Provided by: nbdkit-plugin-python_1.42.4-1ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
nbdkit-gcs-plugin - expose data in Google Cloud Storage (GCS) buckets as block device
SYNOPSIS
nbdkit gcs [json-credentials=FILE]
[size=NN object-size=NN]
bucket=BUCKET key=STRING
DESCRIPTION
"nbdkit-gcs-plugin" is a plugin for nbdkit(1) which lets you open objects stored in Google Cloud Storage
(GCS) as disk images.
This plugin uses the Python Google Cloud Storage client library (google-cloud-storage). It requires
Python ≥ 3.7.
EXAMPLES
nbdkit gcs json-credentials=/path/to-my-json-credentials.json \
bucket=MY-BUCKET key=disk.img
Provides a read only block device holding the data contained in the disk.img object.
nbdkit gcs json-credentials=/path/to-my-json-credentials.json \
size=50G object-size=128k \
bucket=MY-BUCKET key=disk
Provides a read-write block device with size 50G, whose contents are stored across multiple in objects of
size 128k, prefixed with disk/
PARAMETERS
json-credentials=FILE
Path to a JSON file with Google Service account keys. Application Default Credentials will be used if
"json-credentials" is not specified (see "CREDENTIALS" below).
bucket=BUCKET
The bucket containing the object(s). This parameter is required.
key=STRING
The object name (if "size" is not specified) or object prefix (if "size" is specified) to use within
the bucket. This parameter is required.
size=SIZE
object-size=SIZE
These two parameters must always be specified together. If set, data will be split into blocks of
"object-size" and stored as separate objects. The block device will report a total size of "size" and
be writeable and trim-able.
Object names will have the form key/%16x, where %16x is the 16-digit hexadecimal block number. If
there are existing objects under the prefix that do not have the expected size, the plugin will
crash.
PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS
It is highly recommended that clients do their utmost to issue requests that exactly match the object
size: Smaller write requests will incur a performance penalty due to the need for read-modify-write
cycles (thus also incurring latency from two network round-trips). Larger read and write requests will
incur a performance penalty because of sequential execution.
The nbdkit-blocksize-filter(1) can be used to alleviate the impact of requests larger than the object
size, but does not help if the client issues requests smaller than the block size.
The nbdkit-stats-filter(1) can be used to investigate what block sizes and alignments are used by the
client.
When connecting through the Linux kernel's NBD module, consider setting
"/sys/block/nbd<X>/queue/max_sectors_kb" to match the object size.
CREDENTIALS
Refer to the following web pages:
Google Service account keys
https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/create-credentials#service-account
Application Default Credentials
https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/application-default-credentials
FILES
$plugindir/nbdkit-gcs-plugin
The plugin.
Use "nbdkit --dump-config" to find the location of $plugindir.
$HOME/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json
Application Default Credentials.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
"GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS"
You can use the "GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS" environment variable to provide the location of a
credential JSON file.
COMPARISON TO S3 PLUGIN
You can use the "S3" plugin to access Google Cloud Storage in interoperability mode. "read" and "write"
work perfectly fine, while "trim" and "zero" operations don't work in the general case: trimmed or
zeroed-out blocks cannot be deleted from the storage using the "S3" plugin.
VERSION
"nbdkit-gcs-plugin" first appeared in nbdkit 1.38.
SEE ALSO
nbdkit(1), nbdkit-plugin(3), nbdkit-python-plugin(3), nbdkit-S3-plugin(3),
https://pypi.org/project/google-cloud-storage/,
https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/create-credentials#service-account,
https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/application-default-credentials.
AUTHORS
Mykola Ivanets
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Infrascale Inc.
LICENSE
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided
that the following conditions are met:
• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• Neither the name of Red Hat nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY RED HAT AND CONTRIBUTORS ''AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
nbdkit-1.42.4 2025-06-16 nbdkit-gcs-plugin(1)