diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/builder.go b/builder/googlecompute/builder.go
index 6ac294d6a..6cd72ba11 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/builder.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/builder.go
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 package googlecompute
 
 import (
-	"log"
-	"time"
-
+	"fmt"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"log"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // The unique ID for this builder.
@@ -49,9 +49,16 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 
 	// Build the steps.
 	steps := []multistep.Step{
-		new(StepCreateSSHKey),
-		new(StepCreateInstance),
-		new(StepInstanceInfo),
+		&StepCreateSSHKey{
+			Debug:        b.config.PackerDebug,
+			DebugKeyPath: fmt.Sprintf("gce_%s.pem", b.config.PackerBuildName),
+		},
+		&StepCreateInstance{
+			Debug: b.config.PackerDebug,
+		},
+		&StepInstanceInfo{
+			Debug: b.config.PackerDebug,
+		},
 		&common.StepConnectSSH{
 			SSHAddress:     sshAddress,
 			SSHConfig:      sshConfig,
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
index dcc8e88f7..3cc1ec528 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 // StepCreateInstance represents a Packer build step that creates GCE instances.
 type StepCreateInstance struct {
 	instanceName string
+	Debug        bool
 }
 
 // Run executes the Packer build step that creates a GCE instance.
@@ -56,6 +57,12 @@ func (s *StepCreateInstance) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction
 
 	ui.Message("Instance has been created!")
 
+	if s.Debug {
+		if name != "" {
+			ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Instance: %s started in %s", name, config.Zone))
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Things succeeded, store the name so we can remove it later
 	state.Put("instance_name", name)
 	s.instanceName = name
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go
index 814d5bf04..146f607bc 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go
@@ -1,19 +1,23 @@
 package googlecompute
 
 import (
+	"code.google.com/p/go.crypto/ssh"
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"crypto/rsa"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"encoding/pem"
 	"fmt"
-
-	"code.google.com/p/go.crypto/ssh"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"os"
 )
 
 // StepCreateSSHKey represents a Packer build step that generates SSH key pairs.
-type StepCreateSSHKey int
+type StepCreateSSHKey struct {
+	key          int
+	Debug        bool
+	DebugKeyPath string
+}
 
 // Run executes the Packer build step that generates SSH key pairs.
 func (s *StepCreateSSHKey) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
@@ -41,9 +45,20 @@ func (s *StepCreateSSHKey) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 		ui.Error(err.Error())
 		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
-
 	state.Put("ssh_private_key", string(pem.EncodeToMemory(&priv_blk)))
 	state.Put("ssh_public_key", string(ssh.MarshalAuthorizedKey(pub)))
+
+	if s.Debug {
+		ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Saving key for debug purposes: %s", s.DebugKeyPath))
+		f, err := os.OpenFile(s.DebugKeyPath, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0600)
+		if err != nil {
+			state.Put("error", fmt.Errorf("Error saving debug key: %s", err))
+			return multistep.ActionHalt
+		}
+		// Write out the key
+		pem.Encode(f, &priv_blk)
+		f.Close()
+	}
 	return multistep.ActionContinue
 }
 
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_instance_info.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_instance_info.go
index 0f87077fd..dbe02342d 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_instance_info.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_instance_info.go
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 // stepInstanceInfo represents a Packer build step that gathers GCE instance info.
-type StepInstanceInfo int
+type StepInstanceInfo struct {
+	info  int
+	Debug bool
+}
 
 // Run executes the Packer build step that gathers GCE instance info.
 func (s *StepInstanceInfo) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
@@ -44,6 +47,12 @@ func (s *StepInstanceInfo) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
 
+	if s.Debug {
+		if ip != "" {
+			ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Public IP: %s", ip))
+		}
+	}
+
 	ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("IP: %s", ip))
 	state.Put("instance_ip", ip)
 	return multistep.ActionContinue