$ gcloud init
WARNING: Could not setup log file in /home/johndoe/.config/gcloud/logs, (IOError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: ‘/home/johndoe/.config/gcloud/logs/2016.10.07/13.02.53.410759.log’)
Welcome! This command will take you through the configuration of gcloud.
ERROR: (gcloud.init) Failed to create the default configuration. Ensure your have the correct permissions on: [/home/johndoe/.config/gcloud/configurations]. Could not create directory [/home/johndoe/.config/gcloud/configurations]: Permission denied.
Please verify that you have permissions to write to the parent directory.
The following change helped resolve the error:
sudo chown johndoe -R /home/johndoe/.config/gcloud
Replace “johndoe” with the relevant username under which you are accessing the folder gcloud.