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You can enable debug mode for a VM. In debug mode, principals who have the
Owner, Editor, and App Engine Admin roles on the project have root access to the
VM. While debug mode is turned on, the automatic rollout of operating system
updates and security patches is disabled. However, the VM is still part of the
load balancer pool, and continues to receive external requests.
Whenever you enable or disable debugging, a "VM instance debugging enable/disable"
event appears in the Google Cloud console and the event will be logged in the VM's
/var/log/syslog.log file.
Enabling and disabling debug mode
You can use gcloud to enable and disable debug mode for an
instance. In order to debug an instance, your role must contain the
appengine.instances.enableDebug permission.
In the terminal window, list the containers running in the instance:
sudo docker ps
The output of the sudo docker ps command lists each
container by row; locate the row that contains your project ID: this is
the container running your code. Note the NAME of this container.
Optionally, list logging information for your application by invoking:
sudo docker logs CONTAINER-NAME
Start a shell in the container that is running your code:
sudo docker exec -it CONTAINER-NAME /bin/bash
When finished debugging, enter exit to exit the container,
then exit again to exit the SSH session.
Disable debugging for your instance to allow it to resume normal
operation.
In the terminal window, list the containers running in the instance:
sudo docker ps
The output of the sudo docker ps command lists each
container by row; locate the row that contains your project ID: this is
the container running your code. Note the NAME of this container.
Optionally, list logging information for your application by invoking:
sudo docker logs CONTAINER-NAME
Start a shell in the container that is running your code:
docker exec -it CONTAINER-NAME /bin/bash
When finished debugging, enter exit to exit the container,
then exit again to exit the SSH session.
Disable debugging for your instance to allow it to resume normal
operation.
Understanding common containers
In addition to the container running your application code, your instance may
also have the following containers:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eDebug mode provides root access to VMs for users with Owner, Editor, or App Engine Admin roles, but disables automatic OS updates and security patches temporarily.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eEnabling or disabling debug mode is logged in the Google Cloud console and the VM's \u003ccode\u003e/var/log/syslog.log\u003c/code\u003e file, and changes made while debugging are temporary.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDebug mode can be toggled on and off using the \u003ccode\u003egcloud\u003c/code\u003e command-line tool, with specific permissions required, and will restart the VM and start a new instance of your app.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can connect to an instance in debug mode via the Google Cloud console by clicking "SSH" or through \u003ccode\u003egcloud\u003c/code\u003e, allowing access to the host and containers.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBesides your application container, instances may contain sidecar containers for Cloud SQL connections, logging, request proxying, telemetry, and system monitoring, which are subject to change.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Debugging an instance\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| **Note:** This guide is applicable to all runtimes in the flexible environment except for .NET.\n\nYou can enable debug mode for a VM. In debug mode, principals who have the\nOwner, Editor, and App Engine Admin roles on the project have root access to the\nVM. While debug mode is turned on, the automatic rollout of operating system\nupdates and security patches is disabled. However, the VM is still part of the\nload balancer pool, and continues to receive external requests.\n\nWhenever you enable or disable debugging, a \"VM instance debugging enable/disable\"\nevent appears in the Google Cloud console and the event will be logged in the VM's\n`/var/log/syslog.log` file.\n| **Important:** Any changes you make to the VM while in debug mode are temporary; you will lose your changes when you disable debug mode. VMs that are being debugged restart periodically, which can make it difficult to debug long running tasks.\n\nEnabling and disabling debug mode\n---------------------------------\n\nYou can use `gcloud` to enable and disable debug mode for an\ninstance. In order to debug an instance, your role must contain the\n`appengine.instances.enableDebug` permission.\n| **Note:** To enable debug mode in the Google Cloud console, you must [connect using SSH](#connecting_to_the_instance).\n\nTo enable and disable debug mode in `gcloud`:\n\n1. Use the [gcloud\n app instances enable-debug](/sdk/gcloud/reference/app/instances/enable-debug) command to debug the VMs for a particular instance and version, as follows: \n\n ```\n gcloud app --project PROJECT-ID instances enable-debug\n ```\n Replace \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePROJECT-ID\u003c/var\u003e with your own project ID, and follow the prompts to specify the instance version to debug.\n2. When finished debugging, disable debug mode as follows: \n\n ```\n gcloud app --project PROJECT-ID instances disable-debug\n ```\n Follow the prompts to specify the instance version\n\nWhen you disable debug mode, the VM is stopped and a new instance of\nyour app is started, running on a clean, new VM.\n\nConnecting to the instance\n--------------------------\n\n### Console\n\n| **Note:** If [OS Login is enabled](/compute/docs/troubleshooting/troubleshoot-os-login#checking_if_os_login_is_enabled) in project metadata, use the gcloud CLI to connect to the instance.\n\nTo connect to an instance in the console:\n\n1. Visit the Google Cloud console instances page for your project:\n\n [Go to the instances page](https://console.cloud.google.com/appengine/instances)\n2. Click **SSH** in the far right of the row containing the instance you\n want to access:\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n This puts the instance into debug mode, and opens an SSH session for the\n instance in a terminal window.\n\n You can also select different options to start an SSH session from the\n drop-down list.\n3. At this point you are in the instance host, which has several\n [containers](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/) running in\n it. See [Understanding common containers](#understanding_common_containers)\n next for more information about these.\n\n4. In the terminal window, list the containers running in the instance:\n\n ```\n sudo docker ps\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n5. The output of the `sudo docker ps` command lists each\n container by row; locate the row that contains your project ID: this is\n the container running your code. Note the NAME of this container.\n\n6. Optionally, list logging information for your application by invoking:\n\n ```\n sudo docker logs CONTAINER-NAME\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n7. Start a shell in the container that is running your code:\n\n ```\n sudo docker exec -it CONTAINER-NAME /bin/bash\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n8. When finished debugging, enter `exit` to exit the container,\n then `exit` again to exit the SSH session.\n\n9. Disable debugging for your instance to allow it to resume normal\n operation.\n\n### gcloud\n\nTo connect to an instance using gcloud:\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n1. With the instance [enabled for debugging](#enabling_and_disabling_debug_mode),\n invoke the command:\n\n ```\n gcloud beta app instances --project PROJECT-ID ssh INSTANCE-NAME --service SERVICE --version VERSION\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n2. At this point you are in the instance host, which has several\n [containers](http://kubernetes.io/docs/whatisk8s/) running.\n See [Understanding common containers](#understanding_common_containers) next for more information about these.\n\n3. In the terminal window, list the containers running in the instance:\n\n ```\n sudo docker ps\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n4. The output of the `sudo docker ps` command lists each\n container by row; locate the row that contains your project ID: this is\n the container running your code. Note the NAME of this container.\n\n5. Optionally, list logging information for your application by invoking:\n\n ```\n sudo docker logs CONTAINER-NAME\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n6. Start a shell in the container that is running your code:\n\n ```\n docker exec -it CONTAINER-NAME /bin/bash\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n7. When finished debugging, enter `exit` to exit the container,\n then `exit` again to exit the SSH session.\n\n8. Disable debugging for your instance to allow it to resume normal\n operation.\n\nUnderstanding common containers\n-------------------------------\n\nIn addition to the container running your application code, your instance may\nalso have the following containers:\n\nNote that these sidecar containers are subject to change without notice."]]