Google Cloud recommendations
Google Cloud's cost recommendations, such as idle VMs and committed use discounts, appear in Cost
Savings after you export them to BigQuery. CloudYali reads them from the recommendations_export
table in the same dataset as your billing export, with the service account you already connected.
Before you start
- Connect Google Cloud first: Connect Google Cloud.
- To create the export, you need the Recommendations Exporter role on the organization and the BigQuery Admin role on the project that holds the billing dataset.
What CloudYali can read
| Data | Role | Why CloudYali needs it |
|---|---|---|
The recommendations_export table | BigQuery Data Viewer, which the service account already has on the dataset | Recommendations whose main impact is cost |
CloudYali reads only cost recommendations. Security, performance and reliability recommendations in the same table are left out.
Export recommendations to BigQuery
- In Google Cloud, open BigQuery → Data transfers in the project that holds the billing dataset.
- Select Create transfer, and choose Recommender as the source.
- Enter your organization ID.
- Choose the billing export's dataset, for example
billing_data, as the destination. - Select Save.
Google's guide, Export recommendations to BigQuery,
covers the options. The first export creates the recommendations_export table within a day.
Check that it worked
After the table appears, CloudYali reads it with the next daily cost sync. The first read covers the last 30 days of recommendations. They appear in Cost Savings with Google Cloud as the provider.
Replace a key or disconnect
The export uses the connected service account, so there is no separate key. To stop it, delete the transfer in BigQuery → Data transfers.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No Google Cloud recommendations in Cost Savings | The recommendations_export table is in a different dataset | Point the transfer at the billing export's dataset |
| The transfer fails to create | Missing the Recommendations Exporter or BigQuery Admin role | Ask your organization admin to grant them |
| Only some recommendations appear | CloudYali reads cost recommendations only | Use Google Cloud's Recommendation Hub for the other categories |