GCP Cloud Shell

Context:
- It can (typically) be accessed through GCP Console (at https://console.cloud.google.com/.
- It can provide an online terminal preloaded with utilities such as the Google Cloud gcloud CLI, kubectl, and more.
- It can include a Cloud Shell Editor, which allows for the development, building, debugging, and deployment of cloud-based apps.
- It can support a variety of programming languages including Go, Java, Node.js, Python, and C#.
- It can provide Command-line Access to a virtual machine instance in a terminal window.
- It can be pre-installed with many popular command-line tools and keeps them up to date.
- It can provision persistent disk storage on the Cloud Shell instance, mounted on $HOME directory.
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Example(s):
- Google Cloud Shell, v2023.
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Counter-Example(s):
See: Google Cloud Platform, kubectl, Cloud Shell Editor, Google Cloud Code.

References

https://cloud.google.com/shell/docs
- QUOTE: Cloud Shell is an interactive shell environment for Google Cloud that lets you learn and experiment with Google Cloud and manage your projects and resources from your web browser.
  With Cloud Shell, the Google Cloud CLI and other utilities you need are pre-installed, fully authenticated, up-to-date, and always available when you need them. Cloud Shell comes with a built-in code editor with an integrated Cloud Code experience, allowing you to develop, build, debug, and deploy your cloud-based apps entirely in the cloud. You can also launch interactive tutorials, open cloned repositories, and preview web apps on a Cloud Shell virtual machine instance

https://cloud.google.com/shell/docs/how-cloud-shell-works
- QUOTE: Cloud Shell provisions a Compute Engine virtual machine running a Debian-based Linux operating system for your temporary use. This virtual machine is owned and managed by Google Cloud, so will not appear within any of your GCP projects.
- Note: Your organization controls whether you have access to Cloud Shell.
- Cloud Shell instances are provisioned on a per-user, per-session basis. The instance persists while your Cloud Shell session is active; after an hour of inactivity, your session terminates and its VM is discarded. For more on usage quotas, refer to the limitations guide.
- With the default Cloud Shell experience, you are allocated with an ephemeral, pre-configured VM and the environment you work with is a Docker container running on that VM. You can also customize your environment automatically on VM boot to ensure that your Cloud Shell instance includes your preferred tools.