Create instance templates

---

This page describes how to create and manage instance templates. Instance templates let you specify the machine type, boot disk image, network, and other VM properties that you want to use when creating virtual machine (VM) instances.

You can use instance templates to do the following:

• Create individual VMs.
• Create VMs in a managed instance group (MIG).
• Create reservations for VMs.
• Create future reservations for VMs.

Before you begin

• If you want to use the command-line examples in this guide, do the following:
  1. Install or update to the latest version of the Google Cloud CLI.
  2. Set a default region and zone.
• If you want to use the API examples in this guide, set up API access.
• Read when and why to create deterministic instance templates.
• Read about regional and global instance templates.

Limitations

• Shared VPC on interfaces other than nic0 for instance templates is supported in gcloud CLI and the API, but not in Google Cloud console.
• You can't update an existing instance template or change an instance template after it has been created. If an instance template goes out of date, or you need to make changes to the configuration, create a new instance template.
• If you want to specify an image family in an instance template, you can't use the Google Cloud console. You can use the Google Cloud CLI or the Compute Engine API instead.
• If you want to specify regional Persistent Disk in an instance template, you can't use the Google Cloud console. You can use the Google Cloud CLI or the Compute Engine API instead.
• You can create a reservation based on a regional instance template using the Compute Engine API and the gcloud CLI only. Google Cloud console is not supported.

Create a new instance template

Most of the VM properties that you can specify in a request to create an individual VM instance can also be specified for an instance template, including any VM metadata, startup scripts, persistent disks, service accounts, and so on. You must specify the machine type, boot disk, and network.

Create a regional or global instance template through the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, or the API. To create a global instance template, you can also use the Terraform or the Cloud Client Libraries.

Permissions required for this task

To perform this task, you must have the following permissions:

• All permissions required to call the instanceTemplates.insert method.

Console

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

   Go to Instance templates

   The remaining steps will appear automatically in the Google Cloud console.

2. Click Create instance template.
3. Select the Location as follows:
1. If you want to use the instance template across regions, choose Global.
2. If you want to reduce cross-region dependency, choose Regional.
4. If you chose regional, then select the Region where you want to create your instance template.

5. For the following fields, either accept the default values or modify them as required. The default values change based on the machine family that you select.

   • Select a Machine type.
   • To update the boot disk type or image, in the Boot disk section, click Change.
   • To update the network interface or IP address settings, click Advanced options, then click Networking, and then click the network interface you want to edit.

6. Optional: If you chose an image that supports Shielded VM, change the VM's Shielded VM settings:

   1. Click Advanced options, and then click the Security tab.
   2. If you want to disable Secure Boot, clear the Turn on Secure Boot checkbox. Secure Boot helps protect your VM instances against boot-level and kernel-level malware and rootkits. For more information, see Secure boot.

   3. If you want to disable the virtual trusted platform module (vTPM), clear the Turn on vTPM checkbox. The vTPM enables Measured boot, which validates the VM pre-boot and boot integrity. For more information, see Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM).

      Important: Disabling the vTPM also disables integrity monitoring because integrity monitoring relies on data gathered by Measured boot.

   4. If you want to disable integrity monitoring, uncheck the Turn on Integrity Monitoring checkbox. Integrity monitoring lets youn monitor the boot integrity of your Shielded VM instances by using Cloud Monitoring. For more information, see Integrity monitoring.

7. Optional: Under Advanced options, click the tabs to further customize your template. For example, you can add up to 15 secondary non-boot disks.

8. Optional: Click Equivalent REST to view the REST request body, which includes the JSON representation of your instance template.

9. Click Create to create the template.

gcloud

To create a regional or global instance template, use the instance-templates create command. For a regional instance template, you must use the --instance-template-region flag to set the region of the template.

Create a regional instance template using the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates create INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME
    --instance-template-region=REGION

Create a global instance template using the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates create INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME

If you do not provide explicit template settings, gcloud compute uses the following default values:

• Machine type: the machine type—for example, n1-standard-1
• Image: the latest Debian image
• Boot disk: a new standard boot disk named after the VM
• Network: the default VPC network
• IP address: an ephemeral external IP address

You can also explicitly provide these configuration settings. For example:

gcloud compute instance-templates create example-template-custom \
    --machine-type=e2-standard-4 \
    --image-family=debian-10 \
    --image-project=debian-cloud \
    --boot-disk-size=250GB

You can add up to 15 secondary non-boot disks. Specify the --create-disk flag for each secondary disk you create. To create secondary disks from a public or custom image, specify the image and image-project properties for each disk in the --create-disk flag. To create a blank disk, do not include these properties. Optionally, include properties for the disk size and type. To specify regional persistent disks, use the replica-zones property.

gcloud compute instance-templates create INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME \
    --create-disk= \
        image-family=DISK_IMAGE_FAMILY, \
        image-project=DISK_IMAGE_PROJECT, \
        size=SIZE_GB_DISK1 \
    --create-disk= \
        device-name=DISK_NAME,type=DISK_TYPE, \
        size=SIZE_GB_DISK2 \
        replica-zones=^:^ZONE:REMOTE_ZONE, \
        boot=false

Tip: When specifying the disk parameters, the characters ^:^ specify that the separation character between values is a colon (:) instead of the expected comma (,).

Replace the following:

• INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME: the name for the new template
• REGION: the region where you want to create the regional instance template

• IMAGE_FAMILY: an image family to use as a non-boot disk

  For more information on image families, see best practices when using image families on Compute Engine.

  You can use instead the flag --image=IMAGE to specify a specific version of an image.

  For blank disks, don't specify the image-family or image property.

• DISK_IMAGE_PROJECT: the image project that contains the image

  For blank disks, don't specify the image-project property. For more information on public images, see Public images.

• SIZE_GB_DISK1 and SIZE_GB_DISK2: the size of each secondary disk

• DISK_NAME: Optional: the disk name displayed to the guest OS after the VM is created.

• DISK_TYPE: Optional: the type of disk to create. If not specified, the default is pd-standard or pd-balanced, depending on the machine type.

• ZONE and REMOTE_ZONE: the zone to create the regional Persistent Disk disk in and the zone to replicate it to.

  For zonal disks, don't include the replica-zones property.

If you chose an image that supports Shielded VM, you can optionally change the instance's Shielded VM settings using one of the following flags:

• --no-shielded-secure-boot: turns off Secure Boot

  Secure Boot helps protect your VM instances against boot-level and kernel-level malware and rootkits. For more information, see Secure Boot.

• --no-shielded-vtpm: turns off the virtual trusted platform module (vTPM)

  The vTPM enables Measured Boot, which validates the VM pre-boot and boot integrity. For more information, see Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM).

  Important: Disabling the vTPM also disables integrity monitoring because integrity monitoring relies on data gathered by Measured Boot.

• --no-shielded-integrity-monitoring: turns off integrity monitoring

  Integrity monitoring lets you monitor the boot integrity of your Shielded VM instances using Cloud Monitoring. For more information, see Integrity monitoring.

For a list of all available subcommands and flags, see the instance-templates reference.

A template with the default configuration settings might look like the following:

gcloud compute instance-templates describe example-template

creationTimestamp: '2019-09-10T16:18:32.042-07:00'
description: ''
id: '6057583701980539406'
kind: compute#instanceTemplate
name: example-template
properties:
  canIpForward: false
  disks:
  - autoDelete: true
    boot: true
    initializeParams:
      sourceImage: https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-10
    kind: compute#attachedDisk
    mode: READ_WRITE
    type: PERSISTENT
  machineType: e2-standard-2
  networkInterfaces:
  - accessConfigs:
    - kind: compute#accessConfig
      name: external-nat
      type: ONE_TO_ONE_NAT
    network: https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/global/networks/default
  scheduling:
    automaticRestart: true
    onHostMaintenance: MIGRATE
  serviceAccounts:
  - email: default
    scopes:
    - https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
selfLink: https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/global/instanceTemplates/example-template

Terraform

To create an instance template, you can use the google_compute_instance_template resource.

The following Terraform example is similar to the following gcloud CLI command:

gcloud compute instance-templates create my-instance-template \
    --machine-type=e2-standard-4 \
    --image-family=debian-9 \
    --image-project=debian-cloud \
    --boot-disk-size=250GB

compute/region_autoscaler_basic/main.tf

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resource "google_compute_instance_template" "foobar" {
  name         = "my-instance-template"
  machine_type = "e2-standard-4"

  disk {
    source_image = "debian-cloud/debian-11"
    disk_size_gb = 250
  }

  network_interface {
    network = "default"

    # secret default
    access_config {
      network_tier = "PREMIUM"
    }
  }

  # secret default
  service_account {
    scopes = [
      "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only",
      "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write",
      "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write",
      "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub",
      "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly",
      "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol",
      "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append",
    ]
  }
}

To learn how to apply or remove a Terraform configuration, see Basic Terraform commands.

API

To create a regional instance template, make a POST request to the regionInstanceTemplates.insert method as follows:

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

To create a global instance template, make a POST request to the instanceTemplates.insert method:

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

You can add up to 15 secondary non-boot disks by using the disks property, with a field for each additional disk. For each additional disk, you can do the following:

• Create additional disks with a public or custom image.
• To add a blank disk, define the initializeParams entry with no sourceImage value.
• To create regional persistent disks, define the initializeParams entry with the property replicaZones.

In the body of the request, provide the template properties:

{
  "name": "INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME",
  "properties": {
    "machineType": "MACHINE_TYPE",
    "networkInterfaces": [
      {
        "network": "global/networks/default",
        "accessConfigs":
        [
          {
            "name": "external-IP",
            "type": "ONE_TO_ONE_NAT"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "disks":
    [
      {
        "type": "PERSISTENT",
        "boot": true,
        "mode": "READ_WRITE",
        "initializeParams":
        {
          "sourceImage": "projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/IMAGE"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "PERSISTENT",
        "boot": false,
        "deviceName": "DISK_NAME",
        "initializeParams":
        {
          "replicaZones": [
              "projects/PROJECT_NAME/zones/ZONE",
              "projects/PROJECT_NAME/zones/REMOTE_ZONE"
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Replace the following:

• PROJECT_ID: your project id
• REGION: the region where you want to create your regional instance template
• INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME: the name of the instance template
• ZONE: the zone where VMs are located

• MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type of the VMs

• IMAGE_PROJECT: the image project that contains the image

  For more information on public images, see Public images.

• IMAGE or IMAGE_FAMILY: specify one of the following:
  • IMAGE: a specific version of the image

    For example, "sourceImage": "projects/debian-cloud/global/images/debian-10-buster-v20200309"

  • IMAGE_FAMILY: an image family

    This creates the VM from the most recent, non-deprecated OS image. For example, if you specify "sourceImage": "projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-10", Compute Engine creates a VM from the latest version of the OS image in the Debian 10 image family.

    For more information on image families, see best practices when using image families on Compute Engine.

• DISK_NAME: Optional: the disk name displayed to the guest OS after the VM is created.

• PROJECT_NAME: the project associated with the VM

• REMOTE_ZONE: the zone where the regional disk should be replicated to

You can specify one of the following options for the disks property:

• Specify initializeParams to create persistent boot disks for each instance. You can add up to 15 secondary non-boot disks by using the initializeParams property for each additional disk. You can create disks by using public or custom images (or image families) in the sourceImage as shown in the preceding example. To add blank disks, do not specify a sourceImage.

• Specify source to attach an existing persistent boot disk. If you attach an existing boot disk, you can only create one instance from your template.

Optionally, you can specify the diskSizeGb, diskType, and labels properties for initializeParams and the diskSizeGb property for source.

If you chose an image that supports Shielded VM, you can optionally change the VM's Shielded VM settings by using the following Boolean request body items:

• enableSecureBoot: turns on or off Secure Boot

  Secure Boot helps protect your VM instances against boot-level and kernel-level malware and rootkits. For more information, see Secure Boot.

• enableVtpm: turns on or off the virtual trusted platform module (vTPM)

  The vTPM enables Measured Boot, which validates the VM pre-boot and boot integrity. For more information, see Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM).

  Important: Disabling the vTPM also disables integrity monitoring because integrity monitoring relies on data gathered by Measured Boot.

• enableIntegrityMonitoring: turns on or off integrity monitoring

  Integrity monitoring lets you monitor and verify the runtime boot integrity of your Shielded VM instances by using Cloud Monitoring reports. For more information, see Integrity monitoring.

To learn more about request parameters, see the instanceTemplates.insert method.

Go

compute/instance-templates/create-instance-templates/create_template.go

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import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	compute "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"
	computepb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/cloud/compute/v1"
	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
)

// createTemplate creates a new instance template with the provided name and a specific instance configuration.
func createTemplate(w io.Writer, projectID, templateName string) error {
	// projectID := "your_project_id"
	// templateName := "your_template_name"

	ctx := context.Background()
	instanceTemplatesClient, err := compute.NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewInstanceTemplatesRESTClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer instanceTemplatesClient.Close()

	req := &computepb.InsertInstanceTemplateRequest{
		Project: projectID,
		InstanceTemplateResource: &computepb.InstanceTemplate{
			Name: proto.String(templateName),
			Properties: &computepb.InstanceProperties{
				// The template describes the size and source image of the boot disk
				// to attach to the instance.
				Disks: []*computepb.AttachedDisk{
					{
						InitializeParams: &computepb.AttachedDiskInitializeParams{
							DiskSizeGb:  proto.Int64(250),
							SourceImage: proto.String("projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-11"),
						},
						AutoDelete: proto.Bool(true),
						Boot:       proto.Bool(true),
					},
				},
				MachineType: proto.String("e2-standard-4"),
				// The template connects the instance to the `default` network,
				// without specifying a subnetwork.
				NetworkInterfaces: []*computepb.NetworkInterface{
					{
						Name: proto.String("global/networks/default"),
						// The template lets the instance use an external IP address.
						AccessConfigs: []*computepb.AccessConfig{
							{
								Name:        proto.String("External NAT"),
								Type:        proto.String(computepb.AccessConfig_ONE_TO_ONE_NAT.String()),
								NetworkTier: proto.String(computepb.AccessConfig_PREMIUM.String()),
							},
						},
					},
				},
			},
		},
	}

	op, err := instanceTemplatesClient.Insert(ctx, req)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to create instance template: %w", err)
	}

	if err = op.Wait(ctx); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to wait for the operation: %w", err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Instance template created\n")

	return nil
}

Java

compute/cloud-client/src/main/java/compute/CreateInstanceTemplate.java

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import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.AccessConfig;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.AccessConfig.NetworkTier;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.AttachedDisk;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.AttachedDiskInitializeParams;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.GlobalOperationsClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.InsertInstanceTemplateRequest;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceProperties;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplate;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstanceTemplatesClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.NetworkInterface;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Operation;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

public class CreateInstanceTemplate {

  public static void main(String[] args)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    // projectId: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.
    // templateName: name of the new template to create.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    String templateName = "template-name";
    createInstanceTemplate(projectId, templateName);
  }

  /*
    Create a new instance template with the provided name and a specific
    instance configuration.
   */
  public static void createInstanceTemplate(String projectId, String templateName)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
    try (InstanceTemplatesClient instanceTemplatesClient = InstanceTemplatesClient.create()) {

      String machineType = "e2-standard-4";
      String sourceImage = "projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-11";

      // The template describes the size and source image of the boot disk
      // to attach to the instance.
      AttachedDisk attachedDisk = AttachedDisk.newBuilder()
          .setInitializeParams(AttachedDiskInitializeParams.newBuilder()
              .setSourceImage(sourceImage)
              .setDiskType("pd-balanced")
              .setDiskSizeGb(250).build())
          .setAutoDelete(true)
          .setBoot(true).build();

      // The template connects the instance to the `default` network,
      // without specifying a subnetwork.
      NetworkInterface networkInterface = NetworkInterface.newBuilder()
          .setName("global/networks/default")
          // The template lets the instance use an external IP address.
          .addAccessConfigs(AccessConfig.newBuilder()
              .setName("External NAT")
              .setType(AccessConfig.Type.ONE_TO_ONE_NAT.toString())
              .setNetworkTier(NetworkTier.PREMIUM.toString()).build()).build();

      InstanceProperties instanceProperties = InstanceProperties.newBuilder()
          .addDisks(attachedDisk)
          .setMachineType(machineType)
          .addNetworkInterfaces(networkInterface).build();

      InsertInstanceTemplateRequest insertInstanceTemplateRequest = InsertInstanceTemplateRequest
          .newBuilder()
          .setProject(projectId)
          .setInstanceTemplateResource(InstanceTemplate.newBuilder()
              .setName(templateName)
              .setProperties(instanceProperties).build()).build();

      // Create the Instance Template.
      Operation response = instanceTemplatesClient.insertAsync(insertInstanceTemplateRequest)
          .get(3, TimeUnit.MINUTES);

      if (response.hasError()) {
        System.out.println("Instance Template creation failed ! ! " + response);
        return;
      }
      System.out
          .printf("Instance Template Operation Status %s: %s", templateName, response.getStatus());
    }
  }

  public static void createInstanceTemplateWithDiskType(String projectId, String templateName)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
    try (InstanceTemplatesClient instanceTemplatesClient = InstanceTemplatesClient.create();
        GlobalOperationsClient globalOperationsClient = GlobalOperationsClient.create()) {

      AttachedDisk disk = AttachedDisk.newBuilder()
          .setInitializeParams(AttachedDiskInitializeParams.newBuilder()
              .setDiskSizeGb(10)
              .setDiskType("pd-balanced")
              .setSourceImage("projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-10").build())
          .setAutoDelete(true)
          .setBoot(true)
          .setType(AttachedDisk.Type.PERSISTENT.toString()).build();

      InstanceTemplate instanceTemplate = InstanceTemplate.newBuilder()
          .setName(templateName)
          .setProperties(InstanceProperties.newBuilder()
              .setMachineType("n1-standard-1")
              .addDisks(disk)
              .addNetworkInterfaces(NetworkInterface.newBuilder()
                  .setName("global/networks/default").build()).build()).build();

      InsertInstanceTemplateRequest insertInstanceTemplateRequest = InsertInstanceTemplateRequest
          .newBuilder()
          .setProject(projectId)
          .setInstanceTemplateResource(instanceTemplate).build();

      Operation response = instanceTemplatesClient.insertAsync(insertInstanceTemplateRequest)
          .get(3, TimeUnit.MINUTES);

      if (response.hasError()) {
        System.out.println("Instance Template creation failed ! ! " + response);
        return;
      }
      System.out
          .printf("Instance Template Operation Status %s: %s", templateName, response.getStatus());
    }
  }
}

Node.js

compute/create-instance-templates/createTemplate.js

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/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const templateName = 'your_template_name';

const compute = require('@google-cloud/compute');

// Create a new instance template with the provided name and a specific instance configuration.
async function createTemplate() {
  const instanceTemplatesClient = new compute.InstanceTemplatesClient();

  const [response] = await instanceTemplatesClient.insert({
    project: projectId,
    instanceTemplateResource: {
      name: templateName,
      properties: {
        disks: [
          {
            // The template describes the size and source image of the boot disk
            // to attach to the instance.
            initializeParams: {
              diskSizeGb: '250',
              sourceImage:
                'projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-11',
            },
            autoDelete: true,
            boot: true,
          },
        ],
        machineType: 'e2-standard-4',
        // The template connects the instance to the `default` network,
        // without specifying a subnetwork.
        networkInterfaces: [
          {
            // Use the network interface provided in the networkName argument.
            name: 'global/networks/default',
            // The template lets the instance use an external IP address.
            accessConfigs: [
              {
                name: 'External NAT',
                type: 'ONE_TO_ONE_NAT',
                networkTier: 'PREMIUM',
              },
            ],
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  });
  let operation = response.latestResponse;
  const operationsClient = new compute.GlobalOperationsClient();

  // Wait for the create operation to complete.
  while (operation.status !== 'DONE') {
    [operation] = await operationsClient.wait({
      operation: operation.name,
      project: projectId,
    });
  }

  console.log('Instance template created.');
}

createTemplate();

Python

compute/client_library/snippets/instance_templates/create.py

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from __future__ import annotations

import sys
from typing import Any

from google.api_core.extended_operation import ExtendedOperation
from google.cloud import compute_v1


def wait_for_extended_operation(
    operation: ExtendedOperation, verbose_name: str = "operation", timeout: int = 300
) -> Any:
    """
    Waits for the extended (long-running) operation to complete.

    If the operation is successful, it will return its result.
    If the operation ends with an error, an exception will be raised.
    If there were any warnings during the execution of the operation
    they will be printed to sys.stderr.

    Args:
        operation: a long-running operation you want to wait on.
        verbose_name: (optional) a more verbose name of the operation,
            used only during error and warning reporting.
        timeout: how long (in seconds) to wait for operation to finish.
            If None, wait indefinitely.

    Returns:
        Whatever the operation.result() returns.

    Raises:
        This method will raise the exception received from `operation.exception()`
        or RuntimeError if there is no exception set, but there is an `error_code`
        set for the `operation`.

        In case of an operation taking longer than `timeout` seconds to complete,
        a `concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` will be raised.
    """
    result = operation.result(timeout=timeout)

    if operation.error_code:
        print(
            f"Error during {verbose_name}: [Code: {operation.error_code}]: {operation.error_message}",
            file=sys.stderr,
            flush=True,
        )
        print(f"Operation ID: {operation.name}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        raise operation.exception() or RuntimeError(operation.error_message)

    if operation.warnings:
        print(f"Warnings during {verbose_name}:\n", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        for warning in operation.warnings:
            print(f" - {warning.code}: {warning.message}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)

    return result


def create_template(project_id: str, template_name: str) -> compute_v1.InstanceTemplate:
    """
    Create a new instance template with the provided name and a specific
    instance configuration.

    Args:
        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.
        template_name: name of the new template to create.

    Returns:
        InstanceTemplate object that represents the new instance template.
    """
    # The template describes the size and source image of the boot disk
    # to attach to the instance.
    disk = compute_v1.AttachedDisk()
    initialize_params = compute_v1.AttachedDiskInitializeParams()
    initialize_params.source_image = (
        "projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-11"
    )
    initialize_params.disk_size_gb = 250
    disk.initialize_params = initialize_params
    disk.auto_delete = True
    disk.boot = True

    # The template connects the instance to the `default` network,
    # without specifying a subnetwork.
    network_interface = compute_v1.NetworkInterface()
    network_interface.name = "global/networks/default"

    # The template lets the instance use an external IP address.
    access_config = compute_v1.AccessConfig()
    access_config.name = "External NAT"
    access_config.type_ = "ONE_TO_ONE_NAT"
    access_config.network_tier = "PREMIUM"
    network_interface.access_configs = [access_config]

    template = compute_v1.InstanceTemplate()
    template.name = template_name
    template.properties.disks = [disk]
    template.properties.machine_type = "e2-standard-4"
    template.properties.network_interfaces = [network_interface]

    template_client = compute_v1.InstanceTemplatesClient()
    operation = template_client.insert(
        project=project_id, instance_template_resource=template
    )

    wait_for_extended_operation(operation, "instance template creation")

    return template_client.get(project=project_id, instance_template=template_name)

Create an instance template based on an existing instance

You can use the Compute Engine API or gcloud CLI to save the configuration of an existing VM instance as an instance template. You can optionally override how the source disks are defined in the template.

If you need to override other properties, first create an instance template based on an existing instance, then create a similar template with additional overrides.

Warning: If the existing instance contains a static external IP address, that address is copied into the instance template and might limit the use of the template.

Permissions required for this task

To perform this task, you must have the following permissions:

• All permissions required to call the instanceTemplates.insert method.

gcloud

Use the gcloud compute instance-templates create command with the --source-instance and --source-instance-zone flags. If you want to create a regional instance template, then you must also use the --instance-template-region flag to specify the region of the instance template.

To create a regional instance template, use the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates create INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME \
    --source-instance=SOURCE_INSTANCE \
    --source-instance-zone=SOURCE_INSTANCE_ZONE \
    --instance-template-region=REGION

To create a global instance template, use the following command:

gcloud compute instance-templates create INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME \
    --source-instance=SOURCE_INSTANCE \
    --source-instance-zone=SOURCE_INSTANCE_ZONE

To override how the source instance's disks are defined, add one or more --configure-disk flags.

The following example creates a global instance template from an existing instance and overrides the source instance's disk with the specifications that you provide.

gcloud compute instance-templates create INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME \
    --source-instance=SOURCE_INSTANCE \
    --source-instance-zone=SOURCE_INSTANCE_ZONE \
    --configure-disk= \
        device-name=SOURCE_DISK, \
        instantiate-from=INSTANTIATE_OPTIONS, \
        auto-delete=AUTO_DELETE

Replace the following:

• INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME is the name of the template to create.
• SOURCE_INSTANCE is the name of the instance to use as a model for the new template.
• SOURCE_INSTANCE_ZONE is the zone that contains the source instance.
• REGION is the region where you want to create the regional instance template..
• SOURCE_DISK is the name of a source-instance disk that you want to override within the template.

• INSTANTIATE_OPTIONS specifies whether to include the disk and which image to use. Valid values depend on the type of disk:

  • source-image or source-image-family (valid only for boot and other persistent read/write disks). Specify this option if you want to use the same source image or source image family that was used to create the disk in the source VM instance.

  • custom-image (valid only for boot and other persistent read/write disks). If you want to retain applications and settings from the source VMs in your instance template, you can create a custom image and then specify it when you create the template. If specified, then provide the path or URL for the custom image, as shown in the following example. Alternatively, you can specify an image family using the following format:

    --configure-disk=device-name=DATA_DISK_NAME,instantiate-from=custom-image,
custom-image=projects/PROJECT_ID/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY_NAME

  • attach-read-only (valid only for read-only disks).

  • blank (valid only for non-boot persistent disks and local SSDs). If specified, then, when the template is used to create a new instance, the disk is created unformatted. You must format and mount the disk in a startup script before you can use it in a scalable setup.

  • do-not-include (valid