Object versioning in GCP - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Object versioning

Enable Versioning on Bucket

↓

Upload Object (v1)

↓

Upload Object (v2)

↓

List Object Versions

↓

Access Specific Version

↓

Delete Specific Version or All Versions

This flow shows enabling versioning on a storage bucket, uploading multiple versions of an object, listing versions, accessing specific versions, and deleting versions.

Execution Sample

GCP

gsutil versioning set on gs://my-bucket
 gsutil cp file.txt gs://my-bucket/file.txt
 gsutil cp file_v2.txt gs://my-bucket/file.txt
 gsutil ls -a gs://my-bucket/file.txt

Enable versioning on a bucket, upload two versions of the same file, then list all versions.

Process Table

Step	Action	Bucket Versioning State	Object Name	Version ID	Result
1	Enable versioning on bucket	Enabled	-	-	Bucket versioning enabled
2	Upload file.txt as file.txt	Enabled	file.txt	v1	Object uploaded as version v1
3	Upload file_v2.txt as file.txt	Enabled	file.txt	v2	New version v2 created, old version v1 retained
4	List all versions of file.txt	Enabled	file.txt	v1, v2	Both versions listed
5	Access version v1	Enabled	file.txt	v1	Version v1 content retrieved
6	Delete version v2	Enabled	file.txt	v2	Version v2 deleted, version v1 remains
7	Delete version v1	Enabled	file.txt	v1	Version v1 deleted, no versions remain
8	List all versions after deletions	Enabled	file.txt	-	No versions found
9	Upload new file.txt	Enabled	file.txt	v3	New version v3 created
10	Disable versioning on bucket	Suspended	-	-	Bucket versioning suspended
11	Upload file.txt again	Suspended	file.txt	-	Object overwritten, no versioning
12	List versions after suspension	Suspended	file.txt	v3	Only version v3 exists, no new versions created
13	End	-	-	-	Process complete

💡 Versioning stops creating new versions after suspension; existing versions remain until deleted.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 3	After Step 6	After Step 7	After Step 9	After Step 10	After Step 11
Bucket Versioning State	Suspended	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Suspended	Suspended
file.txt Versions	None	v1	v1, v2	v1	None	v3	v3	v3

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why do old versions remain after uploading a new version?

Because versioning is enabled (see steps 2 and 3), each upload creates a new version without deleting old ones.

What happens when versioning is suspended and a file is uploaded again?

No new versions are created; the existing object is overwritten (see steps 10 and 11).

How can you access a specific version of an object?

By specifying the version ID when accessing the object, as shown in step 5.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the bucket versioning state after step 10?

A Suspended

B Enabled

C Disabled

D Unknown

💡 Hint

Check the 'Bucket Versioning State' column at step 10 in the execution table.

At which step are both versions v1 and v2 present?

A Step 2

B Step 3

C Step 6

D Step 7

💡 Hint

Look at the 'file.txt Versions' column in the variable tracker and execution table rows.

If versioning was never enabled, what would happen when uploading file.txt twice?

A Two versions would be created

B An error would occur

C Only the latest file would exist, overwriting the previous

D The file would be duplicated with different names

💡 Hint

Refer to steps 10 and 11 where versioning is suspended and uploads overwrite.

Concept Snapshot

Object Versioning in GCP Storage:
- Enable versioning on a bucket to keep old object versions.
- Each upload creates a new version with a unique ID.
- List versions with 'gsutil ls -a'.
- Access or delete specific versions by ID.
- Suspending versioning stops new versions but keeps old ones.

Full Transcript

Object versioning in Google Cloud Storage lets you keep multiple versions of the same file. First, you enable versioning on a bucket. Then, every time you upload a file with the same name, a new version is created instead of overwriting. You can list all versions and access or delete any specific version. If you suspend versioning, new uploads overwrite the existing file without creating new versions, but old versions remain until deleted. This helps protect against accidental deletion or overwrites by keeping history.