Well-Architected Framework review in GCP - Commands & Configuration

Introduction

When building systems in the cloud, it is easy to make mistakes that cause problems later. The Well-Architected Framework helps you check your system to make sure it is reliable, secure, efficient, and cost-effective.

When you want to check if your cloud setup follows best practices for security and reliability

When you plan to build a new application and want to design it well from the start

When you notice your cloud costs are higher than expected and want to find savings

When you want to improve your system's ability to handle failures without downtime

When you want to make sure your system protects user data and privacy

Commands

This command starts a new Well-Architected Framework review for your project to check its design against best practices.

Terminal

gcloud beta wellarchitected reviews create --display-name=my-review --project=my-project

Expected Output

Created Well-Architected Review [my-review] for project [my-project].

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--display-name - Sets a friendly name for the review

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--project - Specifies the GCP project to review

This command lists all Well-Architected Framework reviews done for your project so you can see their status.

Terminal

gcloud beta wellarchitected reviews list --project=my-project

Expected Output

NAME       DISPLAY_NAME  STATE

my-review  my-review     COMPLETED

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--project - Specifies the GCP project to list reviews for

This command shows detailed results of the review, including any issues found and recommendations.

Terminal

gcloud beta wellarchitected reviews describe my-review --project=my-project

Expected Output

Name: my-review

Project: my-project

State: COMPLETED

Summary:

- Reliability: PASS

- Security: WARNING

- Cost Optimization: PASS

- Operational Excellence: PASS

- Performance Efficiency: PASS

Recommendations:

- Improve IAM roles to follow least privilege principle.

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--project - Specifies the GCP project

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else from this pattern, remember: The Well-Architected Framework review helps you find and fix design problems early to build better cloud systems.

Common Mistakes

Not specifying the correct project ID when running review commands

The commands will run on the wrong project or fail, giving no useful results

Always use the --project flag with your actual GCP project ID

Skipping the review describe step and not checking recommendations

You miss important advice that can improve your system's security and reliability

Always run the describe command to see detailed findings and act on them

Summary

Use gcloud commands to create, list, and describe Well-Architected Framework reviews for your GCP projects.

Creating a review checks your cloud setup against best practices in security, reliability, cost, and more.

Describing a review shows detailed results and recommendations to improve your system design.