Simplifying Web Server setup with Compute Engine Startup Script V2 | Scribe

Simplifying Web Server setup with Compute Engine Startup Script V2

  • Hafeez Baig |
  • 12 steps |
  • 2 minutes
  • Google CloudGoogle Cloud
1
Sign in into the **Google Cloud Platform**
2
Type "**Compute Engine**" in the search bar and click on the **Compute Engine** option
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**What is a Compute Engine?** Google Compute Engine (GCE) is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering from Google Cloud Platform (GCP) that allows users to run virtual machines (VMs) on Google's infrastructure. It provides scalable and flexible computing resources, high-performance persistent storage, advanced networking capabilities, and integration with other GCP services, making it suitable for a variety of workloads including web hosting, data processing, and high-performance computing.
3
**VM instances** wizard will open, click on the **CREATE INSTANCE** button on the top left side
4
**Create an instance** wizard will open, give the mame as - **my-vm-with-startup-script**
5
In the **Regions** and **Zone** dropdown, you can select the region closest to you **Note:** For this demo, we will be selecting the region **us-central1 (Iowa)**.
6
Navigate to the **Networking** section by selecting it from the left-hand sidebar.
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Scroll to the **Firewall** section and select the option **Allow HTTP traffic**
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**What is the Allow HTTP traffic option?**\ \ The "Allow HTTP traffic" option in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a firewall setting for virtual machine instances. When enabled, it creates a firewall rule that permits incoming HTTP traffic (port 80) to the VM, allowing web servers hosted on the VM to be accessible via the HTTP protocol.
8
In the left-hand panel, click on **Advanced** to navigate to the section.
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Scroll to the **Automation** section and type the below script.\ \ #!/bin/bash\ apt update\ apt -y install apache2\ echo "Hello World from $(hostname) $(hostname -i)" > /var/www/html/index.html
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**What is start script - automation?**\ \ A start script in automation is a predefined set of commands or a script that runs automatically when a system or application starts. It automates initial setup tasks, configuration, and other necessary processes to ensure the environment is ready for use.
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The Automation script performs the following tasks: 1. `#!/bin/bash`: Specifies that the script should be run in the Bash shell. 2. `apt update`: Updates the package list on the system to ensure you have the latest information on available packages. 3. `apt -y install apache2`: Installs the Apache2 web server without prompting for confirmation, making the process non-interactive. 4. `echo "Hello World from $(hostname) $(hostname -i)" > /var/www/html/index.html`: Creates a "Hello World" web page that includes the hostname and IP address of the machine, and writes it to the default web directory. **In summary**, this script ensures your package list is up-to-date, installs the Apache2 web server, and customizes the default web page to display a "Hello World" message along with the machine's hostname and IP address.
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Scroll down the page and click on the **CREATE** button.
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Congratulations you have successfully created a VM instance with the Web Server installed in it with advance automation script
11
Click on the **External IP** of the VM to open it, or copy and paste it into your browser.
12
**Hello World from my-vm-with-startup-script 10.128.0.3** will be displayed on the page.
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Congratulations on completing this lab and Simplifying the Web Server setup with Compute Engine Startup Script V2 in the Google Cloud Platform