Specify a minimum CPU platform for compute instances

Linux Windows

For machine types that can run on different CPU platforms, this page explains how to create or update a Compute Engine instance to use a specified CPU compatibility level instead of the default one.

Google data centers offer different generations of CPU processors. These processors support incremental features like Advanced Vector Extensions — for example, AVX2 and AVX-512. Also, some fundamental features like clock speed, NUMA splits, and memory access seek time can vary among the CPU processors. The term CPU platform refers to this CPU-based configuration.

Each machine series works with one or more CPU processors. For example, C4 instances can run on either Intel Emerald Rapids or Granite Rapids CPUs. If a machine series supports multiple CPUs, you can choose a minimum CPU platform when you create an instance. The value you can set for the minimum CPU depends on the machine type, and the region and zone you choose for your compute instances.

Choosing a specific CPU is useful if your workload is sensitive to CPU-specific features, like instruction sets (AVX2 instead of AVX-512), cache sizes, or clock speeds which can vary between CPU platforms.

You can set the minimum CPU to a more recent processor to take advantage of higher clock frequency
You might set the minimum CPU to an older processor to ensure compatibility for your applications.

However using the minimum CPU setting can limit which zones your compute instances can run in.

Before you begin

If you haven't already, set up authentication . Authentication verifies your identity for access to Google Cloud services and APIs. To run code or samples from a local development environment, you can authenticate to Compute Engine by selecting one of the following options:
Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:
Console

When you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.
gcloud
1. Install the Google Cloud CLI. After installation, initialize the Google Cloud CLI by running the following command:
  gcloud init
  If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity .
  
  Note:If you installed the gcloud CLI previously, make sure you have the latest version by running gcloud components update .
2. Set a default region and zone .
REST

To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.
For more information, see Authenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

Required roles and permissions

To get the permissions that you need to change the minimum CPU platform, ask your administrator to grant you the following IAM roles on the project:

Compute Instance Admin (v1) ( roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1 )
To connect to a compute instance that can run as a service account: Service Account User (v1) ( roles/iam.serviceAccountUser role)

For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations .

You might also be able to get the required permissions through custom roles or other predefined roles .

When to select a minimum CPU platform

Each Compute Engine zone has a default CPU for each machine series. If you don't specify a value for the minimum CPU for your instance, then your compute instance uses the default CPU assigned to the machine type and zone.

Google recommends choosing a CPU platform compatibility level only in these cases:

Performance: If a specific processor gives your workload a significant speed boost or has features like AVX-512 that your code needs
Compatibility: If your compute instance requires a certain operating system, instruction set, or libraries that aren't supported on a more recent CPU platform
Reservations: If you use reservations , your compute instance must use the same CPU platform as the reservation.

Using the default CPU platform

If you don't specify a minimum CPU for your instance, then the minimum CPU is set to AUTOMATIC . This means that the instance uses the default CPU platform for the machine type.

On rare occasions, Google updates a CPU platform for a machine type and zone.

How selecting a minimum CPU platform works

When you specify a value for the minimum CPU, Compute Engine provides that CPU platform for your instance to use. Your compute instance continues to use that CPU platform unless you change it.

Your compute instance uses the specified CPU platform even after live migration during a maintenance operation.

Limitations

Each region and zone supports multiple CPU platforms, but a region or zone might not offer all CPU platforms.
You can't specify a minimum CPU platform for compute instances that run on sole-tenant nodes.
You can't select a minimum CPU platform for any E2 virtual machine (VM) instance.
You can't specify a minimum CPU platform for VM instances that were created with shared-core, general-purpose machine types .

Availability of CPU platforms

The availability of CPU platforms varies across zones and is based on the hardware and machine series that is available in each zone. The following list shows the supported minimum CPU platforms and the valid syntax for each platform:

6th Generation: Intel Xeon (Granite Rapids) processors: "Intel Granite Rapids"
5th Generation: Intel Xeon (Emerald Rapids) processors: "Intel Emerald Rapids"
4th Generation: Intel Xeon (Sapphire Rapids) processors: "Intel Sapphire Rapids"
3rd Generation: Intel Xeon (Ice Lake) processors: "Intel Ice Lake"
2nd Generation: Intel Xeon (Cascade Lake) processors: "Intel Cascade Lake"
1st Generation: Intel Xeon (Skylake) processors: "Intel Skylake"
Intel Xeon E5 v4 (Broadwell) processors: "Intel Broadwell"
Intel Xeon E5 v3 (Haswell) processors: "Intel Haswell"
Intel Xeon E5 v2 (Ivy Bridge) processors: "Intel Ivy Bridge"
Intel Xeon E5 (Sandy Bridge) processors: "Intel Sandy Bridge"
5th Generation: AMD EPYC Turin processors: "AMD Turin"
4th Generation: AMD EPYC Genoa processors: "AMD Genoa"
3rd Generation: AMD EPYC Milan processors: "AMD Milan"

View available CPUs by zone

Some regions and zones support multiple CPU platforms for the same machine series. You can check which CPUs are available in a zone using gcloud CLI or REST.

If you're using sole-tenant nodes, each node uses the CPU platform corresponding to the node type that you defined in the node template.

gcloud

To view the CPU platforms that are available in your zone, use the gcloud compute zones describe command :
```
gcloud compute zones describe ZONE 
```
Replace ZONE with the name of the zone to check for available CPU platforms—for example, europe-west10-a .

The following output from this command lists CPU platforms for the europe-west10-a zone:
```
gcloud compute zones describe europe-west10-a
availableCpuPlatforms:
- Intel Broadwell
- Intel Cascade Lake
- Intel Ice Lake
- AMD Milan
- Intel Skylake

...
```

REST

Make a GET request to the zone that you're considering:

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/zones/ ZONE

Replace ZONE with the name of the zone to check for available CPU platforms.

The following output from this command lists supported CPU platforms for a zone:

{
  "kind": "compute#zone",
  "id": "2210",
  "creationTimestamp": "1969-12-31T09:30:55.189-07:00",
  "name": "europe-west10-a",
  "description": "europe-west10-a",
  "status": "UP",
  "region": "https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/regions/europe-west10-a",
  "selfLink": "https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/zones/europe-west10-a",
  "availableCpuPlatforms": [
   "Intel Broadwell",
   "Intel Cascade Lake",
   "Intel Ice Lake",
   "AMD Milan",
   "Intel Skylake"
  ],
  "supportsPzs": true
 }

Changes to default CPU platforms

On rare occasions, Google updates the default CPU platform for a machine series in a zone. When this happens, Google notifies you with a timeline and instructions for moving to the new platform.

If you specified a minimum CPU platform for your compute instance, the change to the default CPU platform has no impact on your instance. Compute Engine never provides a CPU platform that is older than the one specified by the minimum CPU property for an instance. However, if you don't specify a value for the minimum CPU, then the instance can run on a newer CPU platform if the default CPU platform is not available in the zone where the instance is located.

If Compute Engine moves your compute instance to a newer CPU platform, the cost of your compute instance doesn't change.

If the default CPU platform changes for a machine series, you can either:

Set the minimum CPU property for your instance if you want to keep the compatibility level of the previous default CPU platform.
Leave the minimum CPU property set to AUTOMATIC and let your compute instance use the newer CPU platform by stopping and restarting the instance.

Choose a CPU platform for a new instance

When you create a compute instance, if the machine series supports more than one CPU platform, then you can use the minimum CPU property to specify the CPU platform that you want the instance to use.

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Create an instancepage.

Go to Create an instance
In the Machine configurationsection, expand the Advanced configurationssection.
In the CPU Platformlist, select a platform for the instances's CPU.
Continue with the rest of the instance creation process.

gcloud

To create a new compute instance that uses a minimum CPU platform, use the gcloud compute instances create command and provide the --min-cpu-platform flag:
```
gcloud compute instances create INSTANCE_NAME 
\
    --zone= ZONE 
\
    --min-cpu-platform=" PLATFORM 
"
```
Replace the following:
- INSTANCE_NAME : the name of the instance that you want to create
- ZONE : the name of the zone where you want to create your instance—for example, europe-west1-b
- PLATFORM : the friendly name of the minimum CPU platform that you want the instance to use—for example, Intel Sandy Bridge
  
  If you want to clear the minimum CPU platform specification, replace PLATFORM with AUTOMATIC .
  
  To check which CPU platforms are available in a zone, see View available CPU platforms by zone .

REST

Use the instances.insert method and include the minCpuPlatform property as part of the request body.

For example, a request body might look like this:
```
"name": " INSTANCE_NAME 
",
"machineType": "zones/ ZONE 
/machineTypes/ MACHINE_TYPE 
",
"minCpuPlatform": " PLATFORM 
",
"networkInterfaces": [{
  "accessConfigs": [{
    "type": "ONE_TO_ONE_NAT",
    "name": "External NAT"
   }],
  "network": "global/networks/default"
}],
"disks": [{
   "autoDelete": "true",
   "boot": "true",
   "type": "PERSISTENT",
   "initializeParams": {
      "sourceImage": "projects/ IMAGE_PROJECT 
/global/images/family/ IMAGE_FAMILY 
"
   }
 }]
```
Replace the following:
- INSTANCE_NAME : the name of the new compute instance
- ZONE : the name of the zone where you want to create your compute instance—for example, europe-west1-b
- MACHINE_TYPE : the machine type of the new compute instance
- PLATFORM : the friendly name of the minimum CPU platform that you want the instance to use—for example, Intel Ivy Bridge
  
  To clear the minimum CPU platform specification, replace PLATFORM with AUTOMATIC .
  
  To check which CPU platforms are available in a zone, see View available CPU platforms by zone .
- IMAGE_PROJECT : the image project of the image family
- IMAGE_FAMILY : the image family of the image to use to create the compute instance

Change the CPU for an existing instance

To change the CPU for an existing compute instance, you must first stop the instance .

Console

Go to the VM instancespage.

Go to VM instances
If prompted, select your project and click Continue.
Select the compute instance that you want to change.
Click Stopto stop the compute instance. If there is no Stopoption, click More actions > Stop.
Click Edit.
In the Machine configurationsection, click Advanced configurations.
From the CPU Platformdrop-down menu, select an option.
Save your changes.
Select the compute instance that you changed.
Click Start/Resume.

gcloud

To stop a compute instance, use the gcloud compute instances stop command :
```
gcloud compute instances stop INSTANCE_NAME 
--zone= ZONE 
```
Replace the following:
- INSTANCE_NAME : the name of the compute instance that you want to specify a minimum CPU platform for
- ZONE : the name of the zone where you created your compute instance—for example, europe-west1-b
To specify a minimum CPU platform, use the gcloud compute instances update command , and provide the --min-cpu-platform flag:
```
gcloud compute instances update INSTANCE_NAME 
\
    --zone= ZONE 
\
    --min-cpu-platform=" PLATFORM 
"
```
Replace the following:
- INSTANCE_NAME : the name of the compute instance to update
- ZONE : the name of the zone where you created your compute instance
- PLATFORM : the friendly name of the CPU platform that you want the compute instance to use—for example, Intel Granite Rapids .
To start the updated compute instance, use the gcloud compute instances start command :
```
gcloud compute instances start INSTANCE_NAME 
--zone= ZONE 
```

REST

To stop a compute instance, construct a POST request using the instances.stop method :
```
POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/zones/ ZONE 
/instances/ INSTANCE_NAME 
/stop
```
Replace the following:
- PROJECT_ID : the ID of the project
- ZONE : the zone where your compute instance is located
- INSTANCE_NAME : the name of the compute instance that you want to specify a minimum CPU platform for
To set the minimum CPU platform, construct a POST request to the setMinCpuPlatform method and set the minCpuPlatform property in the request body:
```
POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/zones/ ZONE 
/instances/ INSTANCE_NAME 
/setMinCpuPlatform
{
  "minCpuPlatform": " PLATFORM 
"
}
```
Replace PLATFORM with the friendly name of the minimum CPU platform that you want the compute instance to use—for example, Intel Skylake .

To restart the compute instance, construct a POST request using the instances.start method :

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/zones/ ZONE 
/instances/ INSTANCE_NAME 
/start

Reset to the default CPU

To go back to using the default CPU, you must stop the compute instance if it's running.

Console

Go to the VM instancespage.

Go to VM instances
If prompted, select your project and click Continue.
Select the instance that you want to change.
Click Stop.
To edit the instance, click Edit.
In the Machine configurationsection, click Advanced configurations.
Change the CPU Platformoption to Automatic.
Select the instance that you changed.
Click Start/Resume.

gcloud

To stop a compute instance, use the gcloud compute instances stop command :
```
gcloud compute instances stop INSTANCE_NAME 
```
Replace INSTANCE_NAME with the name of the compute instance that you want to change.
To reset the minimum CPU platform, use the gcloud compute instances update command and set the --min-cpu-platform flag to AUTOMATIC :
```
gcloud compute instances update INSTANCE_NAME 
\
    --min-cpu-platform="AUTOMATIC"
```
To start the updated compute instance, use the gcloud compute instances start command :
```
gcloud compute instances start INSTANCE_NAME 
```

REST

To stop a compute instance, construct a POST request using the instances.stop method :
```
POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/zones/ ZONE 
/instances/ INSTANCE_NAME 
/stop
```
Replace the following:
- PROJECT_ID : the ID of the project
- ZONE : the zone where your compute instance is located
- INSTANCE_NAME : the name of the compute instance that you want to change

To reset the minimum CPU platform, construct a POST request to the setMinCpuPlatform method. In the request body, set the minCpuPlatform property value to AUTOMATIC .

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/zones/ ZONE 
/instances/ INSTANCE_NAME 
/setMinCpuPlatform
{
  "minCpuPlatform": "AUTOMATIC"
}

To restart the updated instance, construct a POST request using the instances.start method :

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/zones/ ZONE 
/instances/ INSTANCE_NAME 
/start

Use a CPU platform compatibility level in instance templates

If you use managed instance groups , you can set a CPU platform compatibility level for all compute instances in the group.

To do this, create an instance template and set the minCpuPlatform property.

Console

Go to the Instance templatespage.

Go to Instance templates
If prompted, select your project and click Continue.
Click Create instance template.
In the Machine configurationsection, click Advanced configurations.
From the CPU Platformdrop-down menu, select an option.
Continue with the instance template creation process.

gcloud

When you create an instance template using the gcloud compute instance-templates create command , provide the --min-cpu-platform flag:
```
gcloud compute instance-templates create TEMPLATE_NAME 
\
    --min-cpu-platform=" PLATFORM 
"
```
Replace the following:
- TEMPLATE_NAME : the name of the instance template
- PLATFORM : the friendly name of the minimum CPU platform that you want the instance to use—for example, Intel Skylake

REST

Add the minCpuPlatform as part of your request to create a new instance template using the instanceTemplates.insert method .

For example, the following instance template contains the minimum required fields for creating a new template with the addition of the minCpuPlatform property:

{
"name": "example-template",
"properties": {
  "machineType": "zones/us-central1-a/machineTypes/n2d-standard-2",
  "minCpuPlatform": "AMD Milan",
  "networkInterfaces": [
    {
      "network": "global/networks/default"
    }
  ],
  "disks":
  [
    {
      "type": "PERSISTENT",
      "boot": true,
      "mode": "READ_WRITE",
      "initializeParams":
      {
        "sourceImage": "projects/debian-cloud/global/images/family/debian-11"
      }
    }
  ]
  }
}

What's next

See a list of CPU platforms on Compute Engine.
Change the machine type for a compute instance .
Learn more about regions and zones .
Create and start Windows Server or SQL Server instances .

Specify a minimum CPU platform for compute instances Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Before you begin

Console

gcloud

REST

Required roles and permissions

When to select a minimum CPU platform

Using the default CPU platform

How selecting a minimum CPU platform works

Limitations

Availability of CPU platforms

View available CPUs by zone

gcloud

REST

Changes to default CPU platforms

Choose a CPU platform for a new instance

Console

gcloud

REST

Change the CPU for an existing instance

Console

gcloud

REST

Reset to the default CPU

Console

gcloud

REST

Use a CPU platform compatibility level in instance templates

Console

gcloud

REST

What's next

Specify a minimum CPU platform for compute instances