Google Provider

The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Provider enables you to manage resources in Google Cloud using Terraform. Whether you’re deploying Compute Engine instances, configuring storage buckets, or managing Kubernetes clusters, this provider offers robust capabilities to automate and scale your infrastructure.

Key Features:

  • Provision and manage Compute Engine instances, disks, and machine images.
  • Automate storage solutions with Cloud Storage, BigQuery, and Spanner.
  • Configure networking resources like VPCs, subnets, and load balancers.
  • Manage Kubernetes clusters with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).
  • Integrate with GCP services like Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub, and Cloud Run.

Example Use Case: Creating a Compute Engine Instance
Compute Engine instances are virtual machines running in GCP. Here’s how to create one using the Google Provider:

provider "google" {
  project = "my-gcp-project"
  region  = "us-central1"
}

resource "google_compute_instance" "example" {
  name         = "example-instance"
  machine_type = "e2-medium"
  zone         = "us-central1-a"

  boot_disk {
    initialize_params {
      image = "debian-cloud/debian-10"
    }
  }

  network_interface {
    network = "default"
    access_config {}
  }

  tags = ["web", "dev"]
}

What’s Happening Here?

  • The provider block configures Terraform to use the GCP project my-gcp-project in the us-central1 region.
  • The google_compute_instance resource creates a virtual machine named example-instance with the e2-medium machine type.
  • A Debian 10 image is used for the boot disk, and the instance is connected to the default network.
  • Tags like web and dev are added for organization and firewall rules.

Advanced Tip:
Use instance templates for consistent and scalable deployments:

resource "google_compute_instance_template" "example_template" {
  name        = "example-template"
  machine_type = "e2-medium"

  disk {
    source_image = "debian-cloud/debian-10"
    auto_delete  = true
    boot         = true
  }

  network_interface {
    network = "default"
    access_config {}
  }

  tags = ["web", "dev"]
}

This template can be reused for managed instance groups, enabling automatic scaling of your virtual machines.

Glossary