Creating instances

MySQL   |  PostgreSQL   |  SQL Server

This page describes how to create a Cloud SQL for MySQL instance (either First Generation or Second Generation).

For detailed information about all instance settings, see Instance Settings.

Creating a Second Generation instance

To create a Second Generation instance:

Console (2nd Gen)

1. Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Console.

   Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page

2. Click Create instance.
3. Select MySQL and click Next.
4. Enter a name.
   

   Do not include sensitive or personally identifiable information in your instance name; it is externally visible.

   You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

   Note: You cannot reuse an instance name for up to a week after you have deleted the instance.

5. Enter the password for the 'root'@'%' user.
6. Set the region for your instance.

   Place your instance in the same region as the resources that access it. In most cases, you don't need to specify a zone.

7. Under Configuration options, update any other settings you need for your instance:

   Setting	Notes
   Database version
   Database version	MySQL 5.7 (default) or 5.6.
   Connectivity
   Private IP	Configures private IP connectivity for your instance. Learn more.
   Public IP	Adds a public IPv4 address for your instance. Learn more.
   Machine type and storage
   Machine type	The machine type (sometimes also called "tier") determines the number of CPUs and the amount of memory your instance has. Learn more.
   Storage type	Determines whether your instance uses SSD or HDD storage. Learn more.
   Storage capacity	The amount of storage provisioned for the instance. Learn more.
   Automatic storage increase	Determines whether Cloud SQL automatically provides more storage for your instance when free space runs low. Learn more.
   High availability	If you need your instance to be configured for high availability, you must select the High availability (regional) checkbox. Learn more.
   Automatic backups	The window of time when you would like backups to start. Learn more.
   Binary logging	Binary logging enables replication and point-in-time recovery. Learn more.
   Authorize networks
   Add database flags
   Database flags	You can use database flags to control settings and parameters for your instance. Learn more.
   Maintenance schedule
   Maintenance window	Determines a one-hour window when Cloud SQL can perform disruptive maintenance on your instance. If you do not set the window, then disruptive maintenance can be done at any time. Learn more.
   Maintenance timing	Your preferred timing for instance updates, relative to other instances in the same project. Learn more.

8. Click Create.

gcloud (2nd Gen)

For information about installing and getting started with the gcloud command-line tool, see Installing Cloud SDK. For information about starting Cloud Shell, see the Cloud Shell documentation.

1. Show the list of potential machine types:

   gcloud sql tiers list
   

   Note the values that begin with db-. You must choose one of these values to create a Second Generation instance.

   For information about the different machine types, their capabilities, and their effect on instance pricing, see the Pricing page.

2. Create the instance:

   gcloud sql instances create [INSTANCE_NAME] --tier=[MACHINE_TYPE] --region=[REGION]
   

   Do not include sensitive or personally identifiable information in your instance name; it is externally visible.
   You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

   MACHINE_TYPE is one of the values from the previous step that starts with db-.

   For example, the following command creates a Second Generation instance called instance1 with the machine type of db-n1-standard-2 in the London region:

   gcloud sql instances create instance1 --tier=db-n1-standard-2 --region=europe-west2
   

   You can add more parameters to determine other instance settings:

   Setting	Parameter	Notes
   Required parameters
   Database version	--database-version	MYSQL_5_7 (default) or MYSQL_5_6.
   Region	--region	See valid values.
   Connectivity
   Private IP	--network	Specifies the name of the VPC network you want to use for this instance. Private services access must already be configured for the network. Available only for the beta command (gcloud beta sql instances create). Learn more.
   Public IP	--authorized-networks	For public IP connections, only connections from authorized networks can connect to your instance. Learn more.
   Machine type and storage
   Machine type	--tier	The machine type determines the number of CPUs and the amount of memory your instance has. See valid values. Learn more.
   Storage type	--storage-type	Determines whether your instance uses SSD or HDD storage. Learn more.
   Storage capacity	--storage-size	The amount of storage provisioned for the instance, in GB. Learn more.
   Automatic storage increase	--storage-auto-increase	Determines whether Cloud SQL automatically provides more storage for your instance when free space runs low. Learn more.
   Automatic storage increase limit	--storage-auto-increase-limit	Determines how large Cloud SQL can automatically grow storage. Available only for the beta command (gcloud beta sql instances create). Learn more.
   Automatic backups and high availability
   High availability	--failover-replica-name	This parameter causes a failover replica to be created for the new instance. Learn more.
   Automatic backups	--backup-start-time	The window of time when you would like backups to start. Learn more.
   Binary logging	--enable-bin-log	Binary logging enables replication and point-in-time recovery. Learn more.
   Add database flags
   Database flags	--database-flags	You can use database flags to control settings and parameters for your instance. Learn more about database flags. Learn more about how to format this parameter.
   Maintenance schedule
   Maintenance window	--maintenance-window-day, --maintenance-window-hour	Determines a one-hour window when Cloud SQL can perform disruptive maintenance on your instance. If you do not set the window, then disruptive maintenance can be done at any time. Learn more.
   Maintenance timing	--maintenance-release-channel	Your preferred timing for instance updates, relative to other instances in the same project. Use preview for earlier updates, and production for later updates. Learn more.

3. Note the automatically assigned IP address.

   If you are not using the Cloud SQL Proxy, you will use this address as the host address that your applications or tools use to connect to the instance.

4. Set the password for the "root@%" MySQL user:

   gcloud sql users set-password root --host=% --instance [INSTANCE_NAME] --password [PASSWORD]
   

REST (2nd Gen)

1. Create the instance

This example creates an instance with backups and binary logging enabled. These settings are optional. For a complete list of parameters for this call, see the Instances:insert page. For information about instance settings, including valid values for region and machine type, see Instance Settings.

Do not include sensitive or personally identifiable information in your instance ID; it is externally visible.
You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

Before using any of the request data below, make the following replacements:

• project-id: your project ID
• instance-id: desired instance ID
• region: desired region
• machine-type: desired machine type

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances

Request JSON body:

{
  "name": "instance-id",
  "region": "region",
  "settings": {
    "tier": "machine-type",
    "backupConfiguration": {
      "binaryLogEnabled": true,
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The command below assumes that you have used either gcloud init or gcloud auth login to authenticate gcloud with your user account. You can check the currently active account by executing gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file called request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer "$(gcloud auth print-access-token) \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d @request.json \
https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The command below assumes that you have used either gcloud init or gcloud auth login to authenticate gcloud with your user account. You can check the currently active account by executing gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file called request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
  -Method POST `
  -Headers $headers `
  -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
  -InFile request.json `
  -Uri "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2019-09-25T22:19:33.735Z",
  "operationType": "CREATE",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

The response is a long-running operation, which may take a few minutes to complete.

2. Update root password

When the instance finishes initializing, update the root password:

Before using any of the request data below, make the following replacements:

• project-id: your project ID
• instance-id: instance ID created in prior step
• root-password: desired root password

HTTP method and URL:

PUT https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/users?host=%25&name=root

Request JSON body:

{
  "name": "root",
  "host": "%",
  "password": "root-password"
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The command below assumes that you have used either gcloud init or gcloud auth login to authenticate gcloud with your user account. You can check the currently active account by executing gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file called request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X PUT \
-H "Authorization: Bearer "$(gcloud auth print-access-token) \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d @request.json \
https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/users?host=%25&name=root

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The command below assumes that you have used either gcloud init or gcloud auth login to authenticate gcloud with your user account. You can check the currently active account by executing gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file called request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
  -Method PUT `
  -Headers $headers `
  -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
  -InFile request.json `
  -Uri "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/users?host=%25&name=root" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "DONE",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2019-09-26T14:32:30.592Z",
  "startTime": "2019-09-26T14:32:30.594Z",
  "endTime": "2019-09-26T14:32:33.518Z",
  "operationType": "UPDATE_USER",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

The response is a long-running operation, which may take a few minutes to complete.

3. Retrieve IPv4 address

Retrieve the automatically assigned IPv4 address for the new instance:

Before using any of the request data below, make the following replacements:

• project-id: your project ID
• instance-id: instance ID created in prior step

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The command below assumes that you have used either gcloud init or gcloud auth login to authenticate gcloud with your user account. You can check the currently active account by executing gcloud auth list.

Execute the following command:

curl -X GET \
-H "Authorization: Bearer "$(gcloud auth print-access-token) \
https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The command below assumes that you have used either gcloud init or gcloud auth login to authenticate gcloud with your user account. You can check the currently active account by executing gcloud auth list.

Execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
  -Method GET `
  -Headers $headers `
  -Uri "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#instance",
  "state": "RUNNABLE",
  "databaseVersion": "MYSQL_5_7",
  "settings": {
    "authorizedGaeApplications": [],
    "tier": "db-f1-micro",
    "kind": "sql#settings",
    "pricingPlan": "PER_USE",
    "replicationType": "SYNCHRONOUS",
    "activationPolicy": "ALWAYS",
    "ipConfiguration": {
      "authorizedNetworks": [],
      "ipv4Enabled": true
    },
    "locationPreference": {
      "zone": "us-west1-a",
      "kind": "sql#locationPreference"
    },
    "dataDiskType": "PD_SSD",
    "backupConfiguration": {
      "startTime": "18:00",
      "kind": "sql#backupConfiguration",
      "enabled": true,
      "binaryLogEnabled": true
    },
    "settingsVersion": "1",
    "storageAutoResizeLimit": "0",
    "storageAutoResize": true,
    "dataDiskSizeGb": "10"
  },
  "etag": "--redacted--",
  "ipAddresses": [
    {
      "type": "PRIMARY",
      "ipAddress": "10.0.0.1"
    }
  ],
  "serverCaCert": {
    ...
  },
  "instanceType": "CLOUD_SQL_INSTANCE",
  "project": "project-id",
  "serviceAccountEmailAddress": "[e-mail]",
  "backendType": "SECOND_GEN",
  "selfLink": "https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "connectionName": "project-id:region:instance-id",
  "name": "instance-id",
  "region": "us-west1",
  "gceZone": "us-west1-a"
}

Look for the ipAddress field in the response.

To see how the underlying REST API request is constructed for this task, see the APIs Explorer on the instances:post page.

Creating a First Generation instance

Note: Second Generation is replacing First Generation; support for First Generation instances ends January 30, 2020. To upgrade a First Generation instance to Second Generation, see Upgrading a First Generation Instance to Second Generation.

To create a First Generation instance:

Console (1st Gen)

1. Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Console.

   Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page

2. Click Create instance.
3. Click the link "For First Generation MySQL instances, click here."
4. Enter a name.

   Do not include sensitive or personally identifiable information in your instance name; it is externally visible.
   You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

5. Choose a tier for the instance.
   For information about tiers, their capabilities, and their effect on pricing, see the Pricing page.
6. If needed, set any of the optional instance settings.
   For information about the optional settings, see Instance Settings.
7. Click Create.
8. After the instance finishes initializing, select the instance to open it.
9. Select the Users tab.
10. Click Create user account and create a user with name root and specify a password.

    This creates the MySQL user 'root'@'%'. For more information about MySQL users, see MySQL Users.

gcloud (1st Gen)

For information about installing and getting started with the gcloud command-line tool, see Installing Cloud SDK. For information about starting Cloud Shell, see the Cloud Shell documentation.

1. Show the list of potential machine types:

   gcloud sql tiers list
   

   Note the values that begin with capital D. You must choose one of these values to create a First Generation instance. Choosing one of the other values, such as db-n1-standard-1, results in creating a Second Generation instance.

   For information about the different tiers, their capabilities, and their effect on instance pricing, see the see the Pricing page.

2. Create the instance:

   gcloud sql instances create [INSTANCE_NAME] --tier=[TIER]
   

   Do not include sensitive or personally identifiable information in your instance name; it is externally visible.
   You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

   TIER is one of the values from the gcloud sql tiers list command that starts with a capital D.

   For example, the following command creates a First Generation instance called instance1 with the machine type of D4:

   gcloud sql instances create instance1 --tier=D4
   

   For information about other available parameters, see the gcloud sql instances create command reference and Instance Settings.

3. Activate the "root@%" user account for the instance:

   gcloud sql users set-password root --host=% --instance [INSTANCE_NAME] --password [PASSWORD]
   

   You must activate this MySQL user account before you can connect to the instance using the MySQL protocol.

4. Retrieve the automatically assigned IPv6 address:

   gcloud sql instances describe [INSTANCE_NAME]
   

   In the output, find the ipv6Address field. You can use this as the IP address your applications or tools use to connect to the instance. You can also request an IPv4 address, which incurs a small charge while the instance is not activated.

cURL (1st Gen)

1. Create the instance:

   gcloud auth login
   ACCESS_TOKEN="$(gcloud auth print-access-token)"
   curl --header "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
        --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
        --data '{"name":"[INSTANCE_NAME]", "region":"[REGION]",
                 "settings": {"tier":"[TIER]",
                 "backupConfiguration": {"binaryLogEnabled":true, "enabled":true}}}' \
        -X POST \
        https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/[PROJECT-ID]/instances
   

   Do not include sensitive or personally identifiable information in your instance name; it is externally visible.
   You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

   This example creates an instance with backups and binary logging enabled, and an activation policy of ON_DEMAND.

   For a complete list of parameters for this call, see the Instances:insert page. For information about instance settings, including valid values for region and tier, see Instance Settings.

2. After the instance finishes initializing, activate the root user account:

   curl --header "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
        --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
        --data '{"name": "root", "host": "%", "password": "[ROOT_PASSWORD]"}' \
        -X PUT \
        'https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/[PROJECT-ID]/instances/[INSTANCE_NAME]/users?host=%25&name=root'
   

3. Retrieve the automatically assigned IPv6 address for the new instance:

   curl --header "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
        -X GET \
        https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/[PROJECT-ID]/instances/[INSTANCE_NAME]
   

   Look for the ipv6Address field in the response.

What's next

• Configure access to the instance.
• Connect to the instance with a MySQL client.
• Create a MySQL database on the instance.
• Import data into the instance.
• Create MySQL users on the instance.
• Learn more about instance settings.