# Create and manage tables
Bigtable tables let you organize and store large-scale data for
low-latency application workloads. You can create and manage these tables using
the Google Cloud console, the Google Cloud CLI, the
`cbt` CLI
, or
programmatically with the Cloud Bigtable
[client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
For more information about creating and managing authorized views of a
table, see [authorized views](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/control-access-with-authorized-views).
## Before you begin
If you plan to work with your tables using command-line tools, follow the steps
in this section.
1. Install the [gcloud CLI](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/installing-cloud-sdk).
2. Optional: If you plan to use the
`cbt` CLI
, follow the instructions at
[Installing the
`cbt` CLI](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/cbt-overview#installing),
including the step to create a `.cbtrc` file.
The
`cbt` CLI
instructions on this page assume that you have set the project
ID and instance ID in your `.cbtrc` file. Alternatively, you can use the
`-project` and `-instance` flags to set these values each time you run a
`cbt` CLI
command.
## Create a table
When you create a table, you don't need to specify the column families to use
in the table. You can add or delete column families later.
### Console
To create a table in an instance:
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance where you want to create the table.
3. In the Bigtable navigation menu, click **Tables**.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
4. Click
**Create table**.
5. In the **Create a table** pane, in the **Table ID** field, enter a
permanent ID for the table.
6. Optional: [Add column families](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-tables#add-column-families).
You can add column families when you create the table or later. A table
must have at least one column family before you can write data to it or
read a change stream from it.
7. Optional: In the Enterprise Plus edition, to use
[microsecond timestamp granularity](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/data-types#timestamp_granularity), in the
**Timestamp granularity** section, select **Use microsecond
timestamps**.
8. Optional: Enable a change stream for the table. Before you enable a
change stream, make sure that you understand the implications, including
increased storage costs and app profile usage requirements. For more
information, see [Change streams overview](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/change-streams-overview).
1. Select **Enable change stream**.
2. In the **Retention time** field, enter an integer from 1 to 7 to
specify the number of days to retain the change stream data.
9. Optional: In the **Configure automated backup** section, configure
automated backups for the table. By default, **Enable automated
backup** is selected, and Bigtable creates a daily
standard backup on all clusters in the instance and retains each
backup for seven days. For more information,
see [Use automated backup](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-backups#use-automated-backup).
- If you don't want Bigtable to create daily backups of the table, clear **Enable automated backup**.
- On SSD instances, to create daily hot backups instead of standard backups, select **Hot** in the **Backup type** section, and then in the **Set hot to standard** field, enter an integer from 1 to 10 to specify the number of days before each backup automatically transitions to a standard backup. The default is 3 days, and the value can't exceed the retention period. You can't select **Hot** if tiered storage is enabled. For more information, see [Configure hot automated backups](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-backups#configure-hot-automated-backups).
- To set a custom retention period, in the **Backup configuration** section, enter an integer from 3 to 90 in the **Retention period** field to specify the number of days to retain backups.
- In the Enterprise Plus edition, to choose specific clusters where Bigtable creates daily backups, in the **Backup
configuration** section, select the clusters in the **Select
clusters to back up** list, and then click **OK** . For more information, see [Configure automated backup cluster locations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-backups#automated-backup-cluster-locations).
10. Optional: In the **Configure tiered storage** section, enable infrequent
access storage for the table as part of [tiered storage](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/tiered-storage)
([Preview](https://docs.cloud.google.com/products#product-launch-stages)). You can't enable tiered
storage if **Hot** is selected for automated backups.
1. Select the **Enable tiered storage** checkbox.
2. In the **Age threshold** field, enter an integer of 30 or greater to
specify the number of days after which Bigtable moves
data from SSD storage to infrequent access storage.
11. Optional: To configure row key schema, select **Define row key schema**,
and then do the following:
1. In the **Encoding** list, select a type of encoding for your row key
schema.
2. If you selected **DelimitedBytes** , in the **Delimiter** field, enter
a delimiter that separates the segments in your existing row keys.
The default value is a hash symbol (`#`).
3. In the **Segment** field, enter a name for the segment, such as
`device_type`.
4. In the **Type** list, select the data type of the row key segment.
5. Depending on the data type selected, in the **Byte encoding** list,
leave the default encoding type of the row key segment or change it.
6. Optional: if your row key segment has more than one part, click
**Add row key segment** to add additional fields.
12. Click **Create**.
### gcloud
To create a table, run the following command. See
[`gcloud bigtable instances tables create`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/create)
for a complete list of options.
gcloud bigtable instances tables create TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--column-families=COLUMN_FAMILIES
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: a unique ID for the new table
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
- `PROJECT_ID`: the project that will contain the new table
- `COLUMN_FAMILIES`: a comma-separated list of column family names. You can add more column families later.
Optional:
- To protect the table from deletion, append the command with
`--deletion-protection`. If you don't apply this setting, the table
can be deleted. You can also explicitly allow table deletion by
appending `--no-deletion-protection`.
- To enable a change stream for the table, specify a retention period for
the change stream data. Before you enable a change stream, make sure
that you understand the implications, including increased storage costs
and app profile usage requirements. For more information, see
[Change streams overview](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/change-streams-overview).
--change-stream-retention-period=RETENTION_PERIOD
Replace `RETENTION_PERIOD` with the length of time that
Bigtable should retain change stream data for the table.
The time must be from one to seven days. Acceptable units are days (d),
hours (h), minutes (m), and seconds (s)---for example, `48h` or
`6d`.
- To let Bigtable create a daily backup of your table and
retain each backup for the default retention period of
seven days, use the
`--enable-automated-backup` flag when you create your table.
gcloud bigtable instances tables create TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--column-families=COLUMN_FAMILIES \
--enable-automated-backup
To configure a different retention period, use the
`--automated-backup-retention-period` flag instead of the
`--enable-automated-backup` flag and provide a value up to
90 days. The value must be expressed as a number
with a unit of `m`, `h`, or `d` (minutes, hours, or days), such as `15d`
for 15 days.
On SSD instances, to configure Bigtable to create hot
automated backups that automatically transition to standard backups, use
the `--automated-backup-keep-hot-duration` flag instead of the
`--enable-automated-backup` flag. Provide a duration from `24h` (1 day)
to `10d` (10 days), not exceeding the retention period. Express the
value as a number with a unit of `s`, `m`, `h`, or `d` (seconds,
minutes, hours, or days), such as `24h` or `2d`. For more information,
see [Configure hot automated
backups](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-backups#configure-hot-automated-backups).
**Enterprise Plus edition** : by default, Bigtable creates
a daily backup in all clusters in the table's instance. To configure
cluster locations where Bigtable must create a daily
backup of the table, use the `--automated-backup-locations` flag instead
of the `--enable-automated-backup` flag. Provide a comma-separated list
of cluster locations where the automated backup must be
enabled---for example, `us-central1-a,us-east1-b,europe-west1-c`.
> [!CAUTION]
> **Caution:** When you modify a table's automated backup configuration later, you only need to specify the flags for the parameters that you want to change; omitted parameters retain their existing values. However, passing the `--enable-automated-backup` flag resets all automated backup policy parameters to their default values.
- To enable infrequent access as part of [tiered storage](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/tiered-storage)
([Preview](https://docs.cloud.google.com/products#product-launch-stages)), use the
`--tiered-storage-infrequent-access-older-than` flag:
gcloud beta bigtable instances tables create TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--tiered-storage-infrequent-access-older-than=AGE_THRESHOLD
Replace `AGE_THRESHOLD` with a value of at least 30 days.
Acceptable units are days (`d`), hours (`h`), minutes (`m`), and seconds
(`s`)---for example, `32d` or `32d12h`.
- To configure the [timestamp granularity](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/data-types#timestamp_granularity)
for the table, use the `--timestamp-granularity` flag:
gcloud bigtable instances tables create TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--column-families=COLUMN-FAMILIES \
--timestamp-granularity=TIMESTAMP_GRANULARITY
Replace TIMESTAMP_GRANULARITY with the level of
precision. The default precision is millisecond and the value is
`MILLIS`. If you want the table to accept timestamps with microsecond
precision, set the value to `MICROS`. Microsecond precision timestamps
are available only for instances in the Enterprise Plus edition.
### cbt
You can't use the
`cbt` CLI
to create a table with a change stream
enabled.
To create a table, run the following command:
cbt createtable TABLE_ID
Replace `TABLE_ID` with a unique ID for the new table.
Optional: To create an [aggregate column
family](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/aggregates#aggregate-column-families) in the table,
append the column family name with the aggregation type. The following
creates an aggregate column family with a garbage
collection policy of `never`:
cbt createtable TABLE_ID families=FAMILY_NAME:never:TYPE
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: a unique ID for the new table
- `FAMILY_NAME`: a comma-separated list of column family names. You can add more column families later.
- `TYPE`: the aggregate type. Must be `intsum`, `intmin`, `intmax`, or `inthll`.
For more options, see [Create a
table](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/cbt-reference#create_a_table) in the
`cbt` CLI
reference.
If you have mistakenly deleted a table, don't attempt to manually create the
deleted table. Use the gcloud CLI
command [`bigtable instances tables undelete`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/undelete) to recover the
table.
### Optional: Split the table by row key
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Key Point:** You can specify table splits only when creating a new table, and those specified splits remain for about 24 hours.
To optimize performance, Bigtable continuously splits tables
across multiple nodes, evenly distributing the amount of data stored on each
node, and keeping frequently accessed rows spread apart where possible. This
ongoing process is automatic.
When you create a new table, you can specify initial table splits.
Bigtable splits the table at the row keys that you provide. If the
key spaces are too big, Bigtable further splits the table. The
initial splits are maintained for about 24 hours after the table creation is
complete. You can provide up to 100 row keys where the initial splits should
occur.
For example, you might designate specific rows to pre-split your table if
you're about to write many rows to the table.
Pre-splitting your table is not essential, but it is beneficial because it
provides Bigtable information about where the load and data
footprint are likely to land when the table is created. The pre-split prevents
Bigtable from having to split the tables and rebalance the load
all at once as the data arrives.
### Console
You are not able to pre-split the rows when you create a table using the
Google Cloud console.
### gcloud
To split a table by row key, run the following command. See
[`gcloud bigtable instances tables create`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/create)
for a complete list of options.
gcloud bigtable instances tables create TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--column-families=COLUMN_FAMILIES \
--splits=SPLITS
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: a unique ID for the new table
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
- `PROJECT_ID`: the project that will contain the new table
- `COLUMN_FAMILIES`: a comma-separated list of column family names. You can add more column families later.
- `SPLITS`: the row keys where the table should initially be split---for example, `10,20`.
### cbt
To pre-split a table based on the row key, run the following command:
cbt createtable TABLE_ID splits=SPLITS
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: a unique ID for the new table
- `SPLITS`: a comma-separated list of row-key prefixes to use for the pre-splits
For example, to pre-split the table `my-table` at row keys that begin with
`10` and `20`:
cbt createtable my-table splits=10,20
## Modify column families in a table
You can add column families when you create a table or to an existing table. If
the table doesn't have [deletion protection](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-tables#modify-deletion-protection)
enabled, then you can delete column families in the table.
### Add column families
### Console
#### Add column families to a new table
1. In the **Create table** pane, for each column family that you want to
add, click **Add a column family**.
2. In the **Column family name** field, enter a unique identifier for the
column family.
3. Choose the column family type:
- **Standard** : creates a standard column family that is managed by [garbage collection policies](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-tables#gc-policies).
- **Aggregate** : creates a column family that automatically [aggregates data at write time](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/aggregates). You can configure a garbage collection policy specific to the aggregation to manage data retention policies, such as [time buckets](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/schema-design-time-series#time-buckets).
4. If you selected **Aggregate** , in the **Aggregator** field, select one
of the following options:
- **Sum**: aggregates the sum of all cell values.
- **Min**: aggregates the minimum cell value.
- **Max**: aggregates the maximum cell value.
- **HyperLogLog**: aggregates the approximate cardinality of cell values.
5. Set the [garbage collection policy](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-tables#gc-policies) for the column
family.
6. Click **Done**.
#### Add column families to an existing table
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
4. Click **Edit** for the table
that you want to modify.
5. For each column family that you want to add, do the following:
1. Click **Add column family**.
2. In the **Column family name** field, enter a unique identifier for the column family.
3. Choose the column family type:
- **Standard** : creates a standard column family that is managed by [garbage collection policies](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-tables#gc-policies).
- **Aggregate** : creates a column family that automatically [aggregates data at write time](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/aggregates). You can configure a garbage collection policy specific to the aggregation to manage data retention policies, such as [time buckets](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/schema-design-time-series#time-buckets).
4. If you selected **Aggregate** , in the **Aggregator** field, select
one of the following options:
- **Sum**: aggregates the sum of all cell values.
- **Min**: aggregates the minimum cell value.
- **Max**: aggregates the maximum cell value.
- **HyperLogLog**: aggregates the approximate cardinality of cell values.
5. Set the [garbage collection policy](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-tables#gc-policies) for the column
family.
6. Click **Done**.
6. Click **Save**.
### gcloud
You can't use the gcloud CLI to add column families to a table.
### cbt
To add a column family to a table, run the following command:
cbt createfamily TABLE_ID FAMILY_NAME
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the ID of the table in which to add the column family
- `FAMILY_NAME`: the name of the column family to add
For example, to add the column families `cf1` and `cf2` to the table `my-table`:
cbt createfamily my-table cf1
cbt createfamily my-table cf2
Optional: To add an [aggregate column
family](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/aggregates#aggregate-column-families) to the table,
append the column family name with the aggregation type. The following
creates a table that has an aggregate column family with a garbage collection
policy of `never`.
cbt createfamily TABLE_ID FAMILY_NAME:never:TYPE
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the table ID
- `FAMILY_NAME`: a comma-separated list of column family names. You can add more column families later.
- `TYPE`: the aggregation type. Must be `intsum`, `intmin`, `intmax`, or `inthll`.
### Delete column families
You can delete column families in a table that does not have
[deletion protection](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-tables#modify-deletion-protection) enabled.
> [!WARNING]
> **Warning:** When you delete a column family, you also delete the data stored in that column family. Deleting a column family can't be undone.
### Console
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
4. Click **Edit** for the table
that you want to modify.
5. For each column family that you want to delete, complete the following:
1. Mouse over the row for the column family that you want to delete.
2. Click .
6. Click **Save**.
7. To confirm that you understand that deleting a column family is
permanent and that all data in the column family will be deleted, type
"Delete column families" in the text field.
8. Click **Confirm**.
### gcloud
You can't use the gcloud CLI to delete column families from a table.
### cbt
To delete a column family from a table, run the following command:
cbt deletefamily TABLE_ID FAMILY_NAME
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the ID of the table from which to delete the column family
- `FAMILY_NAME`: the name of the column family to delete
For example, to delete the column family `cf2` from the table `my-table`:
cbt deletefamily my-table cf2
## View a list of tables
### Console
To view a list of tables in an instance:
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
- Click the arrow next to the table ID to expand a list of replications of the table.
- Click **View Metrics** next to a table name to [view system insights data](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/monitoring-instance#console-monitoring) for the table.
### gcloud
To view a list of tables, run the
[`gcloud bigtable instances tables list`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/list)
command:
gcloud bigtable instances tables list --instances=INSTANCE_IDS
Replace `INSTANCE_IDS` with a comma-separated list of instance IDs.
### cbt
To view a list of tables in an instance, run the following command:
cbt ls INSTANCE_ID
Replace `INSTANCE_ID` with
the permanent identifier for the instance
.
### C++
To learn how to install and use the client library for Bigtable, see
[Bigtable client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
To authenticate to Bigtable, set up Application Default Credentials.
For more information, see
[Set up authentication for a local development environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/set-up-adc-local-dev-environment).
namespace cbt = ::google::cloud::bigtable;
namespace cbta = ::google::cloud::bigtable_admin;
using ::google::cloud::StreamRange;
[](cbta::BigtableTableAdminClient admin, std::string const& project_id,
std::string const& instance_id) {
std::string instance_name = cbt::InstanceName(project_id, instance_id);
google::bigtable::admin::v2::ListTablesRequest r;
r.set_parent(instance_name);
r.set_view(google::bigtable::admin::v2::Table::NAME_ONLY);
StreamRange tables =
admin.ListTables(std::move(r));
for (auto& table : tables) {
if (!table) throw std::move(table).status();
std::cout << table->name() << "\n";
}
}
### C#
To learn how to install and use the client library for Bigtable, see
[Bigtable client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
To authenticate to Bigtable, set up Application Default Credentials.
For more information, see
[Set up authentication for a local development environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/set-up-adc-local-dev-environment).
// Lists tables in intance.
// Initialize request argument(s).
ListTablesRequest request = new ListTablesRequest
{
ParentAsInstanceName = s_instanceName
};
try
{
// Make the request.
PagedEnumerable response = bigtableTableAdminClient.ListTables(request);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Error listing tables {ex.Message}");
}
### Java
To learn how to install and use the client library for Bigtable, see
[Bigtable client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
To authenticate to Bigtable, set up Application Default Credentials.
For more information, see
[Set up authentication for a local development environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/set-up-adc-local-dev-environment).
// Lists tables in the current instance.
try {
String parent = "projects/" + projectId + "/instances/" + instanceId;
ListTablesRequest request = ListTablesRequest.newBuilder().setParent(parent).build();
for (Table table : adminClient.listTables(request).iterateAll()) {
System.out.println(table.getName());
}
} catch (NotFoundException e) {
System.err.println("Failed to list tables from a non-existent instance: " + e.getMessage());
}
### Node.js
To learn how to install and use the client library for Bigtable, see
[Bigtable client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
To authenticate to Bigtable, set up Application Default Credentials.
For more information, see
[Set up authentication for a local development environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/set-up-adc-local-dev-environment).
// List tables in current project
const [tables] = await adminClient.listTables({parent: instance.name});
tables.forEach(table => {
console.log(table.name);
});
### PHP
To learn how to install and use the client library for Bigtable, see
[Bigtable client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
To authenticate to Bigtable, set up Application Default Credentials.
For more information, see
[Set up authentication for a local development environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/set-up-adc-local-dev-environment).
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\Client\BigtableInstanceAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\Client\BigtableTableAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ListTablesRequest;
/**
* List tables in an instance
*
* @param string $projectId The Google Cloud project ID
* @param string $instanceId The ID of the Bigtable instance
*/
function list_tables(
string $projectId,
string $instanceId
): void {
$instanceAdminClient = new BigtableInstanceAdminClient();
$tableAdminClient = new BigtableTableAdminClient();
$instanceName = $instanceAdminClient->instanceName($projectId, $instanceId);
printf('Listing Tables:' . PHP_EOL);
$listTablesRequest = (new ListTablesRequest())
->setParent($instanceName);
$tables = $tableAdminClient->listTables($listTablesRequest)->iterateAllElements();
$tables = iterator_to_array($tables);
if (empty($tables)) {
print('No table exists.' . PHP_EOL);
return;
}
foreach ($tables as $table) {
print($table->getName() . PHP_EOL);
}
}
### Python
To learn how to install and use the client library for Bigtable, see
[Bigtable client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
To authenticate to Bigtable, set up Application Default Credentials.
For more information, see
[Set up authentication for a local development environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/set-up-adc-local-dev-environment).
tables = instance.list_tables()
print("Listing tables in current project...")
if tables != []:
for tbl in tables:
print(tbl.table_id)
else:
print("No table exists in current project...")
### Ruby
To learn how to install and use the client library for Bigtable, see
[Bigtable client libraries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).
To authenticate to Bigtable, set up Application Default Credentials.
For more information, see
[Set up authentication for a local development environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/set-up-adc-local-dev-environment).
# instance_id = "my-instance"
bigtable.tables(instance_id).all.each do |t|
puts "Table: #{t.name}"
end
## View information about a table
### Console
To view information about a table:
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance. For each
table, the Google Cloud console displays the number of clusters that
the table is stored on, the table's status, storage utilization, and the
identifiers for any current backups of the table. For tables with
[tiered storage](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/tiered-storage)
([Preview](https://cloud.google.com/products#product-launch-stages))
enabled, you can view the SSD storage utilization and the infrequent
access storage utilization.
4. To view column family names for the table, click
. To close the **Edit table**
pane, click **Cancel**.
5. To view additional details about the table, including table-level
metrics and replication state, click the name of the table.
### gcloud
To view information about a table, run the
[`gcloud bigtable instances tables describe`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/describe)
command.
gcloud bigtable instances tables describe TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: a unique ID of the table
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
### cbt
You can use the
`cbt` CLI
to get a list of existing column families
in a table.
To view the column families in a table, run the following command:
cbt ls TABLE_ID
Replace `TABLE_ID` with the unique ID of the table.
## Set garbage collection policies
A [garbage collection](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/garbage-collection) policy tells Bigtable which data
to keep and which data to mark for deletion. You set garbage collection policies
at the column family level when you create the table or later.
When you create a column family, you can specify the number of cells that
you want to retain in every column in that column family. *If you do not
specify* this setting, Bigtable uses one of the following default
settings:
- **If you create the column family with the Cloud Bigtable HBase client for
Java or the HBase shell,** or another tool that uses the HBase client for Java,
Bigtable retains only 1 cell for each row or column intersection in
the column family. This default setting is consistent with HBase.
- **If you create the column family using the Google Cloud console, any other
client library or the
`cbt` CLI**, Bigtable retains an infinite
number of cells in each column.
See [Configure garbage collection policies](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/configuring-garbage-collection) for detailed
instructions on how to view, set, and update garbage collection policies.
## Back up and restore a table
For instructions on how to back up a table and restore from a backup to a new
table, see [Manage backups](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-backups).
If you enable automated backup when you create a table, then you can later
modify the table's automated backup configuration. You can enable or disable
automated backup, configure hot automated backups on SSD instances, change the
retention period to up to 90 days, or, in Enterprise
Plus edition, select the clusters where Bigtable stores backups.
For more information, see [Use automated backup](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/managing-backups#use-automated-backup).
## Enable, disable, or configure a change stream
For instructions on the following tasks, see
[Configure a change stream](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/change-streams-configure).
- Enabling a change stream on an existing table
- Disabling a change stream
- Update the retention period for a change stream
## Delete a table
Deleting a table also deletes all authorized views of the table. If any
authorized views of the table have deletion protection enabled, you can't
delete the table. You also can't delete a table that has a continuous
materialized view based on it.
> [!WARNING]
> **Warning:** When you delete a table, you also delete the data stored in that table.
### Console
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
4. Click for the table that
you want to delete.
5. Click **Delete**.
6. To confirm that you acknowledge that this action will delete the table
from all clusters in the instance and that you have only seven days to
undelete the table, type the table ID in the **Delete table** box.
7. Click **Delete**.
### gcloud
1. To delete tables, run the
[`gcloud bigtable instances tables delete`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/delete)
command.
gcloud bigtable instances tables delete TABLE_ID --instance=INSTANCE_ID
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the unique ID of the table
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
2. In the terminal, enter `y` to confirm table deletion.
### cbt
To delete a table, run the following command:
cbt deletetable TABLE_ID
Replace `TABLE_ID` with the unique ID of the table.
## Undelete a table
If you accidentally delete a table, you can use the gcloud CLI
command [`bigtable instances tables undelete`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/undelete) to *undelete*,
or recover, the table. Don't attempt to recreate the deleted table manually.
To undelete a table, run the following command in the terminal:
gcloud bigtable instances tables undelete TABLE_ID --instance=INSTANCE_ID
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the unique identifier for the table
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
When you undelete a table, Bigtable enables deletion protection for the
table automatically.
The following limitations apply:
- The ability to undelete a table is available for *approximately* seven days from the time of table deletion.
- You can't undelete a table by using the Google Cloud console, the Cloud Bigtable client libraries, or the `cbt` CLI .
- You can't undelete a table from an instance that was deleted.
- You can't undelete a table that had CMEK enabled.
- If you downgraded the instance to the Enterprise edition, you can't undelete a table with microsecond timestamp granularity. To undelete a table, the instance must be in the Enterprise Plus edition.
- When you undelete a table, Bigtable doesn't restore any fine-grained IAM policy bindings to the deleted table.
You can optionally check the status of the `undelete` operation in the
[audit logs](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/audit-logging).
## Modify deletion protection
You can enable or disable deletion protection for a table if you are a principal
in a role that includes the `bigtable.tables.update` permission, such as
`roles/bigtable.admin`. Deletion protection prevents the deletion of the table,
all column families in the table, and the instance that contains the table.
Enabling deletion protection for a table does not enable it for
authorized views of the table. Similarly, disabling a table's deletion
protection does not disable it for authorized views of the table. You must
[update the table's authorized views](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/control-access-with-authorized-views#modify-authorized-view)
separately.
### Console
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
4. Click next to the table
ID.
5. To enable deletion protection, click **Prevent deletion** . To disable
deletion protection, click **Enable deletion**. Only the valid option is
visible.
### gcloud
To enable deletion protection for a table, run the
[`gcloud bigtable instances tables update`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/bigtable/instances/tables/update)
command:
gcloud bigtable instances tables update TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--deletion-protection
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the unique identifier for the table
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
To disable deletion protection for a table, run the following command:
gcloud bigtable instances tables update TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--no-deletion-protection
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the unique identifier for the table
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
### cbt
You are not able to use the
`cbt` CLI
to enable or disable deletion
protection.
## Modify the age threshold of infrequent access storage
> [!WARNING]
>
> **Preview**
>
>
> This product or feature is
>
> subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section
> of the [Service Specific
> Terms](https://docs.cloud.google.com/terms/service-terms#1).
>
> Pre-GA products and features are available "as is" and might have limited support.
>
> For more information, see the
> [launch stage descriptions](https://cloud.google.com/products/#product-launch-stages).
You can modify the age threshold of infrequent access that is part of tiered
storage at any time.
### Console
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
4. Click **Edit** for the table
that you want to modify.
5. In the **Age threshold** field, enter the new number of days after which
Bigtable moves data from the SSD storage to the infrequent
access storage. The number must be 30 or greater.
### gcloud
To modify the age threshold of infrequent access storage, run the
[`gcloud beta bigtable instances tables update`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/beta/bigtable/instances/tables/update)
command with the `--tiered-storage-infrequent-access-older-than` flag:
gcloud beta bigtable instances tables update TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--tiered-storage-infrequent-access-older-than=AGE_THRESHOLD
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the ID for the table that you want to update
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
- `PROJECT_ID`: the project that contains the table that you want to update
- `AGE_THRESHOLD`: the age threshold, which must be at least 30 days. Acceptable units are days (`d`), hours (`h`), minutes (`m`), and seconds (`s`)---for example, from `32d` previously to `33d`.
## Disable infrequent access storage
> [!WARNING]
>
> **Preview**
>
>
> This product or feature is
>
> subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section
> of the [Service Specific
> Terms](https://docs.cloud.google.com/terms/service-terms#1).
>
> Pre-GA products and features are available "as is" and might have limited support.
>
> For more information, see the
> [launch stage descriptions](https://cloud.google.com/products/#product-launch-stages).
You can disable the infrequent access of tiered storage at any time. As
a result, Bigtable moves all data in infrequent access storage to
SSD storage. Before you disable infrequent access storage, make sure that you
understand the [cost implications](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/tiered-storage#costs).
### Console
1.
In the Google Cloud console, open the list of Bigtable instances.
[Open the instance list](https://console.cloud.google.com/bigtable/instances)
2. Click the instance whose tables you want to view.
3. Click **Tables** in the left pane.
The **Tables** page displays a list of tables in the instance.
4. Click **Edit** for the table
that you want to modify.
5. Clear the **Enable tiered storage** checkbox.
6. Click **Save**.
### gcloud
To disable infrequent access storage, use the
[`gcloud beta bigtable instances tables update`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/beta/bigtable/instances/tables/update)
command with the `--clear-tiered-storage-config` flag:
gcloud beta bigtable instances tables update TABLE_ID \
--instance=INSTANCE_ID \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--clear-tiered-storage-config
Replace the following:
- `TABLE_ID`: the ID for the table that you want to update
- `INSTANCE_ID`: the ID of the instance
- `PROJECT_ID`: the project that contains the table that you want to update
## What's next
- Learn how to [import and export data](https://docs.cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/import-export) into and from your table.