SLES 15 SP1 | ||
SLES 15 | ||
SLES 12 SP5 | ||
SLES 12 SP4 | ||
SLES 12 SP3 | ||
SLES 12 SP2 | ||
SLES 12 SP1 | ||
SLES 11 SP4 | ||
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | ||
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | ||
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | ||
SLES 15 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | ||
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | |
SLES 15 SP2 | |
SLES 15 SP1 | |
SLES 15 | |
SLES 12 SP5 | |
SLES 12 SP4 | |
SLES 12 SP3 | |
SLES 12 SP2 | |
SLES 12 SP1 | |
SLES 11 SP4 | |
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | |
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | |
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | |
SLES 15 for SAP | |
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | |
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | |
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | |
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | |
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported* |
---|---|---|---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | ||||
SLES 15 SP2 | ||||
SLES 15 SP1 | ||||
SLES 15 | ||||
SLES 12 SP5 | ||||
SLES 12 SP4 | ||||
SLES 12 SP3 | ||||
SLES 12 SP2 | ||||
SLES 12 SP1 | ||||
SLES 11 SP4 | ||||
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | ||||
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | ||||
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | ||||
SLES 15 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | ||||
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP |
*Patch compliance reporting: For all SUSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES)
operating systems, including SLES for SAP and openSuse, you can run
patch jobs and create
patch deployments.
However, patch compliance reporting is not supported and these VMs are
displayed in the No data
category on the OS patch management dashboard.
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | |||
SLES 15 SP2 | |||
SLES 15 SP1 | |||
SLES 15 | |||
SLES 12 SP5 | |||
SLES 12 SP4 | |||
SLES 12 SP3 | |||
SLES 12 SP2 | |||
SLES 12 SP1 | |||
SLES 11 SP4 | |||
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | |||
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | |||
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | |||
SLES 15 for SAP | |||
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | |||
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | |||
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | |||
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | |||
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
SLES 15 SP3 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-cloud/global/licenses/sles-15
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-15-byos
|
|
SLES 15 SP2 | BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-15-byos
|
SLES 15 SP1 | BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-15-byos
|
SLES 15 | BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-15-byos
|
SLES 12 SP5 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-cloud/global/licenses/sles-12
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-12-byos
|
|
SLES 12 SP4 | BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-12-byos
|
SLES 12 SP3 | BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-12-byos
|
SLES 12 SP2 | EOL | N/A |
SLES 12 SP1 | EOL | N/A |
SLES 11 SP4 | BYOS with LTSS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-11-byos
|
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-sap-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15-byos
|
|
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-sap-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15-byos
|
|
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-sap-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15-byos
|
|
SLES 15 for SAP | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-sap-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-15-byos
|
|
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-sap-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-12
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-12-byos
|
|
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-sap-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-12
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-12-byos
|
|
SLES 12 SP3 for SAP | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-sap-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-12
|
BYOS |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/suse-byos-cloud/global/licenses/sles-sap-12-byos
|
|
SLES 12 SP2 for SAP | EOL | N/A |
SLES 12 SP1 for SAP | EOL | N/A |
Ubuntu LTS
Ubuntu is a free operating system developed and supported by Canonical.
Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) images receive bug fixes and security updates for five years after their release date. LTS images can run on your instances for several years without having to upgrade to a newer release.
Ubuntu Minimal images are supported the same as Ubuntu LTS images.
Regular (non LTS) Ubuntu images are supported for 9 months from their release date. To continue to use a regular Ubuntu image, you will have to upgrade to the next regular Ubuntu release or LTS release after the support cycle ends to receive fixes and updates. Compute Engine recommends using Ubuntu LTS images unless you require features or software packages that are not yet included in an LTS release. If your instances run Ubuntu releases that are no longer supported, upgrade to a supported Ubuntu release.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using the Ubuntu
AutomaticSecurityUpdates
tool. The updates have the following behaviors:
- The
AutomaticSecurityUpdates
tool does not upgrade VMs between major versions of the operating system. - The
AutomaticSecurityUpdates
tool is configured to only automatically apply updates obtained from the Ubuntu security repository. - Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
Ubuntu images are built and maintained by Canonical. Ubuntu images are always built with the latest Ubuntu packages which reflect the most recent Ubuntu point release.
The Ubuntu images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard Ubuntu images:
Account configuration
- There are no local users configured with passwords.
Bootloader configuration
- Ubuntu uses
cloud-init
to do some boot time initialization. Thecloud.cfg
file is configured for Compute Engine and enables only thecloud-init
modules that are used. - To force faster boot times, the boot timeout in the grub configuration is set to
0
. - To allow SCSI block multi-queue usage,
scsi_mod.use_blk_mq
is enabled.
Network configuration
- IPv6 is enabled.
- The SSH server configuration is set to disable password authentication.
- To prevent MAC addresses from persisting,
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
is removed.
Package system and repository configuration
- The guest environment for Compute Engine packages are installed from the Ubuntu supplied packages.
- For Ubuntu 18.04+, the Google Cloud CLI is installed and maintained as a snap package.
- The APT sources are set to use the Ubuntu Compute Engine mirrors via
cloud-init
. - The
Unattended-upgrades
package is installed and configured to download and install Debian security updates daily. This can be configured or disabled by changing the values in/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades
and/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/02periodic
. - The
linux-image-gcp
kernel is used instead of the generic Ubuntu kernel. The Google Cloud kernel reflects the latest rolling HWE kernel for Ubuntu LTS.
Storage configuration
- Images are 10 GB by default.
- The partition table is
GPT
, and there is anEFI
partition to support booting onUEFI
. There is also an MBR boot block to support BIOS. - The floppy module is disabled because there is no floppy disk controller on Compute Engine.
Time configuration
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
This operating system is supported by an open source project or community.
- For issues related to the operating system, please follow the Ubuntu community support guidance.
- For questions specific to using this operating system on Google Cloud, post your questions to the gce-discussion forum.
This operating system also has premium support available for purchase from Ubuntu. For information about purchasing and using premium support, see the Ubuntu documentation.
General information
For information about non LTS Ubuntu releases, see Ubuntu release wiki.
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | ubuntu-os-cloud |
ubuntu-2204-lts |
Canonical | GA | April 2027 (ESM April 2032) | Free |
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | ubuntu-os-cloud |
ubuntu-2004-lts |
Canonical | GA | April 2025 (ESM April 2030) | Free |
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | ubuntu-os-cloud |
ubuntu-1804-lts |
Canonical | GA | April 2023 (ESM April 2028) | Free |
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | N/A | N/A | Canonical | Ubuntu ESM1 / Ubuntu Pro2 | April 2021 (ESM April 2026) | Ubuntu ESM1 / Ubuntu Pro2 |
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | N/A | N/A | Canonical | Ubuntu ESM1 | April 2024 | Ubuntu ESM1 |
1Ubuntu ESM: You can apply your existing ESM subscription to the Google provided OS image. The image that is provided by Google Cloud contains enhancements that might not be included if you bring your own OS image.
2Ubuntu Pro: To continue using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS images by upgrading to Ubuntu Pro, see Upgrade from Ubuntu to Ubuntu Pro.
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | |
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | |
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | |
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | |
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS |
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | |||
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | |||
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | |||
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | |||
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ubuntu-os-cloud/global/licenses/ubuntu-2204-lts
|
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ubuntu-os-cloud/global/licenses/ubuntu-2004-lts
|
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | Free |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ubuntu-os-cloud/global/licenses/ubuntu-1804-lts
|
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | Ubuntu ESM / Ubuntu Pro | N/A |
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | Ubuntu ESM | N/A |
Ubuntu Pro
Ubuntu Pro is a premium operating system developed and supported by Canonical.
Ubuntu Pro images running on Compute Engine receive bug fixes and security updates for 10 years after their release date, along with access to Ubuntu ESM. For Ubuntu 16.04, security updates and ESM are available for 8 years.
Ubuntu Pro images are premium resources that incur additional fees to use. For information about Ubuntu Pro license cost, see the Ubuntu Pro pricing page. An Ubuntu Pro image running on Compute Engine has an on-demand license and does not require an additional Ubuntu Pro subscription.
To view a list of frequently asked questions when running Ubuntu Pro on Compute Engine, see Ubuntu Pro FAQ.
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to install security updates by using the Ubuntu
AutomaticSecurityUpdates
tool. The updates have the following behaviors:
- The
AutomaticSecurityUpdates
tool does not upgrade VMs between major versions of the operating system. - The
AutomaticSecurityUpdates
tool is configured to only automatically apply updates obtained from the Ubuntu security repository. - Some updates require reboots to take effect. These reboots do not happen automatically.
Image configuration
Ubuntu Pro images are built and maintained by Canonical. Ubuntu Pro images are always built with the latest Ubuntu packages which reflect the most recent Ubuntu point release.
The Ubuntu Pro images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard Ubuntu images:
Account configuration
- There are no local users configured with passwords.
Bootloader configuration
- Ubuntu uses
cloud-init
to do some boot time initialization. Thecloud.cfg
file is configured for Compute Engine and enables only thecloud-init
modules that are used. - To force faster boot times, the boot timeout in the grub configuration is set to
0
. - To allow SCSI block multi-queue usage,
scsi_mod.use_blk_mq
is enabled.
Network configuration
- IPv6 is enabled.
- The SSH server configuration is set to disable password authentication.
- To prevent MAC addresses from persisting,
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
is removed.
Package system and repository configuration
- The guest environment for Compute Engine packages are installed from the Ubuntu supplied packages.
- The Google Cloud CLI is installed and maintained as a snap package.
- The APT sources are set to use the Ubuntu Compute Engine mirrors via
cloud-init
. - The
Unattended-upgrades
package is installed and configured to download and install Debian security updates daily. This can be configured or disabled by changing the values in/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades
and/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/02periodic
. - The
linux-image-gcp
kernel is used instead of the generic Ubuntu kernel. The Google Cloud kernel reflects the latest rolling HWE kernel for Ubuntu LTS.
Storage configuration
- Images are 10 GB by default.
- The partition table is
GPT
, and there is anEFI
partition to support booting onUEFI
. There is also an MBR boot block to support BIOS. - Ubuntu uses
cloud-init
to do some boot time initialization. Thecloud.cfg
file is configured for Compute Engine and enables only thecloud-init
modules that are used. - There are no local users configured with passwords.
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
- The floppy module is disabled because there is no floppy disk controller on Compute Engine.
Time configuration
- The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
This operating system has premium support available for purchase from Ubuntu. For information about purchasing and using premium support, see the Ubuntu documentation.
General information
For information about upgrading from Ubuntu LTS to Ubuntu Pro, see Upgrade from Ubuntu to Ubuntu Pro.
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage | EOL and image deprecation date | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | ubuntu-os-pro-cloud |
ubuntu-pro-2204-lts |
Canonical | GA | April 2032 | On-demand |
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | ubuntu-os-pro-cloud |
ubuntu-pro-2004-lts |
Canonical | GA | April 2030 | On-demand |
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | ubuntu-os-pro-cloud |
ubuntu-pro-1804-lts |
Canonical | GA | April 2028 | On-demand |
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | ubuntu-os-pro-cloud |
ubuntu-pro-1604-lts |
Canonical | GA | April 2026 | On-demand |
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | ||
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPU supported |
---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | |
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | |
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | |
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS |
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | ||||
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS |
Import
For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate for Compute Engine, see supported operating systems.
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Import machine image |
---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | |||
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | |||
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | |||
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ubuntu-os-pro-cloud/global/licenses/ubuntu-pro-2204-lts
|
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ubuntu-os-pro-cloud/global/licenses/ubuntu-pro-2004-lts
|
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ubuntu-os-pro-cloud/global/licenses/ubuntu-pro-1804-lts
|
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | On-demand |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ubuntu-os-pro-cloud/global/licenses/ubuntu-pro-1604-lts
|
Windows client
Google doesn't provide Windows client images. You must bring your own Windows client images.
Automatic updates
The Windows client update settings determine how versions of Windows client use Windows Updates. To configure Windows automatic updates, see Configure Automatic Updates.
Support
Although Google supports bringing your own licenses, but not the image, with Windows client, Google does not provide support for the Windows client image. For licensing support, which is included in your BYOL contract, please contact Microsoft Support. For questions about tools related to BYOL, please contact Google Cloud support.
General information
OS version | Built by | Support stage1 | License model |
---|---|---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | N/A | Via migration | BYOL |
Windows 10 x86 | N/A | Via migration | BYOL |
Windows 8.1 x64 | N/A | Via migration | BYOL |
Windows 8.1 x86 | N/A | Via migration | BYOL |
Windows 7 x642 | N/A | Via migration; EOL | BYOL |
Windows 7 x862 | N/A | Via migration; EOL | BYOL |
2For information about Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 7, see Microsoft's Extended Security Updates Lifecycle FAQ.
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | ||
Windows 10 x86 | ||
Windows 8.1 x64 | ||
Windows 8.1 x86 | ||
Windows 7 x64 | ||
Windows 7 x86 |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Windows 10 x86 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Windows 8.1 x64 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Windows 8.1 x86 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Windows 7 x64 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Windows 7 x86 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPUs supported |
---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | |
Windows 10 x86 | |
Windows 8.1 x64 | 2 |
Windows 8.1 x86 | 2 |
Windows 7 x64 | 1, 2 |
Windows 7 x86 | 1, 2 |
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | ||
Windows 10 x86 | ||
Windows 8.1 x64 | ||
Windows 8.1 x86 | ||
Windows 7 x64 | ||
Windows 7 x86 |
Storage
OS version | NVMe supported1 | VSS agent2 |
---|---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | ||
Windows 10 x86 | ||
Windows 8.1 x64 | ||
Windows 8.1 x86 | ||
Windows 7 x64 | ||
Windows 7 x86 |
2Google does not test the VSS agent on any client images.
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | ||||
Windows 10 x86 | ||||
Windows 8.1 x64 | ||||
Windows 8.1 x86 | ||||
Windows 7 x64 | ||||
Windows 7 x86 |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
Windows 10 x64 | BYOL | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-10-x64-byol |
Windows 10 x86 | BYOL | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-10-x86-byol |
Windows 8.1 x64 | BYOL | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-8-x64-byol |
Windows 8.1 x86 | BYOL | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-8-x86-byol |
Windows 7 x64 | BYOL | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-7-x64-byol |
Windows 7 x86 | BYOL | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-7-x86-byol |
Windows Server
Automatic updates
By default, this operating system is configured to "Auto download and schedule the install" for Microsoft updates. To configure Windows Server automatic updates, see Configure Automatic Updates.
Image configuration
Windows Server images are built with the latest updates, but have the following differences in configuration from standard Windows Server images:
Account configuration
- The Administrator account is disabled.
- User passwords must be at least eight characters long.
-
The
LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy
property is enabled to grant access to administrative file shares.
Activation configuration
-
Windows Server images cannot activate without a network connection to
kms.windows.googlecloud.com
, and stop functioning if they do not authenticate within 30 days. Make sure to allow access in your VPC network. - A KMS client key is installed and the KMS client is set to activate by using the Compute Engine KMS servers.
Bootloader configuration
-
BootStatusPolicy is set to
IgnoreAllFailures
. - Emergency Management Services (EMS) redirection is enabled on the COM2 port. For more information, see bootcfg ems.
Network configuration
-
The Compute Engine metadata server is added to the
hosts
file, which is typically in the%WinDir%\System32\drivers\etc
directory. - The Windows firewall is open to allow communication with the Compute Engine metadata server.
- TCP KeepAliveTime is set to 5 minutes.
- Web Proxy Auto Discovery (WPAD) is disabled.
- The NetKVM adapter is set to use DHCP.
- Remote Desktop (RDP) is enabled and the associated Windows firewall ports opened.
- WinRM over HTTPS is configured using a self signed certificate and the associated Windows firewall ports are open.
- Windows images provided by Google have a hardcoded MTU. For more information about network and interface MTU, see the maximum transmission unit overview.
Package system and Windows Update
- Windows Server images update automatically according to the default update schedule for Windows Server.
- To install packages for the guest environment, Google Cloud repositories are enabled.
- To manage Compute Engine component packages for Windows, GooGet is installed, which you can configure to update packages automatically.
- The Google Cloud CLI is installed with its own Python 2.7 environment. Google Cloud CLI works with project service accounts, instance scopes, and works in PowerShell and the standard command-line environment.
- To boot Windows on Compute Engine, Compute Engine drivers are installed.
- PowerShell v5 and v7 are installed.
Power configuration
- Power settings are changed to never turn off the monitor.
Storage configuration
- The partition table is GPT, and there is an EFI partition to support booting on UEFI.
- The paging file is set to a static size of 1 GB.
-
The
EnableQueryAccessAlignment
property is enabled for the VioSCSI driver.
Time configuration
-
The
RealTimeIsUniversal
registry key is set. The BIOS is a UTC clock, and is not set to the local time. - The time zone is set to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
- NTP is set to sync to the Compute Engine metadata server.
Support
Google partners with Microsoft to provide support for Windows Server images. If you have questions about using Windows Server images and have a support plan with Google Cloud, contact Google Cloud support. Otherwise, use the gce-discussion forum. If your issue is with the Windows Server image, Google Cloud reports the issue to Microsoft on your behalf. For more information about the support policy for OS images, see Support policy for OS images.
General information
OS version | Image project | Image family | Built by | Support stage1 | License model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | windows-cloud |
windows-2022 windows-2022-core |
GA | On-demand / BYOL | |
Windows Server 2019 | windows-cloud |
windows-2019 windows-2019-for-containers windows-2019-core windows-2019-core-for-containers
|
GA | On-demand / BYOL | |
Windows Server 2016 | windows-cloud |
windows-2016 windows-2016-core
|
GA | On-demand / BYOL | |
Windows Server 2012 R2 | windows-cloud |
windows-2012-r2 windows-2012-r2-core
|
GA | On-demand / BYOL | |
Windows Server 2012 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Via migration | BYOL |
Windows Server 2008 R22 (SP1 required) | N/A | N/A | N/A | Via migration; EOL | On-demand / BYOL |
Windows Server 2008 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Via migration; EOL | BYOL |
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | N/A |
N/A | N/A | Via migration; EOL | BYOL |
Windows Server 20h2 | windows-cloud |
windows-20h2-core
|
GA | On-demand / BYOL | |
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | N/A | N/A | N/A | EOL | EOL |
2For information about Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 2008 R2, see Microsoft's Extended Security Updates Lifecycle FAQ.
Upstream support stage
OS version | Servicing channel1 | Support ends |
---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | LTSC | October 14, 2031 |
Windows Server 2022 Core | LTSC | October 14, 2031 |
Windows Server 2019 | LTSC | January 9, 2029 |
Windows Server 2019 for Containers | LTSC | January 9, 2029 |
Windows Server 2019 Core | LTSC | January 9, 2029 |
Windows Server 2019 Core for Containers | LTSC | January 9, 2029 |
Windows Server 2016 | LTSC | January 12, 2027 |
Windows Server 2016 Core | LTSC | January 12, 2027 |
Windows Server 2012 R2 | LTSC | October 10, 2023 |
Windows Server 2012 R2 Core | LTSC | October 10, 2023 |
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP2 | LTSC | January 14, 2020 |
Windows Server 20h2 Core | SAC | August 9, 2022 |
Windows Server 2004 Core | SAC | December 14, 2021 |
Windows Server 1909 Core | SAC | May 11, 2021 |
Windows Server 1909 Core for Containers | SAC | May 11, 2021 |
Windows Server 1903 Core | SAC | December 8, 2020 |
Windows Server 1903 Core for Containers | SAC | December 8, 2020 |
Windows Server 1809 Core | SAC | May 12, 2020 |
Windows Server 1809 Core for Containers | SAC | May 12, 2020 |
Windows Server 1803 Core | SAC | November 12, 2019 |
Windows Server 1803 Core for Containers | SAC | November 12, 2019 |
Security features
OS version | Shielded VM support | Confidential VM support |
---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | ||
Windows Server 2019 | ||
Windows Server 2016 | ||
Windows Server 2012 R2 | ||
Windows Server 2012 | ||
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | ||
Windows Server 2008 | ||
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | ||
Windows Server 20h2 | ||
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL | EOL |
User space features
OS version | Guest environment installed | gcloud CLI installed | OS Login supported | Suspend and resume supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | N/A | Windows Server 2019 | N/A | |
Windows Server 2016 | N/A | |||
Windows Server 2012 R2 | N/A | |||
Windows Server 2012 | N/A | |||
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | N/A | |||
Windows Server 2008 | EOL | N/A | ||
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | EOL | N/A | ||
Windows Server 20h2 | N/A | |||
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL | N/A |
Compute optimization
OS version | GPUs supported |
---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | |
Windows Server 2019 | |
Windows Server 2016 | |
Windows Server 2012 R2 | 2 |
Windows Server 2012 | 2 |
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | 1, 2 |
Windows Server 2008 | 1, 2 |
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | 1, 2 |
Windows Server 20h2 | |
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL |
Import
OS version | Import disk | Import virtual appliance | Migrate for Compute Engine |
---|---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | |||
Windows Server 2019 | |||
Windows Server 2016 | |||
Windows Server 2012 R2 | |||
Windows Server 2012 | 1 | ||
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | 2 | ||
Windows Server 2008 | 3 | ||
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Windows Server 20h2 | 6 | ||
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL | EOL | EOL |
2Supported with deprecated Python agent.
364-bit supported, 32 bit only supported for offline migration with manual adaptations.
4Self-import is available.
5Only supported for offline migration with manual adaptions.
6Not tested by Google.
Networking
OS version | Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) supported | Multiple network interfaces supported |
---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | ||
Windows Server 2019 | ||
Windows Server 2016 | ||
Windows Server 2012 R2 | ||
Windows Server 2012 | ||
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | ||
Windows Server 2008 | ||
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | ||
Windows Server 20h2 | ||
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL | EOL |
Storage
OS version | NVMe supported1 | VSS agent |
---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | ||
Windows Server 2019 | ||
Windows Server 2016 | ||
Windows Server 2012 R2 | ||
Windows Server 2012 | ||
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | ||
Windows Server 2008 | ||
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | ||
Windows Server 20h2 | ||
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL | EOL |
2Image is past its end of support (EOS) date.
VM Manager
OS version | OS Config agent installed | OS inventory supported | OS configuration supported | OS patch supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | ||||
Windows Server 2019 | ||||
Windows Server 2016 | ||||
Windows Server 2012 R2 | ||||
Windows Server 2012 | ||||
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | ||||
Windows Server 2008 | ||||
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | ||||
Windows Server 20h2 | ||||
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL | EOL | EOL | EOL |
License strings
OS version | License type | License string |
---|---|---|
Windows Server 2022 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2022-dc
|
BYOL |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2022-byol
|
|
Windows Server 2019 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2019-dc
|
BYOL |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2019-byol
|
|
Windows Server 2016 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2016-dc
|
BYOL |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2016-byol
|
|
Windows Server 2012 R2 | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2012-r2-dc
|
BYOL |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2012-r2-byol
|
|
Windows Server 2012 | BYOL |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2012-byol
|
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1 required) | On-demand (Default) |
https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2008-r2-dc
|
BYOL | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2008-r2-byol |
|
Windows Server 2008 | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2008-dc |
Windows Server 2003 (R2 optional, SP2 required) | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-2003 |
Windows Server 20h2 | On-demand | https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-cloud/global/licenses/windows-server-20h2-dc |
Windows Server 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004 | EOL | EOL |