gcloud compute copy-files instance destination? - upload

Question

I have trouble copying files from and especially to instances. I created instance.txt in the instance (using SSH) and this doesn't work:
C:\test>gcloud compute copy-files instance-4:~/instance.txt . --zone us-central1-b
Passphrase for key "censoredbyme":
unable to identify instance.txt: no such file or directory
ERROR: (gcloud.compute.copy-files) [C:\Program Files\Google\Cloud SDK\google-cloud-sdk\bin\..\bin\sdk\scp.EXE] exited with return code [1].
Writing the full path works:
C:\test>gcloud compute copy-files instance-4:/home/stefan_pochmann_gmail_com/instance.txt . --zone us-central1-b
Passphrase for key "censoredbyme":
instance.txt | 0 kB | 0.0 kB/s | ETA: 00:00:00 | 100%
Why does ~/ not work? The documentation examples use it, and shouldn't it be the same? See:
stefan_pochmann_gmail_com#instance-4:~$ cd ~/
stefan_pochmann_gmail_com#instance-4:~$ pwd
/home/stefan_pochmann_gmail_com
The other direction doesn't work at all (?):
C:\test>gcloud compute copy-files local.txt instance-4:/home/stefan_pochmann_gmail_com --zone us-central1-b
Passphrase for key "censoredbyme":
scp: unable to open /home/stefan_pochmann_gmail_com/local.txt: permission denied
ERROR: (gcloud.compute.copy-files) [C:\Program Files\Google\Cloud SDK\google-cloud-sdk\bin\..\bin\sdk\scp.EXE] exited with return code [1].
C:\test>gcloud compute copy-files local.txt instance-4:/home/stefan_pochmann_gmail_com/ --zone us-central1-b
Passphrase for key "censoredbyme":
scp: unable to open /home/stefan_pochmann_gmail_com//local.txt: permission denied
ERROR: (gcloud.compute.copy-files) [C:\Program Files\Google\Cloud SDK\google-cloud-sdk\bin\..\bin\sdk\scp.EXE] exited with return code [1].
Why permission denied? Ok I try ~/ instead of writing the full path:
C:\test>gcloud compute copy-files local.txt instance-4:~/ --zone us-central1-b
Passphrase for key "censoredbyme":
local.txt | 0 kB | 0.0 kB/s | ETA: 00:00:00 | 100%
It looks like it uploaded the file, but the file isn't there. At least not in /home/stefan_pochmann_gmail_com/ where I'd expect it. But I don't know because I had to use ~/ which didn't work at all in the download direction. How do I get this to work?

Answer 1

The Google Cloud SDK is working as intended in this case.
When you try use a gcloud compute command for the first time, it tells you that “You do not have an SSH key for Google Compute Engine” and it creates the private key, public key (.pub) and PuTTY-format key (.ppk) normally in the C:\Users\<username>\.ssh\ directory (it may differ between different Windows versions).
If you open the google_compute_engine.pub file, at the end you’ll find the username that is used to access the instances. This username matches the local username you were logged as when you executed the gcloud command.
If you want to run gcloud compute copy-files instance-4:~/instance.txt . --zone us-central1-b you can follow the next steps:
1- Go to Developers Console -> Select your project -> Compute-> Compute Engine -> Metadata -> SSH keys -> Edit and modify the SSH key where appears Stefan at the left typing stefan_pochmann_gmail_com instead of Stefan at the end of the key contents.

Answer 2

Ok I just solved it. My local account is "Stefan", and gcloud used /home/Stefan for ~/ in the instance (bug?). That explains the errors, and the uploaded file ended up as /home/Stefan/local.txt (with /home/Stefan and everything in it owned by newly created user "Stefan". I had to use sudo to delete it). Adding "stefan_pochmann_gmail_com#" before the instance name works.

Answer 3

If you want to copy your files from local machine to google cloud instance (gcloud)
Then use following command :
gcloud compute scp [file location] [user]#[instance]:~/[location] --zone [zone name]
For Example :
gcloud compute scp ~/Documents/hello.txt john#linux:~/MyFiles --zone us-east1-b