Refer to this guide to learn how to create a Virtua Machine in GCP\
<https://scribehow.com/shared/Creating_your_first_Virtual_Machine_in_GCP__dF2VjMksT5en6PowYws7lQ>

Refer to this guide to learn how to Play with  Static IP Address \
<https://scribehow.com/shared/Playing_with_a_Static_IP_Addresses_V2__MvOVvjquTJqwBT1pmXmdwA>

Sign in into the **Google Cloud Platform**

Type "**Compute Engine**" in the search bar and click on the **Compute Engine** option

**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.

To delete a VM instance, select the **my-first-vm** Instance

Click on the **DELETE** button on the top right side

**Delete my-first-vm** wizard will open, click on the **DELETE** button

On the top right corner click on the **Notifications** icon, here you can see that the instance is successfully deleted

Congratulations you have successfully deleted VM instance "**my-first-vm**"

To release a **Static External IP** **address**, type "**IP addresses**" in the search bar and click on the **IP addresses** option

**What is an IP address?**\
\
An IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication, enabling devices to identify and locate each other on the network.

**IP addresses** wizard will open, select the Name **my-first-static-ip-address**

**Why the Static External IP is still visible even after deleting the VM?**\
\
In Google Cloud Platform (GCP), a static external IP address remains visible and reserved even after deleting the VM it was associated with because static IPs are separate resources that need to be explicitly released. This allows you to reassign the static IP to another resource or VM if needed. To fully remove it, you must manually release the static IP address from the GCP console or via the command line.

Click on the **RELEASE STATIC ADDRESS** button on the top right side

**Release my-first-static-ip-address** wizard will open, click on the **RELEASE** button

On the top right corner click on the **Notifications** icon, here you can see that the Static IP address is successfully deleted 

Congratulations on completing this lab and Understanding Static IP Address in Google Cloud Platform

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Understanding Static IP Address in GCP - Google Cloud Platform