# Source: https://docs.vespa.ai/en/operations/archive/archive-guide-gcp.html.md

# GCP Archive guide

 

Vespa Cloud exports log data, heap dumps, and Java Flight Recorder sessions to buckets in Google Cloud Storage. This guide explains how to access this data. Access to the data is through a GCP project controlled by the tenant. Data traffic to access this data is charged to this GCP project.

These resources are needed to get started:

- A GCP project
- A Google user account
- The [gcloud command line interface](https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install)

Access is configured through the Vespa Cloud Console in the tenant account screen. Choose the "archive" tab, then "GCP" tab to see the settings below.

## Register IAM principal

![Register IAM principal](/assets/img/archive-1-gcp.png)

First, a principal must be granted access to the Cloud Storage bucket in Vespa Cloud. This is done by entering a [principal](https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/overview) with a supported prefix. See the accepted format in the description below the input field.

## Access files using Gcloud CLI

![Download files](/assets/img/archive-2-gcp.png)

Once permissions have been granted, the GPC member can access the contents of the archive buckets. Any Cloud Storage client will work, but the `gsutil` command line client is an easy tool to use. The settings page will list all buckets where data is stored, typically one bucket per zone the tenant has applications.

The `-u user-project` parameter is mandatory to make sure network traffic is charged to the correct GCP project.

```
$ gsutil -u my-project ls \
  gs://vespa-cloud-data-prod.gcp-us-central1-f-73770f/vespa-team/
        gs://vespa-cloud-data-prod.gcp-us-central1-f-73770f/vespa-team/album-rec-searcher/
        gs://vespa-cloud-data-prod.gcp-us-central1-f-73770f/vespa-team/cord-19/
        gs://vespa-cloud-data-prod.gcp-us-central1-f-73770f/vespa-team/vespacloud-docsearch/
```

In the example above, the bucket name is _vespa-cloud-data-prod.gcp-us-central1-f-73770f_and the tenant name is _vespa-team_ (for that particular prod zone). Archiving is per tenant, and a log file is normally stored with a key like:

```
/vespa-team/vespacloud-docsearch/default/h7644a/logs/access/JsonAccessLog.20221011080000.zst
```

The URI to this object is hence:

```
gs://vespa-cloud-data-prod.gcp-us-central1-f-73770f/vespa-team/vespacloud-docsearch/default/h2946a/logs/access/JsonAccessLog.default.20210629100001.zst
```

Objects are exported once generated - access log files are compressed and exported at least once per hour.

Note: Always set a user project to access the objects - transfer cost is assigned to the requester.

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