This page shows how to get started with the Cloud Client Libraries for the
Compute Engine API. Client libraries make it easier to access
Google Cloud APIs from a supported language. Although you can use
Google Cloud APIs directly by making raw requests to the server, client
libraries provide simplifications that significantly reduce the amount of code
you need to write.

Read more about the Cloud Client Libraries
and the older Google API Client Libraries in
[Client libraries explained](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-explained.md.txt).

*** ** * ** ***

To follow step-by-step guidance for this task directly in the
Google Cloud console, click **Guide me**:

[Guide me](https://console.cloud.google.com/freetrial?redirectPath=/?walkthrough_id%3Dcompute--compute_api_quickstart_select_language)

*** ** * ** ***

## Install the client library

### C++

Follow the
`Quickstart`.

### C#

Install the
`Google.Cloud.Compute.V1`
package from NuGet.

For more information, see [Setting Up a C# Development Environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/setup.md.txt).

### Go

```
go get cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1
```

For more information, see [Setting Up a Go Development Environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/go/docs/setup.md.txt).

### Java

If you are using [Maven](https://maven.apache.org/), add
the following to your `pom.xml` file. For more information about
BOMs, see [The Google Cloud Platform Libraries BOM](https://cloud.google.com/java/docs/bom).

```java
<dependencyManagement>
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
      <artifactId>libraries-bom</artifactId>
      <version>26.90.0</version>
      <type>pom</type>
      <scope>import</scope>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
    <artifactId>google-cloud-compute</artifactId>
  </dependency>
</dependencies>
```

If you are using [Gradle](https://gradle.org/),
add the following to your dependencies:

```java
implementation platform('com.google.cloud:libraries-bom:26.90.0')

implementation 'com.google.cloud:google-cloud-compute'
```

If you are using [sbt](https://www.scala-sbt.org/), add
the following to your dependencies:

```java
libraryDependencies += "com.google.cloud" % "google-cloud-compute" % "1.112.0"
```

<br />

The older version of the Cloud Client Libraries for Java for
Compute Engine is available as version 0.120.x or earlier in the
[Maven artifact](https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-compute). Versions 0.120.x and earlier of this library are
forward-incompatible with later versions.


For more information, see [Setting Up a Java Development Environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/setup.md.txt).

### Node.js

```
npm install @google-cloud/compute
```

<br />

The older version of the Cloud Client Libraries for Node.js for
Compute Engine is available as version 2.5.x or earlier in the
[npm package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@google-cloud/compute).
Versions 2.5.x and earlier of this library are forward-incompatible with
later versions.


For more information, see [Setting Up a Node.js Development Environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/nodejs/docs/setup.md.txt).

### PHP

```
composer require google/cloud-compute
```

For more information, see [Using PHP on Google Cloud](https://docs.cloud.google.com/php/docs.md.txt).

### Python

```
pip install --upgrade google-cloud-compute
```

For more information, see [Setting Up a Python Development Environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/python/docs/setup.md.txt).

### Ruby

```
gem install google-cloud-compute-v1
```

For more information, see [Setting Up a Ruby Development Environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/ruby/docs/setup.md.txt).

### Rust

```
cargo add google-cloud-compute-v1
```

For more information, see [Get started with Rust](https://docs.cloud.google.com/rust/docs/quickstart.md.txt).

<br />

## Set up authentication

To authenticate calls to Google Cloud APIs, client libraries support [Application Default Credentials (ADC)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/application-default-credentials.md.txt); the libraries look for credentials in a set of defined locations and use those credentials to authenticate requests to the API. With ADC, you can make credentials available to your application in a variety of environments, such as local development or production, without needing to modify your application code.

For production environments, the way you set up ADC depends on the service
and context. For more information, see [Set up Application Default Credentials](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/provide-credentials-adc.md.txt).

For a local development environment, you can set up ADC with the credentials
that are associated with your Google Account:

1.
   [Install](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install) the Google Cloud CLI.

   After installation,
   [initialize](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/initializing) the Google Cloud CLI by running the following command:

   ```bash
   gcloud init
   ```


   If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first
   [sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/workforce-log-in-gcloud.md.txt).
2.

   If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user
   account:

   ```bash
   gcloud auth application-default login
   ```

   You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.


   If an authentication error is returned, and you are using an external identity provider
   (IdP), confirm that you have
   [signed in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/workforce-log-in-gcloud.md.txt).


   A sign-in screen appears. After you sign in, your credentials are stored in the
   [local credential file used by ADC](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/application-default-credentials.md.txt#personal).

## Use the client library


The following example shows how to use the client library to list instances in a
particular zone. For more examples, see
[Using client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/compute/docs/api/using-libraries.md.txt).

### C#

```c#

using Google.Cloud.Compute.V1;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class ListZoneInstancesAsyncSample
{
    public async Task<IList<Instance>> ListZoneInstancesAsync(
        // TODO(developer): Set your own default values for these parameters or pass different values when calling this method.
        string projectId = "your-project-id", 
        string zone = "us-central1-a")
    {
        // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
        // once, and can be reused for multiple requests.
        InstancesClient client = await InstancesClient.CreateAsync();
        IList<Instance> allInstances = new List<Instance>();

        // Make the request to list all VM instances in the given zone in the specified project.
        await foreach(var instance in client.ListAsync(projectId, zone))
        {
            // The result is an Instance collection.
            Console.WriteLine($"Instance: {instance.Name}");
            allInstances.Add(instance);
        }

        return allInstances;
    }
}
```

### Go

```go
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	compute "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"
	computepb "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1/computepb"
	"google.golang.org/api/iterator"
)

// listInstances prints a list of instances created in given project in given zone.
func listInstances(w io.Writer, projectID, zone string) error {
	// projectID := "your_project_id"
	// zone := "europe-central2-b"
	ctx := context.Background()
	instancesClient, err := compute.NewInstancesRESTClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewInstancesRESTClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer instancesClient.Close()

	req := &computepb.ListInstancesRequest{
		Project: projectID,
		Zone:    zone,
	}

	it := instancesClient.List(ctx, req)
	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Instances found in zone %s:\n", zone)
	for {
		instance, err := it.Next()
		if err == iterator.Done {
			break
		}
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "- %s %s\n", instance.GetName(), instance.GetMachineType())
	}
	return nil
}
```

### Java

```java

import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Instance;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstancesClient;
import java.io.IOException;

public class ListInstance {

  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample
    String project = "your-project-id";
    String zone = "zone-name";
    listInstances(project, zone);
  }

  // List all instances in the given zone in the specified project ID.
  public static void listInstances(String project, String zone) throws IOException {
    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
    // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After completing all of your requests, call
    // the `instancesClient.close()` method on the client to 
    // safely clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (InstancesClient instancesClient = InstancesClient.create()) {
      // Set the project and zone to retrieve instances present in the zone.
      System.out.printf("Listing instances from %s in %s:", project, zone);
      for (Instance zoneInstance : instancesClient.list(project, zone).iterateAll()) {
        System.out.println(zoneInstance.getName());
      }
      System.out.println("####### Listing instances complete #######");
    }
  }
}
```

### Node.js

```javascript
/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const zone = 'europe-central2-b'

const compute = require('@google-cloud/compute');

// List all instances in the given zone in the specified project.
async function listInstances() {
  const instancesClient = new compute.InstancesClient();

  const [instanceList] = await instancesClient.list({
    project: projectId,
    zone,
  });

  console.log(`Instances found in zone ${zone}:`);

  for (const instance of instanceList) {
    console.log(` - ${instance.name} (${instance.machineType})`);
  }
}

listInstances();
```

### PHP

```php
use Google\Cloud\Compute\V1\Client\InstancesClient;
use Google\Cloud\Compute\V1\ListInstancesRequest;

/**
 * List all instances for a particular Cloud project and zone.
 *
 * @param string $projectId Your Google Cloud project ID.
 * @param string $zone Zone to list instances for (like "us-central1-a").
 *
 * @throws \Google\ApiCore\ApiException if the remote call fails.
 */
function list_instances(string $projectId, string $zone)
{
    // List Compute Engine instances using InstancesClient.
    $instancesClient = new InstancesClient();
    $request = (new ListInstancesRequest())
        ->setProject($projectId)
        ->setZone($zone);
    $instancesList = $instancesClient->list($request);

    printf('Instances for %s (%s)' . PHP_EOL, $projectId, $zone);
    foreach ($instancesList as $instance) {
        printf(' - %s' . PHP_EOL, $instance->getName());
    }
}
```

### Python

```python
from __future__ import annotations

from collections.abc import Iterable

from google.cloud import compute_v1


def list_instances(project_id: str, zone: str) -> Iterable[compute_v1.Instance]:
    """
    List all instances in the given zone in the specified project.

    Args:
        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you want to use.
        zone: name of the zone you want to use. For example: "us-west3-b"
    Returns:
        An iterable collection of Instance objects.
    """
    instance_client = compute_v1.InstancesClient()
    instance_list = instance_client.list(project=project_id, zone=zone)

    print(f"Instances found in zone {zone}:")
    for instance in instance_list:
        print(f" - {instance.name} ({instance.machine_type})")

    return instance_list

```

### Ruby

```ruby

require "google/cloud/compute/v1"

# Lists all instances in the given zone in the specified project.
#
# @param [String] project project ID or project number of the Cloud project you want to use.
# @param [String] zone name of the zone you want to use. For example: "us-west3-b"
# @return [Array<::Google::Cloud::Compute::V1::Instance>] Array of instances.
def list_instances project:, zone:
  # Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
  # once, and can be reused for multiple requests.
  client = ::Google::Cloud::Compute::V1::Instances::Rest::Client.new

  # Send the request to list all VM instances in the given zone in the specified project.
  instance_list = client.list project: project, zone: zone

  puts "Instances found in zone #{zone}:"
  instances = []
  instance_list.each do |instance|
    puts " - #{instance.name} (#{instance.machine_type})"
    instances << instance
  end
  instances
end
```

### Rust

```rust
pub async fn quickstart(project_id: &str) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    use google_cloud_compute_v1::client::Instances;
    use google_cloud_gax::paginator::ItemPaginator;

    const ZONE: &str = "us-central1-a";

    let client = Instances::builder().build().await?;
    println!("Listing instances for project {project_id}");
    let mut instances = client
        .list()
        .set_project(project_id)
        .set_zone(ZONE)
        .by_item();
    while let Some(item) = instances.next().await.transpose()? {
        println!("  {:?}", item.name);
    }
    println!("DONE");
    Ok(())
}
```

<br />

## Additional resources

### C++

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for C++:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/compute/latest.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-cpp/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D%5Bc%2B%2B%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-cpp)

### C#

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for C#:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/reference/Google.Cloud.Compute.V1/latest.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-dotnet/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Bc%23%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-dotnet)

### Go

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for Go:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/go/docs/reference/cloud.google.com/go/compute/latest/apiv1.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-go/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Bgo%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-go)

### Java

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for Java:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/google-cloud-compute/latest/overview.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-java/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Bjava%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-java)

### Node.js

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for Node.js:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/nodejs/docs/reference/compute/latest.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-node/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Bnode.js%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-node)

### PHP

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for PHP:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/php/docs/reference/cloud-compute/latest.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-php/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Bphp%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-php)

### Python

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for Python:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/python/docs/reference/compute/latest.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-python/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Bpython%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-python)

### Ruby

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for Ruby:

- [API reference](https://docs.cloud.google.com/ruby/docs/reference/google-cloud-compute/latest.md.txt)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-ruby/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Bruby%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-ruby)

### Rust

The following list contains links to more resources related to the
client library for Rust:

- [API reference](https://docs.rs/google-cloud-compute-v1)
- [Client libraries best practices](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-best-practices.md.txt)
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-rust/issues)
- [`google-compute-engine` on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bgoogle-compute-engine%5D+%5Brust%5D)
- [Source code](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-rust)

<br />


## Older client libraries

[Cloud Client Libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-explained.md.txt#cloud-client-libraries)
use our latest client library model and are the recommended option for accessing
Cloud APIs programmatically.

For cases where you can't use Cloud Client Libraries, the following
[Google API Client Libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apis/docs/client-libraries-explained.md.txt#google_api_client_libraries)
are available:

| Language | Library | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Go | [Google API Go Client Library](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-go-client) | [Documentation](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-go-client/blob/main/GettingStarted.md) |
| Java | [Google API Java Client Library](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-java-client-services) | [Documentation](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/java-docs-samples/blob/main/compute/cmdline/README.md) |
| JavaScript | [Google API JavaScript Client Library](https://github.com/google/google-api-javascript-client) | [Documentation](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/compute-getting-started-javascript/blob/master/README.md) |
| .NET | [Google API .NET Client Library](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-dotnet-client) | [Documentation](https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/dotnet/apis/compute/v1) |
| Node.js | [Google API Node.js Client Library](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-nodejs-client) | [Documentation](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-nodejs-client/blob/main/README.md) |
| Objective-C | [Google API Objective-C Client Library](https://github.com/google/google-api-objectivec-client-for-rest) | [Documentation](https://github.com/google/google-api-objectivec-client-for-rest/wiki/BuildingTheLibrary) |
| PHP | [Google API PHP Client Library](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-php-client-services) | [Documentation](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-php-client/blob/main/README.md) |
| Python | [Google API Python Client Library](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-python-client) | [Documentation](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-python-client/blob/main/samples/compute/README.md) |
| Ruby | [Google API Ruby Client Library](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-ruby-client) | [Documentation](https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-ruby-client/blob/main/README.md) |
| Dart | [Google API Dart Client Library](https://github.com/google/googleapis.dart) | [Documentation](https://pub.dev/documentation/googleapis/latest/compute_v1/ComputeApi-class.html) |

<br />

## Third-party Compute Engine API client libraries


### libcloud

[libcloud](https://libcloud.apache.org) is a Python library used
for interacting with multiple cloud service providers through a single unified API.

The Apache libcloud API project has received support and updates for
Compute Engine since July 2013. It supports a broad set of
Compute Engine features including instances, disks, networks, and load
balancers. The getting started demo provides a code example of how to use
libcloud and Compute Engine together.

- [Getting started](https://libcloud.readthedocs.org/en/latest/compute/drivers/gce.html)
- [Blog post](http://libcloud.apache.org/blog/2014/02/18/libcloud-0-14-and-google-cloud-platform.html)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/apache/libcloud/blob/trunk/demos/gce_demo.py)

### jclouds

[jclouds](http://jclouds.apache.org/) is an open source library that
allows you to use Java and Clojure across multiple Cloud providers.

The jclouds cloud API supports Compute Engine and lets you manage
resources such as virtual machines, disks, and networks. As of version 1.9,
Compute Engine was promoted to the jclouds core.

- [Getting Started](http://jclouds.apache.org/guides/google/)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/jclouds/jclouds/tree/master/providers/google-compute-engine)

### fog.io

[fog.io](http://fog.io/) is an open source Ruby library that lets
you interact with multiple cloud services through one API.

The fog.io cloud API has had support for Compute Engine since version
1.11.0 in May 2013. It supports instance operations such as create and delete,
along with management operations for other resources like disks, networks, and
load balancers.

- [GitHub](https://github.com/fog/fog-google/blob/master/README.md)
- [Code Samples](https://github.com/fog/fog-google/tree/master/examples)

  <br />