Quickstart for Windows

This page shows how to install the Google Cloud SDK, initialize it and run core gcloud commands from the command-line.

Before you begin

1. Download the Google Cloud SDK installer.

2. Launch the installer and follow the prompts.

3. After installation has completed, the installer presents several options:

   

   Make sure that the following are selected:

   • Start Google Cloud SDK Shell
   • Run 'gcloud init'

   The installer then starts a terminal window and runs the gcloud init command.

Troubleshooting tip: 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;.

Initialize the SDK

Use the gcloud init command to perform several common SDK setup tasks. These include authorizing the SDK tools to access Google Cloud Platform using your user account credentials and setting up the default SDK configuration.

To initialize the SDK:

1. Run the following at a command prompt:

   gcloud init
   

2. Accept the option to log in using your Google user account:

   To continue, you must log in. Would you like to log in (Y/n)? Y
   

3. In your browser, log in to your Google user account when prompted and click Allow to grant permission to access Google Cloud Platform resources.

4. At the command prompt, select a Cloud Platform project from the list of those where you have Owner, Editor or Viewer permissions:

   Pick cloud project to use:
    [1] [my-project-1]
    [2] [my-project-2]
    ...
    Please enter your numeric choice:
   

   If you only have one project, gcloud init selects it for you.

5. If you have the Google Compute Engine API enabled, gcloud init allows you to choose a default Compute Engine zone:

   Which compute zone would you like to use as project default?
    [1] [asia-east1-a]
    [2] [asia-east1-b]
    ...
    [14] Do not use default zone
    Please enter your numeric choice:
   

   gcloud init confirms that you have complete the setup steps successfully:

   gcloud has now been configured!
   You can use [gcloud config] to change more gcloud settings.
   
   Your active configuration is: [default]
   

Run core gcloud commands

Run these gcloud commands to view information about your SDK installation:

1. To list accounts whose credentials are stored on the local system:

   gcloud auth list
   

   gcloud displays a list of credentialed accounts:

   Credentialed accounts:
    - [e-mail] (active)
    - [e-mail]
   

2. To list the properties in your active SDK configuration:

   gcloud config list
   

   gcloud displays the list of properties:

   [core]
   account = [e-mail]
   disable_usage_reporting = False
   project = example-project
   

3. To view information your Cloud SDK installation and the active SDK configuration:

   gcloud info
   

   gcloud displays a summary of information about your Cloud SDK installation. This includes information about your system, the installed SDK components, the active user account and current project, and the properties in the active SDK configuration.

4. To view information about gcloud commands and other topics from the command line:

   gcloud help
   

   For example, to view the help for gcloud compute instances create:

   gcloud help compute instances create
   

   gcloud displays a help topic that contains a description of the command, a list of command flags and arguments, and examples of how to use it.

What's next

• Read the gcloud Tool Guide for an overview of the gcloud command-line tool.
• Read the gcloud Reference Guide for descriptions of the gcloud commands that you can use to perform a variety of tasks on Google Cloud Platform.
• Install additional components such as the App Engine emulators or kubectl using the Cloud SDK component manager.