gcloud command not found - while installing Google Cloud SDK

Question

gcloud command not found - while installing Google Cloud SDK

435k Views Asked by jazz At 03 April 2025 at 06:54

I am on a mac and am trying to install the Google Cloud SDK (including the gcloud command line utility) using this command in terminal

curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash

as seen at https://cloud.google.com/sdk/

It got all the way to the end and finished but even after I restarted my shell, the gcloud command still says it's not found.

Why isn't this installation working?

Original Q&A

There are 41 best solutions below

anv On 03 November 2023 at 10:29

If using zsh , source

source ~/.zshrc

worked for me.

dhalfageme On 18 November 2020 at 22:28

You have to add the command to the path

Run

brew info --cask google-cloud-sdk

and find the lines to append to ~/.zshrc

The lines to append can be obtained from the output of the previous command. For zsh users, It should be some like these:

export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON="/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/libexec/bin/python"
source "/usr/local/Caskroom/google-cloud-sdk/latest/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc"
source "/usr/local/Caskroom/google-cloud-sdk/latest/google-cloud-sdk/completion.zsh.inc"

(or choose the proper ones from the command output depending un the Shell you are using)

Olshansky On 13 December 2020 at 20:05

If you're a macOS homebrew zsh user:

brew cask install google-cloud-sdk
Update your ~/.zshrc:

plugins=(
  ...
  gcloud
)

Open new shell.

Bryan Jyh Herng Chong On 17 December 2020 at 23:07

The cause of my installation failure:

I am running a zsh terminal and the install.sh inserts path.bash.inc into my .bash_profile

fix:

cd [whereever]/google-cloud-sdk && ./install.sh
vi ~/.bash_profile
replace all instances of path.bash.inc with path.zsh.inc

os config:

macOS Catalina
zsh

ref:

https://stackoverflow.com/a/61491744/1989698

Felipe Pereira On 03 November 2018 at 16:53

If you are running ZSH shell in MacOS you should rerun the installation and when you be asked for this question:

Modify profile to update your $PATH and enable shell command 
completion?

answer YES

and

Enter a path to an rc file to update, or leave blank to use 
    [/Users/your_user/.bash_profile]:

answer(your zshrc path): /Users/your_user/.zshrc

Restart Terminal and that's all.

Alejandro On 22 November 2018 at 06:01

To launch it on MacOs Sierra, after install gcloud I modified my .bash_profile

Original lines:

# The next line updates PATH for the Google Cloud SDK.
if [ -f '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc' ]; then . '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc'; fi

# The next line enables shell command completion for gcloud.
if [ -f '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/completion.bash.inc' ]; then . '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/completion.bash.inc'; fi

updated to:

# The next line updates PATH for the Google Cloud SDK.
if [ -f '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc' ]; then source '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc'; fi

# The next line enables shell command completion for gcloud.
if [ -f '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/completion.bash.inc' ]; then source '/Users/alejandro/google-cloud-sdk/completion.bash.inc'; fi

Restart the terminal and all become to work as expected!

Maxim Vakurin On 21 September 2018 at 06:59

How to install GCloud and Always Works after Restart On Mac OS HIGH Sierra:

Download install package Here
Achieved file and drop in your folder
Open terminal, go to your folder with file and enter this command:
```
 ./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh
```
"Modify profile to update your $PATH and enable bash completion?"
Yes
Enter this path to modify:
/Users/USERNAME_COMPUTER/.bashrc
After all install, enter this:
```
  source ~/.bashrc
```
Enter this to check install gcloud:

gcloud - -version
Open new window terminal cmd+n DONT CLOSE OLD WINDOW and enter in new window gcloud version

if: «command not found» go to step 9

else: Congratulations GCloud work in terminal
Return to old window and enter echo $PATH and copy path to GCloud
Open BASH_PROFILE:
```
open ~/.bash_profile
```

Enter path to new Bash:

« export PATH="/Users/USERNAME_COMPUTER/google-cloud-sdk/bin:$PATH" »

Return to step 8

Austris Cirulnieks On 30 July 2020 at 08:15

Using .zsh shell you can just try to add glcoud in plugin list in the ~/.zshrc file.

plugins=(
  gcloud
)

If that doesn't work, try this: (updated Krishna's answer)

Update the ~/.zshrc file

# Updates PATH for the Google Cloud SDK.
source /Users/austris/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc

# Enables zsh completion for gcloud.
source /Users/austris/google-cloud-sdk/completion.zsh.inc

Update the google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc file with following

script_link="$( readlink "$0" )" || script_link="$0" 
apparent_sdk_dir="${script_link%/*}" 
if [[ "$apparent_sdk_dir" == "$script_link" ]]; then
  apparent_sdk_dir=. 
fi
sdk_dir="$( cd -P "$apparent_sdk_dir" && pwd -P )" 
bin_path="$sdk_dir/bin" 
export PATH=$bin_path:$PATH

*double square brackets at the third line were missing from the original answer

Trannin On 29 January 2021 at 10:27

It's worked for me:

Download SDK from https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install
Extract the archive to my home directory (my home is "nintran")
Run "./google-cloud-sdk/bin/gcloud init"

Ibrahim On 01 December 2017 at 23:20

I had this issue today, and adding sudo to the install command fixed my issue on maxOS Sierra!

sudo ./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

denyit On 01 December 2017 at 14:21

Post installation instructions are not clear:

==> Source [/.../google-cloud-sdk/completion.bash.inc] in your profile to enable shell command completion for gcloud.
==> Source [/.../google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc] in your profile to add the Google Cloud SDK command line tools to your $PATH.

I had to actually add the following lines of code in my .bash_profile for gcloud to work:

source '/.../google-cloud-sdk/completion.bash.inc'
source '/.../google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc'

Connor Leech On 04 December 2017 at 23:44

I'm running zsh and found this gist very helpful: https://gist.github.com/dwchiang/10849350

Edit the ~/.zshrc file to include these two lines:

# The next line updates PATH for the Google Cloud SDK.
source /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc

# The next line enables zsh completion for gcloud.
source /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/google-cloud-sdk/completion.zsh.inc

This assumes you installed the package in your main directory from the official docs

arthankamal On 07 December 2017 at 00:37

Now after running install.sh in Mac OS, google itself giving the information to run completion.bash.inc and path.bash.inc.

If you're using zsh terminal, it'll ask you to run completion.zsh.inc and path.zsh.inc. Please see the image below

Jhon Salazar On 09 December 2017 at 17:12

You just have to execute this command as root

$ curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash

Restart the terminal and that's it. Now all commands should be executed as root

Kanyi On 15 December 2017 at 12:08

I know this question has been answered, but here are my two cent. After installing gcloud, you need to restart the shell before you able to gcloud command.

How you do this, mostly depends on the file you keep your shell configuration. Most files are .bashrc_profile, .bashrc, .zshrc.

You can now restart with

source ~/.bashrc_profile

You can replace the file to the file you have.

Or if you don't care the file you have, on Mac or linux you can restart the shell .

exec -l $SHELL

frank On 20 September 2021 at 09:24

If you are using zsh with Mac, after installation and initialization, you just need source ~./zshrc to apply the changes.

AudioBubble On 19 August 2021 at 15:15

sudo ./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

and then

Enter a path to an rc file to update, or leave blank to use 
[/Users/uer/.bash_profile]:  "/usr/lib/google-cloud-sdk/bin:$PATH"

result:

["/usr/lib/google-cloud-sdk/bin:$PATH"] has been updated.

Mapsy On 17 January 2017 at 01:04

On Mac/Linux, you'll need to enter the following entry in your ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="/usr/lib/google-cloud-sdk/bin:$PATH"

Zephaniah Irvine On 19 November 2021 at 17:22

In my case, I switched the terminal from bash to zsh after I installed Google Cloud SDK, so it showed the 'zsh: command not found: gcloud' error.

It's solved by running

source ~/.zshrc

John Sorensen On 17 December 2021 at 18:03

The thing that I did wrong was failing to choose the right download for my OS. I accidentally choose Apple Intel instead of Apple Silicon. Even though the installation appeared to work, I was unable to use the gcloud command. Once I deleted the folder and reinstalled the correct Apple Silicon version, everything worked fine for me.

MG Denver On 05 September 2015 at 18:17

I had to source my bash_profile file. To do so,

Open up a Terminal session.
In that session type: source .bash_profile and then press enter

Now, the gcloud command should work

nvcken On 09 September 2015 at 09:01

Same here, I try

source ~/.bashrc

Then, It worked

user3552803 On 25 February 2019 at 23:42

sudo ./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

I ran this in the root directory and it worked. I'm running macOS Mojave Version 10.14.3.

Francisco Mendoza On 10 August 2021 at 23:21

After inspecting the installation zip by running ./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh --help, the parameter --path-update worked for me. Use it as follows,

./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh --path-update true

It will automatically add the PATH update to the .bashrc (see --rc-path parameter for different rc files). Add the --quiet parameter for no interactivity.

Krishna On 25 November 2019 at 09:28

If you are on MAC OS and using .zsh shell then do the following:

Edit your .zshrc and add the following

# The next line updates PATH for the Google Cloud SDK.
source /Users/USER_NAME/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc

# The next line enables zsh completion for gcloud.
source /Users/USER_NAME/google-cloud-sdk/completion.zsh.inc

Create new file named path.zsh.inc under your home directory(/Users/USER_NAME/):

script_link="$( readlink "$0" )" || script_link="$0"
apparent_sdk_dir="${script_link%/*}"
if [ "$apparent_sdk_dir" == "$script_link" ]; then
 apparent_sdk_dir=.
fi
sdk_dir="$( cd -P "$apparent_sdk_dir" && pwd -P )"
bin_path="$sdk_dir/bin"
export PATH=$bin_path:$PATH

Checkout more @ Official Docs

Mirza On 16 October 2016 at 17:29

This one worked for me:

source ~/.bash_profile

Thierry On 28 October 2016 at 16:35

This worked for me :

After saying Y to Modify profile to update your $PATH and enable bash completion? (Y/n)?

Google initiation is prompting this : Enter a path to an rc file to update, or leave blank to use and the default path was : [/Users/MY_USERSAME/.bash_profile]: but instead of pressing enter, I wrote : /Users/MY_USERNAME/.bashrc to change the path.

This would overwrite the default location that Google suggest.

Then, I only had to do source ~/.bashrc and everything works now!

Rafo On 23 June 2022 at 19:48

for oh-my-zsh run on terminal after install

source ~/.zshrc

Frances He On 13 March 2020 at 12:02

In short:

emacs -nw ~/.zshrc
And add following line at the beginning:

# The next line updates PATH for the Google Cloud SDK.
source '/home/lesaint/GOOGLE_CLOUD/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc'

#The next lines enables bash completion in Zsh for gcloud. 
autoload -U compinit compdef
compinit
source '/home/lesaint/GOOGLE_CLOUD/google-cloud-sdk/completion.zsh.inc'

The solution proposed by following article works for me:

Referencee: http://www.javatronic.fr/tips/2014/10/17/installing_google_cloud_sdk_on_ubuntu_with_oh-my-zsh.html

Check my solution: -bash: gcloud: command not found on Mac

akhlimadhumenon On 13 August 2023 at 02:14

I faced a similar issue where after running ./install.sh and following all the steps, when I tried to check the version using gcloud --version

It gave me this error: zsh: command not found: gcloud

After going through all the answers here and searching through some websites, I found a webpage which provided the answer that worked for me. This is the link to the website: gcloud command not found – While Installing Google Cloud SDK

The basic gist is that once you go through the entire set up the .bash_profile is automatically modified, but sometimes that does not happen.

So at that time, rerun ./install.sh and when the prompt appears to change the path Modify profile to update your $PATH and enable shell command completion? Do you want to continue (Y/n)? enter Y and then set the path to ~/.profile.

This worked for me, I hope it does for you too. Have a nice day :))

m3hraj On 12 November 2021 at 17:04

if you have installed google-cloud-sdk via snap, you have to modify path vaiable.Add snap directory to PATH as export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin This worked for me.

IOT internet of things On 18 February 2018 at 22:19

When installing the SDK I used this method:

curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash

When using this method from the original author make sure you have accepted the security preferences in your mac settings to allow apps downloaded from app store and identified developers.

Sebastian On 04 May 2017 at 15:12

If running

source ~/.bashrc

results in "No such file or directory"

On windows:

Go to c/Users/
While holding shift, right-click .bashrc file and select "Copy as path"
In bash: source <pasteCopiedPathHere> -> for example: source "C:\Users\John\.bashhrc"

Binh Ho On 18 April 2023 at 09:57

Tested on Mac

1. Installation

If did this already -> skip this step

curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash

2. Enable `gcloud` command line

source ~/.zshrc

If not works, try below

source ~/.bashrc

If not works, try below

source ~/.bash_profile

Hope this help!

Kashnitsky On 02 October 2016 at 10:58

I found incorrect if-fi statements in my ~/.bash_profile (no if condition in the next block)

source '/Users/yorko/google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc'

fi

I just had to remove "fi" and run "source ~/.bash_profile" to make it work.

John Doherty On 05 October 2016 at 17:50

I had the same problem and it was because the ~/.bash_profile had invalid fi statements.

The fix:

Execute command sudo nano ~/.bash_profile
Removed closing fi statements (the ones missing an opening if)
Save .bash_profile changes
Execute command source ~/.bash_profile

Tiago Ferreira On 08 October 2016 at 14:53

$ sudo su
$ /opt/google-appengine-sdk/bin/gcloud components update
$ su <yourusername>

Zach Rieck On 24 August 2020 at 23:22

In addition to the above answers, depending on your distro, it may be necessary to execute the bash command from the command line before calling your gsutil command. This is the case for distros that have tcsh or other shell as the default. By typing "bash" the source is changed to the .bashrc file and the file is executed.

# Step 1
bash
# Step 2
gsutil 
#Step 3: profit!

Jaymin On 24 July 2019 at 09:47

Try doing this command on Ubuntu/Linux:

sudo ./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

Close the terminal or open a new window as the log says:

==> Start a new shell for the changes to take effect.

Once it is done try installing any package by glcloud command:

gcloud components install app-engine-php

It won't show the error.

alisa On 15 May 2019 at 21:47

I had a very different story here that turned out to be caused by my Python virtual environments.

Somewhere in the middle of running curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash, I was getting error:

~/google-cloud-sdk/install.sh
Welcome to the Google Cloud SDK!
pyenv: python2: command not found

The `python2' command exists in these Python versions:
  2.7.14
  miniconda2-latest

solution I've modified google-cloud-sdk/install.sh script:

# if CLOUDSDK_PYTHON is empty
if [ -z "$CLOUDSDK_PYTHON" ]; then
  # if python2 exists then plain python may point to a version != 2
  #if _cloudsdk_which python2 >/dev/null; then
  #  CLOUDSDK_PYTHON=python2
  if _cloudsdk_which python2.7 >/dev/null; then
    # this is what some OS X versions call their built-in Python
    CLOUDSDK_PYTHON=python2.7

and was able to run the installation successfully. However, I still need to activate my pyenv that has python2 command to run gcloud.

why so

If you look at the google-cloud-sdk/install.sh script, you'll see that it's actually checking for versions of Python in a very brute manner:

if [ -z "$CLOUDSDK_PYTHON" ]; then
  # if python2 exists then plain python may point to a version != 2
  if _cloudsdk_which python2 >/dev/null; then
    CLOUDSDK_PYTHON=python2

However, on my machine python2 doesn't point to Python binary, neither returns null. So the installation crashed.

**jazz** · Accepted Answer

So below is my previous fix for this problem, but it turns out it isn't permanent. It works but every time you restart Terminal, you'd have to do the same thing which isn't practical.

So that is why I suggest you delete the current google-cloud-sdk directory, and just redo the installation. Be sure (as Zachary has mentioned) to answer yes (Y) to the prompt Modify profile to update your $PATH and enable bash completion? (Y/n).

Here is my old answer, but just redo the installation:

I had the same problem, gcloud wasn't working for me. But then, in the same directory as my google-cloud-sdk folder which I had just installed (my home directory), I found this file called test. Inside this test file I found two commands:

# The next line updates PATH for the Google Cloud SDK.
source '[path-to-my-home]/google-cloud-sdk/path.bash.inc'
# The next line enables bash completion for gcloud.
source '[path-to-my-home]/google-cloud-sdk/completion.bash.inc'

After I ran these two source commands in terminal, gcloud worked!

gcloud command not found - while installing Google Cloud SDK

There are 41 best solutions below

1. Installation

2. Enable `gcloud` command line

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gcloud command not found - while installing Google Cloud SDK

There are 41 best solutions below

1. Installation

2. Enable gcloud command line

Related Questions in TERMINAL

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