When working with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), you don’t always need to click through the Console UI. Instead, you can use the gcloud command-line tool, part of the Google Cloud SDK, to manage and automate almost everything on GCP.
Let’s explore what gcloud can do, additional CLI tools available, and how you can start using it today. 🚀
🔹 What is the gcloud CLI?
The gcloud CLI is your command-line interface to manage Google Cloud services. From creating VM instances to deploying serverless applications, it provides a consistent way to interact with GCP resources.
🔹 Services Managed with gcloud CLI
Here are just a few examples of what you can manage with gcloud:
💻 Compute Engine – Create and manage VM instances
🗄️ Cloud SQL – Manage SQL databases
⚡ Cloud Functions & Cloud Run – Deploy and manage serverless apps
☸️ GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine) – Manage Kubernetes clusters
🔥 Dataproc – Create and manage Hadoop/Spark clusters
🌍 Cloud DNS – Manage DNS zones and record sets
🛠️ Cloud Deployment Manager – Manage infrastructure deployments
In short: if it’s on GCP, there’s a good chance gcloud can handle it.
🔹 Other GCP CLI Tools
While gcloud covers most services, some GCP products have their own specialized CLI tools:
- 📊 Bigtable → cbt
- 📈 BigQuery → bq
- 📦 Cloud Storage → gsutil (legacy, but supported)
- ☸️ Kubernetes → kubectl (essential for Kubernetes clusters)
💡 Note: For Cloud Storage, Google now recommends using gcloud instead of gsutil going forward.
🔹 How to Use the gcloud CLI
You have two main options for using gcloud:
1️⃣ Install gcloud Locally
You can install the Google Cloud SDK on your laptop or desktop to access gcloud.
👉 Installation Guide: Cloud SDK Install
This option is great if you want offline flexibility and integration with your local dev tools.
2️⃣ Use gcloud in Cloud Shell
If you don’t want to set up anything locally, simply launch Cloud Shell in the Google Cloud Console.
- gcloud comes pre-installed and ready to use
- No setup required – just open Cloud Shell and start running commands
✅ Final Thoughts
The gcloud CLI is a must-have for any GCP developer or DevOps engineer. Whether you install it locally or use it directly in Cloud Shell, it empowers you to manage your cloud resources faster, automate tasks, and integrate GCP into your CI/CD pipelines.
👉 If you’re just getting started, I recommend launching Cloud Shell first and experimenting with gcloud commands — no setup needed!
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