Operating system details

This page provides general operating system (OS) details and feature support for the OS images that are available on Compute Engine.

Some OS 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. These differences are also covered for each OS.

For information about how support and maintenance is provided for these OS images on Compute Engine, based on support package, license type, and image lifecycle stage, see Support and maintenance policy for OS images.

CentOS

CentOS Linux is a free operating system that is derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Google Cloud builds and supports the CentOS images available for Compute Engine. There is no license fee for using CentOS with Compute Engine.

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 dnf-automatic tool. The updates have the following behaviors:

  • The dnf-automatic tool 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 Stream images that are provided by Compute Engine, have the following differences in configuration from standard CentOS Stream 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 SSH server configuration is set up as follows:
    • Password authentication is disabled.
    • To prevent SSH disconnections, ServerAliveInterval and ClientAliveInterval 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.
  • Automatic updates are configured as follows:
    • For CentOS Stream, automatic updates are enabled by using dnf automatic.
    • For all versions, the update_cmd property is set to security.However, by default CentOS does not offer security tagged repositories.

Storage configuration

  • By default, images are 20 GB. This is the recommended minimum size.
  • The partition table is GPT, and there is an EFI partition to support booting on UEFI.
  • 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.

General information

OS version Image project x86 image family Arm image family Machine series Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
CentOS Stream 9 centos-cloud centos-stream-9 centos-stream-9-arm64 All GA May 31, 2027
CentOS Stream 8 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS May 2024
CentOS 8 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS Dec 2021
CentOS 7 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS June 30, 2024

Interfaces

OS version SCSI NVMe Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) IDPF Multiple network interfaces
CentOS Stream 9
CentOS Stream 8
CentOS 8
CentOS 7 * *

* If a multiple NIC VM is created using this OS image, the VM might lose network connectivity after rebooting. This happens if one of these NICs uses a non-VirtIO interface. For more information, see known issues.

Security features

OS version Shielded VM Confidential VM SEV Confidential VM SEV-SNP (Preview)
CentOS Stream 9 *
CentOS Stream 8
CentOS 8
CentOS 7

* This OS image doesn't support Secure Boot on ARM64.

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

Networking features

OS version Tier_1 networking# 200 Gbps network bandwidth# Jumbo frames/MTU
CentOS Stream 9**
CentOS Stream 8**
CentOS 8** EOS EOS EOS
CentOS 7** EOS EOS EOS

# Only available with certain machine series.
** This OS image has predictable network interface names disabled. Newer image families may have a different network interface naming scheme.

GPU support

N1+GPU denotes support for NVIDIA T4, V100, P100, or P4 GPUs running on a general-purpose N1 machine family.

OS version N1+GPU A3 (H100) A2 (A100) G2 (L4)
CentOS Stream 9
CentOS Stream 8
CentOS 8 EOS EOS EOS EOS
CentOS 7 EOS EOS EOS EOS

VM Manager

OS version OS Config agent preinstalled OS inventory OS policies Patch Vulnerability reports
CentOS Stream 9
CentOS Stream 8
CentOS 8
CentOS 7

Import

For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate to Virtual Machines, see supported operating systems.

OS version Import disk Import virtual appliance Import machine image
CentOS Stream 9
CentOS Stream 8
CentOS 8
CentOS 7

License

OS version License type License URL
CentOS Stream 9 Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/centos-cloud/global/licenses/centos-stream-9
CentOS Stream 8 EOS EOS
CentOS 8 EOS EOS
CentOS 7 EOS EOS

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. Google Cloud builds and supports the Container-Optimized OS images available for Compute Engine. There is no license fee for using Container-Optimized OS with Compute Engine.

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.

General information

OS version Image project x86 image family Arm image family Machine series Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
COS 117 LTS cos-cloud cos-117-lts cos-arm64-117-lts All except G2 GA September 2026
COS 113 LTS cos-cloud cos-113-lts cos-arm64-113-lts All except G2 GA April 2026
COS 109 LTS cos-cloud cos-109-lts cos-arm64-109-lts All except G2, X4 GA September 2025
COS 105 LTS cos-cloud cos-105-lts cos-arm64-105-lts All except G2, X4, C3-metal GA March 2025
COS 101 LTS N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS September 2024

Interfaces

OS version SCSI NVMe Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) IDPF Multiple network interfaces
COS 117 LTS
COS 113 LTS
COS 109 LTS
COS 105 LTS
COS 101 LTS

Security features

OS version Shielded VM Confidential VM SEV Confidential VM SEV-SNP (Preview)
COS 117 LTS
COS 113 LTS
COS 109 LTS
COS 105 LTS
COS 101 LTS

User space features

OS version Guest environment installed gcloud CLI installed OS Login supported Suspend and resume supported
COS 117 LTS
COS 113 LTS
COS 109 LTS
COS 105 LTS
COS 101 LTS

Networking features

OS version Tier_1 networking# 200 Gbps network bandwidth# Jumbo frames/MTU
COS 117 LTS
COS 113 LTS
COS 109 LTS
COS 105 LTS
COS 101 LTS

# Only available with certain machine series.

GPU support

N1+GPU denotes support for NVIDIA T4, V100, P100, or P4 GPUs running on a general-purpose N1 machine family.

For G2 VMs, the current default driver for Container-Optimized OS, don't support L4 GPUs running on G2 machine types. You might be able to install a supported version, see G2 limitations.

OS version N1+GPU A3 (H100) A2 (A100) G2 (L4)
COS 117 LTS
COS 113 LTS
COS 109 LTS
COS 105 LTS
COS 101 LTS

VM Manager

OS version OS Config agent preinstalled OS inventory OS policies Patch Vulnerability reports
COS 117 LTS
COS 113 LTS
COS 109 LTS
COS 105 LTS
COS 101 LTS

Import

For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate to Virtual Machines, see supported operating systems.

OS version Import disk Import virtual appliance Import machine image
COS 117 LTS
COS 113 LTS
COS 109 LTS
COS 105 LTS
COS 101 LTS

License

OS version License type License URL
COS 117 LTS Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
COS 113 LTS Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
COS 109 LTS Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
COS 105 LTS Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos
COS 101 LTS Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/licenses/cos

Debian

Debian is a free operating system offered by the Debian community. Google Cloud builds and supports the Debian images available for Compute Engine. There is no license fee for using Debian with Compute Engine.

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.

  • Debian build tools come from the Debian Cloud team image 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The cloud-initramfs-growroot package is removed and replaced with the Google supported gce-disk-expand package.
  • The linux-image-cloud-amd64 kernel is installed instead of the generic Debian kernel.
  • The haveged package is installed to provide entropy.

Storage configuration

  • Images are 10 GB by default.
  • The partition table is GPT, and there is an EFI partition to support booting on UEFI. 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.

General information

OS version Image project x86 image family Arm image family Machine series Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
Debian 12 debian-cloud debian-12 debian-12-arm64 All except X4, C3-metal GA TBD
Debian 11 debian-cloud debian-11 N/A All except X4, C3-metal
  • X86: GA
  • Arm: EOS
  • X86: August 31, 2026
  • Arm: August 15, 2024
Debian 10 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS June 30, 2024
Debian 9 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS June 2022

Interfaces

OS version SCSI NVMe Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) IDPF Multiple network interfaces
Debian 12
Debian 11
Debian 10
Debian 9 *

* This OS image supports NVMe but does not include all optimizations for NVMe.

Security features

OS version Shielded VM Confidential VM SEV Confidential VM SEV-SNP (Preview)
Debian 12
Debian 11
Debian 10
Debian 9

User space features

OS version Guest environment installed gcloud CLI installed OS Login supported Suspend and resume supported
Debian 12
Debian 11
Debian 10
Debian 9

Networking features

OS version Tier_1 networking# 200 Gbps network bandwidth# Jumbo frames/MTU
Debian 12 * †
Debian 11 * †
Debian 10 †
Debian 9 EOS EOS EOS

* You can update the gVNIC driver to the latest version to enable network egress bandwidths of 200 Gbps. For more information, see the Requirements and limitations section of "Configure per VM Tier_1 networking performance".
† Fully supported with VirtIO, but requires an updated driver to use with gVNIC. For more information, see Jumbo frames.
# Only available with certain machine series.

GPU support

N1+GPU denotes support for NVIDIA T4, V100, P100, or P4 GPUs running on a general-purpose N1 machine family.

OS version N1+GPU A3 (H100) A2 (A100) G2 (L4)
Debian 12
Debian 11
Debian 10
Debian 9 EOS EOS EOS EOS

VM Manager

OS version OS Config agent preinstalled OS inventory OS policies Patch Vulnerability reports
Debian 12
Debian 11
Debian 10
Debian 9 EOS EOS EOS EOS EOS

Import

For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate to Virtual Machines, see supported operating systems.

OS version Import disk Import virtual appliance Import machine image
Debian 12
Debian 11
Debian 10
Debian 9

License

OS version License type License URL
Debian 12 Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/licenses/debian-12-bookworm
Debian 11 Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/licenses/debian-11-bullseye
Debian 10 EOS https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/licenses/debian-10-buster
Debian 9 EOS https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/licenses/debian-9-stretch

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. Google Cloud provides Fedora CoreOS images built and supported by Fedora. There is no license fee for using Fedora CoreOS with Compute Engine.

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.

General information

OS version Image project x86 image family Arm image family Machine series Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
Fedora CoreOS Stable fedora-coreos-cloud fedora-coreos-stable fedora-coreos-stable-arm64 All except C3-metal, A3, A2, G2, X4 GA Rolling
Fedora CoreOS Testing fedora-coreos-cloud fedora-coreos-testing fedora-coreos-testing-arm64 All except C3-metal, A3, A2, G2, X4 GA Rolling
Fedora CoreOS Next fedora-coreos-cloud fedora-coreos-next fedora-coreos-next-arm64 All except C3-metal, A3, A2, G2, X4 GA Rolling

Interfaces

OS version SCSI NVMe Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) IDPF Multiple network interfaces
Fedora CoreOS Stable
Fedora CoreOS Testing
Fedora CoreOS Next

Security features

OS version Shielded VM Confidential VM SEV Confidential VM SEV-SNP (Preview)
Fedora CoreOS Stable *
Fedora CoreOS Testing *
Fedora CoreOS Next *

*This OS image doesn't support Secure Boot on ARM64.

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 features

OS version Tier_1 networking# 200 Gbps network bandwidth# Jumbo frames/MTU
Fedora CoreOS Stable
Fedora CoreOS Testing
Fedora CoreOS Next

GPU support

N1+GPU denotes support for NVIDIA T4, V100, P100, or P4 GPUs running on a general-purpose N1 machine family.

OS version N1+GPU A3 (H100) A2 (A100) G2 (L4)
Fedora CoreOS Stable
Fedora CoreOS Testing
Fedora CoreOS Next

VM Manager

OS version OS Config agent preinstalled OS inventory OS policies Patch Vulnerability reports
Fedora CoreOS Stable
Fedora CoreOS Testing
Fedora CoreOS Next

Import

For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate to Virtual Machines, see supported operating systems.

OS version Import disk Import virtual appliance Import machine image
Fedora CoreOS Stable
Fedora CoreOS Testing
Fedora CoreOS Next

License

OS version License type License URL
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. Google Cloud builds and supports the RHEL OS images available for Compute Engine.

RHEL images are premium resources that incur additional fees to use. If you want to use an existing RHEL subscription, you can use the Red Hat Cloud Access feature.

The Red Hat Knowledgebase provides you with access to articles, solutions, product documentation, and community discussions. The Red Hat Knowledgebase is available as a single-sign-on (SSO) option through the Google Cloud console. See Access Red Hat Knowledgebase.

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 (RHEL 7) or dnf automatic (RHEL 8+) 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 SSH server configuration is set up as follows:
    • Password authentication is disabled.
    • To prevent SSH disconnections, ServerAliveInterval and ClientAliveInterval 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.
  • 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. If you're unable to get updates from the Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI) servers, the RHUI client package might need to be updated. To update to the latest RHUI client package, run the following command: 
      dnf -y -q update 'google-rhui-client*'
  • 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 8+, by using dnf automatic.
    • For all versions, the update_cmd property is set to security.

Storage configuration

  • By default, images are 20 GB. This is the recommended minimum size.
  • The partition table is GPT, and there is an EFI partition to support booting on UEFI.

Time configuration

  • The NTP server is set to use the Compute Engine metadata server.

General information

OS version Image project x86 image family Arm image family Machine series Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
RHEL 9 rhel-cloud rhel-9 rhel-9-arm64 All except X4 GA May 2032
RHEL 8 rhel-cloud rhel-8 N/A All except T2A, C4A, X4 GA May 2029
RHEL 7 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS*
ELS†		 June 2024 (ELS ends June 2028)
RHEL 6 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS* November 2020 (ELS ends June 30, 2024)
RHEL 9.4 for SAP rhel-sap-cloud rhel-9-4-sap-ha N/A All except T2A, X4, C4A GA April 2028
RHEL 9.2 for SAP rhel-sap-cloud rhel-9-2-sap-ha N/A All except T2A, X4, C3-metal, C4A GA May 2027
RHEL 9.0 for SAP rhel-sap-cloud rhel-9-0-sap-ha N/A All except T2A, X4, C3-metal, C4A GA May 2026
RHEL 8.10 for SAP rhel-sap-cloud rhel-8-10-sap-ha N/A All except T2A, X4, C4A GA May 2029
RHEL 8.8 for SAP rhel-sap-cloud rhel-8-8-sap-ha N/A All except T2A, X4, C3-metal, C4A GA May 2027
RHEL 8.6 for SAP rhel-sap-cloud rhel-8-6-sap-ha N/A All except T2A, X4, C3-metal, C4A GA May 2026
RHEL 8.4 for SAP rhel-sap-cloud rhel-8-4-sap-ha N/A All except T2A, X4, C3-metal, C4A GA May 2025
RHEL 8.2 for SAP N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS* April 2024
RHEL 7.9 for SAP N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS*
ELS†		 June 2024 (ELS ends June 2028)

*EOS: End of support.

†ELS: To use this OS image, you must have a subscription or an Extended Life Cycle Support (ELS) Add-On. You can append the ELS Add-On to your RHEL 6 VMs as described in Append RHEL ELS licenses.

Interfaces

OS version SCSI NVMe Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) IDPF Multiple network interfaces
RHEL 9
RHEL 8
RHEL 7 # #
RHEL 6 *
RHEL 9.4 for SAP
RHEL 9.2 for SAP
RHEL 9.0 for SAP
RHEL 8.10 for SAP
RHEL 8.8 for SAP
RHEL 8.6 for SAP
RHEL 8.4 for SAP
RHEL 8.2 for SAP
RHEL 7.9 for SAP # #

*This OS image supports NVMe but does not include all optimizations for NVMe.

#If a multiple NIC VM is created using this OS image, the VM might lose network connectivity after rebooting. This happens if one of these NICs uses a non-VirtIO interface. See known issues.

Security features

OS version Shielded VM Confidential VM SEV Confidential VM SEV-SNP (Preview)
RHEL 9 *
RHEL 8
RHEL 7
RHEL 6
RHEL 9.4 for SAP
RHEL 9.2 for SAP
RHEL 9.0 for SAP
RHEL 8.10 for SAP
RHEL 8.8 for SAP
RHEL 8.6 for SAP
RHEL 8.4 for SAP
RHEL 8.2 for SAP
RHEL 7.9 for SAP

*This OS image doesn't support Secure Boot on ARM64.

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 9.4 for SAP
RHEL 9.2 for SAP
RHEL 9.0 for SAP
RHEL 8.10 for SAP
RHEL 8.8 for SAP
RHEL 8.6 for SAP
RHEL 8.4 for SAP
RHEL 8.2 for SAP
RHEL 7.9 for SAP

Networking features

OS version Tier_1 networking# 200 Gbps network bandwidth# Jumbo frames/MTU
RHEL 9**
RHEL 8**
RHEL 7** * †
RHEL 6** EOS EOS EOS
RHEL 9.4 for SAP
RHEL 9.2 for SAP**
RHEL 9.0 for SAP** * †
RHEL 8.10 for SAP**
RHEL 8.8 for SAP**
RHEL 8.6 for SAP** *
RHEL 8.4 for SAP** * †
RHEL 8.2 for SAP** * †
RHEL 7.9 for SAP** * †

*You can update the gVNIC driver to the latest version to enable network egress bandwidths of 200 Gbps. For more information, see the Requirements and limitations section of "Configure per VM Tier_1 networking performance".

†Fully supported with VirtIO, but requires an updated driver to use with gVNIC. For more information, see Jumbo frames.

#Only available with certain machine series.

**This OS image has predictable network interface names disabled. Newer image families may have a different network interface naming scheme.

GPU support

N1+GPU denotes support for NVIDIA T4, V100, P100, or P4 GPUs running on a general-purpose N1 machine family.

OS version N1+GPU A3 (H100) A2 (A100) G2 (L4)
RHEL 9
RHEL 8
RHEL 7
RHEL 6 EOS EOS EOS EOS
RHEL 9.4 for SAP
RHEL 9.2 for SAP
RHEL 9.0 for SAP
RHEL 8.10 for SAP
RHEL 8.8 for SAP
RHEL 8.6 for SAP
RHEL 8.4 for SAP
RHEL 8.2 for SAP
RHEL 7.9 for SAP

VM Manager

OS version OS Config agent preinstalled OS inventory OS policies Patch Vulnerability reports
RHEL 9
RHEL 8
RHEL 7
RHEL 6
RHEL 9.4 for SAP
RHEL 9.2 for SAP
RHEL 9.0 for SAP
RHEL 8.10 for SAP
RHEL 8.8 for SAP
RHEL 8.6 for SAP
RHEL 8.4 for SAP
RHEL 8.2 for SAP
RHEL 7.9 for SAP

Import

For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate to Virtual Machines, see supported operating systems.

OS version Import disk Import virtual appliance Import machine image
RHEL 9
RHEL 8
RHEL 7
RHEL 6
RHEL 9.4 for SAP
RHEL 9.2 for SAP
RHEL 9.0 for SAP
RHEL 8.10 for SAP
RHEL 8.8 for SAP
RHEL 8.6 for SAP
RHEL 8.4 for SAP
RHEL 8.2 for SAP
RHEL 7.9 for SAP

License

OS version License type License URL
RHEL 9
  • On-demand (Default)
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-server
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-byos
RHEL 8
  • On-demand (Default)
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-server
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-byos
RHEL 7
  • On-demand (Default)
  • ELS†

  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-server
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-els
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-byos
RHEL 6
  • On-demand (Default)
  • ELS†
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-6-server
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-6-els
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-6-byos
RHEL 9.4 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-sap-byos
RHEL 9.2 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-sap-byos
RHEL 9.0 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-9-sap-byos
RHEL 8.10 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap-byos
RHEL 8.8 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap-byos
RHEL 8.6 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap-byos
RHEL 8.4 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap-byos
RHEL 8.2 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-8-sap-byos
RHEL 7.9 for SAP
  • On-demand
  • BYOS
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rhel-sap-cloud/global/licenses/rhel-7-sap
  • N/A

†ELS: To use this OS image, you must have a subscription or an Extended Life Cycle Support (ELS) Add-On. You can append the ELS Add-On to your RHEL 6 VMs as described in Append RHEL ELS licenses.

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. Google Cloud builds and supports the Rocky Linux images available for Compute Engine. There is no license fee for using Rocky Linux with Compute Engine.

The following two versions of Rocky Linux operating systems are available on Compute Engine:

  • A fully open source version
  • A version optimized for Google Cloud: this version has the suffix -optimized-gcp and is pre-configured to use the latest version of the Google virtual network interface (gVNIC).
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 SSH server configuration is set up as follows:
    • Password authentication is disabled.
    • To prevent SSH disconnections, ServerAliveIntervaland ClientAliveInterval 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 to security. However, by default Rocky Linux does not offer security tagged repositories.

Storage configuration

  • By default, images are 20 GB.
  • The partition table is GPT, and there is an EFI partition to support booting on UEFI.
  • 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.

General information

OS version Image project x86 image family Arm image family Machine series Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud rocky-linux-cloud rocky-linux-9-optimized-gcp rocky-linux-9-optimized-gcp-arm64 All GA May 2032
Rocky Linux 9 rocky-linux-cloud rocky-linux-9 rocky-linux-9-arm64 All GA May 2032
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud rocky-linux-cloud rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp-arm64 All except X4 GA May 2029
Rocky Linux 8 rocky-linux-cloud rocky-linux-8 N/A All except T2A, C4A, X4 GA May 2029

Interfaces

OS version SCSI NVMe Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) IDPF Multiple network interfaces
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 9
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 8

Security features

OS version Shielded VM Confidential VM SEV Confidential VM SEV-SNP (Preview)
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 9
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 8

User space features

OS version Guest environment installed gcloud CLI installed OS Login supported Suspend and resume supported
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 9
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 8

Networking features

OS version Tier_1 networking# 200 Gbps network bandwidth# Jumbo frames/MTU
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud**
Rocky Linux 9**
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud**
Rocky Linux 8**

# Only available with certain machine series.
** This OS image has predictable network interface names disabled. Newer image families may have a different network interface naming scheme.

GPU support

N1+GPU denotes support for NVIDIA T4, V100, P100, or P4 GPUs running on a general-purpose N1 machine family.

OS version N1+GPU A3 (H100) A2 (A100) G2 (L4)
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 9
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 8

VM Manager

OS version OS Config agent preinstalled OS inventory OS policies Patch Vulnerability reports
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 9
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 8

Import

For operating system support information on migrating VMs using Migrate to Virtual Machines, see supported operating systems.

OS version Import disk Import virtual appliance Import machine image
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 9
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud
Rocky Linux 8

License

OS version License type License URL
Rocky Linux 9 optimized for Google Cloud Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rocky-linux-cloud/global/licenses/rocky-linux-9-optimized-gcp
Rocky Linux 9 Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rocky-linux-cloud/global/licenses/rocky-linux-9
Rocky Linux 8 optimized for Google Cloud Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rocky-linux-cloud/global/licenses/rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp
Rocky Linux 8 Free https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/rocky-linux-cloud/global/licenses/rocky-linux-8

SQL Server on Linux

Microsoft SQL Server can be used on Linux-based VMs or images with an on-demand license. Google does not provide pre-configured images for SQL Server on Linux.

Microsoft SQL Server images are not supported for VMs created on the C4A machine series and the T2A machine series.

License

To use on-demand / pay-as-you-go (PAYG) licenses for Microsoft SQL Server on a Linux VM or image, see Add a SQL Server license to an existing Linux server.

Version License type License
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Enterprise on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2022-enterprise-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Standard on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2022-standard-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Web on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2022-web-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-enterprise-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-standard-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Web on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-web-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Enterprise on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-enterprise-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Standard on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-standard-on-linux
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Web on Linux On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/linux-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-web-on-linux

SQL Server on Windows

Microsoft SQL Server images are similar to the standard Windows Server operating system images, but they include Microsoft SQL Server preinstalled.

Microsoft SQL Server images are not supported for VMs created on the C4A machine series and the T2A machine series. Using a Microsoft SQL Server Windows image with a bare metal instance isn't supported.

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

General information

To use Microsoft SQL Server on a Windows VM with an on-demand / pay-as-you-go (PAYG) license, see Add a SQL Server license to an existing Windows server.

Version Image project Image family Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 windows-sql-cloud sql-web-2022-win-2022
sql-web-2022-win-2019
sql-std-2022-win-2022
sql-std-2022-win-2019
sql-ent-2022-win-2022
sql-ent-2022-win-2019 		GA Jan 11, 2033
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 windows-sql-cloud sql-web-2019-win-2022
sql-web-2019-win-2019
sql-std-2019-win-2022
sql-std-2019-win-2019
sql-ent-2019-win-2022
sql-ent-2019-win-2019 		GA Jan 8, 2030
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 windows-sql-cloud sql-web-2017-win-2022
sql-web-2017-win-2019
sql-web-2017-win-2016
sql-std-2017-win-2022
sql-std-2017-win-2019
sql-std-2017-win-2016
sql-exp-2017-win-2019
sql-exp-2017-win-2016
sql-ent-2017-win-2022
sql-ent-2017-win-2019
sql-ent-2017-win-2016 		GA Oct 12, 2027
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 windows-sql-cloud sql-web-2016-win-2019
sql-web-2016-win-2016
sql-std-2016-win-2019
sql-std-2016-win-2016
sql-ent-2016-win-2019
sql-ent-2016-win-2016 		GA Jul 14, 2026
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 EOS EOS EOS Jul 9, 2024

SQL Server edition support

Editions Enterprise Standard Web Express
Microsoft SQL Server 2022
Microsoft SQL Server 2019
Microsoft SQL Server 2017
Microsoft SQL Server 2016
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 EOS EOS EOS EOS

Windows Server version support

Version Windows 2016 Windows 2019 Windows 2022
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Web
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Web
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Web
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Express
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Web

License

Version License type License
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Enterprise On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2022-enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Standard On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2022-standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Web On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2022-web
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Web On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2019-web
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Enterprise On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Standard On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Web On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-web
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Express On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2017-express
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Enterprise On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2016-enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2016-standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Web On-demand https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2016-web
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise EOS https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2014-enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Standard EOS https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2014-standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Web EOS https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2014-web
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Enterprise EOS https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2012-enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Standard EOS https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2012-standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Web EOS 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 builds and supports the SUSE images available for Compute Engine. 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 being eth0.
  • 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 an EFI partition to support booting on UEFI. 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.

General information

OS version Image project x86 image family Arm image family Machine series Lifecycle stage EOS and image deprecation date
SLES 15 SP6 suse-cloud sles-15 sles-15-arm64 All GA TBD
SLES 15 SP5 suse-byos-cloud N/A N/A All BYOS w/ LTSS Dec 2027
SLES 15 SP4 suse-byos-cloud N/A N/A All BYOS w/ LTSS Dec 2026
SLES 15 SP3 suse-byos-cloud N/A N/A All except T2A, C3-metal, C4A, X4 BYOS w/ LTSS Dec 2025
SLES 15 SP2 suse-byos-cloud N/A N/A All except T2A, C3-metal, C4A, X4 BYOS w/ LTSS Dec 2024
SLES 15 SP1 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS Jan 2024
SLES 12 SP5 suse-cloud sles-12 N/A All except T2A, C3-metal, C4A, G2, X4 GA Oct 2027
SLES 12 SP4 N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS June 2023
SLES 15 SP6 for SAP suse-sap-cloud sles-15-sp6-sap N/A All except T2A, C4A GA TBD
SLES 15 SP5 for SAP suse-sap-cloud sles-15-sp5-sap N/A All except T2A, C4A GA Dec 2027
SLES 15 SP4 for SAP suse-sap-cloud sles-15-sp4-sap N/A All except T2A, C4A GA Dec 2026
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP suse-sap-cloud sles-15-sp3-sap N/A All except T2A, C4A, C3-metal, X4 GA Dec 2025
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP suse-sap-cloud sles-15-sp2-sap N/A All except T2A, C4A, C3-metal, X4 GA Dec 2024
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS Jan 2024
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP suse-sap-cloud sles-12-sp5-sap N/A All except T2A, C4A, C3-metal, G2, X4 GA Oct 2027
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP N/A N/A N/A N/A EOS June 2023

*BYOS with LTSS: 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.

†ESPOS: Extended Service Pack Overlay Support images are set to deprecated 6 months before their EOS date. Deprecated images are still available for use.

Interfaces

OS version SCSI NVMe Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC) IDPF Multiple network interfaces
SLES 15 SP6
SLES 15 SP5
SLES 15 SP4
SLES 15 SP3
SLES 15 SP2
SLES 15 SP1
SLES 12 SP5
SLES 12 SP4
SLES 15 SP6 for SAP
SLES 15 SP5 for SAP
SLES 15 SP4 for SAP
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP
SLES 12 SP4 for SAP

Security features

OS version Shielded VM Confidential VM SEV Confidential VM SEV-SNP (Preview)
SLES 15 SP6 *
SLES 15 SP5 *
SLES 15 SP4 *
SLES 15 SP3
SLES 15 SP2
SLES 15 SP1
SLES 12 SP5
SLES 12 SP4
SLES 15 SP6 for SAP
SLES 15 SP5 for SAP
SLES 15 SP4 for SAP
SLES 15 SP3 for SAP
SLES 15 SP2 for SAP
SLES 15 SP1 for SAP
SLES 12 SP5 for SAP