Cloud Shell and gcloud CLI in GCP - Commands & Configuration

Introduction

Sometimes you need a ready-to-use command line tool to manage your cloud resources without installing anything on your computer. Cloud Shell is a browser-based terminal with gcloud CLI pre-installed, letting you control Google Cloud easily from anywhere.

When you want to quickly try Google Cloud commands without setup on your computer

When you need to manage cloud resources from a device that does not have gcloud installed

When you want a consistent environment with all Google Cloud tools ready to use

When you want to run scripts or commands securely without exposing your local machine

When you want to learn Google Cloud commands interactively with instant access

Commands

This command opens a browser window to log in to your Google account and authorize gcloud CLI to manage your cloud resources.

Terminal

gcloud auth login

Expected Output

Your browser has been opened to visit:

https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?...

You are now logged in as [[e-mail]].



To set the active project, run:

  $ gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

This sets the default project for your gcloud commands so you don't have to specify it every time.

Terminal

gcloud config set project example-project-123

Expected Output

Updated property [core/project].

This lists all the virtual machine instances in your current project, showing their status and zone.

Terminal

gcloud compute instances list

Expected Output

NAME          ZONE           MACHINE_TYPE   PREEMPTIBLE  INTERNAL_IP  EXTERNAL_IP     STATUS

example-vm    us-central1-a  e2-medium                   10.128.0.2   34.68.123.45    RUNNING

Shows help information about gcloud commands and usage, useful when you want to learn what commands are available.

Terminal

gcloud help

Expected Output

gcloud is a tool to manage resources and applications hosted on Google Cloud.



Usage: gcloud [optional flags] <GROUP | COMMAND> [args]



Available groups:

  auth        Manage authentication credentials for the gcloud tool

  compute     Manage Google Compute Engine resources

  config      View and edit Cloud SDK properties

  help        Display detailed help



Run 'gcloud help COMMAND' for detailed information on a command.

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else, remember: Cloud Shell gives you instant access to gcloud CLI in a browser, so you can manage Google Cloud without setup.

Common Mistakes

Trying to run gcloud commands without logging in first

gcloud commands require authentication to access your cloud resources, so they will fail if you are not logged in.

Always run 'gcloud auth login' first to authenticate before running other commands.

Not setting the active project before running commands

Without setting the project, gcloud commands may fail or act on the wrong project.

Use 'gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID' to set your working project.

Summary

Use Cloud Shell to get a ready-to-use terminal with gcloud CLI in your browser.

Run 'gcloud auth login' to authenticate your session.

Set your active project with 'gcloud config set project' to target commands correctly.

Use 'gcloud compute instances list' to see your virtual machines.

Use 'gcloud help' to explore available commands and options.