Using Bootstrap Scripts in Google Compute Engine

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Using Bootstrap Scripts in Google Compute Engine

If you've ever had to set up more than one server, you know how tedious and error-prone running commands on several servers in a row can be. In this lab, we automate the basic set up of a new server in Google Compute Engine using bootstrap scripts. To start, we deploy a simple bootstrap script, then use the bootstrap script stored in Cloud Storage that references the Compute Engine metadata server.

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Lab Info

Level

Beginner

Last updated

Sep 23, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Deploy Apache with a Startup Script
1. Create a new VM instance with the following settings:
  
  Machine type: e2-small
  
  Firewall: Set to Allow HTTP traffic
2. Add a startup script to the instance configuration using the provided code:
  #! /bin/bash apt update apt -y install apache2 cat <<EOF > /var/www/html/index.html <html><body><h1>Hello Cloud Gurus</h1> <p>This page was created from a startup script.</p> </body></html> EOF
3. Use the generated external IP to view the web page created by your startup script.
Challenge

Deploy a Startup Script from a Cloud Storage Bucket
1. In the GCP console, create a unique bucket name to store a startup script. For example, use the last 8 digits of the project name to create a name like 836bd4db-scripts.
2. Create the startup.sh file on your local computer using the provided code:
  #! /bin/bash apt update apt -y install apache2 ZONE=`curl -fs http://metadata/computeMetadata/v1/instance/zone -H "Metadata-Flavor: Google" | cut -d'/' -f4` cat <<EOF > /var/www/html/index.html <html><body><h1>Hello Cloud Gurus</h1> <p>This server is serving from ${ZONE}.</p> </body></html> EOF
3. Upload the file to your storage bucket and copu the URI of the object location.
4. Create a new VM with the following settings:
  
  Machine type: e2-small
  
  Firewall: Set to Allow HTTP traffic
5. In the Metadata section, set the following as:
  
  Key: startup-script-url
  
  Value: Startup script URI
6. Use the generated external IP to view the web page created by your startup script.

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