If you have a paid support service (Standard, Extended, or
Premium support), review the policy for the license type to understand
the support model that applies.
Support policy by license type
On Google Cloud the following license types are available for your OS images:
Bring your own license (BYOL)/Bring your own subscription (BYOS): you
pay a subscription or other license fee directly to the OS vendor.
For support policy, see Support policy for BYOS/BYOL OS images.
For some operating systems, multiple license types might be available. To
manage the licenses that are attached to your operating systems, see
View and append license.
Support policy for PAYG/On-demand licenses
If you have a paid support service with Google Cloud, the following
support policies apply to any OS that use a PAYG/On-demand license.
Google Cloud Support troubleshoots the
guest environment and offers
guidance on how to resolve any issues identified that are
within scope.
If needed, Google Cloud Support engages directly with the
OS vendor to help resolve the issue. During this process, the OS vendor won't
engage with you directly, they will work with Google Cloud to resolve your
issue.
For more information about support for each of these OS, review the
following:
Google Cloud Support troubleshoots the
guest environment and offers
guidance on how to resolve any issues identified that are
within scope.
However, if the issue is identified to be associated with the
OS itself, you will need to contact the OS vendor that you purchased the image
license from.
For more information about support for each of these OS, review the
following:
Google Cloud Support troubleshoots the
guest environment and offers
guidance on how to resolve any issues identified that are
within scope.
If needed, Google Cloud Support engages directly with
CIQ to help
resolve the issue. During this process, CIQ won't engage with you directly, they
will work with Google Cloud to resolve your issue.
N/A
CentOS
Container-Optimized OS (COS)
Debian
Ubuntu
Google Cloud Support troubleshoots the
guest environment and offers
guidance on how to resolve any issues identified.
However, if the issue is identified to be associated with the
OS itself, you will need to use the community support
options that are available for this OS.
For more information about community support for each of these OS,
review the following:
Google Cloud Support troubleshoots the guest environment and offers guidance on
how to resolve any issues identified. Review the following sections to see what
issues are within scope for support.
Within scope for support
The following issues are within scope for Google Cloud Support:
Issues with Google Cloud products and services.
Issues with OS image configurations that are in one of the following
categories:
Configurations that are part of the default settings from the OS vendor.
Configurations that are done by Google Cloud. See the
Image configuration section on the
Operating system details page.
Issues with agents and packages installed by Google Cloud. See
Guest environment.
Out-of-scope for support
The following issues are not supported by Google Cloud Support:
Issues with OS images that have substantial modifications or
optimizations. These include but are not limited to:
Operating systems where the kernel is replaced
Operating systems where the init system is replaced
Operating systems with third-party kernel modules
Issues with user-installed applications
Issues that can't be replicated or reproduced in a generic environment
[[["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 2025-08-29 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Cloud offers various support options for OS images, including Basic support through community forums and paid support services like Standard, Extended, or Premium support.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOS image licenses are categorized as Pay-as-you-go (PAYG), Bring your own license (BYOL), or Free, each with its own specific support policy.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor PAYG/On-demand licenses, Google Cloud Support will troubleshoot the guest environment and may engage directly with the OS vendor, except for Ubuntu Pro, where users must contact Canonical for OS-related issues.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor BYOS/BYOL licenses, Google Cloud Support provides guest environment support, but users must contact the OS vendor for issues related directly to the operating system itself.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor free licenses, Google Cloud Support will troubleshoot the guest environment, and may engage directly with CIQ for Rocky Linux, while issues with other free OSs like CentOS, Debian, or Ubuntu will need to be addressed through their respective community support channels.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Support policy for operating systems\n\nLinux Windows\n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nThis page describes the support policies for operating system (OS) images on\nCompute Engine.\n\nSupport options\n---------------\n\nThe following support options are available on Google Cloud.\n\n### Basic support\n\nIf you have [basic support](/support/docs#basic_support), you can post\nquestions related to your OS in the [Google Cloud Community forums for Compute Engine](https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/forums/filteredbylabelpage/board-id/cloud-infrastructure/label-name/compute%20engine).\n\n### Standard, Extended, or Premium support\n\nIf you have a [paid support service](/support/docs) (Standard, Extended, or\nPremium support), review the policy for the license type to understand\nthe support model that applies.\n\nSupport policy by license type\n------------------------------\n\nOn Google Cloud the following license types are available for your OS images:\n\n- **Pay-as-you-go (PAYG)/ On-demand:** you pay Google Cloud a license fee to use this OS image. For support policy, see [Support policy for PAYG/On-demand OS images](#payg-support).\n- **Bring your own license (BYOL)/Bring your own subscription (BYOS):** you pay a subscription or other license fee directly to the OS vendor. For support policy, see [Support policy for BYOS/BYOL OS images](#byos-support).\n- **Free:** you don't pay a license fee to use this OS image. For support policy, see [Support policy for free OS images](#free-support).\n\nFor some operating systems, multiple license types might be available. To\nmanage the licenses that are attached to your operating systems, see\n[View and append license](/compute/docs/licenses/view-append).\n\n### Support policy for PAYG/On-demand licenses\n\nIf you have a paid support service with Google Cloud, the following\nsupport policies apply to any OS that use a PAYG/On-demand license.\n\nThe following support policy applies to all\n[lifecycle stages](/compute/docs/images/os-image-lifecycle#lifecycle-stages).\n\n### Support policy for BYOS/BYOL licenses\n\nIf you have a paid support service with Google Cloud, the following\nsupport policies apply to any OS that use a BYOS/BYOL license.\n\nThe following support policy applies to all\n[lifecycle stages](/compute/docs/images/os-image-lifecycle#lifecycle-stages).\n\n### Support policy for free licenses\n\nIf you have a paid support service with Google Cloud, the following\nsupport policies apply to any OS that use a free license.\n\nThe following support policy applies to all\n[lifecycle stages](/compute/docs/images/os-image-lifecycle#lifecycle-stages).\n\nSupport scope\n-------------\n\nGoogle Cloud Support troubleshoots the guest environment and offers guidance on\nhow to resolve any issues identified. Review the following sections to see what\nissues are within scope for support.\n\n### Within scope for support\n\nThe following issues are within scope for Google Cloud Support:\n\n- Issues with Google Cloud products and services.\n- Issues with OS image configurations that are in one of the following\n categories:\n\n - Configurations that are part of the default settings from the OS vendor.\n - Configurations that are done by Google Cloud. See the *Image configuration* section on the [Operating system details](/compute/docs/images/os-details) page.\n- Issues with agents and packages installed by Google Cloud. See\n [Guest environment](/compute/docs/images/guest-environment).\n\n### Out-of-scope for support\n\nThe following issues are not supported by Google Cloud Support:\n\n- Issues with OS images that have substantial modifications or optimizations. These include but are not limited to:\n - Operating systems where the kernel is replaced\n - Operating systems where the init system is replaced\n - Operating systems with third-party kernel modules\n- Issues with user-installed applications\n- Issues that can't be replicated or reproduced in a generic environment\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Learn more about [OS image lifecycle](/compute/docs/images/os-image-lifecycle)."]]
