gsutil

List all buckets in a project you are logged into

$ gsutil ls

$ gsutil ls -r 'gs://[bucket_name]/[prefix]**'

$ gsutil cp gs://[bucket_name]/[object_name] [path/to/save_location]

$ gsutil cp [object_location] gs://[destination_bucket_name]/

$ gsutil mv gs://[bucket_name]/[old_object_name] gs://[bucket_name]/[new_object_name]

$ gsutil mb gs://[bucket_name]

$ gsutil rm -r gs://[bucket_name]

gsutil [global-options] command [args]

-D
    Start debug log server on port 8080

-DD
    Start debug log server; use with port argument

-e class[,class...]
    Error trace for specified exception classes

-h HEADER:VALUE
    Add HTTP header to requests

-m
    Enable multi-threaded/multi-process for parallelism

-q
    Quiet mode; suppress non-error console output

-r|-R
    Recursive operation on directories

-s
    Single-threaded execution (disables -m)

-u
    Skip loading user config file

-v
    Verbose mode; enable logging

--
    Pass subsequent args to subcommand literally

--config-file FILE
    Use alternate boto config file

--debug_gcs
    Debug GCS requests

--no_crc32c
    Disable CRC32C checksum validation

--parallel_composite_upload_threshold N
    Threshold for parallel uploads (MB)

gsutil is a Python-based command-line interface for interacting with Google Cloud Storage (GCS). It enables efficient management of buckets and objects, supporting operations like upload, download, copy, delete, and listing. Key features include parallel multi-threaded transfers (-m flag), ACL management, versioning, lifecycle rules, and resumable transfers for large files. gsutil mimics Unix utilities such as cp, mv, rm, and rsync, making it intuitive for Linux users.

Authentication uses OAuth 2.0 via gcloud auth or service account keys. It's installed via the Google Cloud SDK and configured through .boto or .boto2 files for advanced settings like encryption or proxies. Ideal for scripting, CI/CD pipelines, and data workflows, gsutil handles terabyte-scale transfers reliably. Use gsutil help for subcommand details; supports wildcards, ranges, and conditions for precise control.

Requires Google Cloud SDK and authentication (gcloud auth login). Not installed by default on Linux. Large-scale use needs quota checks and IAM permissions. Debug flags (-D/-DD) expose tokens—use cautiously.

cp: Copy objects.
ls: List buckets/objects.
mb: Make bucket.
rb: Remove bucket.
rm: Delete objects.
rsync: Sync directories.
du: Disk usage.
iam: Manage ACLs.

Run gcloud auth application-default login or use service account key: gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=KEY.json.

Developed by Google in 2009 as part of App Engine tools. Evolved with GCS launch (2010); integrated into Cloud SDK (2013). Python 3 support added in v4.0+; actively maintained for gcloud ecosystem.

gcloud(1), rsync(1), scp(1), curl(1)