Using the Google Cloud CLI installer

The Google Cloud CLI provides an installer for each supported platform and can be deployed interactively or non-interactively.

Interactive installation

The installer lets you download, install, and set up the latest version of Google Cloud CLI in an interactive mode. When you run the installer, it downloads Google Cloud CLI components and installs them on the local system. It also performs additional setup tasks like adding gcloud CLI components to your PATH and enabling command completion in your shell.

Linux and macOS
  1. At the command line, run the following command:
    curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash
  2. When prompted, choose a location on your file system (usually your Home directory) to create the google-cloud-sdk subdirectory under.
  3. If you want to send anonymous usage statistics to help improve gcloud CLI, answer Y when prompted.
  4. To add gcloud CLI command-line tools to your PATH and enable command completion, answer Y when prompted.
  5. Restart your shell:
    exec -l $SHELL
  6. To initialize the Google Cloud CLI environment, run gcloud init:
    gcloud init
Windows (Installer)
    The Google Cloud CLI works on Windows 8.1 and later and Windows Server 2012 and later.
  1. Download the Google Cloud CLI installer.

    Alternatively, open a PowerShell terminal and run the following PowerShell commands:

    (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile("https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/GoogleCloudSDKInstaller.exe", "$env:Temp\GoogleCloudSDKInstaller.exe")
    
    & $env:Temp\GoogleCloudSDKInstaller.exe
        
  2. Launch the installer and follow the prompts. The installer is signed by Google LLC.

    If you're using a screen reader, check the Turn on screen reader mode checkbox. This option configures gcloud to use status trackers instead of unicode spinners, display progress as a percentage, and flatten tables. For more information, see the Accessibility features guide.

  3. Google Cloud CLI requires Python; supported versions are Python 3.8 to 3.12. By default, the Windows version of Google Cloud CLI comes bundled with Python 3. To use Google Cloud CLI your operating system must be able to run a supported version of Python.

    The installer installs all necessary dependencies, including the needed Python version. While Google Cloud CLI installs and manages Python 3 by default, you can use an existing Python installation if necessary by unchecking the option to Install Bundled Python. See gcloud topic startup to learn how to use an existing Python installation.

  4. After installation is complete, the installer gives you the option to create Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts, start the Google Cloud CLI shell, and configure the gcloud CLI. Make sure that you leave the options to start the shell and configure your installation selected. The installer starts a terminal window and runs the gcloud init command.

  5. The default installation doesn't include the App Engine extensions required to deploy an application using gcloud commands. These components can be installed using the gcloud CLI component manager.
Troubleshooting tips:
  • If your installation is unsuccessful due to the find command not being recognized, ensure your PATH environment variable is set to include the folder containing find. Usually, this is C:\WINDOWS\system32;.
  • If you uninstalled the gcloud CLI, you must reboot your system before installing the gcloud CLI again.
  • If unzipping fails, run the installer as an administrator.
Windows (Zip)

You can also install the latest version from a downloaded .zip file:

  1. Download google-cloud-sdk.zip and extract its contents. (Right click on the downloaded file and select Extract All.)

  2. Launch the google-cloud-sdk\install.bat script and follow the installation prompts.

  3. When the installation finishes, restart the command prompt (cmd.exe).

  4. Run gcloud init:

    C:\> gcloud init

Non-interactive (silent) deployment

You can automate Google Cloud CLI installation using the install script.

For Linux and MacOS:

Save the install script locally instead of piping it to bash.

  1. Enter the following at a command prompt:
    curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com > install.sh
  2. Run the script, passing arguments described as follows:
    bash install.sh --disable-prompts
- `--disable-prompts` - disable prompts.
- `--install-dir=DIRECTORY` - set the installation root
directory to `DIRECTORY`. The Google Cloud CLI is
installed in `DIRECTORY/google-cloud-sdk`.
The default is $HOME.

For Windows:

  • /S - install silently. No installer pages are displayed. Use flags to change install settings.
  • /D - set the default installation directory. It must be the last parameter used in the command line and must not contain any quotes, even if the path contains spaces. Only absolute paths are supported, for example /D=C:\CloudSDK
  • /allusers - install for all users
  • /singleuser - install for current user (default)
  • /screenreader - turn on screen reader mode (default is to turn it off)
  • /reporting - enable usage reporting (default is to turn off usage reporting)
  • /noreporting - disable usage reporting (default is to turn off usage reporting)
  • /nostartmenu - don't create start menu shortcut (default is to create shortcut)
  • /nodesktop - don't create desktop shortcut (default is to create shortcut)

Try it for yourself

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