Creating your first Virtual Machine in GCP

This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to create your first virtual machine in Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Hafeez Baig
31 steps
4 minutes

Google Cloud

Refer to this guide to learn how to create a Google Cloud Platform Account\ <https://scribehow.com/shared/Creating_GCP__Google_Cloud_Platform__kcxx4ZDuTuOqMhoAaqBzHQ>

Search for **Google Cloud** in any browser Click on the first link with the domain address - [cloud.google.com](//aws.amazon.com/console)

On the landing page click on the **Console** button on the top right side **Note:** If you can't find the **console** button, you need to be signed in. It will prompt you to sign in with your Google account.

**Welcome** wizard will open, then type "**Compute Engine**" in the search bar and click on the **Compute Engine** option

**What is 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.

**VM instances** wizard will open. If you do not have a project click the "**CREATE PROJECT**" button on the right side to create a new one

**New Project** wizard will open, give the Project name as - "**in28minutes project**" and click on the **CREATE** button

On the top right corner click on the **Notifications** icon, here you can see that the Project "**in28minutes project**" has been created

**Compute Engine API** wizard will open, click on the **ENABLE** button

**What is Compute Engine API ?**\ \ The Compute Engine API is a RESTful interface provided by Google Cloud Platform that allows users to programmatically manage and control their virtual machines, networks, and other resources within Google Compute Engine.

**Overview** wizard will open, click on the **CREATE INSTANCE** button on the top left to create a new instance

**What is an Instance?**\ \ An instance is a virtual machine (VM) running on Google Cloud Platform's Compute Engine, providing the necessary resources and environment to run applications and workloads.

**Create an instance** wizard will open, give the Name as - **my-first-vm**

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)**.

Scroll to the **Machine configuration** section, click on the **General purpose** option

**What are General purpose Machines?**\ \ General purpose machines in Google Cloud Platform are VM instances optimized for a balanced mix of compute, memory, and network resources, suitable for a wide variety of workloads such as web servers, applications, and development environments.

Click on the **Compute optimized** option to view compute optimized machines for VM

**What are Compute optimized Machines?** \ \ Compute optimized machines in Google Cloud Platform are VM instances designed for high-performance computing tasks that require significant computational power, such as scientific simulations, machine learning, and data analysis.

Click on the **Memory optimized** option to view Memory optimized machines for VM

**What are Memory optimized Machines?**\ \ Memory optimized machines in Google Cloud Platform are VM instances optimized for workloads that require a large amount of memory relative to CPU, such as in-memory databases, real-time analytics, and high-performance computing applications that manipulate large data sets in memory.

Click on the **Storage optimized** option to view storage optimized machines for VM

**What are Storage optimized Machines?**\ \ Storage optimized machines in Google Cloud Platform are VM instances designed for workloads that require high disk throughput and storage capacity, such as databases, data warehousing, and big data processing tasks that rely heavily on local disk performance.

Click on the **GPUs** option to view the GPU machines for VM

**What are GPUs ?**\ \ GPUs, or Graphics Processing Units, are specialized hardware accelerators used to enhance the performance of compute-intensive tasks, particularly those involving parallel processing. In the context of Google Cloud Platform (GCP), GPUs are available as virtual machine instances within Compute Engine and are used for tasks such as machine learning, scientific simulations, video transcoding, and more. They excel at handling large volumes of data and performing complex calculations efficiently.

For this demo, we will choose the **General Purpose** option. Then, select the Series **E2**.

**What is E2 in General Purpose Machine?**\ \ E2 instances in Google Cloud Platform's Compute Engine are part of the general-purpose machine family optimized for cost-effective performance. They offer a balanced mix of CPU and memory resources suitable for a wide range of applications, from web servers to enterprise applications, providing flexibility and cost efficiency.

Scroll to the **Provisioning model** section and click on the **VM provisioning model** dropdown and select the option **Standard**

Scroll and click on the **VM provisioning model advanced settings** dropdown

Scroll to the **On host maintenence** dropdown section and select the option **Migrate VM instance (recommended)** option

**What is Migrate VM instance option?**\ \ This option allows GCP to automatically migrate your VM instance to another host without shutting it down. This ensures continuous availability of your application during maintenance activities.\ \ \ **What is the Terminate VM instance option?**\ \ This option involves stopping and then restarting your VM instance on a new host after the maintenance is complete. It requires your application to handle the downtime and potential data loss if the instance is not set up for automatic restart.

Navigate to the **OS and Storage** section by selecting it from the left-hand sidebar.

In the **Operating System and storage** section, you can view the Boot disk for your VM instance. Click on the **CHANGE** button to modify your Boot disk

**What are Boot Disks?**\ \ Boot disks in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are virtual disks attached to virtual machine (VM) instances that contain the operating system and boot files necessary to start and run the instance. They provide the initial software environment required for the VM to boot up and operate normally.

On the right side **Boot disk** wizard will open, here you can modify the **Operating system**, **Version**, **Boot disk type** and **Size** for your VM instance. Then click on the **SELECT** button.

Click on **Networking** from the left-hand panel to navigate to the section.

Scroll to the **Firewall** section and tick the checkbox of the option **Allow HTTP traffic**

**What is Firewall?**\ \ A firewall is a network security system, either hardware- or software-based, that controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. In the context of Google Cloud Platform (GCP), firewall rules define the allowed connections to and from VM instances, providing a layer of protection by filtering traffic based on IP addresses, protocols, and ports. This helps prevent unauthorized access and ensures network security within GCP environments.\ \ \ **What is the Allow HTTP Traffic option?**\ \ The "Allow HTTP Traffic" option in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) refers to a firewall rule set that permits incoming HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) traffic to specified resources, typically virtual machine instances. Enabling this option allows these instances to receive and respond to HTTP requests, facilitating web server functionality and web application hosting within GCP environments.

On the right side you can view **Monthly estimate** based on your VM configurations. **Note:** This estimate assumes you run the instance for the entire month. However, if you stop the instance after using it, Google Cloud won't charge you for the downtime. Therefore, the best practice is to stop or terminate the instance once you are done using it.

In the left-hand panel, click on **Advanced** to open the section. Then, click on the **MANAGE TABS AND LABELS** dropdown to expand it.

Click on the **MANAGE LABELS** button to add a new Label

**What are Labels in GCP?**\ \ Labels in GCP are key-value pairs that help organize, manage, and filter resources for purposes such as billing, administration, and automation.

On the right side **Manage labels** wizard will open, click on the **ADD LABEL** button.

Here, you can add a new Label, give **key 1** as **"environment"** and **Value 1** as **"dev"** and click on the **SAVE** button.

Scroll the page and click on the **CREATE** button **Note:** Creating a VM instance takes some time, and it will become visible on the VM instance dashboard once it is ready.

The VM instance named **my-first-vm** has been created, and you should see it listed on the screen.

Congratulations on completing this lab and Creating your first Virtual Machine in Google Cloud Platform! Good Job!