diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 7284f9f7bf..192d17db92 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ ci:
 repos:
   # general
   - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
-    rev: v4.4.0
+    rev: v4.5.0
     hooks:
       - id: end-of-file-fixer
         exclude: "^docs-sphinx/cli.html"
@@ -53,13 +53,13 @@ repos:
 
   # python
   - repo: https://github.com/psf/black
-    rev: 23.9.1
+    rev: 23.10.1
     hooks:
       - id: black
         args: ["--line-length=88", "--exclude=/src/_nebari/template/"]
 
   - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
-    rev: v0.0.292
+    rev: v0.1.4
     hooks:
       - id: ruff
         args: ["--fix"]
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ repos:
 
   # terraform
   - repo: https://github.com/antonbabenko/pre-commit-terraform
-    rev: v1.83.4
+    rev: v1.83.5
     hooks:
       - id: terraform_fmt
         args:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 09f5d0b756..29721f918f 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "rich==13.5.1",
     "ruamel.yaml==0.17.32",
     "typer==0.9.0",
+    "packaging==23.2",
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
diff --git a/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py b/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py
index 561c0a2ff9..010ec1c2c3 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import json
 import os
 import subprocess
-from typing import Dict, List
+from typing import Dict, List, Set
 
 from _nebari import constants
 from _nebari.provider.cloud.commons import filter_by_highest_supported_k8s_version
@@ -33,14 +33,14 @@ def projects() -> Dict[str, str]:
 
 
 @functools.lru_cache()
-def regions(project: str) -> Dict[str, str]:
-    """Return a dict of available regions."""
+def regions() -> Set[str]:
+    """Return a set of available regions."""
     check_credentials()
     output = subprocess.check_output(
-        ["gcloud", "compute", "regions", "list", "--project", project, "--format=json"]
+        ["gcloud", "compute", "regions", "list", "--format=json(name)"]
     )
-    data = json.loads(output.decode("utf-8"))
-    return {_["description"]: _["name"] for _ in data}
+    data = json.loads(output)
+    return {_["name"] for _ in data}
 
 
 @functools.lru_cache()
@@ -92,6 +92,22 @@ def instances(project: str) -> Dict[str, str]:
     return {_["description"]: _["name"] for _ in data}
 
 
+def activated_services() -> Set[str]:
+    """Return a list of activated services."""
+    check_credentials()
+    output = subprocess.check_output(
+        [
+            "gcloud",
+            "services",
+            "list",
+            "--enabled",
+            "--format=json(config.title)",
+        ]
+    )
+    data = json.loads(output)
+    return {service["config"]["title"] for service in data}
+
+
 def cluster_exists(cluster_name: str, project_id: str, region: str) -> bool:
     """Check if a GKE cluster exists."""
     try:
@@ -253,6 +269,26 @@ def gcp_cleanup(config: schema.Main):
     delete_service_account(service_account_name, project_id)
 
 
+def check_missing_service() -> None:
+    """Check if all required services are activated."""
+    required = {
+        "Compute Engine API",
+        "Kubernetes Engine API",
+        "Cloud Monitoring API",
+        "Cloud Autoscaling API",
+        "Identity and Access Management (IAM) API",
+        "Cloud Resource Manager API",
+    }
+    activated = activated_services()
+    common = required.intersection(activated)
+    missing = required.difference(common)
+    if missing:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"""Missing required services: {missing}\n
+            Please see the documentation for more information: {constants.GCP_ENV_DOCS}"""
+        )
+
+
 # Getting pricing data could come from here
 # https://cloudpricingcalculator.appspot.com/static/data/pricelist.json
 
@@ -260,9 +296,9 @@ def gcp_cleanup(config: schema.Main):
 ### PYDANTIC VALIDATORS ###
 
 
-def validate_region(project_id: str, region: str) -> str:
+def validate_region(region: str) -> str:
     """Validate the GCP region is valid."""
-    available_regions = regions(project_id)
+    available_regions = regions()
     if region not in available_regions:
         raise ValueError(
             f"Region {region} is not one of available regions {available_regions}"
diff --git a/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py b/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py
index e7c79aee88..7e0427511d 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ def check_cloud_provider_region(region: str, cloud_provider: str) -> str:
         if not region:
             region = GCP_DEFAULT_REGION
             rich.print(DEFAULT_REGION_MSG.format(region=region))
-        if region not in google_cloud.regions(os.environ["PROJECT_ID"]):
+        if region not in google_cloud.regions():
             raise ValueError(
                 f"Invalid region `{region}`. Please refer to the GCP docs for a list of valid regions: {GCP_REGIONS}"
             )
diff --git a/src/_nebari/upgrade.py b/src/_nebari/upgrade.py
index 4cf276dc26..896fab7236 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/upgrade.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/upgrade.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import string
 from abc import ABC
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any, ClassVar, Dict
 
 import rich
 from pydantic import ValidationError
@@ -80,17 +81,29 @@ def do_upgrade(config_filename, attempt_fixes=False):
 
 
 class UpgradeStep(ABC):
-    _steps = {}
-
-    version = ""  # Each subclass must have a version - these should be full release versions (not dev/prerelease)
+    _steps: ClassVar[Dict[str, Any]] = {}
+    version: ClassVar[str] = ""
 
     def __init_subclass__(cls):
-        assert cls.version != ""
+        try:
+            parsed_version = Version(cls.version)
+        except ValueError as exc:
+            raise ValueError(f"Invalid version string {cls.version}") from exc
+
+        cls.parsed_version = parsed_version
+        assert (
+            rounded_ver_parse(cls.version) == parsed_version
+        ), f"Invalid version {cls.version}: must be a full release version, not a dev/prerelease/postrelease version"
         assert (
             cls.version not in cls._steps
-        )  # Would mean multiple upgrades for the same step
+        ), f"Duplicate UpgradeStep version {cls.version}"
         cls._steps[cls.version] = cls
 
+    @classmethod
+    def clear_steps_registry(cls):
+        """Clears the steps registry. Useful for testing."""
+        cls._steps.clear()
+
     @classmethod
     def has_step(cls, version):
         return version in cls._steps
@@ -157,9 +170,7 @@ def upgrade_step(self, config, start_version, config_filename, *args, **kwargs):
         for any actions that are only required for the particular upgrade you are creating.
         """
         finish_version = self.get_version()
-        __rounded_finish_version__ = ".".join(
-            [str(c) for c in rounded_ver_parse(finish_version)]
-        )
+        __rounded_finish_version__ = str(rounded_ver_parse(finish_version))
         rich.print(
             f"\n---> Starting upgrade from [green]{start_version or 'old version'}[/green] to [green]{finish_version}[/green]\n"
         )
@@ -636,7 +647,7 @@ def _version_specific_upgrade(
         return config
 
 
-__rounded_version__ = ".".join([str(c) for c in rounded_ver_parse(__version__)])
+__rounded_version__ = str(rounded_ver_parse(__version__))
 
 # Manually-added upgrade steps must go above this line
 if not UpgradeStep.has_step(__rounded_version__):
diff --git a/src/_nebari/version.py b/src/_nebari/version.py
index 7af6817cbe..fcfa649cec 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/version.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/version.py
@@ -1,26 +1,25 @@
 """a backport for the nebari version references."""
 
-import re
 from importlib.metadata import distribution
 
+from packaging.version import Version
+
 __version__ = distribution("nebari").version
 
 
-def rounded_ver_parse(versionstr):
+def rounded_ver_parse(version: str) -> Version:
     """
-    Take a package version string and return an int tuple of only (major,minor,patch),
-    ignoring and post/dev etc.
+    Rounds a version string to the nearest patch version.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    version : str
+        A version string.
 
-    So:
-    rounded_ver_parse("0.1.2") returns (0,1,2)
-    rounded_ver_parse("0.1.2.dev65+g2de53174") returns (0,1,2)
-    rounded_ver_parse("0.1") returns (0,1,0)
+    Returns
+    -------
+    packaging.version.Version
+        A version object.
     """
-    m = re.match(
-        "^(?P<major>[0-9]+)(\\.(?P<minor>[0-9]+)(\\.(?P<patch>[0-9]+))?)?", versionstr
-    )
-    assert m is not None
-    major = int(m.group("major") or 0)
-    minor = int(m.group("minor") or 0)
-    patch = int(m.group("patch") or 0)
-    return (major, minor, patch)
+    base_version = Version(version).base_version
+    return Version(base_version)
diff --git a/tests/tests_unit/conftest.py b/tests/tests_unit/conftest.py
index 4c1ed02bfe..9840fad7be 100644
--- a/tests/tests_unit/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/tests_unit/conftest.py
@@ -151,6 +151,18 @@ def nebari_render(nebari_config, nebari_stages, tmp_path):
     return tmp_path, config_filename
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def new_upgrade_cls():
+    from _nebari.upgrade import UpgradeStep
+
+    assert UpgradeStep._steps
+    steps_cache = UpgradeStep._steps.copy()
+    UpgradeStep.clear_steps_registry()
+    assert not UpgradeStep._steps
+    yield UpgradeStep
+    UpgradeStep._steps = steps_cache
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def config_schema():
     return nebari_plugin_manager.config_schema
diff --git a/tests/tests_unit/test_provider.py b/tests/tests_unit/test_provider.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3c4f35a1d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/tests_unit/test_provider.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+from contextlib import nullcontext
+
+import pytest
+
+from _nebari.provider.cloud.google_cloud import check_missing_service
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "activated_services, exception",
+    [
+        (
+            {
+                "Compute Engine API",
+                "Kubernetes Engine API",
+                "Cloud Monitoring API",
+                "Cloud Autoscaling API",
+                "Identity and Access Management (IAM) API",
+                "Cloud Resource Manager API",
+            },
+            nullcontext(),
+        ),
+        (
+            {
+                "Compute Engine API",
+                "Kubernetes Engine API",
+                "Cloud Monitoring API",
+                "Cloud Autoscaling API",
+                "Identity and Access Management (IAM) API",
+                "Cloud Resource Manager API",
+                "Cloud SQL Admin API",
+            },
+            nullcontext(),
+        ),
+        (
+            {
+                "Compute Engine API",
+                "Kubernetes Engine API",
+                "Cloud Monitoring API",
+                "Cloud Autoscaling API",
+                "Cloud SQL Admin API",
+            },
+            pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Missing required services:.*"),
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_gcp_missing_service(monkeypatch, activated_services, exception):
+    def mock_return():
+        return activated_services
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "_nebari.provider.cloud.google_cloud.activated_services", mock_return
+    )
+    with exception:
+        check_missing_service()
diff --git a/tests/tests_unit/test_upgrade.py b/tests/tests_unit/test_upgrade.py
index 0946dcd99d..4871a1fe07 100644
--- a/tests/tests_unit/test_upgrade.py
+++ b/tests/tests_unit/test_upgrade.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from contextlib import nullcontext
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ def test_upgrade_4_0(
     assert not hasattr(config.security, "users")
     assert not hasattr(config.security, "groups")
 
-    __rounded_version__ = ".".join([str(c) for c in rounded_ver_parse(__version__)])
+    __rounded_version__ = rounded_ver_parse(__version__)
 
     # Check image versions have been bumped up
     assert (
@@ -99,3 +100,49 @@ def test_upgrade_4_0(
     tmp_qhub_config_backup = Path(tmp_path, f"{old_qhub_config_path.name}.old.backup")
 
     assert orig_contents == tmp_qhub_config_backup.read_text()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "version_str, exception",
+    [
+        ("1.0.0", nullcontext()),
+        ("1.cool.0", pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Invalid version string .*")),
+        ("0,1.0", pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Invalid version string .*")),
+        ("", pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Invalid version string .*")),
+        (
+            "1.0.0-rc1",
+            pytest.raises(
+                AssertionError,
+                match=r"Invalid version .*: must be a full release version, not a dev/prerelease/postrelease version",
+            ),
+        ),
+        (
+            "1.0.0dev1",
+            pytest.raises(
+                AssertionError,
+                match=r"Invalid version .*: must be a full release version, not a dev/prerelease/postrelease version",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_version_string(new_upgrade_cls, version_str, exception):
+    with exception:
+
+        class DummyUpgrade(new_upgrade_cls):
+            version = version_str
+
+
+def test_duplicated_version(new_upgrade_cls):
+    duplicated_version = "1.2.3"
+    with pytest.raises(
+        AssertionError, match=rf"Duplicate UpgradeStep version {duplicated_version}"
+    ):
+
+        class DummyUpgrade(new_upgrade_cls):
+            version = duplicated_version
+
+        class DummyUpgrade2(new_upgrade_cls):
+            version = duplicated_version
+
+        class DummyUpgrade3(new_upgrade_cls):
+            version = "1.2.4"