Compute Engine documentation
Compute Engine is a
computing and hosting service that lets you create
and run virtual machines on Google infrastructure. Compute Engine offers scale,
performance, and value that lets you easily launch large compute clusters on Google's
infrastructure. There are no upfront investments, and you can run thousands of virtual
CPUs on a system that offers quick, consistent performance.
Learn more
Start your proof of concept with $300 in free credit
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Get access to Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking
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Free monthly usage of popular products, including AI APIs and BigQuery
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No automatic charges, no commitment
Keep exploring with 20+ always-free products
Access 20+ free products for common use cases, including AI APIs, VMs, data warehouses,
and more.
Training
Training and tutorials
VM migration: planning
Learn how to plan a VM migration and deploy your basic infrastructure on Google Cloud.
Training
Training and tutorials
A tour of Cloud Networking
Get an overview of Google Cloud networking building blocks.
Training
Training and tutorials
Interactive walkthrough: Create a Linux VM in Compute Engine
Create a Linux VM by using a tutorial that walks you through the steps directly in the Cloud console.
Training
Training and tutorials
Hosting a web app on Compute Engine hands-on lab
Learn how to deploy and scale a sample application.
Use case
Use cases
VM migration
Migrate for Compute Engine allows you to easily migrate VMs from your on-premises data center, AWS, or Azure into Compute Engine. You validate, run, and migrate applications into Google Cloud without rewriting them, modifying the image, or changing management processes.
Migration
On-Prem
Automation
Use case
Use cases
Patterns for scalable and resilient apps
Learn patterns and practices for creating apps that are resilient and scalable, two essential goals of many modern architecture exercises. A well-designed app scales up and down as demand increases and decreases, and is resilient enough to withstand service disruptions.
Scaling
Resilience
Design
Use case
Use cases
Strategies to migrate IBM Db2 to Compute Engine
Learn best practices for a homogeneous Db2 migration to Compute Engine. This document is intended for database admins, system admins and software, database, and ops engineers who are migrating Db2 environments to Google Cloud.
IBM dB2
Migration
Code sample
Code Samples
C# samples
A set of .NET Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
Go samples
A set of Go Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
Java samples
A set of Java Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
Node.js samples
A set of Node.js Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
PHP samples
A set of PHP Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
Python samples
A set of Python Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
Ruby samples
A set of Ruby Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
A set of Terraform samples for Compute Engine.
Code sample
Code Samples
All samples
Browse all samples for Compute Engine.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC.
[[["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\u003eCompute Engine enables users to create and run virtual machines on Google's infrastructure, providing a scalable and high-performance computing environment.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe service allows for the launching of large compute clusters without upfront investments, supporting thousands of virtual CPUs with consistent performance.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExtensive documentation is available, including guides on machine families, deployment strategies, VM creation, SSH connections, migration paths, data protection, and instance lifecycle.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eCompute Engine offers various resources such as command-line tools, client libraries, REST APIs, pricing details, quotas, release notes, and support information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTraining resources are available for VM migration planning, cloud networking, creating Linux VMs, and hosting web apps on Compute Engine.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Compute Engine documentation\n============================\n\n[Read product documentation](/compute/docs/overview)\nCompute Engine is a\n[computing and hosting service](/docs/overview/cloud-platform-services#computing-hosting) that lets you create\nand run virtual machines on Google infrastructure. Compute Engine offers scale,\nperformance, and value that lets you easily launch large compute clusters on Google's\ninfrastructure. There are no upfront investments, and you can run thousands of virtual\nCPUs on a system that offers quick, consistent performance.\n[Learn more](/compute/docs/overview)\n[Get started for free](https://console.cloud.google.com/freetrial) \n\n#### Start your proof of concept with $300 in free credit\n\n- Get access to Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking\n- Free monthly usage of popular products, including AI APIs and BigQuery\n- No automatic charges, no commitment \n[View free product offers](/free/docs/free-cloud-features#free-tier) \n\n#### Keep exploring with 20+ always-free products\n\n\nAccess 20+ free products for common use cases, including AI APIs, VMs, data warehouses,\nand more.\n\nDocumentation resources\n-----------------------\n\nFind quickstarts and guides, review key references, and get help with common issues. \nformat_list_numbered\n\n### Guides\n\n-\n\n [Machine families resource and comparison guide](/compute/docs/machine-resource)\n\n-\n\n [Choose a deployment strategy](/compute/docs/choose-compute-deployment-option)\n\n-\n\n [Create and start a VM](/compute/docs/instances/create-start-instance)\n\n-\n\n [About SSH connections](/compute/docs/instances/ssh)\n\n-\n\n [Choose a migration path](/compute/docs/import)\n\n-\n\n [Data protection options](/compute/docs/disks/data-protection)\n\n-\n\n [VM instance lifecycle](/compute/docs/instances/instance-lifecycle)\n\nfind_in_page\n\n### Reference\n\n-\n\n [gcloud compute command-line tool](/compute/docs/gcloud-compute)\n\n-\n\n [Client libraries](/compute/docs/api/libraries)\n\n-\n\n [REST API](/compute/docs/reference/rest/v1)\n\ninfo\n\n### Resources\n\n-\n\n [Pricing](/compute/all-pricing)\n\n-\n\n [Quotas and limits](/compute/quotas)\n\n-\n\n [Release notes](/compute/docs/release-notes)\n\n-\n\n [Support](/compute/docs/support)\n\n-\n\n [Samples and videos](/compute/docs/samples-and-videos)\n\nRelated resources\n-----------------\n\nTraining and tutorials \nUse cases \nCode samples \nExplore self-paced training, use cases, reference architectures, and code samples with examples of how to use and connect Google Cloud services. Training \nTraining and tutorials\n\n### VM migration: planning\n\n\nLearn how to plan a VM migration and deploy your basic infrastructure on Google Cloud.\n\n\n[Learn more](https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/focuses/55160?parent=catalog) \nTraining \nTraining and tutorials\n\n### A tour of Cloud Networking\n\n\nGet an overview of Google Cloud networking building blocks.\n\n\n[Learn more](https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/focuses/84417?parent=catalog) \nTraining \nTraining and tutorials\n\n### Interactive walkthrough: Create a Linux VM in Compute Engine\n\n\nCreate a Linux VM by using a tutorial that walks you through the steps directly in the Cloud console.\n\n\n[Learn more](https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/instances?walkthrough_tutorial_id=compute_short_quickstart) \nTraining \nTraining and tutorials\n\n### Hosting a web app on Compute Engine hands-on lab\n\n\nLearn how to deploy and scale a sample application.\n\n\n[Learn more](https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/focuses/11952?parent=catalog) \nUse case \nUse cases\n\n### VM migration\n\n\nMigrate for Compute Engine allows you to easily migrate VMs from your on-premises data center, AWS, or Azure into Compute Engine. You validate, run, and migrate applications into Google Cloud without rewriting them, modifying the image, or changing management processes.\n\nMigration On-Prem Automation\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n[Learn more](/migrate/compute-engine) \nUse case \nUse cases\n\n### Patterns for scalable and resilient apps\n\n\nLearn patterns and practices for creating apps that are resilient and scalable, two essential goals of many modern architecture exercises. A well-designed app scales up and down as demand increases and decreases, and is resilient enough to withstand service disruptions.\n\nScaling Resilience Design\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n[Learn more](/solutions/scalable-and-resilient-apps) \nUse case \nUse cases\n\n### Strategies to migrate IBM Db2 to Compute Engine\n\n\nLearn best practices for a homogeneous Db2 migration to Compute Engine. This document is intended for database admins, system admins and software, database, and ops engineers who are migrating Db2 environments to Google Cloud.\n\nIBM dB2 Migration\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n[Learn more](/solutions/strategies-to-migrate-ibm-db2-to-compute-engine) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### C# samples\n\n\nA set of .NET Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/dotnet-docs-samples/tree/main/compute/api/Compute.Samples) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### Go samples\n\n\nA set of Go Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/golang-samples/tree/main/compute) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### Java samples\n\n\nA set of Java Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/java-docs-samples/tree/main/compute/cloud-client/src/main/java/compute) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### Node.js samples\n\n\nA set of Node.js Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples/tree/main/compute) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### PHP samples\n\n\nA set of PHP Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/php-docs-samples/tree/main/compute) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### Python samples\n\n\nA set of Python Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/python-docs-samples/tree/main/compute/client_library/snippets) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### Ruby samples\n\n\nA set of Ruby Cloud Client Library samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-ruby/tree/main/google-cloud-compute-v1/samples) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### Terraform samples\n\n\nA set of Terraform samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Open GitHub\narrow_forward](https://github.com/terraform-google-modules/terraform-docs-samples/tree/main/compute) \nCode sample \nCode Samples\n\n### All samples\n\n\nBrowse all samples for Compute Engine.\n\n\n[Get started](/compute/docs/samples)\n\nRelated videos\n--------------\n\n### Try Compute Engine for yourself\n\nCreate an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. \nNew customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads. \n[Try Compute Engine free](https://console.cloud.google.com/freetrial)"]]
