Create instances

This page describes how to create a Cloud SQL for SQL Server instance.

For detailed information about all instance settings, see Instance settings.

A newly-created instance has a sqlserver database.

After creating a Cloud SQL for SQL Server instance, you add databases to it by creating or importing them.

The maximum number of instances you can have in a single project depends on the network architecture of those instances:

  • New SQL network architecture: You can have up to 1000 instances per project.
  • Old SQL network architecture: You can have up to 100 instances per project.
  • Using both architectures: Your limit will be somewhere between 100 and 1000, depending on the distribution of your instances across the two architectures.

File a support case to request an increase. Read replicas are counted as instances.

Choose between Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition and Cloud SQL Enterprise edition

When creating a Cloud SQL for SQL Server instance, you choose the machine configuration from several different machine families, depending on the Cloud SQL edition.

With Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition, you choose from two machine families:

  • Performance-optimized: offers a balanced price performance for various SQL Server workloads with a memory-to-compute ratio of 1 vCPU:8 GB RAM.
  • Memory-optimized: offers high-memory-to-compute ratios for memory-intensive workloads with 1 vCPU:32 GB RAM. Memory-optimized machines are well suited for SQL Server workloads requiring complex queries, analytics, and business intelligence reporting that benefit from storing larger datasets in memory during data processing.

With Cloud SQL Enterprise edition, you have several machine configurations to choose from, based on your vCPU and memory requirements. The following sections show the vCPU and memory configuration for each database version and machine type:

SQL Server 2017 Express, SQL Server 2019 Express, and SQL Server 2022 Express

Machine type vCPU/Memory
Not applicable
  • 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB
  • 2 vCPUs, 8 GB
  • 4 vCPUs, 16 GB
  • 8 vCPUs, 32 GB
Custom 1 to 8 vCPUs, 3.75 GB to 52 GB

SQL Server 2017 Web, SQL Server 2019 Web, and SQL Server 2022 Web

Machine type vCPU/Memory
Not applicable
  • 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB
  • 2 vCPUs, 8 GB
  • 4 vCPUs, 16 GB
  • 8 vCPUs, 32 GB
Custom 1 to 32 vCPUs, 3.75 GB to 208 GB

SQL Server 2017 Standard, SQL Server 2019 Standard, and SQL Server 2022 Standard

Machine type vCPU/Memory
Not applicable
  • 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB
  • 2 vCPUs, 8 GB
  • 4 vCPUs, 16 GB
  • 8 vCPUs, 32 GB
Custom 1 to 48 vCPUs, 3.75 GB to 312 GB

SQL Server 2017 Enterprise, SQL Server 2019 Enterprise, and SQL Server 2022 Enterprise

Machine type vCPU/Memory
Not applicable
  • 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB
  • 2 vCPUs, 8 GB
  • 4 vCPUs, 16 GB
  • 8 vCPUs, 32 GB
Custom 2 to 96 vCPUs, 3.75 GB to 624 GB
Performance-optimized
(Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus only)
  • 2 vCPUs, 16 GB
  • 4 vCPUs, 32 GB
  • 8 vCPUs, 64 GB
  • 16 vCPUs, 128 GB
  • 32 vCPUs, 256 GB
  • 48 vCPUs, 384 GB
  • 64 vCPUs, 512 GB
  • 80 vCPUs, 640 GB
  • 96 vCPUs, 768 GB
  • 128 vCPUs, 864 GB
Memory-optimized
(Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus only)
  • 4 vCPUs, 128 GB
  • 8 vCPUs, 256 GB
  • 16 vCPUs, 512 GB

Simultaneous multithreading

Simultaneous multithreading (SMT) on Cloud SQL for SQL Server lets you run two virtual CPUs (vCPUs) as independent, separate threads on one physical core. SMT is enabled by default; however, you can disable it, and this might reduce your licensing costs.

Disabling SMT might impact your instance performance. To understand the impact of disabling SMT on your instance's performance, we recommend that you perform load testing on your instance.

Before you begin

  1. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.
  2. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

    Go to project selector

  3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

  4. Install the Google Cloud CLI.
  5. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

    gcloud init
  6. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

    Go to project selector

  7. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

  8. Install the Google Cloud CLI.
  9. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

    gcloud init
  10. Make sure you have the Cloud SQL Admin and Compute Viewer roles on your user account.

    Go to the IAM page

    Learn more about roles and permissions.

Create a SQL Server instance

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

    Go to Cloud SQL Instances

  2. Click Create instance.
  3. On the Choose your database engine panel of the Create an instance page, click Choose SQL Server.
  4. In the Choose a Cloud SQL edition section of the Create a SQL Server instance page, select the Cloud SQL edition for your instance: Enterprise or Enterprise plus.

    For more information about Cloud SQL editions, see Introduction to Cloud SQL editions.

  5. Select the edition preset for your instance. To see the available presets, click the Edition preset menu.
  6. In the Instance info section, select the database version for your instance. To see the available versions, click the Database version menu.
  7. In the Instance ID field of the Instance info pane, enter an ID for your instance.

    You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

  8. In the Password field, enter a password for the user.
  9. To see the password in clear text, click the Show password icon.

    You can either enter the password manually or click Generate to have Cloud SQL create a password for you automatically.

  10. In the Choose region and zonal availability section, select the region and zone for your instance. Region availability might be different based on your Cloud SQL for SQL Server edition. For more information, see About instance settings.

    Place your instance in the same region as the resources that access it. The region you select can't be modified in the future. In most cases, you don't need to specify a zone.

    If you are configuring your instance for high availability, you can select both a primary and secondary zone.

    The following conditions apply when the secondary zone is used during instance creation:

    • The zones default to Any for the primary zone and Any (different from primary) for the secondary zone.
    • If both the primary and secondary zones are specified, they must be distinct zones.
  11. In the Customize your instance section, update settings for your instance. Begin by clicking SHOW CONFIGURATION OPTIONS to display the groups of settings. Then, expand the groups you want to review and customize settings. A Summary of all the options you select is shown on the right. Customizing these instance settings is optional. Defaults are assigned in every case where no customizations are made.

    The following table is a quick reference to instance settings. For more details about each setting, see the instance settings page.

    Setting Notes
    Machine type
    Machine type Select from Lightweight, Standard (Most common), or High memory. Each machine type is classified by the number of CPUs (cores) and amount of memory for your instance.
    Cores The number of vCPUs for your instance. Learn more.
    Memory The amount of memory for your instance, in GBs. Learn more.
    Custom For the Dedicated core machine type, instead of selecting a predefined configuration, select the Custom button to create an instance with a custom configuration. When you select this option, you need to select the number of cores and amount of memory for your instance. Learn more.
    Storage
    Storage type Determines whether your instance uses SSD or HDD storage. Learn more.
    Storage capacity The amount of storage provisioned for the instance. Learn more.
    Enable automatic storage increases Determines whether Cloud SQL automatically provides more storage for your instance when free space runs low. Learn more.
    Encryption
    Google-managed encryptionThe default option.
    Customer key-managed encryption key (CMEK)Select to use your key with Google Cloud Key Management Service. Learn more.
    Connections
    Private IP Adds a private IP address for your instance. To enable connecting to the instance, additional configuration is required.
    Optionally, you can specify an allocated IP range for your instances to use for connections.
    1. Expand Show allocated IP range option.
    2. Select an IP range from the drop-down menu.

    Your instance can have both a public and a private IP address.

    Public IP Adds a public IP address for your instance. You can then add authorized networks to connect to the instance.

    Your instance can have both a public and a private IP address.

    Learn more about using public IP.

    Authorized networks

    Add the name for the new network and the Network address. Learn more.

    Data protection
    Automate backups The window of time when you would like backups to start.
    Choose where to store your backupsSelect Multi-region for most use cases. If you need to store backups in a specific region, for example, if there are regulatory reasons to do so, select Region and select your region from the Location drop-down menu.
    Choose how many automated backups to storeThe number of automated backups you would like to retain (from 1 to 365 days). Learn more.
    Enable point-in-time recovery Enables point-in-time recovery and transaction logging. Learn more.
    Enable deletion protection Determines whether to protect an instance against accidental deletion. Learn more.
    Choose how many days of logs to retain Configure write-ahead log retention from 1 to 7 days. The default setting is 7 days. Learn more.
    Maintenance
    Preferred window Determines a one-hour window when Cloud SQL can perform disruptive maintenance on your instance. If you do not set the window, then disruptive maintenance can be done at any time. Learn more.
    Order of updates Your preferred timing for instance updates, relative to other instances in the same project. Learn more.
    Flags
    ADD FLAG You can use database flags to control settings and parameters for your instance. Learn more.
    Labels
    ADD LABELAdd a key and value for each label that you add. You use labels to help organize your instances.
  12. Click Create Instance.

    Note: It might take a few minutes to create your instance. However, you can view information about the instance while it's being created.

gcloud

For information about installing and getting started with the gcloud CLI, see Installing gcloud CLI. For information about starting Cloud Shell, see the Cloud Shell documentation.

You must use gcloud version 243.0.0 or later.

  1. Use the gcloud sql instances create command to create the instance:
  2. For Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition instances:

          gcloud sql instances create INSTANCE_NAME \
          --database-version=DATABASE_VERSION \
          --region=REGION \
          --tier=TIER \
          --root-password=ROOT_PASSWORD \
          --edition=ENTERPRISE_PLUS
        

    For Cloud SQL Enterprise edition instances:

          gcloud sql instances create INSTANCE_NAME \
          --database-version=DATABASE_VERSION \
          --region=REGION \
          --cpu=NUMBER_OF_vCPUs \
          --memory=MEMORY_SIZE \
          --root-password=ROOT_PASSWORD \
          --edition=ENTERPRISE
        

    You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

    The values for vCPUs and memory size are limited for Cloud SQL Enterprise edition. For more information, see Choose between Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition and Cloud SQL Enterprise edition.

    For example, the following string creates an instance with two vCPUs and 7,680 MB of memory:

        gcloud sql instances create myinstance \
        --database-version=SQLSERVER_2017_STANDARD \
        --region=us-central1 \
        --cpu=2 \
        --memory=7680MB \
        --root-password=EXAMPLE_PASSWORD \
        --edition=ENTERPRISE
        

    For some sample values, see Sample machine types.

    To learn about the parameters for instance settings, see gcloud sql instances create.

    The default value for REGION is us-central1.

    Don't include sensitive or personally identifiable information in your instance name; it is externally visible.
    You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

    If you are creating an instance for high availability, you can specify both the primary and secondary zones, using the --zone and --secondary-zone parameters. The following conditions apply when the secondary zone is used during instance creation or edit:

    • The zones must be valid zones.
    • If the secondary zone is specified, the primary must also be specified.
    • If the primary and secondary zones are specified, they must be distinct zones.
    • If the primary and secondary zones are specified, they must belong to the same region.

    You can add more parameters to determine other instance settings:

    Setting Parameter Notes
    Required parameters
    Database version --database-version The database version, which is based on your Cloud SQL edition.
    Region --region See valid values.
    Connectivity
    Private IP --network

    --no-assign-ip (optional)

    --allocated-ip-range-name (optional)

    --enable-google-private-path (optional)

    --network: Specifies the name of the VPC network you want to use for this instance. Private services access must already be configured for the network. Available only for the beta command (gcloud beta sql instances create).

    --no-assign-ip: Instance will only have a private IP address.

    --allocated-ip-range-name: If specified, sets a range name for which an IP range is allocated. For example, google-managed-services-default. The range name should comply with RFC-1035 and be within 1-63 characters. (gcloud alpha sql instances create).

    Public IP --authorized-networks For public IP connections, only connections from authorized networks can connect to your instance. Learn more.
    Server CA mode --server-ca-mode

    The --server-ca-mode flag configures the type of server certificate authority (CA) for an instance. You can select one of the following options:

    • GOOGLE_MANAGED_INTERNAL_CA: this is the default value. With this option, an internal CA dedicated to each Cloud SQL instance signs the server certificate for that instance.
    • GOOGLE_MANAGED_CAS_CA: with this option, a CA hierarchy consisting of a root CA and subordinate server CAs managed by Cloud SQL and hosted on Google Cloud Certificate Authority Service (CA Service) is used. The subordinate server CAs in a region sign the server certificates and are shared across instances in the region.

      Using the --server-ca-mode flag is in Preview.

      This option is in Preview.
    • CUSTOMER_MANAGED_CAS_CA: with this option, you define the CA hierarchy and manage the rotation of the CA certificates. You create a CA pool in CA Service in the same region of your instance. One of the CAs in the pool is used to sign the server certificate. This option is in Preview. For more information, see Use a customer-managed CA.
    Machine type and storage
    Machine type --tier
    Storage type --storage-type Determines whether your instance uses SSD or HDD storage. Learn more.
    Storage capacity --storage-size The amount of storage provisioned for the instance, in GB. Learn more.
    Automatic storage increase --storage-auto-increase Determines whether Cloud SQL automatically provides more storage for your instance when free space runs low. Learn more.
    Automatic storage increase limit --storage-auto-increase-limit Determines how large Cloud SQL can automatically grow storage. Available only for the beta command (gcloud beta sql instances create). Learn more.
    Automatic backups and high availability
    High availability --availability-type For a highly-available instance, set to REGIONAL. Learn more.
    Secondary zone --secondary-zone If you're creating an instance for high availability, you can specify both the primary and secondary zones using the --zone and --secondary-zone parameters. The following restrictions apply when the secondary zone is used during instance creation or edit:
    • The zones must be valid zones.
    • If the secondary zone is specified, the primary must also be specified.
    • If the primary and secondary zones are specified, they must be distinct zones.

      If the primary and secondary zones are specified, they must belong to the same region.

    Automatic backups --backup-start-time The window of time when you would like backups to start.
    Retention settings for automated backups --retained-backups-count The number of automated backups to retain. Learn more.
    Retention settings for transaction logs --retained-transaction-log-days The number of days to retain transaction logs for point-in-time recovery. Learn more.
    Point-in-time recovery --enable-point-in-time recovery Enables point-in-time recovery and transaction logs. Learn more.
    Add database flags
    Database flags --database-flags You can use database flags to control settings and parameters for your instance. Learn more about database flags.
    Maintenance schedule
    Maintenance window --maintenance-window-day,
    --maintenance-window-hour
    Determines a one-hour window when Cloud SQL can perform disruptive maintenance on your instance. If you don't set the window, then disruptive maintenance can be done at any time. Learn more.
    Maintenance timing --maintenance-release-channel Your preferred timing for instance updates, relative to other instances in the same project. Use preview for earlier updates, and production for later updates. Learn more.
    Custom SAN
    Add a custom subject alternative name (SAN) --custom-subject-alternative-names=DNS_NAMES

    If you want to use a custom DNS name to connect to a Cloud SQL instance instead of using an IP address, then configure the custom subject alternative name (SAN) setting while creating the instance. The custom DNS name that you insert into the custom SAN setting is added to the SAN field of the server certificate of the instance. This lets you use the custom DNS name with hostname validation securely.

    Before you can use the custom DNS name in your clients and applications, you must set up the mapping between the DNS name and the IP address. This is known as DNS resolution. You can add a comma-separated list of up to three custom DNS names to the custom SAN setting.

  3. Note the automatically assigned IP address.

    If you are not using the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy, you will use this address as the host address that your applications or tools use to connect to the instance.

  4. Set the password for the user:
          gcloud sql users set-password sqlserver no-host --instance=[INSTANCE_NAME] \
           --password=[PASSWORD]
          

Terraform

To create an instance, use a Terraform resource.

resource "google_sql_database_instance" "instance" {
  name             = "sqlserver-instance"
  region           = "us-central1"
  database_version = "SQLSERVER_2019_STANDARD"
  root_password    = "INSERT-PASSWORD-HERE"
  settings {
    tier = "db-custom-2-7680"
  }
  # set `deletion_protection` to true, will ensure that one cannot accidentally delete this instance by
  # use of Terraform whereas `deletion_protection_enabled` flag protects this instance at the GCP level.
  deletion_protection = false
}

Apply the changes

To apply your Terraform configuration in a Google Cloud project, complete the steps in the following sections.

Prepare Cloud Shell

  1. Launch Cloud Shell.
  2. Set the default Google Cloud project where you want to apply your Terraform configurations.

    You only need to run this command once per project, and you can run it in any directory.

    export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=PROJECT_ID

    Environment variables are overridden if you set explicit values in the Terraform configuration file.

Prepare the directory

Each Terraform configuration file must have its own directory (also called a root module).

  1. In Cloud Shell, create a directory and a new file within that directory. The filename must have the .tf extension—for example main.tf. In this tutorial, the file is referred to as main.tf.
    mkdir DIRECTORY && cd DIRECTORY && touch main.tf
  2. If you are following a tutorial, you can copy the sample code in each section or step.

    Copy the sample code into the newly created main.tf.

    Optionally, copy the code from GitHub. This is recommended when the Terraform snippet is part of an end-to-end solution.

  3. Review and modify the sample parameters to apply to your environment.
  4. Save your changes.
  5. Initialize Terraform. You only need to do this once per directory.
    terraform init

    Optionally, to use the latest Google provider version, include the -upgrade option:

    terraform init -upgrade

Apply the changes

  1. Review the configuration and verify that the resources that Terraform is going to create or update match your expectations:
    terraform plan

    Make corrections to the configuration as necessary.

  2. Apply the Terraform configuration by running the following command and entering yes at the prompt:
    terraform apply

    Wait until Terraform displays the "Apply complete!" message.

  3. Open your Google Cloud project to view the results. In the Google Cloud console, navigate to your resources in the UI to make sure that Terraform has created or updated them.

Delete the changes

To delete your changes, do the following:

  1. To disable deletion protection, in your Terraform configuration file set the deletion_protection argument to false.
    deletion_protection =  "false"
  2. Apply the updated Terraform configuration by running the following command and entering yes at the prompt:
    terraform apply
  1. Remove resources previously applied with your Terraform configuration by running the following command and entering yes at the prompt:

    terraform destroy

REST v1

1. Create the instance

Not all possible fields are shown in the following basic API call. For a prototype of a JSON request, see Settings.

Also see the Instances:insert page. For information about instance settings, including valid values for regions, see Instance settings. For information about machine types, see Custom instance configurations.

Don't include sensitive or personally identifiable information in instance-id; the value is externally visible.

You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

The collation field (not shown in the following basic API call) lets you set a default value for the type of collation used for the databases in your instance. This collation default is permanent at the instance level but not at the database level. You can change this default with a database administration tool, but only for a specific database that you are creating or updating. You cannot change the collation default for an instance after creating the instance (unless you recreate the instance). For information about collations in SQL Server, see Collation and Unicode support. For a prototype of a JSON request, see Settings. You can specify the following example string for the collation parameter: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

The timeZone field (not shown in the following basic API call) lets you to set a time zone for an instance. After you create an instance, you can change the time zone of an instance. For more information and a list of accepted strings, see Settings. You can specify the following example string for the timeZone field: "Pacific Standard Time". See more.

To create an instance that is integrated with Managed Microsoft AD, specify a domain, such as subdomain.mydomain.com, for the domain field. For more information, see Creating an instance with Windows Authentication. Additionally, note the procedures and constraints for integrating with a Managed Microsoft AD domain in a different project.

For information on setting the value of machine-type in the request body, see Custom instance configurations.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • PROJECT_ID: your project ID.
  • INSTANCE_ID: the instance ID.
  • REGION: the region name.
  • DATABASE_VERSION: an enum string of the database version. For example: SQLSERVER_2017_STANDARD.
  • PASSWORD: the password for the root user.
  • MACHINE_TYPE: an enum string of the machine (tier) type. For example:
    db-perf-optimized-N-4.
  • EDITION_TYPE: your Cloud SQL edition. The default value is ENTERPRISE.
  • DATA_CACHE_ENABLED: (optional) to enable Data cache for your instance, set the value of this parameter to true.
  • PRIVATE_NETWORK: specify the name of the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) network that you want to use for this instance. Private services access must already be configured for the network.
  • AUTHORIZED_NETWORKS: For public IP connections, specify the connections from authorized networks that can connect to your instance.
  • CA_MODE: specify a certificate authority hierarchy for the instance, either GOOGLE_MANAGED_INTERNAL_CA or GOOGLE_MANAGED_CAS_CA. If you don't specify serverCaMode, then the default configuration is GOOGLE_MANAGED_INTERNAL_CA. This feature is in Preview.
  • DNS_NAMES: add a comma-separated list of up to three DNS names to the server certificate of your Cloud SQL instance. You can secure multiple DNS names with a single certificate. This feature is available in Preview and for CUSTOMER_MANAGED_CAS_CA instances only.

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances

Request JSON body:

{
  "name": "INSTANCE_ID",
  "region": "REGION",
  "databaseVersion": "DATABASE_VERSION",
  "rootPassword": "PASSWORD",
  "settings": {
    "tier": "MACHINE_TYPE",
    "edition": "EDITION_TYPE",
    "backupConfiguration": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "dataCacheConfig" = {
      "dataCacheEnabled": DATA_CACHE_ENABLED
    },
    "ipConfiguration": {
      "privateNetwork": "PRIVATE_NETWORK",
      "authorizedNetworks": [AUTHORIZED_NETWORKS],
      "ipv4Enabled": false,
      "serverCaMode": "CA_MODE",
      "customSubjectAlternativeNames": "DNS_NAMES"
    }
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances/INSTANCE_ID",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "user@example.com",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-01T19:13:21.834Z",
  "operationType": "CREATE",
  "name": "OPERATION_ID",
  "targetId": "INSTANCE_ID",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/operations/OPERATION_ID",
  "targetProject": "PROJECT_ID"
}

After the instance is created, you can further configure the default user account.

2. Retrieve the IPv4 address of the instance

Optionally, you can retrieve the automatically-assigned IPv4 address. In the response, that address is in the ipAddress field.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • PROJECT_ID: your project ID
  • INSTANCE_ID: your instance ID, created in the previous step

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances/INSTANCE_ID

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#instance",
  "state": "RUNNABLE",
  "databaseVersion": "DATABASE_VERSION",
  "settings": {
    "authorizedGaeApplications": [],
    "tier": "MACHINE_TYPE",
    "kind": "sql#settings",
    "pricingPlan": "PER_USE",
    "replicationType": "SYNCHRONOUS",
    "activationPolicy": "ALWAYS",
    "ipConfiguration": {
      "authorizedNetworks": [],
      "ipv4Enabled": true
    },
    "locationPreference": {
      "zone": "ZONE",
      "kind": "sql#locationPreference"
    },
    "dataDiskType": "PD_SSD",
    "backupConfiguration": {
      "startTime": "19:00",
      "kind": "sql#backupConfiguration",
      "enabled": true
    },
    "settingsVersion": "1",
    "dataDiskSizeGb": "10"
  },
  "etag": "--redacted--",
  "ipAddresses": [
    {
      "type": "PRIMARY",
      "ipAddress": "10.0.0.1"
    }
  ],
  "serverCaCert": {
    ...
  },
  "instanceType": "CLOUD_SQL_INSTANCE",
  "project": "PROJECT_ID",
  "serviceAccountEmailAddress": "redacted@gcp-sa-cloud-sql.iam.gserviceaccount.com",
  "backendType": "BACKEND_TYPE",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances/INSTANCE_ID",
  "connectionName": "PROJECT_ID:REGION:INSTANCE_ID",
  "name": "INSTANCE_ID",
  "region": "REGION",
  "gceZone": "ZONE"
}

REST v1beta4

1. Create the instance

Not all possible fields are shown in the following basic API call. For a prototype of a JSON request, see Settings.

Also see the Instances:insert page. For information about instance settings, including valid values for regions, see Instance settings. For information about machine types, see Custom instance configurations.

Don't include sensitive or personally identifiable information in instance-id; the value is externally visible.

You do not need to include the project ID in the instance name. This is done automatically where appropriate (for example, in the log files).

The collation field (not shown in the following basic API call) lets you to set a default value for the type of collation used for the databases in your instance. This collation default is permanent at the instance level but not at the database level. You can change this default with a database administration tool, but only for a specific database that you are creating or updating. You can't change the collation default for an instance after creating the instance (unless you recreate the instance). For information about collations in SQL Server, see Collation and Unicode support. For a prototype of a JSON request, see Settings. You can specify the following example string for the collation parameter: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

The timeZone field (not shown in the following basic API call) lets you to set a time zone for an instance. After you create an instance, you can change the time zone of an instance. For more information and a list of accepted strings, see Settings. You can specify the following example string for the timeZone field: "Pacific Standard Time". See more.

To create an instance that is integrated with Managed Microsoft AD, specify a domain, such as subdomain.mydomain.com, for the domain field. For more information, see Creating an instance with Windows Authentication. Additionally, note the procedures and constraints for integrating with a Managed Microsoft AD domain in a different project.

For information on setting the value of machine-type in the request body, see Custom instance configurations.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • PROJECT_ID: your project ID.
  • INSTANCE_ID: the instance ID.
  • REGION: the region name.
  • DATABASE_VERSION: an enum string of the database version.
  • MACHINE_TYPE: an enum string of the machine (tier) type. For example:
    db-perf-optimized-N-4.
  • PASSWORD: the password for the root user.
  • MACHINE_TYPE: an enum string of the machine (tier) type, as: db-custom-[CPUS]-[MEMORY_MBS].
  • EDITION_TYPE: your Cloud SQL edition. The default value is ENTERPRISE.
  • DATA_CACHE_ENABLED: (optional) to enable Data cache for your instance, set the value of this parameter to true.
  • PRIVATE_NETWORK: specify the name of the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) network that you want to use for this instance. Private services access must already be configured for the network.
  • AUTHORIZED_NETWORKS: For public IP connections, specify the connections from authorized networks that can connect to your instance.
  • CA_MODE: specify a certificate authority hierarchy for the instance, either GOOGLE_MANAGED_INTERNAL_CA or GOOGLE_MANAGED_CAS_CA. If you don't specify serverCaMode, then the default configuration is GOOGLE_MANAGED_INTERNAL_CA. This feature is in Preview.
  • DNS_NAMES: add a comma-separated list of up to three DNS names to the server certificate of your Cloud SQL instance. You can secure multiple DNS names with a single certificate. This feature is available in Preview and for CUSTOMER_MANAGED_CAS_CA instances only.

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances

Request JSON body:

{
  "name": "INSTANCE_ID",
  "region": "REGION",
  "databaseVersion": "DATABASE_VERSION",
  "rootPassword": "PASSWORD",
  "settings": {
    "tier": "MACHINE_TYPE",
    "edition": "EDITION_TYPE",
    "backupConfiguration": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "dataCacheConfig" = {
      "dataCacheEnabled": DATA_CACHE_ENABLED
    },
    "ipConfiguration": {
      "privateNetwork": "PRIVATE_NETWORK",
      "authorizedNetworks": [AUTHORIZED_NETWORKS],
      "ipv4Enabled": false,
      "serverCaMode": "CA_MODE",
      "customSubjectAlternativeNames": "DNS_NAMES"
    }
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances/INSTANCE_ID",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "user@example.com",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-01T19:13:21.834Z",
  "operationType": "CREATE",
  "name": "OPERATION_ID",
  "targetId": "INSTANCE_ID",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/PROJECT_ID/operations/OPERATION_ID",
  "targetProject": "PROJECT_ID"
}

After the instance is created, you can further configure the default user account.

2. Retrieve the IPv4 address of the instance

Optionally, you can retrieve the automatically-assigned IPv4 address. In the response, that address is in the ipAddress field.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • PROJECT_ID: your project ID
  • INSTANCE_ID: your instance ID, created in the previous step

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances/INSTANCE_ID

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#instance",
  "state": "RUNNABLE",
  "databaseVersion": "DATABASE_VERSION",
  "settings": {
    "authorizedGaeApplications": [],
    "tier": "MACHINE_TYPE",
    "kind": "sql#settings",
    "pricingPlan": "PER_USE",
    "replicationType": "SYNCHRONOUS",
    "activationPolicy": "ALWAYS",
    "ipConfiguration": {
      "authorizedNetworks": [],
      "ipv4Enabled": true
    },
    "locationPreference": {
      "zone": "ZONE",
      "kind": "sql#locationPreference"
    },
    "dataDiskType": "PD_SSD",
    "backupConfiguration": {
      "startTime": "19:00",
      "kind": "sql#backupConfiguration",
      "enabled": true
    },
    "settingsVersion": "1",
    "dataDiskSizeGb": "10"
  },
  "etag": "--redacted--",
  "ipAddresses": [
    {
      "type": "PRIMARY",
      "ipAddress": "10.0.0.1"
    }
  ],
  "serverCaCert": {
    ...
  },
  "instanceType": "CLOUD_SQL_INSTANCE",
  "project": "PROJECT_ID",
  "serviceAccountEmailAddress": "redacted@gcp-sa-cloud-sql.iam.gserviceaccount.com",
  "backendType": "BACKEND_TYPE",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/PROJECT_ID/instances/INSTANCE_ID",
  "connectionName": "PROJECT_ID:REGION:INSTANCE_ID",
  "name": "INSTANCE_ID",
  "region": "REGION",
  "gceZone": "ZONE"
}
To see how the underlying REST API request is constructed for this task, see the APIs Explorer on the instances:insert page.

Generate the write endpoint

If you plan to create a Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition instance, and you want Cloud SQL to generate a write endpoint automatically for the instance, then enable the Cloud DNS API for your Google Cloud project.

If you already have a Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition instance and you want Cloud SQL to generate a write endpoint automatically, then create a replica that's enabled for advanced disaster recovery.

A write endpoint is a global domain name service (DNS) name that resolves to the IP address of the current primary instance automatically. This endpoint redirects incoming connections to the new primary instance automatically in case of a replica failover or switchover operation. You can use the write endpoint in a SQL connection string instead of an IP address. By using a write endpoint, you can avoid having to make application connection changes when a regional outage occurs.

For more information about obtaining the write endpoint for the instance, see View instance information. For more information about using the write endpoint to connect to the instance, see Connect by using a write endpoint.

Custom instance configurations

Custom instance configurations let you select the amount of memory and CPUs that your instance needs. This flexibility lets you choose the appropriate VM shape for your workload. Machine type availability is determined by your Cloud SQL for SQL Server edition.

For workloads that require real-time processing, make sure that your instance has enough memory to contain the entire working set. However, there are other factors that can impact memory requirements, such as number of active connections, and internal overhead processes. You should perform load testing to avoid performance issues in your production environment.

When you configure your instance, select enough memory and vCPUs to handle your workload, and upgrade as your workload increases. A machine configuration with insufficient vCPUs might lose its SLA coverage. For more information, see Operational guidelines.

Machine types for Cloud SQL Enterprise edition instances

For Cloud SQL Enterprise edition instances, you can also create custom instance configurations using the gcloud sql instances create command.

Machine type names use the following format: db-custom-NUMBER_OF_vCPUs-MEMORY

Replace NUMBER_OF_vCPUs with the number of CPUs in the machine and MEMORY with the amount of memory in the machine.

For example, if your machine name is db-custom, and your machine has 1 CPU and 3840 MB of RAM, then the format for the machine is db-custom-1-3840.

When selecting the number of CPUs and amount of memory, there are some restrictions on the configuration that you choose:

  • The number of vCPUs that you can configure for your instance is based on your SQL server version.
  • The number of vCPUs must be either 1 or an even number between 2 and 96.
  • The memory size must be:
    • 0.9 to 6.5 GB per vCPU
    • A multiple of 256 MB
    • At least 3.75 GB (3840 MB)

Machine types for Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition instances

For Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition instances, machine types are predefined as described in the following sections.

Performance-optimized machine family

This machine family offers balanced price-performance for a wide variety of SQL Server workloads with a memory to compute ratio of 1 vCPU:8 GB RAM. The performance-optimized machine family provides the following machine types to choose from:

Enterprise plus machine type vCPUs Memory (GB)
db-perf-optimized-N-2 2 16
db-perf-optimized-N-4 4 32
db-perf-optimized-N-8 8 64
db-perf-optimized-N-16 16 128
db-perf-optimized-N-32 32 256
db-perf-optimized-N-48 48 384
db-perf-optimized-N-64 64 512
db-perf-optimized-N-80 80 640
db-perf-optimized-N-96 96 768
db-perf-optimized-N-128 128 864

Memory-optimized machine family

This machine family offers high memory to compute ratios for memory-intensive workloads with one vCPU per 32 GB RAM. Memory-optimized machines are well suited for SQL Server workloads requiring complex queries, analytics and business intelligence reporting that benefit from storing larger datasets in memory during data processing. Memory-optimized machine family provides the following machine types to choose from:

Machine type vCPUs Memory (GB)
db-memory-optimized-N-4 4 128
db-memory-optimized-N-8 8 256
db-memory-optimized-N-16 16 512

Limitations

  • You can't use a custom SAN to add more than three DNS names to the server certificate of a Cloud SQL instance.
  • The maximum length of a DNS name that you can add to the certificate of an instance by using a custom SAN is 253 characters.
  • The DNS names that you add to the certificate of the instance can't have wildcard characters (*) or trailing dots (for example, test.example.com.).
  • The DNS names must be valid, as specified by RFC 1034.
  • You can use a custom SAN for CUSTOMER_MANAGED_CAS_CA instances only.

Troubleshoot

Issue Troubleshooting
Error message: Failed to create subnetwork. Router status is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. Help Token: [token-ID]. Try to create the Cloud SQL instance again.

What's next

  1. Create a SQL Server database on the instance.
  2. Create SQL Server users on the instance.
  3. Secure and control access to the instance.
  4. Connect to the instance with a SQL Server client.
  5. Import data into the database.
  6. Learn about instance settings.