Commands
Master the top 10 Google Cloud CLI commands every DevOps engineer should know. Boost productivity with real-world examples, command tables, and automation tips. Table of
Learn how to automate Google Cloud CLI tasks using Bash scripts in your CI/CD pipelines. Includes CLI examples, GitHub Actions integration, and optimization tips.
In today’s fast-paced software development landscape, automation is key to achieving efficient and reliable Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offers a suite of tools that can be seamlessly integrated with Bash scripts to automate various tasks, from provisioning resources to deploying applications.
Bash scripts provide a lightweight and flexible approach to automation. They are particularly useful for:
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By integrating these scripts into CI/CD pipelines, teams can ensure consistent and repeatable deployments, reduce human error, and accelerate development cycles.
Before diving into automation, ensure the following prerequisites are in place:
| Requirement | Command / Link |
|---|---|
Install gcloud CLI | Google Cloud SDK Installation Guide |
| Authenticate CLI | gcloud auth login |
| Set default project | gcloud config set project [PROJECT_ID] |
| Enable required APIs | gcloud services enable compute.googleapis.com (and others as needed) |
Let’s break down a sample Bash script that automates the following:
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📄 |
#!/bin/bash
# Set variables
PROJECT_ID="your-project-id"
ZONE="us-central1-a"
INSTANCE_NAME="ci-cd-instance"
MACHINE_TYPE="e2-medium"
IMAGE_FAMILY="debian-11"
IMAGE_PROJECT="debian-cloud"
# Authenticate
gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=$GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
gcloud config set project $PROJECT_ID
# Create VM instance
gcloud compute instances create $INSTANCE_NAME \
--zone=$ZONE \
--machine-type=$MACHINE_TYPE \
--image-family=$IMAGE_FAMILY \
--image-project=$IMAGE_PROJECT
# Deploy application (example: copy files and start server)
gcloud compute scp ./app/* $INSTANCE_NAME:/home/debian/ --zone=$ZONE
gcloud compute ssh $INSTANCE_NAME --zone=$ZONE --command="sudo systemctl restart my-app"
# Output instance IP
EXTERNAL_IP=$(gcloud compute instances describe $INSTANCE_NAME --zone=$ZONE --format='get(networkInterfaces[0].accessConfigs[0].natIP)')
echo "App deployed at http://$EXTERNAL_IP"
Integrating with CI/CD Platforms |
Bash scripts and gcloud commands can be seamlessly embedded in popular CI/CD platforms. Here’s an example for GitHub Actions.
🧬 GitHub Actions Workflow ( |
name: Deploy to GCP
on:
push:
branches:
- main
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- name: Setup gcloud CLI
uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v1
with:
project_id: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}
service_account_key: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
export_default_credentials: true
- name: Run deployment script
run: |
chmod +x ./deploy.sh
./deploy.sh
📊 Common |
| Task | Command Example |
|---|---|
| Set project | gcloud config set project [PROJECT_ID] |
| Create VM | gcloud compute instances create |
| Deploy to App Engine | gcloud app deploy |
| Enable a service/API | gcloud services enable [API_NAME] |
| View VM external IP | gcloud compute instances describe |
| Authenticate with service account | gcloud auth activate-service-account |
🧠 Tips for Effective Bash Scripting in CI/CD |
Use Functions: Structure scripts with reusable functions for readability and maintenance.
Logging & Error Handling: Use set -e and trap for robust error handling.
Use Environment Variables: Store secrets securely using CI/CD platform’s secret store.
Use JSON/YAML Output: Many gcloud commands support structured output for scripting.
📁 Directory Structure Example |
project-root/
│
├── deploy.sh
├── app/
│ ├── index.js
│ └── Dockerfile
└── .github/
└── workflows/
└── deploy.yml
Master the top 10 Google Cloud CLI commands every DevOps engineer should know. Boost productivity with real-world examples, command tables, and automation tips. Table of
To calculate pi using a Bash script, you can use the bc command, which is a tool that can perform arithmetic operations in the terminal.
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