Problem scenario
You want to create a server in Google Cloud Platform using an API or command line. How do you do this?
Solution
1. Log into Google Cloud Platform.
2. Click the hamburger icon in the upper left hand corner (the icon with three horizontal bars stacked onto each other).
3. Go to Compute Engine -> VM Instances
4. Click "Create Instance"
5. Fill out the options you want. Under "Boot disk" click "Change." Remember that Windows Core has no GUI desktop. It is a command line version of Windows (with just a character prompt). For a more traditional Windows server, you may want to use the Windows Server 2016 with the Desktop Experience.
6. Beneath the "Create" button look for text that says "Equivalent REST or command line". Click the "REST" or "command line" hyperlink. For "REST" you will be given a REST request with JSON parameters. You can modify these parameters as you see fit when you go to run the command. For the "command line" option you will be given a "gcloud command line with parameters." You can modify these parameters as you see fit when you go to run the command.
7. Optional step: Click Create. (This creates the VM using GUI operations.)