Using target proxies

Target proxies are referenced by one or more forwarding rules. In the case of external HTTP(S) load balancers and internal HTTP(S) load balancers, proxies route incoming requests to a URL map. In the case of SSL proxy load balancers and TCP proxy load balancers, target proxies route incoming requests directly to backend services.

Note: This page describes how to create a specific load balancer component before or after you've already created a load balancer. Working with specific components is useful for advanced configurations and necessary for some configuration options. Before using the information on this page, know the type of Google Cloud load balancer that you need. To get started quickly with your load balancer configuration, we recommend that you follow an end-to-end configuration example.

Target proxy properties

For descriptions of the properties and methods available to you when working with target proxies through the REST API, see the following pages:

• Global target HTTP proxies
• Global target HTTPS proxies
• Regional target HTTP proxies
• Regional target HTTPS proxies
• Global target SSL proxies
• Global target TCP proxies

For descriptions of the properties and methods available to you when working with target proxies through the gcloud command-line tool, see the following pages:

• Global target HTTP proxies (with --global flag)
• Regional target HTTP proxies (with --region flag)
• Global target HTTPS proxies (with --global flag)
• Regional target HTTPS proxies (with --region flag)
• Global target SSL proxies
• Global target TCP proxies

Adding a target proxy

You can add a target proxy for the following types of load balancing:

• External HTTP(S) Load Balancing
• Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancing
• SSL Proxy Load Balancing
• TCP Proxy Load Balancing

For an external HTTP(S) load balancer

Note: For external HTTP(S) load balancers, a global target proxy is required in both Standard and Premium Tier. This means that, in Standard Tier, a regional forwarding rule points to a global target proxy.

To add a global target HTTP(S) proxy, perform the following steps:

Console: HTTP

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Click Create target proxy.
3. Enter a Name.
4. (Optional) Enter a Description.
5. Select Type HTTP Proxy.
6. Select a URL map.
7. Click Create.

Console: HTTPS

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Click Create target proxy.
3. Enter a Name.
4. (Optional) Enter a Description.
5. Select Type HTTPS Proxy.
6. If you already have an SSL certificate resource you want to use as the primary SSL certificate, select it from the Certificate drop-down menu. If not, select Create a new certificate.
   1. Enter a Name.
   2. Either upload (recommended) the following files or copy and paste their contents into the appropriate fields:
      • Public key certificate (.crt file).
      • Certificate chain (.csr file).
      • Private key (.key file).
7. Add additional certificates by repeating the previous step.
8. Select a URL map.
9. Click Create.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies create HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
  --global \
  --url-map URL_MAP \
  --global-url-map \
  [--description DESCRIPTION]

gcloud: HTTPS

Before you run this command, you must create an SSL certificate resource for each certificate.

 gcloud compute target-https-proxies create HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
   --global \
   --url-map URL_MAP \
   --global-url-map \
   --ssl-certificates SSL_CERT_1[,SSL_CERT_2,...] \
   --global-ssl-certificates \
   [--ssl-policy POLICY_NAME] \
   [--quic-override=ENABLE|DISABLE|NONE]

API: HTTP

POST https://www.googleapis.com/v1/compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpProxies

{
  "name": HTTP_PROXY_NAME,
  "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/global/urlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME
}

API: HTTPS

POST https://www.googleapis.com/v1/compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies

{
  "name": HTTPS_PROXY_NAME,
  "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/global/urlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME,
  "sslCertificates": /projects/PROJECT_ID/global/sslCertificates/SSL_CERT_NAME
}

For an internal HTTP(S) load balancer

To add a regional target HTTP(S) proxy, perform the following steps:

Console

Using the Cloud Console to create a standalone regional target HTTP(S) proxy is not supported.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies create HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
    --url-map URL_MAP \
    --url-map-region REGION \
    --region REGION \
    [--description DESCRIPTION]

gcloud: HTTPS

Before you run this command, you must create an SSL certificate resource for each certificate.

 gcloud compute target-https-proxies create HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
     --url-map URL_MAP \
     --url-map-region REGION \
     --region REGION \
     --ssl-certificates SSL_CERT_NAME \
     --ssl-certificates-region REGION

API: HTTP

POST https://www.googleapis.com/v1/compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpProxies

{
  "name": HTTP_PROXY_NAME,
  "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/urlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME,
  "region": REGION
}

API: HTTPS

POST https://www.googleapis.com/v1/compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/targetHttpsProxies

{
  "name": HTTPS_PROXY_NAME,
  "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/urlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME,
  "region": REGION
  "sslCertificates": /projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/sslCertificates/SSL_CERT_NAME
}

For an SSL proxy load balancer

Note: For SSL proxy load balancers, a global target proxy is required in both Standard and Premium Tier. This means that, in Standard Tier, a regional forwarding rule points to a global target proxy.

To add a global target SSL proxy, perform the following steps:

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Click Create target proxy.
3. Enter a Name.
4. (Optional) Enter a Description.
5. Select Type SSL Proxy.
6. If you already have an SSL certificate resource you want to use as the primary SSL certificate, select it from the Certificate drop-down menu. If not, select Create a new certificate.
   1. Enter a Name.
   2. Either upload (recommended) the following files or copy and paste their contents into the appropriate fields:
      • Public key certificate (.crt file).
      • Certificate chain (.csr file).
      • Private key (.key file).
7. Add additional certificates by repeating the previous step.
8. Select a Backend service.
9. (Optional) Enable the Proxy protocol.
10. Click Create.

gcloud

Before you run this command, you must create an SSL certificate resource for each certificate.

 gcloud compute target-ssl-proxies create SSL_PROXY_NAME \
   --backend-service BACKEND_SERVICE \
   --ssl-certificates SSL_CERT_1[,SSL_CERT_2,...] \
   [--ssl-policy POLICY_NAME] \
   [--quic-override=ENABLE|DISABLE|NONE] \
   [--proxy-header=(NONE | PROXY_V1)]

API

POST https://www.googleapis.com/v1/compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetSslProxies

{
  "name": SSL_PROXY_NAME,
  "proxyHeader": ("NONE" | "PROXY_V1"),
  "service": "projects/PROJECT/global/backendServices/BACKEND_SERVICE"
  "sslCertificates": /projects/PROJECT_ID/global/sslCertificates/SSL_CERT_NAME
}

For a TCP proxy load balancer

To add a global target TCP proxy, perform the following steps:

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Click Create target proxy.
3. Enter a Name.
4. (Optional) Enter a Description.
5. Select Type TCP Proxy.
6. Select a Backend service.
7. (Optional) Enable the Proxy protocol.
8. Click Create.

gcloud

 gcloud compute target-tcp-proxies create TCP_PROXY_NAME \
   --backend-service BACKEND_SERVICE \
   --proxy-header=(NONE | PROXY_V1)

API

POST https://www.googleapis.com/v1/compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetTcpProxies

{
  "name": TCP_PROXY_NAME,
  "proxyHeader": ("NONE" | "PROXY_V1"),
  "service": "projects/PROJECT/global/backendServices/BACKEND_SERVICE"
}

Listing target proxies

To list target proxies, perform the following steps.

For an external HTTP(S) load balancer

Console

Go to the Target Proxies page.
Go to the Target Proxies page

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies list --global

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies list --global

API: HTTP

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpProxies

API: HTTPS

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies

For an internal HTTP(S) load balancer

Console

Go to the Target Proxies page.
Go to the Target Proxies page

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies list \
    --filter="region:(COMMA_DELIMITED_LIST_OF_REGIONS)"

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies list \
   --filter="region:(COMMA_DELIMITED_LIST_OF_REGIONS)"

API: HTTP

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpProxies

API: HTTPS

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpsProxies

For an SSL proxy load balancer

Console

Go to the Target Proxies page.
Go to the Target Proxies page

gcloud

gcloud compute target-ssl-proxies list

API

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetSslProxies

For a TCP proxy load balancer

Console

Go to the Target Proxies page.
Go to the Target Proxies page

gcloud

gcloud compute target-tcp-proxies list

API

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetTcpProxies

Getting information about a target proxy

To get information about a single target HTTP or HTTPS proxy, perform the following steps.

For an external HTTP(S) load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select a Target name.
3. View the Target details screen. To return to the Load balancing screen, click the left-facing arrow at the top of the screen.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies describe HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
   --global

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies describe HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
   --global

API: HTTP

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpProxies/HTTP_PROXY_NAME

API: HTTPS

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies/HTTPS_PROXY_NAME

For an internal HTTP(S) load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select a Target name.
3. View the Target details screen. To return to the Load balancing screen, click the left-facing arrow at the top of the screen.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies describe HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
   --region=REGION

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies describe HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
   --region=REGION

API: HTTP

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpProxies/HTTP_PROXY_NAME

API: HTTPS

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpsProxies/HTTPS_PROXY_NAME

For an SSL proxy load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select a Target name.
3. View the Target details screen. To return to the Load balancing screen, click the left-facing arrow at the top of the screen.

gcloud

gcloud compute target-ssl-proxies describe SSL_PROXY_NAME

API

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetSslProxies/SSL_PROXY_NAME

For a TCP proxy load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select a Target name.
3. View the Target details screen. To return to the Load balancing screen, click the left-facing arrow at the top of the screen.

gcloud

gcloud compute target-tcp-proxies describe TCP_PROXY_NAME

API

GET https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetTcpProxies/TCP_PROXY_NAME

Updating the target proxy to point to a different URL map

To update the target proxy to point to a different URL map, perform the following steps.

For an external HTTP(S) load balancer

To update the URL map associated with a target proxy, perform the following steps:

Console

HTTP(S) proxies can't be edited in the Cloud Console. Instead, delete and re-add the target proxy. Alternatively, you can edit the target proxy by using gcloud or the API.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies update HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
    --url-map URL_MAP \
    --global \
    --global-url-map

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies update HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
    --url-map URL_MAP \
    --global \
    --global-url-map

API: HTTP

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpProxies/HTTP_PROXY_NAME/setUrlMap

{
  "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/global/urlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME
}

API: HTTPS

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies/HTTPS_PROXY_NAME/setUrlMap

{
  "urlMap": "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/global/urlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME
}

For an internal HTTP(S) load balancer

To update the URL map associated with a target proxy, perform the following steps:

Console

HTTP(S) proxies can't be edited in the Cloud Console. Instead, delete and re-add the target proxy. Alternatively, you can edit the target proxy by using gcloud or the API.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies update HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
    --url-map URL_MAP \
    --region=REGION \
    --url-map-region=REGION

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies update HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
    --url-map URL_MAP \
    --region=REGION \
    --url-map-region=REGION

API: HTTP

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpProxies/HTTP_PROXY_NAME/setUrlMap

{
  "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGIONurlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME
}

API: HTTPS

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpsProxies/HTTPS_PROXY_NAME/setUrlMap

{
  "urlMap": /projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/urlMaps/URL_MAP_NAME
}

Updating the SSL certificate resource for the target HTTPS proxy

Use this procedure to replace the SSL certificate on the HTTPS proxy. You must already have created any additional SSL certificate resources that you need.

Console

1. Go to the Load balancing page in the Google Cloud Console.

   Go to the Load balancing page

2. Click Edit next to your load balancer.

3. Click Frontend configuration.

4. In the Certificate drop-down menu, select the new certificate.

5. Click Add certificate if you need to add more certificates.

6. Click Done.

gcloud

You can configure the documented number of SSL certificates per target HTTPS proxy.

gcloud compute target-https-proxies set-ssl-certificates PROXY_NAME \
    --ssl-certificates=SSL_CERT_1,SSL_CERT_2,...

API: HTTPS

DELETE [https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies/HTTPS_PROXY_NAME]

POST [https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies]

{
  "name": HTTPS_PROXY_NAME,
  "sslCertificates": [
    SSL_CERT_1,SSL_CERT_2
  ]
}

Deleting a target proxy

Note: To delete a target proxy, you must first delete any forwarding rules that reference it.

To delete a target HTTP or HTTPS proxy, perform the following steps.

For an external HTTP(S) load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select Target proxies.
3. Click the checkbox for the Target name to delete.
4. Click Delete.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies delete HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
   --global

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies delete HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
   --global

API: HTTP

DELETE https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpProxies/HTTP_PROXY_NAME

API: HTTPS

DELETE https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies/HTTPS_PROXY_NAME

For an internal HTTP(S) load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select Target proxies.
3. Click the checkbox for the Target name to delete.
4. Click Delete.

gcloud: HTTP

gcloud compute target-http-proxies delete HTTP_PROXY_NAME \
   --region=REGION

gcloud: HTTPS

gcloud compute target-https-proxies delete HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
   --region=REGION

API: HTTP

DELETE https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpProxies/HTTP_PROXY_NAME

API: HTTPS

DELETE https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/targetHttpsProxies/HTTPS_PROXY_NAME

For an SSL proxy load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select Target proxies.
3. Click the checkbox for the Target name to delete.
4. Click Delete.

gcloud

gcloud compute target-ssl-proxies delete SSL_PROXY_NAME

API

DELETE https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetSslProxies/SSL_PROXY_NAME

For a TCP proxy load balancer

Console

1. Go to the Target Proxies page.
   Go to the Target Proxies page
2. Select Target proxies.
3. Click the checkbox for the Target name to delete.
4. Click Delete.

gcloud

gcloud compute target-tcp-proxies delete TCP_PROXY_NAME

API

DELETE https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetTcpProxies/TCP_PROXY_NAME

Updating the QUIC protocol setting

Target HTTPS proxies support the use of the QUIC transport protocol with the optional flag --quic-override.

Console: HTTPS

Setting the QUIC negotiation isn't currently supported on the Target Proxies page. You can use the Cloud Console to configure the QUIC setting when you're setting up a new load balancer, as shown in Configuring the load balancing resources.

gcloud: HTTPS

Before you run this command, you must create an SSL certificate resource for each certificate.

 gcloud compute target-https-proxies create HTTPS_PROXY_NAME \
   --global \
   --quic-override=QUIC_SETTING

where QUIC_SETTING is one of the following:

• NONE (Default) Allows Google to control when QUIC is negotiated. Currently, when you select NONE, QUIC is disabled. By selecting this option, you are allowing Google to automatically enable QUIC negotiations and HTTP/3 in the future for this load balancer. In the Cloud Console, this option is called Automatic (Default).
• ENABLED Allows the load balancer to negotiate QUIC with clients.
• DISABLED Prevents the load balancer from negotiating QUIC with clients.

API: HTTPS

POST https://www.googleapis.com/v1/compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/targetHttpsProxies/TARGET_PROXY_NAME/setQuicOverride

{
  "quicOverride": QUIC_SETTING
}

where QUIC_SETTING is one of the following:

• NONE (Default) Allows Google to control when QUIC is negotiated. Currently, when you select NONE, QUIC is disabled. By selecting this option, you are allowing Google to automatically enable QUIC negotiations and HTTP/3 in the future for this load balancer. In the Cloud Console, this option is called Automatic (Default).
• ENABLED Allows the load balancer to negotiate QUIC with clients.
• DISABLED Prevents the load balancer from negotiating QUIC with clients.

What's next

• For more information about the QUIC transport protocol, see QUIC protocol support for HTTPS load balancing.
• To update the SSL certificate that your target proxy points to, see:
  • Replacing self-managed SSL certificates
  • Replacing Google-managed SSL certificates