How to Set Memory and CPU in Cloud Run

To set memory and CPU in Cloud Run, use the --memory and --cpu flags with the gcloud run deploy command or specify them in the service's YAML configuration under resources.limits. This controls how much memory and CPU your container gets when running.

Syntax

Use the gcloud run deploy command with these flags:

• --memory: Sets the amount of memory allocated (e.g., 512Mi, 1Gi).
• --cpu: Sets the number of CPU cores (e.g., 1, 2).

Alternatively, in the YAML file, specify under resources.limits:

resources:
  limits:
    memory: 512Mi
    cpu: 1

bash

gcloud run deploy SERVICE_NAME --image IMAGE_URL --memory MEMORY --cpu CPU

Example

This example deploys a Cloud Run service named my-service with 1 GiB memory and 2 CPUs.

bash

gcloud run deploy my-service \
  --image gcr.io/my-project/my-image \
  --memory 1Gi \
  --cpu 2 \
  --region us-central1 \
  --platform managed

Output

Deploying service [my-service]...
Done.
Service [my-service] revision [my-service-00001-abc] has been deployed and is serving 100 percent of traffic.

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes when setting memory and CPU in Cloud Run include:

• Using unsupported memory units or CPU values (must be valid like 512Mi, 1Gi, or integer CPUs).
• Not specifying both --memory and --cpu when needed, leading to default resource allocation.
• Setting CPU higher than memory allows, which can cause deployment errors.
• Forgetting to redeploy the service after changing resource settings.

bash

gcloud run deploy my-service --image gcr.io/my-project/my-image --memory 1000 --cpu 1
# Wrong: '1000' is not a valid memory unit

gcloud run deploy my-service --image gcr.io/my-project/my-image --memory 1Gi --cpu 0.5
# Wrong: CPU must be an integer (e.g., 1, 2)

Quick Reference

Flag/Field	Description	Example Values
--memory	Amount of memory allocated to the container	256Mi, 512Mi, 1Gi, 2Gi
--cpu	Number of CPU cores allocated	1, 2, 4
resources.limits.memory	Memory limit in YAML config	512Mi, 1Gi
resources.limits.cpu	CPU limit in YAML config	1, 2

Key Takeaways

Use --memory and --cpu flags with gcloud run deploy to set resources.

Memory values must include units like Mi or Gi; CPU must be an integer.

Always redeploy your Cloud Run service after changing resource settings.

Match CPU and memory settings to your workload needs to optimize cost and performance.