gcloud compute machine-images import

NAME

gcloud compute machine-images import - create a Compute Engine machine image from virtual appliance in OVA/OVF format

SYNOPSIS

gcloud compute machine-images import IMAGE --cmd-deprecated --source-uri=SOURCE_URI [--no-address] [--async] [--byol] [--can-ip-forward] [--cloudbuild-service-account=CLOUDBUILD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT] [--compute-service-account=COMPUTE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT] [--description=DESCRIPTION] [--no-guest-environment] [--guest-flush] [--guest-os-features=[GUEST_OS_FEATURE,…]] [--labels=[KEY=VALUE,…]] [--log-location=LOG_LOCATION] [--machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE] [--network=NETWORK] [--network-tier=NETWORK_TIER] [--os=OS] [--no-restart-on-failure] [--storage-location=LOCATION] [--subnet=SUBNET] [--tags=TAG,[TAG,…]] [--timeout=TIMEOUT; default="2h"] [--zone=ZONE] [--custom-cpu=CUSTOM_CPU --custom-memory=CUSTOM_MEMORY : --custom-extensions --custom-vm-type=CUSTOM_VM_TYPE] [--scopes=[SCOPE,…] | --no-scopes] [--service-account=SERVICE_ACCOUNT | --no-service-account] [GCLOUD_WIDE_FLAG …]

DESCRIPTION

(DEPRECATED) This command is being deprecated. Instead, use the

gcloud
migration vms machine-image-imports

command. For more information, See "gcloud alpha migration vms machine-image-imports --help".

gcloud compute machine-images import creates Compute Engine machine image from virtual appliance in OVA/OVF format.

Importing OVF involves:

Unpacking OVF package (if in OVA format) to Cloud Storage.
Import disks from OVF to Compute Engine.
Translate the boot disk to make it bootable in Compute Engine.
Create a machine image using OVF metadata and imported disks.

Virtual instances, images, machine images, and disks in Compute engine and files stored on Cloud Storage incur charges. See https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/images/importing-virtual-disks#resource_cleanup.

EXAMPLES

To import an OVF package from Cloud Storage into a machine image named my-machine-image, run:

gcloud compute machine-images import my-machine-image --source-uri=gs://my-bucket/my-dir

POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS

IMAGE: Name of the machineImage to import.

REQUIRED FLAGS

--cmd-deprecated: The command you're using is deprecated and will be removed by December 31, 2025. We recommend using gcloud compute migration image-imports instead. See our official documentation for more information. https://cloud.google.com/migrate/virtual-machines/docs/5.0/migrate/image_import.
--source-uri=SOURCE_URI: Cloud Storage path to one of: OVF descriptor OVA file Directory with OVF package. For more information about Cloud Storage URIs, see https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/request-endpoints#json-api.

OPTIONAL FLAGS

--no-address

Temporary VMs are created in your project during machine image import. Set this flag so that these temporary VMs are not assigned external IP addresses. Note: The machine image import process requires package managers to be installed on the operating system for the virtual disk. These package managers might need to make requests to package repositories that are outside Google Cloud. To allow access for these updates, you need to configure Cloud NAT and Private Google Access. For more information, see https://cloud.google.com/nat/docs/gce-example#create-nat and https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/private-access-options#pga.

--async

Return immediately, without waiting for the operation in progress to complete.

--byol

Specifies that you want to import an image with an existing license. Importing an image with an existing license is known as bring your own license (BYOL).

--byol can be specified in any of the following ways:

+ `--byol --os=rhel-8`: imports a RHEL 8 image with an existing license.
+ `--os=rhel-8-byol`: imports a RHEL 8 image with an existing license.
+ `--byol`: detects the OS contained on the disk, and imports
   the image with an existing license.

For more information about BYOL, see: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/nodes/bringing-your-own-licenses

--can-ip-forward

If provided, allows the VMs created from the imported machine image to send and receive packets with non-matching destination or source IP addresses.

--cloudbuild-service-account=CLOUDBUILD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT

Image import and export tools use Cloud Build to import and export images to and from your project. Cloud Build uses a specific service account to execute builds on your behalf. The Cloud Build service account generates an access token for other service accounts and it is also used for authentication when building the artifacts for the image import tool.

Use this flag to to specify a user-managed service account for image import and export. If you don't specify this flag, Cloud Build runs using your project's default Cloud Build service account. To set this option, specify the email address of the desired user-managed service account. Note: You must specify the --logs-location flag when you set a user-managed service account.

At minimum, the specified user-managed service account needs to have the following roles assigned:

roles/compute.admin
roles/iam.serviceAccountTokenCreator
roles/iam.serviceAccountUser

--compute-service-account=COMPUTE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT

A temporary virtual machine instance is created in your project during machine image import. Machine image import tooling on this temporary instance must be authenticated.

A Compute Engine service account is an identity attached to an instance. Its access tokens can be accessed through the instance metadata server and can be used to authenticate machine image import tooling on the instance.

To set this option, specify the email address corresponding to the required Compute Engine service account. If not provided, the machine image import on the temporary instance uses the project's default Compute Engine service account.

At a minimum, you need to grant the following roles to the specified Cloud Build service account:

roles/compute.storageAdmin
roles/storage.objectViewer

--description=DESCRIPTION

Specifies a text description of the machine image.

--guest-environment

The guest environment will be installed on the machine image. Enabled by default, use --no-guest-environment to disable.

--guest-flush

Create an application-consistent machine image by informing the OS to prepare for the snapshot process.

--guest-os-features=[GUEST_OS_FEATURE,…]

Enables one or more features for VM instances that use the image for their boot disks. See the descriptions of supported features at: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/images/create-delete-deprecate-private-images#guest-os-features. GUEST_OS_FEATURE must be (only one value is supported): UEFI_COMPATIBLE.

--labels=[KEY=VALUE,…]

List of label KEY=VALUE pairs to add. Keys must start with a lowercase character and contain only hyphens (-), underscores (_), lowercase characters, and numbers. Values must contain only hyphens (-), underscores (_), lowercase characters, and numbers.

--log-location=LOG_LOCATION

Directory in Cloud Storage to hold build logs. If not set, gs://<project num>.cloudbuild-logs.googleusercontent.com/ is created and used.

--machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE

Specifies the machine type used for the instances. To get a list of available machine types, run 'gcloud compute machine-types list'. If unspecified, the default type is n1-standard-1.

--network=NETWORK

Specifies the network for the VMs that are created from the imported machine image. If --subnet is also specified, then the subnet must be a subnetwork of network specified by --network. If neither is specified, the default network is used.

--network-tier=NETWORK_TIER

Specifies the network tier that will be used to configure the machine image. NETWORK_TIER must be one of: PREMIUM, STANDARD. The default value is PREMIUM.

--os=OS

Specifies the OS of the machine image being imported. OS must be one of: centos-7, centos-stream-8, centos-stream-9, debian-10, debian-11, debian-8, debian-9, opensuse-15, rhel-6, rhel-6-byol, rhel-7, rhel-7-byol, rhel-8, rhel-8-byol, rhel-9, rhel-9-byol, rocky-8, rocky-9, sles-12, sles-12-byol, sles-15, sles-15-byol, sles-sap-12, sles-sap-12-byol, sles-sap-15, sles-sap-15-byol, ubuntu-1404, ubuntu-1604, ubuntu-1804, ubuntu-2004, ubuntu-2204, windows-10-x64-byol, windows-10-x86-byol, windows-11-x64-byol, windows-2008r2, windows-2008r2-byol, windows-2012, windows-2012-byol, windows-2012r2, windows-2012r2-byol, windows-2016, windows-2016-byol, windows-2019, windows-2019-byol, windows-2022, windows-2022-byol, windows-7-x64-byol, windows-7-x86-byol, windows-8-x64-byol, windows-8-x86-byol.

--restart-on-failure

The VMs created from the imported machine image are restarted if they are terminated by Compute Engine. This does not affect terminations performed by the user. Enabled by default, use --no-restart-on-failure to disable.

--storage-location=LOCATION

Google Cloud Storage location, either regional or multi-regional, where machine image's content is to be stored. If absent, a nearby regional or multi-regional location is chosen automatically.

--subnet=SUBNET

Specifies the subnet for the VMs created from the imported machine image. If --network is also specified, the subnet must be a subnetwork of the network specified by --network.

--tags=TAG,[TAG,…]

Specifies a list of tags to apply to the VMs created from the imported machine image. These tags allow network firewall rules and routes to be applied to specified VMs. See

gcloud compute
firewall-rules create

(1) for more details.

To read more about configuring network tags, read this guide: https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/add-remove-network-tags

To list VMs with their respective status and tags, run:

gcloud compute instances list --format='table(name,status,tags.list())'

To list VMs tagged with a specific tag, tag1, run:

gcloud compute instances list --filter='tags:tag1'

--timeout=TIMEOUT; default="2h"

Maximum time an import can last before it fails as "TIMEOUT". For example, if you specify 2h, the process fails after 2 hours. See $ gcloud topic datetimes for information about duration formats. This timeout option has a maximum value of 24 hours.

--zone=ZONE

Zone of the machine image to import. The zone in which to perform the import of the machine image. If not specified and the compute/zone property isn't set, you might be prompted to select a zone (interactive mode only).

To avoid prompting when this flag is omitted, you can set the compute/zone property:

gcloud config set compute/zone ZONE

A list of zones can be fetched by running:

gcloud compute zones list

To unset the property, run:

gcloud config unset compute/zone

Alternatively, the zone can be stored in the environment variable CLOUDSDK_COMPUTE_ZONE. Custom machine type extensions.

--custom-cpu=CUSTOM_CPU

A whole number value specifying the number of cores that are needed in the custom machine type.

For some machine types, shared-core values can also be used. For example, for E2 machine types, you can specify micro, small, or medium.

This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this group are specified.

--custom-memory=CUSTOM_MEMORY

A whole number value indicating how much memory is desired in the custom machine type. A size unit should be provided (eg. 3072MB or 9GB) - if no units are specified, GB is assumed. This flag argument must be specified if any of the other arguments in this group are specified.

--custom-extensions

Use the extended custom machine type.

--custom-vm-type=CUSTOM_VM_TYPE

Specifies a custom machine type. The default is n1. For more information about custom machine types, see: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/general-purpose-machines#custom_machine_types

At most one of these can be specified:

--scopes=[SCOPE,…]

If not provided, the machine image will be assigned the default scopes, described below. However, if neither --scopes nor --no-scopes are specified and the project has no default service account, then the machine image is imported with no scopes. Note that the level of access that a service account has is determined by a combination of access scopes and IAM roles so you must configure both access scopes and IAM roles for the service account to work properly. SCOPE can be either the full URI of the scope or an alias. Default scopes are assigned to all instances. Available aliases are:

Alias URI

bigquery https://www.googleapis.com/auth/bigquery

cloud-platform https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform

cloud-source-repos https://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.full_control

cloud-source-repos-ro https://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.read_only

compute-ro https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute.readonly

compute-rw https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute

datastore https://www.googleapis.com/auth/datastore

default https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append

gke-default https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append

logging-write https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write

monitoring https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring

monitoring-read https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.read

monitoring-write https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write

pubsub https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub

service-control https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol

service-management https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly

sql (deprecated) https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice

sql-admin https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice.admin

storage-full https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.full_control

storage-ro https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only

storage-rw https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_write

taskqueue https://www.googleapis.com/auth/taskqueue

trace https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append

userinfo-email https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email

Alias	URI
bigquery	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/bigquery
cloud-platform	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform
cloud-source-repos	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.full_control
cloud-source-repos-ro	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/source.read_only
compute-ro	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute.readonly
compute-rw	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute
datastore	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/datastore
default	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
gke-default	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
logging-write	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write
monitoring	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring
monitoring-read	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.read
monitoring-write	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring.write
pubsub	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub
service-control	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/servicecontrol
service-management	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/service.management.readonly
sql (deprecated)	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice
sql-admin	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice.admin
storage-full	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.full_control
storage-ro	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only
storage-rw	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_write
taskqueue	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/taskqueue
trace	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/trace.append
userinfo-email	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email

DEPRECATION WARNING: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice account scope and sql alias do not provide SQL instance management capabilities and have been deprecated. Please, use https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sqlservice.admin or sql-admin to manage your Google SQL Service instances.

--no-scopes

Import machine image without scopes

At most one of these can be specified:

--service-account=SERVICE_ACCOUNT

A service account is an identity attached to the machine image. Its access tokens can be accessed through the instance metadata server and are used to authenticate applications on the instance. The account can be set using an email address corresponding to the required service account. If not provided, the machine image will use the project's default service account.

--no-service-account

Import machine image without service account

GCLOUD WIDE FLAGS

These flags are available to all commands: --access-token-file, --account, --billing-project, --configuration, --flags-file, --flatten, --format, --help, --impersonate-service-account, --log-http, --project, --quiet, --trace-token, --user-output-enabled, --verbosity.

Run $ gcloud help for details.

NOTES

These variants are also available:

gcloud alpha compute machine-images import

gcloud beta compute machine-images import

gcloud preview compute machine-images import

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 2026-05-27 UTC.

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