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In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to launch a zonal Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) cluster using Google Cloud Shell. By following these steps, you will:
  • Open and configure Cloud Shell
  • Set a default compute zone to simplify future commands
  • Provision a GKE cluster with a custom boot disk
  • Validate the cluster creation via CLI and Console
This walkthrough is perfect for DevOps engineers and cloud practitioners who want to get started with GKE on Google Cloud.

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Prerequisites

  • A Google Cloud project with billing enabled
  • The Kubernetes Engine Admin or Owner IAM role
  • Access to Cloud Shell

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1. Activate Cloud Shell

  1. Sign in to the Google Cloud Console.
  2. Click the Activate Cloud Shell button in the top-right toolbar.
  3. Wait for the shell to initialize; you should see a prompt like:
Welcome to Cloud Shell! Type "help" to get started.
Your Cloud Platform project in this session is set to clgcporg8-015.
Use "gcloud config set project [PROJECT_ID]" to change to a different project.
odl_user_1038285@cloudshell:~  $

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2. Set the Default Compute Zone

Rather than appending --zone to every gcloud command, define a default zone for this session. In this lesson, we’ll use us-west1-a: 
gcloud config set compute/zone us-west1-a
Expected output: 
Updated property [compute/zone].
Defining a default zone streamlines your workflow by removing the need to specify it repeatedly, reducing the risk of mistakes.

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3. Provision the GKE Cluster

We’ll create a cluster named gke-deep-dive with one node and a custom HDD boot disk. You can adjust these parameters to suit your needs.
SettingDescriptionFlag
Cluster nameHuman-readable identifier--cluster=gke-deep-dive
Node countNumber of worker nodes--num-nodes=1
Disk typeStandard HDD (pd-standard)--disk-type=pd-standard
Disk size10 GiB--disk-size=10
Execute: 
gcloud container clusters create gke-deep-dive \
  --num-nodes=1 \
  --disk-type=pd-standard \
  --disk-size=10
You’ll see output similar to: 
Creating cluster gke-deep-dive in us-west1-a...
Cluster is being configured...working...
Cluster creation typically takes 10–15 minutes. Do not interrupt the process.
Monitor progress via the Cloud Shell output or the GKE Console.

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4. Verify Cluster Creation

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a) Using the CLI

List all GKE clusters in your project: 
gcloud container clusters list
You should see: 
NAME            LOCATION     MASTER_VERSION  NODE_VERSION   NODE_COUNT
gke-deep-dive   us-west1-a   1.24.8-gke.100  1.24.8-gke.100  1

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b) Using the Cloud Console

  1. In the Google Cloud Console, navigate to Kubernetes Engine ▶ Clusters.
  2. Confirm that gke-deep-dive appears under us-west1-a.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully created and verified your first GKE cluster.

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References

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