gcloud compute instances create

NAME

gcloud compute instances create - create Compute Engine virtual machine instances

SYNOPSIS

gcloud compute instances create INSTANCE_NAMES [INSTANCE_NAMES …] [--accelerator=[count=COUNT],[type=TYPE]] [--async] [--availability-domain=AVAILABILITY_DOMAIN] [--no-boot-disk-auto-delete] [--boot-disk-device-name=BOOT_DISK_DEVICE_NAME] [--boot-disk-interface=BOOT_DISK_INTERFACE] [--boot-disk-provisioned-iops=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_IOPS] [--boot-disk-provisioned-throughput=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_THROUGHPUT] [--boot-disk-size=BOOT_DISK_SIZE] [--boot-disk-type=BOOT_DISK_TYPE] [--can-ip-forward] [--create-disk=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]] [--csek-key-file=FILE] [--deletion-protection] [--description=DESCRIPTION] [--discard-local-ssds-at-termination-timestamp=DISCARD_LOCAL_SSDS_AT_TERMINATION_TIMESTAMP] [--disk=[auto-delete=AUTO-DELETE],[boot=BOOT],[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[force-attach=FORCE-ATTACH],[interface=INTERFACE],[mode=MODE],[name=NAME],[scope=SCOPE]] [--enable-display-device] [--[no-]enable-nested-virtualization] [--[no-]enable-uefi-networking] [--erase-windows-vss-signature] [--external-ipv6-address=EXTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS] [--external-ipv6-prefix-length=EXTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH] [--hostname=HOSTNAME] [--instance-termination-action=INSTANCE_TERMINATION_ACTION] [--internal-ipv6-address=INTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS] [--internal-ipv6-prefix-length=INTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH] [--ipv6-network-tier=IPV6_NETWORK_TIER] [--ipv6-public-ptr-domain=IPV6_PUBLIC_PTR_DOMAIN] [--key-revocation-action-type=POLICY] [--labels=[KEY=VALUE,…]] [--local-ssd=[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[interface=INTERFACE],[size=SIZE]] [--local-ssd-recovery-timeout=LOCAL_SSD_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT] [--machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE] [--maintenance-policy=MAINTENANCE_POLICY] [--max-run-duration=MAX_RUN_DURATION] [--metadata=KEY=VALUE,[KEY=VALUE,…]] [--metadata-from-file=KEY=LOCAL_FILE_PATH,[…]] [--min-cpu-platform=PLATFORM] [--min-node-cpu=MIN_NODE_CPU] [--network=NETWORK] [--network-interface=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]] [--network-performance-configs=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]] [--network-tier=NETWORK_TIER] [--node-project=NODE_PROJECT] [--performance-monitoring-unit=PERFORMANCE_MONITORING_UNIT] [--preemptible] [--private-ipv6-google-access-type=PRIVATE_IPV6_GOOGLE_ACCESS_TYPE] [--private-network-ip=PRIVATE_NETWORK_IP] [--provisioning-model=PROVISIONING_MODEL] [--no-require-csek-key-create] [--resource-manager-tags=[KEY=VALUE,…]] [--resource-policies=[RESOURCE_POLICY,…]] [--no-restart-on-failure] [--shielded-integrity-monitoring] [--shielded-secure-boot] [--shielded-vtpm] [--source-instance-template=SOURCE_INSTANCE_TEMPLATE] [--source-machine-image=SOURCE_MACHINE_IMAGE] [--source-machine-image-csek-key-file=FILE] [--stack-type=STACK_TYPE] [--subnet=SUBNET] [--tags=TAG,[TAG,…]] [--termination-time=TERMINATION_TIME] [--threads-per-core=THREADS_PER_CORE] [--turbo-mode=TURBO_MODE] [--visible-core-count=VISIBLE_CORE_COUNT] [--zone=ZONE] [--address=ADDRESS     | --no-address] [--boot-disk-kms-key=BOOT_DISK_KMS_KEY : --boot-disk-kms-keyring=BOOT_DISK_KMS_KEYRING --boot-disk-kms-location=BOOT_DISK_KMS_LOCATION --boot-disk-kms-project=BOOT_DISK_KMS_PROJECT] [--confidential-compute     | --confidential-compute-type=CONFIDENTIAL_COMPUTE_TYPE] [--custom-cpu=CUSTOM_CPU --custom-memory=CUSTOM_MEMORY : --custom-extensions --custom-vm-type=CUSTOM_VM_TYPE] [--image-family-scope=IMAGE_FAMILY_SCOPE --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT --image=IMAGE     | --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY     | --source-snapshot=SOURCE_SNAPSHOT] [--instance-kms-key=INSTANCE_KMS_KEY : --instance-kms-keyring=INSTANCE_KMS_KEYRING --instance-kms-location=INSTANCE_KMS_LOCATION --instance-kms-project=INSTANCE_KMS_PROJECT] [--node=NODE     | --node-affinity-file=PATH_TO_FILE     | --node-group=NODE_GROUP] [--public-ptr     | --no-public-ptr] [--public-ptr-domain=PUBLIC_PTR_DOMAIN     | --no-public-ptr-domain] [--reservation=RESERVATION --reservation-affinity=RESERVATION_AFFINITY; default="any"] [--scopes=[SCOPE,…]     | --no-scopes] [--service-account=SERVICE_ACCOUNT     | --no-service-account] [GCLOUD_WIDE_FLAG …]

DESCRIPTION

gcloud compute instances create facilitates the creation of Compute Engine virtual machines.

When an instance is in RUNNING state and the system begins to boot, the instance creation is considered finished, and the command returns with a list of new virtual machines. Note that you usually cannot log into a new instance until it finishes booting. Check the progress of an instance using gcloud compute instances get-serial-port-output.

For more examples, refer to the EXAMPLES section below.

EXAMPLES

To create an instance with the latest 'Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8' image available, run:

gcloud compute instances create example-instance --image-family=rhel-8 --image-project=rhel-cloud --zone=us-central1-a

To create instances called 'example-instance-1', 'example-instance-2', and 'example-instance-3' in the 'us-central1-a' zone, run:

gcloud compute instances create example-instance-1 example-instance-2 example-instance-3 --zone=us-central1-a

To create an instance called 'instance-1' from a source snapshot called 'instance-snapshot' in zone 'us-central1-a' and attached regional disk 'disk-1', run:

gcloud compute instances create instance-1 --source-snapshot=https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/global/snapshots/instance-snapshot --zone=us-central1-a --disk=name=disk1,scope=regional

To create an instance called instance-1 as a Shielded VM instance with Secure Boot, virtual trusted platform module (vTPM) enabled and integrity monitoring, run:

gcloud compute instances create instance-1 --zone=us-central1-a --shielded-secure-boot --shielded-vtpm --shielded-integrity-monitoring

To create a preemptible instance called 'instance-1', run:

gcloud compute instances create instance-1 --machine-type=n1-standard-1 --zone=us-central1-b --preemptible --no-restart-on-failure --maintenance-policy=terminate

POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS

INSTANCE_NAMES [INSTANCE_NAMES …]

Names of the instances to create. For details on valid instance names, refer to the criteria documented under the field 'name' at: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/reference/rest/v1/instances

FLAGS

--accelerator=[count=COUNT],[type=TYPE]

Attaches accelerators (e.g. GPUs) to the instances.

type

The specific type (e.g. nvidia-tesla-t4 for NVIDIA T4) of accelerator to attach to the instances. Use 'gcloud compute accelerator-types list' to learn about all available accelerator types.

count

Number of accelerators to attach to each instance. The default value is 1.

--async

Return immediately, without waiting for the operation in progress to complete.

--availability-domain=AVAILABILITY_DOMAIN

Specifies the availability domain that this VM instance should be scheduled on. The number of availability domains that a VM can be scheduled on is specified when you create the spread placement policy.

Specify a value from 1 to the number of domains that are available in your placement policy.

--boot-disk-auto-delete

Automatically delete boot disks when their instances are deleted. Enabled by default, use --no-boot-disk-auto-delete to disable.

--boot-disk-device-name=BOOT_DISK_DEVICE_NAME

The name the guest operating system will see for the boot disk. This option can only be specified if a new boot disk is being created (as opposed to mounting an existing persistent disk).

--boot-disk-interface=BOOT_DISK_INTERFACE

Indicates the interface to use for the boot disk. The value must be one of the following:

• SCSI
• NVME

--boot-disk-provisioned-iops=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_IOPS

Indicates how many IOPS to provision for the disk. This sets the number of I/O operations per second that the disk can handle. Value must be between 10,000 and 120,000.

--boot-disk-provisioned-throughput=BOOT_DISK_PROVISIONED_THROUGHPUT

Indicates how much throughput to provision for the disk. This sets the number of throughput mb per second that the disk can handle.

--boot-disk-size=BOOT_DISK_SIZE

The size of the boot disk. This option can only be specified if a new boot disk is being created (as opposed to mounting an existing persistent disk). The value must be a whole number followed by a size unit of KB for kilobyte, MB for megabyte, GB for gigabyte, or TB for terabyte. For example, 10GB will produce a 10 gigabyte disk. Disk size must be a multiple of 1 GB. Default size unit is GB.

--boot-disk-type=BOOT_DISK_TYPE

The type of the boot disk. This option can only be specified if a new boot disk is being created (as opposed to mounting an existing persistent disk). To get a list of available disk types, run $ gcloud compute disk-types list.

--can-ip-forward

If provided, allows the instances to send and receive packets with non-matching destination or source IP addresses.

--create-disk=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]

Creates and attaches persistent disks to the instances.

name

Specifies the name of the disk. This option cannot be specified if more than one instance is being created.

description

Optional textual description for the disk being created.

mode

Specifies the mode of the disk. Supported options are ro for read-only and rw for read-write. If omitted, rw is used as a default.

image

Specifies the name of the image that the disk will be initialized with. A new disk will be created based on the given image. To view a list of public images and projects, run $ gcloud compute images list. It is best practice to use image when a specific version of an image is needed. If both image and image-family flags are omitted a blank disk will be created.

image-family

The image family for the operating system that the boot disk will be initialized with. Compute Engine offers multiple Linux distributions, some of which are available as both regular and Shielded VM images. When a family is specified instead of an image, the latest non-deprecated image associated with that family is used. It is best practice to use --image-family when the latest version of an image is needed.

image-project

The Google Cloud project against which all image and image family references will be resolved. It is best practice to define image-project. A full list of available image projects can be generated by running gcloud compute images list.

• If specifying one of our public images, image-project must be provided.
• If there are several of the same image-family value in multiple projects, image-project must be specified to clarify the image to be used.
• If not specified and either image or image-family is provided, the current default project is used.

size

The size of the disk. The value must be a whole number followed by a size unit of KB for kilobyte, MB for megabyte, GB for gigabyte, or TB for terabyte. For example, 10GB will produce a 10 gigabyte disk. Disk size must be a multiple of 1 GB. If not specified, the default image size will be used for the new disk.

type

The type of the disk. To get a list of available disk types, run $ gcloud compute disk-types list. The default disk type is pd-standard.

device-name

An optional name to display the disk name in the guest operating system. If omitted, a device name of the form persistent-disk-N is used.

provisioned-iops

Indicates how many IOPS to provision for the disk. This sets the number of I/O operations per second that the disk can handle. Value must be between 10,000 and 120,000.

provisioned-throughput

Indicates how much throughput to provision for the disk. This sets the number of throughput mb per second that the disk can handle.

disk-resource-policy

Resource policy to apply to the disk. Specify a full or partial URL. For example:

• https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/my-project/regions/us-central1/resourcePolicies/my-resource-policy
• projects/my-project/regions/us-central1/resourcePolicies/my-resource-policy

For more information, see the following docs:

• https://cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/beta/compute/resource-policies/
• https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/scheduled-snapshots

auto-delete

If yes, this persistent disk will be automatically deleted when the instance is deleted. However, if the disk is later detached from the instance, this option won't apply. The default value for this is yes.

architecture

Specifies the architecture or processor type that this disk can support. For available processor types on Compute Engine, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/cpu-platforms.

storage-pool

The name of the storage pool in which the new disk is created. The new disk and the storage pool must be in the same location.

interface

The interface to use with the disk. The value must be one of the following:

• SCSI
• NVME

boot

If yes, indicates that this is a boot disk. The instance will use the first partition of the disk for its root file system. The default value for this is no.

kms-key

Fully qualified Cloud KMS cryptokey name that will protect the disk.

This can either be the fully qualified path or the name.

The fully qualified Cloud KMS cryptokey name format is: projects/<kms-project>/locations/<kms-location>/keyRings/<kms-keyring>/ cryptoKeys/<key-name>.

If the value is not fully qualified then kms-location, kms-keyring, and optionally kms-project are required.

See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/customer-managed-encryption for more details.

kms-project

Project that contains the Cloud KMS cryptokey that will protect the disk.

If the project is not specified then the project where the disk is being created will be used.

If this flag is set then key-location, kms-keyring, and kms-key are required.

See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/customer-managed-encryption for more details.

kms-location

Location of the Cloud KMS cryptokey to be used for protecting the disk.

All Cloud KMS cryptokeys are reside in a 'location'. To get a list of possible locations run 'gcloud kms locations list'. If this flag is set then kms-keyring and kms-key are required. See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/customer-managed-encryption for more details.

kms-keyring

The keyring which contains the Cloud KMS cryptokey that will protect the disk.

If this flag is set then kms-location and kms-key are required.

See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/customer-managed-encryption for more details.

source-snapshot

The source disk snapshot that will be used to create the disk. You can provide this as a full URL to the snapshot or just the snapshot name. For example, the following are valid values:

• https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/global/snapshots/snapshot
• snapshot

confidential-compute

If yes, the disk is created in confidential mode. The default value is no. Encryption with a Cloud KMS key is required to enable this option.

replica-zones

Required for each regional disk associated with the instance. Specify the URLs of the zones where the disk should be replicated to. You must provide exactly two replica zones, and one zone must be the same as the instance zone.

--csek-key-file=FILE

Path to a Customer-Supplied Encryption Key (CSEK) key file that maps Compute Engine resources to user managed keys to be used when creating, mounting, or taking snapshots of disks.

If you pass - as value of the flag, the CSEK is read from stdin. See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/customer-supplied-encryption for more details.

--deletion-protection

Enables deletion protection for the instance.

--description=DESCRIPTION

Specifies a textual description of the instances.

--discard-local-ssds-at-termination-timestamp=DISCARD_LOCAL_SSDS_AT_TERMINATION_TIMESTAMP

Required to be set to true and only allowed for VMs that have one or more local SSDs, use --instance-termination-action=STOP, and use either --max-run-duration or --termination-time.

This flag indicates the value that you want Compute Engine to use for the --discard-local-ssd flag in the automatic gcloud compute instances stop command. This flag only supports the true value, which discards local SSD data when automatically stopping this VM during its terminationTimestamp.

For more information about the --discard-local-ssd flag, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/local-ssd#stop_instance.

--disk=[auto-delete=AUTO-DELETE],[boot=BOOT],[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[force-attach=FORCE-ATTACH],[interface=INTERFACE],[mode=MODE],[name=NAME],[scope=SCOPE]

Attaches an existing disk to the instances.

name

The disk to attach to the instances. If you create more than one instance, you can only attach a disk in read-only mode. By default, you attach a zonal disk located in the same zone of the instance. If you want to attach a regional disk, you must specify the disk using its URI; for example, projects/myproject/regions/us-central1/disks/my-regional-disk.

mode

The mode of the disk. Supported options are ro for read-only mode and rw for read-write mode. If omitted, rw is used as a default value. If you use rw when creating more than one instance, you encounter errors.

boot

If set to yes, you attach a boot disk. The virtual machine then uses the first partition of the disk for the root file systems. The default value for this is no.

device-name

An optional name to display the disk name in the guest operating system. If omitted, a device name of the form persistent-disk-N is used.

auto-delete

If set to yes, the persistent disk is automatically deleted when the instance is deleted. However, if you detach the disk from the instance, deleting the instance doesn't delete the disk. The default value is yes.

interface

The interface to use for the disk. The value must be one of the following:

• SCSI
• NVME

scope

Can be zonal or regional. If zonal, the disk is interpreted as a zonal disk in the same zone as the instance (default). If regional, the disk is interpreted as a regional disk in the same region as the instance. The default value for this is zonal.

force-attach

If yes, this persistent disk will force-attached to the instance even it is already attached to another instance. The default value is 'no'.

--enable-display-device

Enable a display device on VM instances. Disabled by default.

--[no-]enable-nested-virtualization

If set to true, enables nested virtualization for the instance. Use --enable-nested-virtualization to enable and --no-enable-nested-virtualization to disable.

--[no-]enable-uefi-networking

If set to true, enables UEFI networking for the instance creation. Use --enable-uefi-networking to enable and --no-enable-uefi-networking to disable.

--erase-windows-vss-signature

Specifies whether the disk restored from source snapshots or source machine image should erase Windows specific VSS signature. See https://cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/compute/disks/snapshot#--guest-flush

--external-ipv6-address=EXTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS

Assigns the given external IPv6 address to the instance that is created. The address must be the first IP address in the range. This option can be used only when creating a single instance.

--external-ipv6-prefix-length=EXTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH

The prefix length of the external IPv6 address range. This field should be used together with --external-ipv6-address. Only the /96 IP address range is supported, and the default value is 96.

--hostname=HOSTNAME

Specify the hostname of the instance to be created. The specified hostname must be RFC1035 compliant. If hostname is not specified, the default hostname is [INSTANCE_NAME].c.[PROJECT_ID].internal when using the global DNS, and [INSTANCE_NAME].[ZONE].c.[PROJECT_ID].internal when using zonal DNS.

--instance-termination-action=INSTANCE_TERMINATION_ACTION

Specifies the termination action that will be taken upon VM preemption (--provisioning-model=SPOT) or automatic instance termination (--max-run-duration or --termination-time).

INSTANCE_TERMINATION_ACTION must be one of:

DELETE

Permanently delete the VM.

STOP

Default only for Spot VMs. Stop the VM without preserving memory. The VM can be restarted later.

--internal-ipv6-address=INTERNAL_IPV6_ADDRESS

Assigns the given internal IPv6 address or range to the instance that is created. The address must be the first IP address in the range or from a /96 IP address range. This option can be used only when creating a single instance.

--internal-ipv6-prefix-length=INTERNAL_IPV6_PREFIX_LENGTH

Optional field that indicates the prefix length of the internal IPv6 address range. It should be used together with --internal-ipv6-address. Only /96 IP address range is supported and the default value is 96. If not set, either the prefix length from --internal-ipv6-address will be used or the default value of 96 will be assigned.

--ipv6-network-tier=IPV6_NETWORK_TIER

Specifies the IPv6 network tier that will be used to configure the instance network interface IPv6 access config. IPV6_NETWORK_TIER must be (only one value is supported):

PREMIUM

High quality, Google-grade network tier.

--ipv6-public-ptr-domain=IPV6_PUBLIC_PTR_DOMAIN

Assigns a custom PTR domain for the external IPv6 in the IPv6 access configuration of instance. If unspecified or specified to be an empty string, the default PTR record will be used. This option can only be specified for the default network interface, nic0.

--key-revocation-action-type=POLICY

Specifies the behavior of the instance when the KMS key of one of its attached disks is revoked. The default is none. POLICY must be one of:

none

No operation is performed.

stop

The instance is stopped when the KMS key of one of its attached disks is revoked.

--labels=[KEY=VALUE,…]

List of label KEY=VALUE pairs to add.

Keys must start with a lowercase character and contain only hyphens (-), underscores (_), lowercase characters, and numbers. Values must contain only hyphens (-), underscores (_), lowercase characters, and numbers.

--local-ssd=[device-name=DEVICE-NAME],[interface=INTERFACE],[size=SIZE]

Attaches a local SSD to the instances.

device-name

Optional. A name that indicates the disk name the guest operating system will see. Can only be specified if interface is SCSI. If omitted, a device name of the form local-ssd-N will be used.

interface

Optional. The kind of disk interface exposed to the VM for this SSD. Valid values are SCSI and NVME. SCSI is the default and is supported by more guest operating systems. NVME might provide higher performance.

size

Optional. The only valid value is 375GB. Specify the --local-ssd flag multiple times if you need multiple 375GB local SSD partitions. You can specify a maximum of 24 local SSDs for a maximum of 9TB attached to an instance.

--local-ssd-recovery-timeout=LOCAL_SSD_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT

Specifies the maximum amount of time a Local Ssd Vm should wait while recovery of the Local Ssd state is attempted. Its value should be in between 0 and 168 hours with hour granularity and the default value being 1 hour.

--machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE

Specifies the machine type used for the instances. To get a list of available machine types, run 'gcloud compute machine-types list'. If unspecified, the default type is n1-standard-1.

--maintenance-policy=MAINTENANCE_POLICY

Specifies the behavior of the VMs when their host machines undergo maintenance. The default is MIGRATE. For more information, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/host-maintenance-options. MAINTENANCE_POLICY must be one of:

MIGRATE

The instances should be migrated to a new host. This will temporarily impact the performance of instances during a migration event.

TERMINATE

The instances should be terminated.

--max-run-duration=MAX_RUN_DURATION

Limits how long this VM instance can run, specified as a duration relative to the last time when the VM began running. Format the duration, MAX_RUN_DURATION, as the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds followed by d, h, m, and s respectively. For example, specify 30m for a duration of 30 minutes or specify 1d2h3m4s for a duration of 1 day, 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 4 seconds. Alternatively, to specify a timestamp, use --termination-time instead.

If neither --max-run-duration nor --termination-time is specified (default), the VM instance runs until prompted by a user action or system event. If either is specified, the VM instance is scheduled to be automatically terminated at the VM's termination timestamp (terminationTimestamp) using the action specified by --instance-termination-action.

Note: The terminationTimestamp is removed whenever the VM is stopped or suspended and redefined whenever the VM is rerun. For --max-run-duration specifically, the terminationTimestamp is the sum of MAX_RUN_DURATION and the time when the VM last entered the RUNNING state, which changes whenever the VM is rerun.

--metadata=KEY=VALUE,[KEY=VALUE,…]

Metadata to be made available to the guest operating system running on the instances. Each metadata entry is a key/value pair separated by an equals sign. Each metadata key must be unique and have a max of 128 bytes in length. Each value must have a max of 256 KB in length. Multiple arguments can be passed to this flag, e.g., --metadata key-1=value-1,key-2=value-2,key-3=value-3. The combined total size for all metadata entries is 512 KB.

In images that have Compute Engine tools installed on them, such as the official images, the following metadata keys have special meanings:

startup-script

Specifies a script that will be executed by the instances once they start running. For convenience, --metadata-from-file can be used to pull the value from a file.

startup-script-url

Same as startup-script except that the script contents are pulled from a publicly-accessible location on the web. For startup scripts on Windows instances, the following metadata keys have special meanings: windows-startup-script-url, windows-startup-script-cmd, windows-startup-script-bat, windows-startup-script-ps1, sysprep-specialize-script-url, sysprep-specialize-script-cmd, sysprep-specialize-script-bat, and sysprep-specialize-script-ps1. For more information, see Running startup scripts.

--metadata-from-file=KEY=LOCAL_FILE_PATH,[…]

Same as --metadata except that the value for the entry will be read from a local file. This is useful for values that are too large such as startup-script contents.

--min-cpu-platform=PLATFORM

When specified, the VM will be scheduled on host with specified CPU architecture or a newer one. To list available CPU platforms in given zone, run:

gcloud compute zones describe ZONE --format="value(availableCpuPlatforms)"

Default setting is "AUTOMATIC".

CPU platform selection is available only in selected zones.

You can find more information on-line: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/specify-min-cpu-platform

--min-node-cpu=MIN_NODE_CPU

Minimum number of virtual CPUs this instance will consume when running on a sole-tenant node.

--network=NETWORK

Specifies the network that the VM instances are a part of. If --subnet is also specified, subnet must be a subnetwork of the network specified by this --network flag. If neither is specified, the default network is used.

--network-interface=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]

Adds a network interface to the instance. Mutually exclusive with any of these flags: --address, --network, --network-tier, --subnet, --private-network-ip, --stack-type, --ipv6-network-tier, --internal-ipv6-address, --internal-ipv6-prefix-length, --ipv6-address, --ipv6-prefix-length, --external-ipv6-address, --external-ipv6-prefix-length, --ipv6-public-ptr-domain. This flag can be repeated to specify multiple network interfaces.

The following keys are allowed:

address

Assigns the given external address to the instance that is created. Specifying an empty string will assign an ephemeral IP. Mutually exclusive with no-address. If neither key is present the instance will get an ephemeral IP.

network

Specifies the network that the interface will be part of. If subnet is also specified it must be subnetwork of this network. If neither is specified, this defaults to the "default" network.

no-address

If specified the interface will have no external IP. Mutually exclusive with address. If neither key is present the instance will get an ephemeral IP.

network-tier

Specifies the network tier of the interface. NETWORK_TIER must be one of: PREMIUM, STANDARD. The default value is PREMIUM.

private-network-ip

Assigns the given RFC1918 IP address to the interface.

subnet

Specifies the subnet that the interface will be part of. If network key is also specified this must be a subnetwork of the specified network.

nic-type

Specifies the Network Interface Controller (NIC) type for the interface. NIC_TYPE must be one of: GVNIC, VIRTIO_NET.

queue-count

Specifies the networking queue count for this interface. Both Rx and Tx queues will be set to this number. If it's not specified, a default queue count will be assigned. See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/network-bandwidth#rx-tx for more details.

stack-type

Specifies whether IPv6 is enabled on the interface. STACK_TYPE must be one of: IPV4_ONLY, IPV4_IPV6, IPV6_ONLY. The default value is IPV4_ONLY.

ipv6-network-tier

Specifies the IPv6 network tier that will be used to configure the instance network interface IPv6 access config. IPV6_NETWORK_TIER must be PREMIUM (currently only one value is supported).

internal-ipv6-address

Assigns the given internal IPv6 address or range to the instance that is created. The address must be the first IP address in the range or from a /96 IP address range. This option can be used only when creating a single instance.

internal-ipv6-prefix-length

Optional field that indicates the prefix length of the internal IPv6 address range. It should be used together with internal-ipv6-address. Only /96 IP address range is supported and the default value is 96. If not set, either the prefix length from --internal-ipv6-address will be used or the default value of 96 will be assigned.

external-ipv6-address

Assigns the given external IPv6 address to the instance that is created. The address must be the first IP address in the range. This option can be used only when creating a single instance.

external-ipv6-prefix-length

The prefix length of the external IPv6 address range. This field should be used together with external-ipv6-address. Only the /96 IP address range is supported, and the default value is 96.

ipv6-public-ptr-domain

Assigns a custom PTR domain for the external IPv6 in the IPv6 access configuration of instance. If its value is not specified, the default PTR record will be used. This option can only be specified for the default network interface, nic0.

aliases

Specifies the IP alias ranges to allocate for this interface. If there are multiple IP alias ranges, they are separated by semicolons.

For example:

--aliases="10.128.1.0/24;range1:/32"

Each IP alias range consists of a range name and an IP range separated by a colon, or just the IP range. The range name is the name of the range within the network interface's subnet from which to allocate an IP alias range. If unspecified, it defaults to the primary IP range of the subnet. The IP range can be a CIDR range (e.g. 192.168.100.0/24), a single IP address (e.g. 192.168.100.1), or a netmask in CIDR format (e.g. /24). If the IP range is specified by CIDR range or single IP address, it must belong to the CIDR range specified by the range name on the subnet. If the IP range is specified by netmask, the IP allocator will pick an available range with the specified netmask and allocate it to this network interface.

network-attachment

Specifies the network attachment that this interface should connect to. Mutually exclusive with --network and --subnet flags.

--network-performance-configs=[PROPERTY=VALUE,…]

Configures network performance settings for the instance. If this flag is not specified, the instance will be created with its default network performance configuration.

total-egress-bandwidth-tier

Total egress bandwidth is the available outbound bandwidth from a VM, regardless of whether the traffic is going to internal IP or external IP destinations. The following tier values are allowed: [DEFAULT,TIER_1]

--network-tier=NETWORK_TIER

Specifies the network tier that will be used to configure the instance. NETWORK_TIER must be one of: PREMIUM, STANDARD. The default value is PREMIUM.

--node-project=NODE_PROJECT

The name of the project with shared sole tenant node groups to create an instance in.

--performance-monitoring-unit=PERFORMANCE_MONITORING_UNIT

The type of performance monitoring counters (PMCs) to enable in the instance. PERFORMANCE_MONITORING_UNIT must be one of:

architectural

This enables architecturally defined non-last level cache (LLC) events.

enhanced

This enables most documented core/L2 and LLC events.

standard

This enables most documented core/L2 events.

--preemptible

If provided, instances will be preemptible and time-limited. Instances might be preempted to free up resources for standard VM instances, and will only be able to run for a limited amount of time. Preemptible instances can not be restarted and will not migrate.

--private-ipv6-google-access-type=PRIVATE_IPV6_GOOGLE_ACCESS_TYPE

The private IPv6 Google access type for the VM. PRIVATE_IPV6_GOOGLE_ACCESS_TYPE must be one of: enable-bidirectional-access, enable-outbound-vm-access, inherit-subnetwork.

--private-network-ip=PRIVATE_NETWORK_IP

Specifies the RFC1918 IP to assign to the instance. The IP should be in the subnet or legacy network IP range.

--provisioning-model=PROVISIONING_MODEL

Specifies the provisioning model for your VM instances. This choice affects the price, availability, and how long your VM instances can run. PROVISIONING_MODEL must be one of:

SPOT

Compute Engine may stop a Spot VM instance whenever it needs capacity. Because Spot VM instances don't have a guaranteed runtime, they come at a discounted price.

STANDARD

The default option. The STANDARD provisioning model gives you full control over your VM instances' runtime.

--require-csek-key-create

Refuse to create resources not protected by a user managed key in the key file when --csek-key-file is given. This behavior is enabled by default to prevent incorrect gcloud invocations from accidentally creating resources with no user managed key. Disabling the check allows creation of some resources without a matching Customer-Supplied Encryption Key in the supplied --csek-key-file. See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/customer-supplied-encryption for more details. Enabled by default, use --no-require-csek-key-create to disable.

--resource-manager-tags=[KEY=VALUE,…]

Specifies a list of resource manager tags to apply to the instance.

--resource-policies=[RESOURCE_POLICY,…]

A list of resource policy names to be added to the instance. The policies must exist in the same region as the instance.

--restart-on-failure

The instances will be restarted if they are terminated by Compute Engine. This does not affect terminations performed by the user. Enabled by default, use --no-restart-on-failure to disable.

--shielded-integrity-monitoring

Enables monitoring and attestation of the boot integrity of the instance. The attestation is performed against the integrity policy baseline. This baseline is initially derived from the implicitly trusted boot image when the instance is created. This baseline can be updated by using gcloud compute instances update --shielded-learn-integrity-policy. On Shielded VM instances, integrity monitoring is enabled by default. For information about how to modify Shielded VM options, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/modifying-shielded-vm. For information about monitoring integrity on Shielded VM instances, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/integrity-monitoring."

--shielded-secure-boot

The instance boots with secure boot enabled. On Shielded VM instances, Secure Boot is not enabled by default. For information about how to modify Shielded VM options, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/modifying-shielded-vm.

--shielded-vtpm

The instance boots with the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) enabled. A TPM is a hardware module that can be used for different security operations such as remote attestation, encryption, and sealing of keys. On Shielded VM instances, vTPM is enabled by default. For information about how to modify Shielded VM options, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/modifying-shielded-vm.

--source-instance-template=SOURCE_INSTANCE_TEMPLATE

The name of the instance template that the instance will be created from. An instance template can be a global/regional resource.

Users can override instance properties using other flags.

--source-machine-image=SOURCE_MACHINE_IMAGE

The name of the machine image that the instance will be created from.

--source-machine-image-csek-key-file=FILE

Path to a Customer-Supplied Encryption Key (CSEK) key file, mapping resources to user managed keys which were used to encrypt the source machine-image. See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/customer-supplied-encryption for more details.

--stack-type=STACK_TYPE

Specifies whether IPv6 is enabled on the default network interface. If not specified, IPV4_ONLY will be used. STACK_TYPE must be one of:

IPV4_IPV6

The network interface can have both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses

IPV4_ONLY

The network interface will be assigned IPv4 addresses

IPV6_ONLY

The network interface will be assigned IPv6 addresses

--subnet=SUBNET

Specifies the subnet that the VM instances are a part of. If --network is also specified, subnet must be a subnetwork of the network specified by the --network flag.

--tags=TAG,[TAG,…]

Specifies a list of tags to apply to the instance. These tags allow network firewall rules and routes to be applied to specified VM instances. See gcloud compute firewall-rules create(1) for more details.

To read more about configuring network tags, read this guide: https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/add-remove-network-tags

To list instances with their respective status and tags, run:

gcloud compute instances list --format='table(name,status,tags.list())'

To list instances tagged with a specific tag, tag1, run:

gcloud compute instances list --filter='tags:tag1'

--termination-time=TERMINATION_TIME

Limits how long this VM instance can run, specified as a time. Format the time, TERMINATION_TIME, as a RFC 3339 timestamp. For more information, see https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3339. Alternatively, to specify a duration, use --max-run-duration instead.

If neither --termination-time nor --max-run-duration is specified (default), the VM instance runs until prompted by a user action or system event. If either is specified, the VM instance is scheduled to be automatically terminated at the VM's termination timestamp (terminationTimestamp) using the action specified by --instance-termination-action.

Note: The terminationTimestamp is removed whenever the VM is stopped or suspended and redefined whenever the VM is rerun. For --termination-time specifically, the terminationTimestamp remains the same whenever the VM is rerun, but any requests to rerun the VM fail if the specified timestamp is in the past.

--threads-per-core=THREADS_PER_CORE

The number of visible threads per physical core. To disable simultaneous multithreading (SMT) set this to 1. Valid values are: 1 or 2.

For more information about configuring SMT, see: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/configuring-simultaneous-multithreading.

--turbo-mode=TURBO_MODE

Turbo mode to use for the instance. Supported modes include:

• ALL_CORE_MAX

To achieve all-core-turbo frequency for more consistent CPU performance, set the field to ALL_CORE_MAX. The field is unset by default, which results in maximum performance single-core boosting.

--visible-core-count=VISIBLE_CORE_COUNT

The number of physical cores to expose to the instance's guest operating system. The number of virtual CPUs visible to the instance's guest operating system is this number of cores multiplied by the instance's count of visible threads per physical core.

--zone=ZONE

Zone of the instances to create. If not specified and the compute/zone property isn't set, you might be prompted to select a zone (interactive mode only).

To avoid prompting when this flag is omitted, you can set the compute/zone property:

gcloud config set compute/zone ZONE

A list of zones can be fetched by running:

gcloud compute zones list

To unset the property, run:

gcloud config unset compute/zone

Alternatively, the zone can be stored in the environment variable CLOUDSDK_COMPUTE_ZONE.

At most one of these can be specified:

--address=ADDRESS

Assigns the given external address to the instance that is created. The address might be an IP address or the name or URI of an address resource. This option can only be used when creating a single instance.

--no-address

If provided, the instances are not assigned external IP addresses. To pull container images, you must configure private Google access if using Container Registry or configure Cloud NAT for instances to access container images directly. For more information, see:

• https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/configure-private-google-access
• https://cloud.google.com/nat/docs/using-nat

Key resource - The Cloud KMS (Key Management Service) cryptokey that will be used to protect the disk. The 'Compute Engine Service Agent' service account must hold permission 'Cloud KMS CryptoKey Encrypter/Decrypter'. The arguments in this group can be used to specify the attributes of this resource.

--boot-disk-kms-key=BOOT_DISK_KMS_KEY

ID of the key or fully qualified identifier for the key.

To set the kms-key attribute:

• provide the argument --boot-disk-kms-key on the command line.

This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this group are specified.

--boot-disk-kms-keyring=BOOT_DISK_KMS_KEYRING

The KMS keyring of the key.

To set the kms-keyring attribute:

• provide the argument --boot-disk-kms-key on the command line with a fully specified name;
• provide the argument --boot-disk-kms-keyring on the command line.

--boot-disk-kms-location=BOOT_DISK_KMS_LOCATION

The Google Cloud location for the key.

To set the kms-location attribute:

• provide the argument --boot-disk-kms-key on the command line with a fully specified name;
• provide the argument --boot-disk-kms-location on the command line.

--boot-disk-kms-project=BOOT_DISK_KMS_PROJECT

The Google Cloud project for the key.

To set the kms-project attribute:

• provide the argument --boot-disk-kms-key on the command line with a fully specified name;
• provide the argument --boot-disk-kms-project on the command line;
• set the property core/project.

At most one of these can be specified:

--confidential-compute

(DEPRECATED) The instance boots with Confidential Computing enabled. Confidential Computing is based on Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV), an AMD virtualization feature for running confidential instances.

The --confidential-compute flag will soon be deprecated. Please use --confidential-compute-type=SEV instead

--confidential-compute-type=CONFIDENTIAL_COMPUTE_TYPE

The instance boots with Confidential Computing enabled. Confidential Computing can be based on Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) or Secure Encrypted Virtualization - Secure Nested Paging (SEV-SNP), both of which are AMD virtualization features for running confidential instances. Trust Domain eXtension based on Intel virtualization features for running confidential instances is also supported. CONFIDENTIAL_COMPUTE_TYPE must be one of:

SEV

Secure Encrypted Virtualization

SEV_SNP

Secure Encrypted Virtualization - Secure Nested Paging

TDX

Trust Domain eXtension

Custom machine type extensions.

--custom-cpu=CUSTOM_CPU

A whole number value specifying the number of cores that are needed in the custom machine type.

For some machine types, shared-core values can also be used. For example, for E2 machine types, you can specify micro, small, or medium.

This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this group are specified.

--custom-memory=CUSTOM_MEMORY

A whole number value indicating how much memory is desired in the custom machine type. A size unit should be provided (eg. 3072MB or 9GB) - if no units are specified, GB is assumed.

This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this group are specified.

--custom-extensions

Use the extended custom machine type.

--custom-vm-type=CUSTOM_VM_TYPE

Specifies a custom machine type. The default is n1. For more information about custom machine types, see: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/general-purpose-machines#custom_machine_types

--image-family-scope=IMAGE_FAMILY_SCOPE

Sets the scope for the --image-family flag. By default, when specifying an image family in a public image project, the zonal image family scope is used. All other projects default to the global image. Use this flag to override this behavior. IMAGE_FAMILY_SCOPE must be one of: zonal, global.

--image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT

The Google Cloud project against which all image and image family references will be resolved. It is best practice to define image-project. A full list of available projects can be generated by running gcloud projects list.

• If specifying one of our public images, image-project must be provided.
• If there are several of the same image-family value in multiple projects, image-project must be specified to clarify the image to be used.
• If not specified and either image or image-family is provided, the current default project is used.

At most one of these can be specified:

--image=IMAGE

Specifies the boot image for the instances. For each instance, a new boot disk will be created from the given image. Each boot disk will have the same name as the instance. To view a list of public images and projects, run $ gcloud compute images list. It is best practice to use --image when a specific version of an image is needed.

When using this option, --boot-disk-device-name and --boot-disk-size can be used to override the boot disk's device name and size, respectively.

--image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY

The image family for the operating system that the boot disk will be initialized with. Compute Engine offers multiple Linux distributions, some of which are available as both regular and Shielded VM images. When a family is specified instead of an image, the latest non-deprecated image associated with that family is used. It is best practice to use --image-family when the latest version of an image is needed.

By default, debian-12 is assumed for this flag.

--source-snapshot=SOURCE_SNAPSHOT

The name of the source disk snapshot that the instance boot disk will be created from. You can provide this as a full URL to the snapshot or just the snapshot name. For example, the following are valid values:

• https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/global/snapshots/snapshot
• snapshot

Key resource - The Cloud KMS (Key Management Service) cryptokey that will be used to protect the instance. The 'Compute Engine Service Agent' service account must hold permission 'Cloud KMS CryptoKey Encrypter/Decrypter'. The arguments in this group can be used to specify the attributes of this resource.

--instance-kms-key=INSTANCE_KMS_KEY

ID of the key or fully qualified identifier for the key.

To set the kms-key attribute:

• provide the argument --instance-kms-key on the command line.

This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this group are specified.

--instance-kms-keyring=INSTANCE_KMS_KEYRING

The KMS keyring of the key.

To set the kms-keyring attribute:

• provide the argument --instance-kms-key on the command line with a fully specified name;
• provide the argument --instance-kms-keyring on the command line.

--instance-kms-location=INSTANCE_KMS_LOCATION

The Google Cloud location for the key.

To set the kms-location attribute:

• provide the argument --instance-kms-key on the command line with a fully specified name;
• provide the argument --instance-kms-location on the command line.

--instance-kms-project=INSTANCE_KMS_PROJECT

The Google Cloud project for the key.

To set the kms-project attribute:

• provide the argument --instance-kms-key on the command line with a fully specified name;
• provide the argument --instance-kms-project on the command line;
• set the property core/project.

Sole Tenancy.

At most one of these can be specified:

--node=NODE

The name of the node to schedule this instance on.

--node-affinity-file=PATH_TO_FILE

The JSON/YAML file containing the configuration of desired nodes onto which this instance could be scheduled. These rules filter the nodes according to their node affinity labels. A node's affinity labels come from the node template of the group the node is in.

The file should contain a list of a JSON/YAML objects. For an example, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/nodes/provisioning-sole-tenant-vms#configure_node_affinity_labels. The following list describes the fields:

key

Corresponds to the node affinity label keys of the Node resource.

operator

Specifies the node selection type. Must be one of: IN: Requires Compute Engine to seek for matched nodes. NOT_IN: Requires Compute Engine to avoid certain nodes.

values

Optional. A list of values which correspond to the node affinity label values of the Node resource.

Use a full or relative path to a local file containing the value of node_affinity_file.

--node-group=NODE_GROUP

The name of the node group to schedule this instance on.

At most one of these can be specified:

--public-ptr

Creates a DNS PTR record for the external IP of the instance.

--no-public-ptr

If provided, no DNS PTR record is created for the external IP of the instance. Mutually exclusive with public-ptr-domain.

At most one of these can be specified:

--public-ptr-domain=PUBLIC_PTR_DOMAIN

Assigns a custom PTR domain for the external IP of the instance. Mutually exclusive with no-public-ptr.

--no-public-ptr-domain

If both this flag and --public-ptr are specified, creates a DNS PTR record for the external IP of the instance with the PTR domain name being the DNS name of the instance.

Specifies the reservation for the instance.

--reservation=RESERVATION

The name of the reservation, required when --reservation-affinity=specific.

--reservation-affinity=RESERVATION_AFFINITY; default="any"

The type of reservation for the instance. RESERVATION_AFFINITY must be one of:

any

Consume any available, matching reservation.

none

Do not consume from any reserved capacity.

specific

Must consume from a specific reservation.

At most one of these can be specified:

--scopes=[SCOPE,…]

If not provided, the instance will be assigned the default scopes, described below. However, if neither --scopes nor --no-scopes are specified and the project has no default service account, then the instance will be created with no scopes. Note that the level of access that a service account has is determined by a combination of access scopes and IAM roles so you must configure both access scopes and IAM roles for the service account to work properly.

SCOPE can be either the full URI of the scope or an alias. Default scopes are assigned to all instances. Available aliases are:

Alias	URI
bigquery	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/bigquery
cloud-platform	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform
cloud-source-repos	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.full_control
cloud-source-repos-ro	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.read_only
compute-ro	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute.readonly
compute-rw	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute
datastore	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/datastore
default	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
gke-default	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
logging-write	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
monitoring	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring
monitoring-read	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.read
monitoring-write	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write
pubsub	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub
service-control	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
service-management	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
sql (deprecated)	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice
sql-admin	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice.admin
storage-full	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.full_control
storage-ro	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
storage-rw	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_write
taskqueue	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/taskqueue
trace	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
userinfo-email	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email

DEPRECATION WARNING: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice account scope and sql alias do not provide SQL instance management capabilities and have been deprecated. Please, use https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice.admin or sql-admin to manage your Google SQL Service instances.

--no-scopes

Create instance without scopes

At most one of these can be specified:

--service-account=SERVICE_ACCOUNT

A service account is an identity attached to the instance. Its access tokens can be accessed through the instance metadata server and are used to authenticate applications on the instance. The account can be set using an email address corresponding to the required service account.

If not provided, the instance will use the project's default service account.

--no-service-account

Create instance without service account

GCLOUD WIDE FLAGS

These flags are available to all commands: --access-token-file, --account, --billing-project, --configuration, --flags-file, --flatten, --format, --help, --impersonate-service-account, --log-http, --project, --quiet, --trace-token, --user-output-enabled, --verbosity.

Run $ gcloud help for details.

NOTES

These variants are also available:

gcloud alpha compute instances create

gcloud beta compute instances create