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Google Compute Engine

InstanceTemplates

An Instance Template resource.

For a list of methods for this resource, see the end of this page.

Resource representations

An Instance Template resource.

{
  "kind": "compute#instanceTemplate",
  "id": unsigned long,
  "creationTimestamp": string,
  "selfLink": string,
  "name": string,
  "description": string,
  "properties": {
    "description": string,
    "tags": {
      "items": [
        string
      ],
      "fingerprint": bytes
    },
    "machineType": string,
    "canIpForward": boolean,
    "networkInterfaces": [
      {
        "network": string,
        "networkIP": string,
        "name": string,
        "accessConfigs": [
          {
            "kind": "compute#accessConfig",
            "type": string,
            "name": string,
            "natIP": string
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "disks": [
      {
        "kind": "compute#attachedDisk",
        "index": integer,
        "type": string,
        "mode": string,
        "source": string,
        "deviceName": string,
        "boot": boolean,
        "initializeParams": {
          "diskName": string,
          "sourceImage": string,
          "diskSizeGb": long,
          "diskStorageType": string,
          "diskType": string
        },
        "autoDelete": boolean,
        "licenses": [
          string
        ],
        "interface": string
      }
    ],
    "metadata": {
      "kind": "compute#metadata",
      "fingerprint": bytes,
      "items": [
        {
          "key": string,
          "value": string
        }
      ]
    },
    "serviceAccounts": [
      {
        "email": string,
        "scopes": [
          string
        ]
      }
    ],
    "scheduling": {
      "onHostMaintenance": string,
      "automaticRestart": boolean
    }
  }
}
Property name Value Description Notes
creationTimestamp string [Output Only] Creation timestamp in RFC3339 text format.
description string An optional textual description of the instance template resource; provided by the client when the resource is created.
id unsigned long [Output Only] Unique identifier for the resource; defined by the server.
kind string [Output Only] Type of the resource. Always compute#instanceTemplate for instance templates.
name string Name of the resource; provided by the client when the resource is created. The name must be 1-63 characters long, and comply with RFC1035. Specifically, the name must be 1-63 characters long and match the regular expression [a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])? which means the first character must be a lowercase letter, and all following characters must be a dash, lowercase letter, or digit, except the last character, which cannot be a dash.
properties nested object The instance properties portion of this instance template resource.
properties.canIpForward boolean Allows instances created based on this template to send packets with source IP addresses other than their own and receive packets with destination IP addresses other than their own. If these instances will be used as an IP gateway or it will be set as the next-hop in a Route resource, say true. If unsure, leave this set to false.
properties.description string An optional textual description for the instances created based on the instance template resource; provided by the client when the template is created.
properties.disks[] list Array of disks associated with instance created based on this template.
properties.disks[].autoDelete boolean Specifies whether the disk will be auto-deleted when the instance is deleted (but not when the disk is detached from the instance).
properties.disks[].boot boolean Indicates that this is a boot disk. The virtual machine will use the first partition of the disk for its root filesystem.
properties.disks[].deviceName string Specifies a unique device name of your choice that is reflected into the /dev/ tree of a Linux operating system running within the instance. This name can be used to reference the device for mounting, resizing, and so on, from within the instance.

If not specified, the server chooses a default device name to apply to this disk, in the form persistent-disks-x, where x is a number assigned by Google Compute Engine. This field is only applicable for persistent disks.
properties.disks[].index integer Assigns a zero-based index to this disk, where 0 is reserved for the boot disk. For example, if you have many disks attached to an instance, each disk would have a unique index number. If not specified, the server will choose an appropriate value.
properties.disks[].initializeParams nested object [Input Only] Specifies the parameters for a new disk that will be created alongside the new instance. Use initialization parameters to create boot disks or local SSDs attached to the new instance.

This property is mutually exclusive with the source property; you can only define one or the other, but not both.
properties.disks[].initializeParams.diskName string Specifies the disk name. If not specified, the default is to use the name of the instance.
properties.disks[].initializeParams.diskSizeGb long Specifies the size of the disk in base-2 GB.
properties.disks[].initializeParams.diskStorageType string Storage type of the disk.

properties.disks[].initializeParams.diskType string Specifies the disk type to use to create the instance. If not specified, the default is pd-standard, specified using the full URL. For example:

https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/project/zones/zone/diskTypes/pd-standard

Other values include pd-ssd and local-ssd. If you define this field, you can provide either the full or partial URL. For example, the following are valid values:
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/project/zones/zone/diskTypes/diskType
  • projects/project/zones/zone/diskTypes/diskType
  • zones/zone/diskTypes/diskType
properties.disks[].initializeParams.sourceImage string A source image used to create the disk. You can provide a private (custom) image, and Compute Engine will use the corresponding image from your project. For example:

global/images/my-private-image

Or you can provide an image from a publicly-available project. For example, to use a Debian image from the debian-cloud project, make sure to include the project in the URL:

projects/debian-cloud/global/images/debian-7-wheezy-vYYYYMMDD

where vYYYYMMDD is the image version. The fully-qualified URL will also work in both cases.
properties.disks[].interface string
properties.disks[].kind string [Output Only] Type of the resource. Always compute#attachedDisk for attached disks.
properties.disks[].licenses[] list [Output Only] Any valid publicly visible licenses.
properties.disks[].mode string The mode in which to attach this disk, either READ_WRITE or READ_ONLY. If not specified, the default is to attach the disk in READ_WRITE mode.
properties.disks[].source string Specifies a valid partial or full URL to an existing Persistent Disk resource. This field is only applicable for persistent disks.
properties.disks[].type string Specifies the type of the disk, either SCRATCH or PERSISTENT. If not specified, the default is PERSISTENT.
properties.machineType string Name of the machine type resource describing which machine type to use to host the instances created based on this template; provided by the client when the instance template is created.
properties.metadata nested object Metadata key/value pairs assigned to instances created based on this template. Consists of custom metadata or predefined keys; see Instance documentation for more information.
properties.metadata.fingerprint bytes Specifies a fingerprint for this request, which is essentially a hash of the metadata's contents and used for optimistic locking. The fingerprint is initially generated by Compute Engine and changes after every request to modify or update metadata. You must always provide an up-to-date fingerprint hash in order to update or change metadata.
properties.metadata.items[] list Array of key/value pairs. The total size of all keys and values must be less than 512 KB.
properties.metadata.items[].key string Key for the metadata entry. Keys must conform to the following regexp: [a-zA-Z0-9-_]+, and be less than 128 bytes in length. This is reflected as part of a URL in the metadata server. Additionally, to avoid ambiguity, keys must not conflict with any other metadata keys for the project.
properties.metadata.items[].value string Value for the metadata entry. These are free-form strings, and only have meaning as interpreted by the image running in the instance. The only restriction placed on values is that their size must be less than or equal to 32768 bytes.
properties.metadata.kind string [Output Only] Type of the resource. Always compute#metadata for metadata.
properties.networkInterfaces[] list Array of configurations for this interface. This specifies how this interface is configured to interact with other network services, such as connecting to the internet. Currently, ONE_TO_ONE_NAT is the only access config supported. If there are no accessConfigs specified, then this instances created based based on this template will have no external internet access.
properties.networkInterfaces[].accessConfigs[] list An array of configurations for this interface. Currently, is the only access config supported. If there are no accessConfigs specified, then this instance will have no external internet access.
properties.networkInterfaces[].accessConfigs[].kind string [Output Only] Type of the resource. Always compute#accessConfig for access configs.
properties.networkInterfaces[].accessConfigs[].name string Name of this access configuration.
properties.networkInterfaces[].accessConfigs[].natIP string An external IP address associated with this instance. Specify an unused static external IP address available to the project or leave this field undefined to use an IP from a shared ephemeral IP address pool. If you specify a static external IP address, it must live in the same region as the zone of the instance.
properties.networkInterfaces[].accessConfigs[].type string The type of configuration. The default and only option is ONE_TO_ONE_NAT.

properties.networkInterfaces[].name string [Output Only] The name of the network interface, generated by the server. For network devices, these are eth0, eth1, etc.
properties.networkInterfaces[].network string URL of the network resource for this instance. This is required for creating an instance but optional when creating a firewall rule. If not specified when creating a firewall rule, the default network is used:

global/networks/default

If you specify this property, you can specify the network as a full or partial URL. For example, the following are all valid URLs:
  • https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/project/global/networks/network
  • projects/project/global/networks/network
  • global/networks/default
properties.networkInterfaces[].networkIP string [Output Only] An optional IPV4 internal network address assigned to the instance for this network interface.
properties.scheduling nested object Scheduling options for the instances created based on this template.
properties.scheduling.automaticRestart boolean Specifies whether the instance should be automatically restarted if it is terminated by Compute Engine (not terminated by a user).
properties.scheduling.onHostMaintenance string Defines the maintenance behavior for this instance. The default behavior is MIGRATE. For more information, see Setting maintenance behavior.
properties.serviceAccounts[] list A list of service accounts each with specified scopes, for which access tokens are to be made available to the instances created based on this template, through metadata queries.
properties.serviceAccounts[].email string Email address of the service account.
properties.serviceAccounts[].scopes[] list The list of scopes to be made available for this service account.
properties.tags nested object A list of tags to be applied to the instances created based on this template used to identify valid sources or targets for network firewalls. Provided by the client on instance creation. The tags can be later modified by the setTags method. Each tag within the list must comply with RFC1035.
properties.tags.fingerprint bytes Specifies a fingerprint for this request, which is essentially a hash of the metadata's contents and used for optimistic locking. The fingerprint is initially generated by Compute Engine and changes after every request to modify or update metadata. You must always provide an up-to-date fingerprint hash in order to update or change metadata.

To see the latest fingerprint, make get() request to the instance.
properties.tags.items[] list An array of tags. Each tag must be 1-63 characters long, and comply with RFC1035.

Methods

delete
Deletes the specified instance template resource.
get
Returns the specified instance template resource.
insert
Creates an instance template resource in the specified project using the data included in the request.
list
Retrieves the list of instance template resources contained within the specified project.