Connect your Google Cloud account

Step 1 Enable the Compute Engine API

In the Google Cloud console, select your project. Open APIs & Services → Library, search for Compute Engine API and choose Enable. It can take a few minutes before the API is ready. Nuvlo checks the project when you connect, so do this first.

Optional: enable the Cloud Billing API in the same way. With it, Nuvlo shows Google’s current prices for each region. Without it, plan prices are estimates based on Google’s standard list prices.

Step 2 Create a service account with the right roles

Open IAM & Admin → Service accounts and choose Create service account. Name it, for example nuvlo, and choose Create and continue.

Grant these two roles, then choose Continue and Done:

• Compute Instance Admin (v1) (roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1): create, restart, resize and delete VMs and their disks, and take and restore snapshots.
• Compute Security Admin (roles/compute.securityAdmin): create the firewall rule that opens SSH, HTTP and HTTPS the first time you create a server.

Nuvlo needs Compute Security Admin only to create that firewall rule, so you can remove it once your first server exists. A custom role with compute.firewalls.get, compute.firewalls.create and compute.networks.updatePolicy also works.

Step 3 Create a JSON key

Open the service account and go to the Keys tab. Choose Add key → Create new key, select JSON and choose Create. The key file downloads to your computer.

ImportantAnyone with the key file can create servers in your project, billed to you. Store it like a password; Google lets you download it only once.

If Google says key creation is disabled, your organization enforces a policy that blocks service account keys. Newer Google Cloud organizations do this by default. An organization policy administrator has to allow keys for this project first.

Step 4 Open Server providers in Nuvlo

In Nuvlo, open Integrations → Server providers (go there). Choose Add provider, then Google Cloud.

Step 5 Add the key file

Optionally enter an Account label, such as the project name. Then choose Choose key file and pick the JSON file you downloaded. You can also open the file and paste its whole content into Service account key (JSON).

Choose Connect account. Nuvlo signs in with the key and reads the project before saving it. The file is read in your browser and only sent when you connect.

Step 6 Check that the account is connected

The account appears under Connected accounts with the status Not in use until your first server is linked to it.

Step 7 Create your first Google Cloud server

Open Servers and create a server (start here). Choose Google Cloud and your account, then choose what you will host.

On Region & plan, pick a region and a machine type. Nuvlo picks a zone in that region that offers the machine type. Outbound traffic is billed by Google per GB, so the Transfer column shows Billed per GB.

Finish the remaining steps and choose Create server. See Create a server for every option.