Google Cloud Cheatsheet

gcloud CLI

Use this Google Cloud reference while you build software engineering projects, review code for technical interview prep, or polish examples for a software engineer resume.

Installation & Auth

# Install (macOS via Homebrew)
brew install --cask google-cloud-sdk

# Install (Linux)
curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash
exec -l $SHELL

# Initialize (login + pick project + default region)
gcloud init

# Authenticate (opens browser)
gcloud auth login

# Auth for application-default credentials (SDK/client libraries)
gcloud auth application-default login

# Service-account key auth
gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=key.json

Configuration & Profiles

# Show active config
gcloud config list

# Set defaults
gcloud config set project my-project-id
gcloud config set compute/region us-central1
gcloud config set compute/zone us-central1-a

# Named configurations (profiles)
gcloud config configurations create staging
gcloud config configurations activate staging
gcloud config configurations list

# One-off flag to override
gcloud compute instances list --project=other-project --region=europe-west1

Project Management

Command	What it does
`gcloud projects list`	List all accessible projects
`gcloud projects create my-proj`	Create a new project
`gcloud projects describe my-proj`	Show project metadata
`gcloud projects delete my-proj`	Schedule project deletion (30-day grace)
`gcloud config set project my-proj`	Switch active project

# Enable an API
gcloud services enable run.googleapis.com

# List enabled APIs
gcloud services list --enabled

# Disable an API
gcloud services disable container.googleapis.com

Output Formats

# Human-readable table (default)
gcloud compute instances list

# JSON (pipe to jq)
gcloud compute instances list --format=json | jq '.[].name'

# YAML
gcloud compute instances list --format=yaml

# Specific fields table
gcloud compute instances list --format="table(name,status,networkInterfaces[0].accessConfigs[0].natIP)"

# Value only (scriptable)
gcloud compute instances describe my-vm --format="value(status)"

Filtering

# Filter by property
gcloud compute instances list --filter="status=RUNNING"
gcloud compute instances list --filter="zone:us-central1-a AND machineType:n1-standard"

# Prefix match (the : operator supports a trailing *)
gcloud compute instances list --filter="name:web-*"

# Regex match (~ takes an RE2 regex, NOT a glob)
gcloud compute instances list --filter="name~'^web-.*'"

Common Global Flags

Flag	Effect
`--project=PROJECT`	Override active project
`--format=json\|yaml\|table\|value`	Output format
`--filter="EXPR"`	Server-side filtering
`--quiet` / `-q`	Skip confirmation prompts
`--verbosity=debug`	Show HTTP requests
`--account=EMAIL`	Use specific auth account
`--impersonate-service-account=SA`	Act as a service account

Account & IAM Quick Commands

# Who am I?
gcloud auth list
gcloud config get-value account

# Add IAM binding
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding my-proj \
  --member="user:alice@example.com" \
  --role="roles/editor"

# List IAM policy
gcloud projects get-iam-policy my-proj

# Create service account
gcloud iam service-accounts create my-sa \
  --display-name="My Service Account"

# Create + download key
gcloud iam service-accounts keys create key.json \
  --iam-account=my-sa@my-proj.iam.gserviceaccount.com

SDK Components & Updates

# Update all components
gcloud components update

# Install a component (e.g., kubectl, beta, alpha)
gcloud components install kubectl
gcloud components install beta

# List installed components
gcloud components list

Useful Aliases & Shell Tricks

# Tab completion (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
source "$(gcloud info --format='value(installation.sdk_root)')/completion.bash.inc"

# Command reference cheat sheet in the terminal
gcloud cheat-sheet

# SSH into a VM (no need for external IP)
gcloud compute ssh my-vm --tunnel-through-iap

# SCP a file to/from a VM
gcloud compute scp ./local.txt my-vm:/home/user/remote.txt
gcloud compute scp my-vm:/home/user/remote.txt ./local.txt