The gcloud compute ssh command is used to establish an SSH connection to a virtual machine (VM) instance in Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It allows you to securely connect to a VM instance for remote administration and management.

The basic syntax of the gcloud compute ssh command is as follows:

Here’s how you can use the command:

1. Replace [INSTANCE_NAME] with the name of the VM instance you want to connect to.
2. Replace [ZONE] with the zone in which the VM instance is located.

For example, if you have a VM instance named my-instance in the us-central1-a zone, you would use the following command:

By default, the gcloud compute ssh command connects to the VM instance using your user account’s SSH key. If you have multiple SSH keys configured or need to specify a different SSH key, you can use the --ssh-key-file flag followed by the path to the SSH key file.

Additionally, you can use other options and flags with the gcloud compute ssh command to customize your SSH connection, such as specifying a different username, forwarding ports, or executing remote commands. You can find more details and examples in the official gcloud compute ssh documentation.

Please note that you need the appropriate IAM permissions to use the gcloud compute ssh command and establish SSH connections to VM instances.