Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Cheat Sheet
Essential gcloud CLI commands for managing projects, Compute Engine, storage, and IAM on Google Cloud Platform.
2 PagesBeginnerFeb 18, 2026
Auth & Project Config
Authenticate and configure the active project.
bash
gcloud auth login # Browser-based logingcloud config set project my-project-id # Set default projectgcloud config list # Show current configgcloud projects list # List accessible projectsgcloud config set compute/zone us-central1-a
Compute Engine Instances
Create and manage VM instances.
bash
gcloud compute instances create my-vm \ --machine-type=e2-medium --zone=us-central1-a \ --image-family=debian-12 --image-project=debian-cloudgcloud compute instances listgcloud compute instances stop my-vm --zone=us-central1-agcloud compute instances delete my-vm --zone=us-central1-agcloud compute ssh my-vm --zone=us-central1-a
Cloud Storage (gsutil / gcloud storage)
Manage buckets and objects.
bash
gcloud storage buckets create gs://my-bucket --location=usgcloud storage cp ./file.txt gs://my-bucket/gcloud storage cp gs://my-bucket/file.txt ./gcloud storage ls gs://my-bucket/gcloud storage rm gs://my-bucket/file.txt
IAM & Services
Enable APIs and manage IAM bindings.
bash
gcloud services enable compute.googleapis.comgcloud services list --enabledgcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding my-project-id \ --member="user:jane@example.com" \ --role="roles/viewer"gcloud iam service-accounts create my-sa \ --display-name="My Service Account"
Core GCP Concepts
Key core gcp concepts to know.
- Project- Top-level container for GCP resources, billing, and IAM
- Region / Zone- Region is a geographic area; a zone is an isolated location within it
- Service Account- Non-human identity used by applications to call GCP APIs
- IAM Role- Bundle of permissions granted to a member (primitive, predefined, or custom)
- gcloud vs gsutil- 'gcloud storage' is the modern unified CLI replacing legacy 'gsutil' commands
Pro Tip
Use 'gcloud config configurations create' to maintain separate named configs (project, account, region) so you can switch contexts instantly with 'gcloud config configurations activate <name>'.
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