Using your own Google Cloud account

Host your own grid nodes on Google Cloud

Create a Google Cloud account

To run load tests on Google Cloud, you will need a Google Cloud account.

If you don't already have one, Google offers a free 365-day trial period with $300 of free credits to all new account holders. Go to this page to sign up for a free trial.

You’ll need to supply a valid credit card. While Google will not charge for a trial account, they still need a card to verify your identity.

Download the Flatcar OS image

To start a grid hosted on Google Cloud, you also need an OS image set up your cloud account. Flood uses Flatcar, which can be downloaded here. Save the image to your local drive to use in the later steps.

Create a Google Cloud bucket

From the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) console, search for "bucket", and then select Create bucket.

Enter the name of the bucket (choose something unique), leave the other fields as default (or modify them if you want to), and then click on the CREATE button at the bottom of the screen.

In the newly created bucket, you'll find the button "Upload file". Select the previously downloaded Flatcar image, and then upload it.

If you get a "Upload cannot be completed" error on this step, you may be experiencing this Google Cloud Storage bug. If so, hard refresh the page (Command Shift R on macOS or Ctrl F5 on Windows) and try again.

Create a Compute Engine image

Search for "image" in the search bar, then select "Images" under Compute Engine.

Click on Create Image button.

Name the image flatcar-stable (required), select "Cloud Storage file" under Source dropdown, and then browse for the Flatcar image that you have uploaded before. Leave the other fields as default, and then click on CREATE button at the bottom.

Enable Cloud Deployment Manager V2 API

Search for and click on "Cloud Deployment Manager V2 API".

Click "Enable".

Get your Service Account Key

Search for "service account", then select Service Accounts under IAM & Admin.

Use your default Service Account, or create a new one if you want to.

Default Service Account

Your default Service Account is often the first one on the top of the table.

Create a custom Service Account

If you want to create a new Service Account, just click on the CREATE SERVICE ACCOUNT button

Enter the required information, then click on CREATE button

On the next screen, click on the dropdown "Select a role", then select "Compute Instance Admin (v1)" under "Compute Engine"

Next, click on ADD ANOTHER ROLE button, then select "Deployment Manager Editor" under "Deployment Manager".

Click on CONTINUE button on this screen, then DONE button on the next screen to finish creating a new Service Account.

Select a service account to open it. Click on the EDIT button, then scroll down to find the Create Key button.

Select JSON for the key type, and then click on CREATE button. You'll be prompted with a download popup. Save the key to your local drive for later use.

Set up Flood to use your GCP account

Log in to your Flood account, navigate to the Integrations page (note that this page is only available to the Account Owner), expand the Google Cloud panel, and then click on ADD SERVICE ACCOUNT KEY button.

On the Add Credential popup, drag & drop the service account key (JSON file) that you downloaded from Google Cloud in the previous step.

If the file you uploaded has the correct format, the form should be filled out with its contents.

Enter your Account Name (choose something that will help you recognise the connection later), and then click on the SAVE button. If the key you selected is correct, the pop-up will close and you can now start your own HYO grid using your GCP account.