Getting started with Cloud Endpoints on Compute Engine

This tutorial shows you how to configure and deploy a sample API and the Extensible Service Proxy (ESP) running in prebuilt Docker containers on Compute Engine. The sample code's REST API is described using the OpenAPI specification. The tutorial also shows you how to create an API key and use it in requests to the API.

For an overview of Cloud Endpoints, see About Endpoints and Endpoints architecture.

Task list

Use the following high-level task list as you work through the tutorial. All tasks are required to successfully send requests to the API.

  1. Set up a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) project. See Before you begin.
  2. Create a Compute Engine VM instance. See Creating a Compute Engine instance.
  3. Download the sample code. See Getting the sample code.
  4. Configure the openapi.yaml file, which is used to configure Endpoints. See Configuring Endpoints.
  5. Deploy the Endpoints configuration to create a Endpoints service. See Deploying the Endpoints configuration.
  6. Deploy the API and ESP on the Compute Engine VM. See Deploying the API backend.
  7. Send a request to the API by using an IP address. See Sending a request by using IP address.
  8. Configure a DNS record for the sample API. See Configuring DNS for Endpoints.
  9. Send a request to the API by using the fully qualified domain name. See Sending a request by using FQDN.
  10. Track API activity. See Tracking API activity.
  11. Avoid incurring charges to your GCP account. See Clean up.

Before you begin

  1. Sign in to your Google Account.

    If you don't already have one, sign up for a new account.

  2. Select or create a GCP project.

    Go to the Manage resources page

  3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your project.

    Learn how to enable billing

  4. Make a note of the project ID because it's needed later.

  5. You need an application to send requests to the sample API.

    • Linux and macOS users: This tutorial provides an example of using curl, which typically comes pre-installed on your operating system. If you don't have curl, you can download it from the curl Releases and downloads page.
    • Windows users: This tutorial provides an example using Invoke-WebRequest, which is supported in PowerShell 3.0 and later.
  6. Download the Cloud SDK.
  7. Update the Cloud SDK and install the Endpoints components. 
    gcloud components update
  8. Make sure that the Cloud SDK (gcloud) is authorized to access your data and services on GCP: 
    gcloud auth login
    In the new browser tab that opens, select an account.
  9. Set the default project to your project ID. 
    gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID

    Replace YOUR_PROJECT_ID with your project ID. If you have other GCP projects, and you want to use gcloud to manage them, see Managing Cloud SDK configurations.

Creating a Compute Engine instance

    To create a Compute Engine instance:

  1. In the GCP Console, go to the VM Instances page.

    Go to the VM Instances page

  2. Click Create instance.
  3. In the Firewall section, select Allow HTTP traffic and Allow HTTPS traffic.
  4. Click Create to create the instance.

    5. Screenshot of the VM instance creation window with the required options set

    Allow a short time for the instance to start up. Once ready, it is listed on the **VM Instances** page with a green status icon.

  5. Make sure you that you can connect to your VM instance.
    1. In the list of virtual machine instances, click SSH in the row of the instance that you want to connect to.
    2. You can now use the terminal to run Linux commands on your Debian instance.
    3. Enter exit to disconnect from the instance.
  6. Make a note the instance name, zone, and external IP address because they are needed later.

Downloading the sample code

Download the sample code to your local machine.

Java

To clone or download the sample API:

  1. Clone the sample app repository to your local machine: 
    git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/java-docs-samples

    Alternatively, download the sample as a zip file and extract it.

  2. Change to the directory that contains the sample code: 
    cd java-docs-samples/endpoints/getting-started
Python

To clone or download the sample API:

  1. Clone the sample app repository to your local machine: 
    git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/python-docs-samples

    Alternatively, download the sample as a zip file and extract it.

  2. Change to the directory that contains the sample code: 
    cd python-docs-samples/endpoints/getting-started
Go

To clone or download the sample API:

  1. Make sure your GOPATH environment variable is set.
  2. Clone the sample app repository to your local machine: 
    go get -u -d github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/golang-samples/endpoints/getting-started
  3. Change to the directory that contains the sample code: 
    cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/golang-samples/endpoints/getting-started
PHP

To clone or download the sample API:

  1. Clone the sample app repository to your local machine: 
    git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/php-docs-samples

    Alternatively, download the sample as a zip file and extract it.

  2. Change to the directory that contains the sample code: 
    cd php-docs-samples/endpoints/getting-started
Ruby

To clone or download the sample API:

  1. Clone the sample app repository to your local machine: 
    git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/ruby-docs-samples

    Alternatively, download the sample as a zip file and extract it.

  2. Change to the directory that contains the sample code: 
    cd ruby-docs-samples/endpoints/getting-started
NodeJS

To clone or download the sample API:

  1. Clone the sample app repository to your local machine: 
    git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples

    Alternatively, download the sample as a zip file and extract it.

  2. Change to the directory that contains the sample code: 
    cd nodejs-docs-samples/endpoints/getting-started

Configuring Endpoints

The sample code includes the OpenAPI configuration file, openapi.yaml, which is based on OpenAPI Specification v2.0. You configure and deploy openapi.yaml on your local machine.

To configure Endpoints:

  1. In the sample code directory, open the openapi.yaml configuration file.

    Note the following:

    • The configuration sample displays the lines near the host field, which you need to modify. To deploy the openapi.yaml file to Endpoints, the complete OpenAPI document is required.
    • The example openapi.yaml file contains a section for configuring authentication that isn't needed for this tutorial. You don't need to configure the lines with YOUR-SERVICE-ACCOUNT-EMAIL and YOUR-CLIENT-ID.
    • OpenAPI is a language-agnostic specification. The same openapi.yaml file is in the getting-started sample in each language GitHub repository for convenience.

  2. In the host field, replace the text with the Endpoints service name, which should be in the following format: 
    host: "echo-api.endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog"

    Replace YOUR_PROJECT_ID with your GCP project ID. For example:

    host: "echo-api.endpoints.example-project-12345.cloud.goog"

Note that echo-api.endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog is the Endpoints service name. It isn't the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that you use for sending requests to the API.

For information about the fields in the OpenAPI document that Endpoints requires, see Configuring Endpoints.

After you have finished all the following configuration steps such that you can successfully send requests to the sample API by using an IP address, see Configuring Endpoints DNS for information on how to configure echo-api.endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog to be the FQDN.

Deploying the Endpoints configuration

To deploy the Endpoints configuration, you use the gcloud endpoints services deploy command. This command uses Service Management to create a managed service.

To deploy the Endpoints configuration:

  1. Make sure you are in the endpoints/getting-started directory.
  2. Upload the configuration and create a managed service: 
    gcloud endpoints services deploy openapi.yaml

The gcloud command then calls the Service Management API to create a managed service with the name that you specified in the host field of the openapi.yaml file. Service Management configures the service according to the settings in the openapi.yaml file. When you make changes to openapi.yaml, you must redeploy the file to update the Endpoints service.

As it is creating and configuring the service, Service Management outputs information to the terminal. You can safely ignore the warnings about the paths in the openapi.yaml file not requiring an API key. When it finishes configuring the service, Service Management displays a message with the service configuration ID and the service name, similar to the following:

Service Configuration [2017-02-13r0] uploaded for service [echo-api.endpoints.example-project-12345.cloud.goog]

In the preceding example, 2017-02-13r0 is the service configuration ID, and echo-api.endpoints.example-project-12345.cloud.goog is the Endpoints service. The service configuration ID consists of a date stamp followed by a revision number. If you deploy the openapi.yaml file again on the same day, the revision number is incremented in the service configuration ID. You can view the Endpoints service configuration on the Endpoints > Services page in the GCP Console.

If you get an error message, see Troubleshooting Endpoints configuration deployment.

See Deploying the Endpoints configuration for additional information.

Deploying the API backend

So far you have deployed the OpenAPI document to Service Management, but you haven't yet deployed the code that serves the API backend. This section walks you through getting Docker set up on your VM instance and running the API backend code and the ESP in a Docker container.

Install Docker on the VM instance

To install Docker on the VM instance:

  1. Set the zone for your project by running the command: 
    gcloud config set compute/zone YOUR_INSTANCE_ZONE

    Replace YOUR_INSTANCE_ZONE with the zone where your instance is running.

  2. Connect to your instance by using the following command: 
    gcloud compute ssh INSTANCE_NAME

    Replace INSTANCE_NAME with your VM instance name.

  3. See the Docker documentation to set up the Docker repository. Make sure to follow the steps that match the version and architecture of your VM instance:
    • Jessie or newer
    • x86_64 / amd64

Run the API and ESP in a Docker container

The ESP is an nginx-based proxy that sits in front of your backend code. It processes incoming traffic to provide authentication, API key management, logging, and other Endpoints API management features.

To install and run the sample API and ESP in a Docker container:

  1. Create your own container network called esp_net. 
    sudo docker network create --driver bridge esp_net
  2. Run the sample Echo server that serves the sample API:
    Java
    sudo docker run --detach --name=echo --net=esp_net gcr.io/google-samples/echo-java:1.0
    Python
    sudo docker run --detach --name=echo --net=esp_net gcr.io/google-samples/echo-python:1.0
    Go
    sudo docker run --detach --name=echo --net=esp_net gcr.io/google-samples/echo-go:1.0
    PHP
    sudo docker run --detach --name=echo --net=esp_net gcr.io/google-samples/echo-php:1.0
    Ruby
    sudo docker run --detach --name=echo --net=esp_net gcr.io/google-samples/echo-ruby:1.0
    NodeJS
    sudo docker run --detach --name=echo --net=esp_net gcr.io/google-samples/echo-node:1.0
  3. Run the pre-packaged public ESP Docker container. In the ESP startup options, replace SERVICE_NAME with the name of your service. This is the same name that you configured in the host field of your OpenAPI document. 
    sudo docker run \
    --name=esp \
    --detach \
    --publish=80:8080 \
    --net=esp_net \
    gcr.io/endpoints-release/endpoints-runtime:1 \
    --service=[SERVICE_NAME] \
    --rollout_strategy=managed \
    --backend=echo:8080

    The --rollout_strategy=managed option configures ESP to use the latest deployed service configuration. When you specify this option, within a minute after you deploy a new service configuration, ESP detects the change and automatically begins using it. We recommend that you specify this option instead of a specific configuration ID for ESP to use. For information about the other ESP options used above, see ESP startup options.

If you get an error message, see Troubleshooting Endpoints on Compute Engine.

See Deploying the API Backend for additional information.

Sending a request by using an IP address

After the sample API and the ESP are running on the Compute Engine instance, you can send requests to the API from your local machine.

Create an API key and set an environment variable

The sample code requires an API key. To simplify the request, you set an environment variable for the API key.

  1. In the same GCP project that you used for your API, create an API key on the API credentials page. If you want to create an API key in a different GCP project, see Enabling an API in your GCP project.

    Go to the Credentials page

  2. Click Create credentials, and then select API key.
  3. Copy the key to the clipboard.
  4. Click Close.
  5. On your local computer, paste the API key to assign it to an environment variable:
    • In Linux or macOS: export ENDPOINTS_KEY=AIza...
    • In Windows PowerShell: $Env:ENDPOINTS_KEY="AIza..."

Send the request

Linux or mac OS

Use curl to send an HTTP request by using the ENDPOINTS_KEY environment variable you set previously. Replace IP_ADDRESS with the external IP address of your instance.

curl --request POST \
   --header "content-type:application/json" \
   --data '{"message":"hello world"}' \
   "http://IP_ADDRESS:80/echo?key=${ENDPOINTS_KEY}"

In the above curl:

  • The --data option specifies the data to post to the API.
  • The --header option specifies that the data is in JSON format.

PowerShell

Use Invoke-WebRequest to send an HTTP request by using the ENDPOINTS_KEY environment variable you set previously. Replace IP_ADDRESS with the external IP address of your instance.

(Invoke-WebRequest -Method POST -Body '{"message": "hello world"}' `
    -Headers @{"content-type"="application/json"} `
    -URI "http://IP_ADDRESS:80/echo?key=$Env:ENDPOINTS_KEY").Content

In the above example, the first two lines end in a backtick. When you paste the example into PowerShell, make sure there isn't a space following the backticks. For information about the options used in the example request, see Invoke-WebRequest in the Microsoft documentation.

Third-party app

You can use a third-party application such as the Chrome browser extension Postman to send the request:

  • Select POST as the HTTP verb.
  • For the header, select the key content-type and the value application/json.
  • For the body, enter the following:
    {"message":"hello world"}
  • In the URL, use the actual API key rather than the environment variable. For example:
    http://192.0.2.0:80/echo?key=AIza...

The API echoes back the message that you send, and responds with the following:

{
  "message": "hello world"
}

If you didn't get a successful response, see Troubleshooting response errors.

You just deployed and tested an API in Endpoints!

Configuring DNS for Endpoints

Because the Endpoints service name for the API is in the .endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog domain, you can use it as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) by making a small configuration change in your openapi.yaml file. This way, you can send requests to the sample API by using echo-api.endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog instead of the IP address.

To configure Endpoints DNS:

  1. Open your OpenAPI configuration file, openapi.yaml, and add the x-google-endpoints property at the top level of the file (not indented or nested) as shown in the following snippet: 
        host: "echo-api.endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog"
    x-google-endpoints:
    - name: "echo-api.endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog"
      target: "IP_ADDRESS"
  2. In the name property, replace YOUR_PROJECT_ID with your project ID.
  3. In the target property, replace IP_ADDRESS with the IP address that you used when you sent a request to the sample API.
  4. Deploy your updated OpenAPI configuration file to Service Management: 
        gcloud endpoints services deploy openapi.yaml

For example, assume the openapi.yaml file has the following configured: 

    host: "echo-api.endpoints.example-project-12345.cloud.goog"
    x-google-endpoints:
    - name: "echo-api.endpoints.example-project-12345.cloud.goog"
      target: "192.0.2.1"

When you deploy the openapi.yaml file by using the preceding gcloud command, Service Management creates a DNS A-record, echo-api.endpoints.my-project-id.cloud.goog, which resolves to the target IP address, 192.0.2.1. It might take a few minutes for the new DNS configuration to propagate.

Configuring SSL

For more details on how to configure DNS and SSL, see Enabling SSL for Endpoints.

Sending a request by using FQDN

Now that you have the DNS record configured for the sample API, send a request to it by using the FQDN (replace YOUR_PROJECT_ID with your project ID) and the ENDPOINTS_KEY environment variable set previously:
  • In Linux or mac OS: 
            curl --request POST \
            --header "content-type:application/json" \
            --data '{"message":"hello world"}' \
            "http://echo-api.endpoints.YOUR_PROJECT_ID.cloud.goog:80/echo?key=${ENDPOINTS_KEY}"
  • In Windows PowerShell: 
    (Invoke-WebRequest -Method POST -Body '{"message": "hello world"}' -Headers @{"content-type"="application/json"} -URI "http://echo-api.endpoints.[YOUR_PROJECT_ID].cloud.goog:80/echo?key=$Env:ENDPOINTS_KEY").Content

Tracking API activity

To track API activity:

  1. Look at the activity graphs for your API in the Endpoints > Services page.

    Go to the Endpoints Services page

    }
    It may take a few moments for the request to be reflected in the graphs.

  2. Look at the request logs for your API in the Logs Viewer page.

    Go to the Logs Viewer page

Creating a developer portal for the API

You can use Cloud Endpoints Portal to create a developer portal, a website that you can use to interact with the sample API. To learn more, see Cloud Endpoints Portal overview.

Clean up

To avoid incurring charges to your GCP account for the resources used in this quickstart:

  1. Delete the API: 
    gcloud endpoints services delete [SERVICE_NAME]

    Replace SERVICE_NAME with the name of your service.

  2. In the GCP Console, go to the VM Instances page.

    Go to the VM Instances page

  3. Click the checkbox next to the instance you want to delete.
  4. Click the Delete button at the top of the page to delete the instance.

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