GCP Cloud SQL

Deploy and manage fully managed relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server) on Google Cloud.

When to Use

• Running production relational databases without managing replication, patching, or backups
• Migrating on-premises PostgreSQL or MySQL workloads to a managed service
• Applications requiring ACID transactions, relational schemas, and SQL query support
• Workloads that need automated high availability with regional failover

Prerequisites

• Google Cloud SDK (gcloud) installed and authenticated
• Cloud SQL Admin API and Service Networking API enabled
• IAM role roles/cloudsql.admin for full management

gcloud services enable sqladmin.googleapis.com servicenetworking.googleapis.com

Instance Tiers Reference

Tier	vCPUs	Memory	Use Case
db-f1-micro	Shared	0.6 GB	Dev/test only
db-g1-small	Shared	1.7 GB	Low-traffic staging
db-custom-2-8192	2	8 GB	Small production
db-custom-4-16384	4	16 GB	Medium production
db-custom-8-32768	8	32 GB	High-traffic production

Create a PostgreSQL Instance

gcloud sql instances create prod-db \
  --database-version=POSTGRES_16 \
  --tier=db-custom-4-16384 \
  --region=us-central1 \
  --availability-type=REGIONAL \
  --storage-type=SSD --storage-size=100GB --storage-auto-increase \
  --backup-start-time=02:00 --enable-point-in-time-recovery \
  --retained-backups-count=14 \
  --maintenance-window-day=SUN --maintenance-window-hour=4 \
  --database-flags=max_connections=200,log_min_duration_statement=1000 \
  --root-password=$(openssl rand -base64 24) \
  --labels=env=production,team=backend

gcloud sql databases create myapp --instance=prod-db --charset=UTF8
gcloud sql users create appuser --instance=prod-db \
  --password=$(openssl rand -base64 24)

Create a MySQL Instance

gcloud sql instances create mysql-prod \
  --database-version=MYSQL_8_0 \
  --tier=db-custom-4-16384 --region=us-central1 \
  --availability-type=REGIONAL \
  --storage-type=SSD --storage-size=100GB --storage-auto-increase \
  --backup-start-time=02:00 --enable-bin-log --retained-backups-count=14 \
  --database-flags=slow_query_log=on,long_query_time=2,max_connections=500 \
  --root-password=$(openssl rand -base64 24)

Private IP Configuration

# Allocate IP range and create private connection
gcloud compute addresses create google-managed-services \
  --global --purpose=VPC_PEERING --prefix-length=16 --network=my-vpc

gcloud services vpc-peerings connect \
  --service=servicenetworking.googleapis.com \
  --ranges=google-managed-services --network=my-vpc

# Create instance with private IP only
gcloud sql instances create private-db \
  --database-version=POSTGRES_16 --tier=db-custom-2-8192 \
  --region=us-central1 \
  --network=projects/${PROJECT_ID}/global/networks/my-vpc \
  --no-assign-ip --availability-type=REGIONAL \
  --storage-type=SSD --storage-size=50GB --storage-auto-increase

Read Replicas

# Same-region replica
gcloud sql instances create prod-db-replica-1 \
  --master-instance-name=prod-db --tier=db-custom-4-16384 \
  --region=us-central1 --availability-type=ZONAL

# Cross-region replica for DR
gcloud sql instances create prod-db-replica-eu \
  --master-instance-name=prod-db --tier=db-custom-4-16384 \
  --region=europe-west1 --availability-type=ZONAL

# Promote a replica to standalone (disaster recovery)
gcloud sql instances promote-replica prod-db-replica-eu

Backups and Restore

gcloud sql backups create --instance=prod-db --description="pre-migration"
gcloud sql backups list --instance=prod-db

# Point-in-time recovery
gcloud sql instances clone prod-db prod-db-pitr \
  --point-in-time="2026-03-23T10:00:00Z"

# Export / import
gcloud sql export sql prod-db gs://my-bucket/export.sql.gz --database=myapp
gcloud sql import sql prod-db gs://my-bucket/export.sql.gz --database=myapp

Cloud SQL Auth Proxy

curl -o cloud-sql-proxy \
  https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-sql-connectors/cloud-sql-proxy/v2.11.0/cloud-sql-proxy.linux.amd64
chmod +x cloud-sql-proxy

./cloud-sql-proxy ${PROJECT_ID}:us-central1:prod-db --port=5432 --auto-iam-authn

# Unix socket (for Kubernetes sidecar pattern)
./cloud-sql-proxy ${PROJECT_ID}:us-central1:prod-db --unix-socket=/tmp/cloudsql
psql "host=/tmp/cloudsql/${PROJECT_ID}:us-central1:prod-db user=appuser dbname=myapp"

Connection Methods Summary

Method	Use Case	Requirement
Public IP + SSL	Dev/test access	Authorized networks configured
Cloud SQL Auth Proxy	Production on GCE/GKE	SA with roles/cloudsql.client
Private IP	VPC-native apps	VPC peering configured
Cloud SQL Connector lib	App-level integration	SA credentials

Terraform Configuration

resource "google_sql_database_instance" "main" {
  name             = "prod-db"
  database_version = "POSTGRES_16"
  region           = "us-central1"

  settings {
    tier              = "db-custom-4-16384"
    availability_type = "REGIONAL"
    disk_type         = "PD_SSD"
    disk_size         = 100
    disk_autoresize   = true

    backup_configuration {
      enabled                        = true
      start_time                     = "02:00"
      point_in_time_recovery_enabled = true
      backup_retention_settings { retained_backups = 14 }
    }

    ip_configuration {
      ipv4_enabled    = false
      private_network = google_compute_network.vpc.id
      require_ssl     = true
    }

    maintenance_window { day = 7; hour = 4 }
    database_flags { name = "max_connections"; value = "200" }

    user_labels = { env = "production" }
  }

  deletion_protection = true
  depends_on          = [google_service_networking_connection.private_vpc]
}

resource "google_sql_database" "app" {
  name     = "myapp"
  instance = google_sql_database_instance.main.name
}

resource "google_sql_user" "app" {
  name     = "appuser"
  instance = google_sql_database_instance.main.name
  password = random_password.db_password.result
}

resource "google_sql_database_instance" "replica" {
  name                 = "prod-db-replica-1"
  master_instance_name = google_sql_database_instance.main.name
  region               = "us-central1"
  database_version     = "POSTGRES_16"

  replica_configuration { failover_target = false }

  settings {
    tier            = "db-custom-4-16384"
    disk_type       = "PD_SSD"
    disk_autoresize = true
    ip_configuration {
      ipv4_enabled    = false
      private_network = google_compute_network.vpc.id
    }
  }
}

resource "google_compute_global_address" "private_ip" {
  name          = "google-managed-services"
  purpose       = "VPC_PEERING"
  address_type  = "INTERNAL"
  prefix_length = 16
  network       = google_compute_network.vpc.id
}

resource "google_service_networking_connection" "private_vpc" {
  network                 = google_compute_network.vpc.id
  service                 = "servicenetworking.googleapis.com"
  reserved_peering_ranges = [google_compute_global_address.private_ip.name]
}

Common Operations

gcloud sql instances list
gcloud sql instances describe prod-db \
  --format="yaml(state,settings.tier,settings.availabilityType,ipAddresses)"
gcloud sql instances patch prod-db --storage-size=200GB
gcloud sql instances patch prod-db --database-flags=max_connections=300
gcloud sql instances restart prod-db

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Connection refused via public IP	IP not in authorized networks	Add IP with gcloud sql instances patch --authorized-networks
SSL required error	require_ssl=true but client not using SSL	Use Cloud SQL Proxy or pass sslmode=require
High replication lag	Replica tier too small or write-heavy primary	Increase replica tier; reduce write load
Instance slow despite RUNNABLE	Under-provisioned CPU/memory	Scale tier with gcloud sql instances patch --tier
Proxy returns ECONNREFUSED	Wrong connection name or missing IAM role	Verify project:region:instance format; grant roles/cloudsql.client
Cannot create private IP instance	VPC peering not established	Run gcloud services vpc-peerings connect first
Backup restore fails	Incompatible version	Ensure same major database version between source and target

Related Skills

• gcp-networking - VPC and private service connect for Cloud SQL private IP
• terraform-gcp - Provision Cloud SQL with Infrastructure as Code
• gcp-gke - Connecting Kubernetes workloads to Cloud SQL via sidecar proxy
• gcp-compute - Running applications on Compute Engine that connect to Cloud SQL