Schedule a Compute Engine VM to start or stop

---

Note: Google Compute Engine now has an Instance Schedules feature that can be used to start and stop instances through the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, or via the API. The approach provided in this tutorial of using Cloud Scheduler is still functional and is necessary for scheduling the starting and stopping of other resources that are not Compute Engine VM instances, for example, Cloud SQL instances.

This tutorial shows how to use Cloud Scheduler and Cloud Run functions to automatically start and stop Compute Engine instances on a regular schedule using resource labels.

Objectives

• Write and deploy a set of functions with Cloud Run functions that start and stop Compute Engine instances.
• Create a set of jobs with Cloud Scheduler that schedule instances with a dev resource label to run 09:00-17:00, Monday-Friday to match typical business hours.

Costs

In this document, you use the following billable components of Google Cloud:

• Cloud Scheduler
• Cloud Run functions
• Pub/Sub
• Compute Engine

To generate a cost estimate based on your projected usage, use the pricing calculator. New Google Cloud users might be eligible for a free trial.

Before you begin

1. Set up your environment for Cloud Scheduler.

   Setting Up Your Environment

2. Enable the Cloud Run functions, Pub/Sub, and Compute Engine APIs.

   Enable the APIs

Application architecture

This solution includes the following Google Cloud components:

• Compute Engine instance we want to run on a schedule.
• Cloud Run functions to start and stop the instance we want to schedule.
• Pub/Sub messages sent and received for each start and stop event.
• Cloud Scheduler jobs to make calls on a set schedule to start and stop the instance.

Location requirements

Some components are only supported in certain regions:

• Compute Engine instance: supported in any region listed in Regions and zones.
• Cloud Run functions: supported in the regions listed in Locations.
• Pub/Sub messages: supported globally as Pub/Sub is a global service.
• Cloud Scheduler jobs with Pub/Sub targets: supported in any Google Cloud location.

Note: Fortunately, for this application, no component needs to be run in the same region as any other component. So even if you deploy your Cloud Scheduler jobs to a certain region, you are free to locate your Compute Engine instance anywhere else. With that said, it is also true that locating your components in the same region will result in better latency.

Why not HTTP instead of Pub/Sub?

You may want to simplify this architecture by using Cloud Run functions HTTP Triggers instead of Pub/Sub Triggers.

This tutorial uses Pub/Sub as the Cloud Run functions trigger because this method was formerly more secure than using HTTP. However, HTTP is also a valid choice and can now be secured by requiring authentication.

To learn about securing Cloud Run functions, see the Cloud Run functions security overview. For a comparison between HTTP and Pub/Sub triggers, see the Cloud Run functions triggers documentation.

Set up the Compute Engine instance

Console

1. Go to the VM instances page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the VM instances page.
2. Click Create instance.
3. Set the Name to dev-instance.
4. Under Labels, click Add labels.
5. Click Add label.
6. Enter env for Key and dev for Value.
7. For Region select us-west1.
8. For Zone select us-west1-b.
9. Click Save.
10. Click Create at the bottom of the page.

gcloud

gcloud compute instances create dev-instance \
    --network default \
    --zone us-west1-b \
    --labels=env=dev

Note: For simplicity, this tutorial creates only one instance. However, the architecture here can be used to stop and start multiple instances where the resource label env has the value dev.

Deploy functions triggered by Pub/Sub through Cloud Run functions

Create and deploy the functions

Console

Create the start function.

1. Go to the Cloud Run functions page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the Cloud Run functions page.
2. Click Create Function.
3. For Environment, select 1st gen.
4. Set Function name to startInstancePubSub.
5. Leave Region at its default value.
6. For Trigger type, select Cloud Pub/Sub.
7. For Select a Cloud Pub/Sub topic, click Create a topic.
8. A Create topic dialog should appear.
   1. Under Topic ID, enter start-instance-event.
   2. Click Create to finish the dialog.
9. Click Save at the bottom of the Trigger box.
10. Click Next at the bottom of the page.
11. For Runtime, select Node.js 16 or later.
12. For Entry point, enter startInstancePubSub.
13. On the left side of the code editor, select index.js.

14. Replace the starter code with the following code:

    const compute = require('@google-cloud/compute');
    const instancesClient = new compute.InstancesClient();
    const operationsClient = new compute.ZoneOperationsClient();
    
    async function waitForOperation(projectId, operation) {
      while (operation.status !== 'DONE') {
        [operation] = await operationsClient.wait({
          operation: operation.name,
          project: projectId,
          zone: operation.zone.split('/').pop(),
        });
      }
    }
    
    /**
     * Starts Compute Engine instances.
     *
     * Expects a PubSub message with JSON-formatted event data containing the
     * following attributes:
     *  zone - the GCP zone the instances are located in.
     *  label - the label of instances to start.
     *
     * @param {!object} event Cloud Function PubSub message event.
     * @param {!object} callback Cloud Function PubSub callback indicating
     *  completion.
     */
    exports.startInstancePubSub = async (event, context, callback) => {
      try {
        const project = await instancesClient.getProjectId();
        const payload = _validatePayload(event);
        const options = {
          filter: `labels.${payload.label}`,
          project,
          zone: payload.zone,
        };
    
        const [instances] = await instancesClient.list(options);
    
        await Promise.all(
          instances.map(async instance => {
            const [response] = await instancesClient.start({
              project,
              zone: payload.zone,
              instance: instance.name,
            });
    
            return waitForOperation(project, response.latestResponse);
          })
        );
    
        // Operation complete. Instance successfully started.
        const message = 'Successfully started instance(s)';
        console.log(message);
        callback(null, message);
      } catch (err) {
        console.log(err);
        callback(err);
      }
    };
    
    /**
     * Validates that a request payload contains the expected fields.
     *
     * @param {!object} payload the request payload to validate.
     * @return {!object} the payload object.
     */
    const _validatePayload = event => {
      let payload;
      try {
        payload = JSON.parse(Buffer.from(event.data, 'base64').toString());
      } catch (err) {
        throw new Error('Invalid Pub/Sub message: ' + err);
      }
      if (!payload.zone) {
        throw new Error("Attribute 'zone' missing from payload");
      } else if (!payload.label) {
        throw new Error("Attribute 'label' missing from payload");
      }
      return payload;
    };

15. On the left side of the code editor, select the package.json.

16. Replace the starter code with the following code:

    {
      "name": "cloud-functions-schedule-instance",
      "version": "0.1.0",
      "private": true,
      "license": "Apache-2.0",
      "author": "Google Inc.",
      "repository": {
        "type": "git",
        "url": "https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples.git"
      },
      "engines": {
        "node": ">=16.0.0"
      },
      "scripts": {
        "test": "c8 mocha -p -j 2 test/*.test.js --timeout=20000"
      },
      "devDependencies": {
        "c8": "^10.0.0",
        "mocha": "^10.0.0",
        "proxyquire": "^2.0.0",
        "sinon": "^18.0.0"
      },
      "dependencies": {
        "@google-cloud/compute": "^4.0.0"
      }
    }
    

17. Click Deploy at the bottom of the page.

Create the stop function.

1. You should be on the Cloud Run functions page in the Google Cloud console.
2. Click Create Function.
3. For Environment, select 1st gen.
4. Set Function name to stopInstancePubSub.
5. Leave Region at its default value.
6. For Trigger type, select Cloud Pub/Sub.
7. For Select a Cloud Pub/Sub topic, click Create a topic.
8. A Create topic dialog should appear.
   1. Under Topic ID, enter stop-instance-event.
   2. Click Create to finish the dialog.
9. Click Save at the bottom of the Trigger box.
10. Click Next at the bottom of the page.
11. For Runtime, select Node.js 16 or later.
12. For Entry point, enter stopInstancePubSub.
13. On the left side of the code editor, select index.js.

14. Replace the starter code with the following code:

    const compute = require('@google-cloud/compute');
    const instancesClient = new compute.InstancesClient();
    const operationsClient = new compute.ZoneOperationsClient();
    
    async function waitForOperation(projectId, operation) {
      while (operation.status !== 'DONE') {
        [operation] = await operationsClient.wait({
          operation: operation.name,
          project: projectId,
          zone: operation.zone.split('/').pop(),
        });
      }
    }
    
    /**
     * Stops Compute Engine instances.
     *
     * Expects a PubSub message with JSON-formatted event data containing the
     * following attributes:
     *  zone - the GCP zone the instances are located in.
     *  label - the label of instances to stop.
     *
     * @param {!object} event Cloud Function PubSub message event.
     * @param {!object} callback Cloud Function PubSub callback indicating completion.
     */
    exports.stopInstancePubSub = async (event, context, callback) => {
      try {
        const project = await instancesClient.getProjectId();
        const payload = _validatePayload(event);
        const options = {
          filter: `labels.${payload.label}`,
          project,
          zone: payload.zone,
        };
    
        const [instances] = await instancesClient.list(options);
    
        await Promise.all(
          instances.map(async instance => {
            const [response] = await instancesClient.stop({
              project,
              zone: payload.zone,
              instance: instance.name,
            });
    
            return waitForOperation(project, response.latestResponse);
          })
        );
    
        // Operation complete. Instance successfully stopped.
        const message = 'Successfully stopped instance(s)';
        console.log(message);
        callback(null, message);
      } catch (err) {
        console.log(err);
        callback(err);
      }
    };
    
    /**
     * Validates that a request payload contains the expected fields.
     *
     * @param {!object} payload the request payload to validate.
     * @return {!object} the payload object.
     */
    const _validatePayload = event => {
      let payload;
      try {
        payload = JSON.parse(Buffer.from(event.data, 'base64').toString());
      } catch (err) {
        throw new Error('Invalid Pub/Sub message: ' + err);
      }
      if (!payload.zone) {
        throw new Error("Attribute 'zone' missing from payload");
      } else if (!payload.label) {
        throw new Error("Attribute 'label' missing from payload");
      }
      return payload;
    };

15. On the left side of the code editor, select the package.json.

16. Replace the starter code with the following code:

    {
      "name": "cloud-functions-schedule-instance",
      "version": "0.1.0",
      "private": true,
      "license": "Apache-2.0",
      "author": "Google Inc.",
      "repository": {
        "type": "git",
        "url": "https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples.git"
      },
      "engines": {
        "node": ">=16.0.0"
      },
      "scripts": {
        "test": "c8 mocha -p -j 2 test/*.test.js --timeout=20000"
      },
      "devDependencies": {
        "c8": "^10.0.0",
        "mocha": "^10.0.0",
        "proxyquire": "^2.0.0",
        "sinon": "^18.0.0"
      },
      "dependencies": {
        "@google-cloud/compute": "^4.0.0"
      }
    }
    

17. Click Deploy at the bottom of the page.

gcloud

Create the Pub/Sub topics.

gcloud pubsub topics create start-instance-event

gcloud pubsub topics create stop-instance-event

Get the code

1. Download the code.

   git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples.git

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

2. Go to the correct directory.

   cd nodejs-docs-samples/functions/scheduleinstance/

Create the start and stop functions.

You should be in the nodejs-docs-samples/functions/scheduleinstance/ directory.

gcloud functions deploy startInstancePubSub \
    --trigger-topic start-instance-event \
    --runtime nodejs18 \
    --allow-unauthenticated

gcloud functions deploy stopInstancePubSub \
    --trigger-topic stop-instance-event \
    --runtime nodejs18 \
    --allow-unauthenticated

Note: If you have trouble deploying your functions, see the documentation Deploying from Your Local Machine.

(Optional) Verify the functions work

Console

Stop the instance

1. Go to the Cloud Run functions page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the Cloud Run functions page.
2. Click on the function named stopInstancePubSub.
3. You should see a number of tabs: General, Trigger, Source, Permissions, and Testing. Click on the Testing tab.

4. For Triggering event enter the following:

   {"data":"eyJ6b25lIjoidXMtd2VzdDEtYiIsICJsYWJlbCI6ImVudj1kZXYifQo="}
   

   • This is simply the base64-encoded string for {"zone":"us-west1-b", "label":"env=dev"}

   • If you want to encode your own string, feel free to use any online base64 encoding tool.

     Note: If you want to learn more about publishing data to Pub/Sub, see the Publisher Guide.

5. Click the Test the function button.

6. When it is done running, you should see Successfully stopped instance dev-instance printed under Output. It may take up to 60 seconds to finish running.

   • If instead you see error: 'Error: function failed to load.', just wait 10 seconds or so for the function to finish deploying and try again.

   • If instead you see error: 'Error: function execution attempt timed out.', just move on to the next step to see if the instance is just taking a long time to shut down.

   • If instead it finishes running, but shows nothing, it probably also just timed out. Just move on to the next step to see if the instance is just taking a long time to shut down.

7. Go to the VM instances page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the VM instances page.

8. Verify that the instance named dev-instance has a grey square next to its name, indicating that it has stopped. It may take up to 30 seconds to finish shutting down.

   • If it doesn't seem to be finishing, try clicking Refresh at the top of the page.

Start the instance

1. Go to the Cloud Run functions page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the Cloud Run functions page.
2. Click on the function named startInstancePubSub.
3. You should see a number of tabs: General, Trigger, Source, Permissions, and Testing. Click on the Testing tab.

4. For Triggering event enter the following:

   {"data":"eyJ6b25lIjoidXMtd2VzdDEtYiIsICJsYWJlbCI6ImVudj1kZXYifQo="}
   

   • Again, this is simply the base64-encoded string for {"zone":"us-west1-b", "label":"env=dev"}

5. Click the Test the function button.

6. When it is done running, you should see Successfully started instance dev-instance printed under Output.

7. Go to the VM instances page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the VM instances page.

8. Verify that the instance named dev-instance has a green checkmark next to its name, indicating that it is running. It may take up to 30 seconds to finish starting up.

gcloud

Stop the instance

1. Call the function to stop the instance.

   gcloud functions call stopInstancePubSub \
       --data '{"data":"eyJ6b25lIjoidXMtd2VzdDEtYiIsICJsYWJlbCI6ImVudj1kZXYifQo="}'
   

   • This is simply the base64-encoded string for {"zone":"us-west1-b", "label":"env=dev"}

   • If you want to encode your own string, feel free to use any tool. Here's an example using the base64 command line tool:

     echo '{"zone":"us-west1-b", "label":"env=dev"}' | base64
     

     eyJ6b25lIjoidXMtd2VzdDEtYiIsICJsYWJlbCI6ImVudj1kZXYifQo=
     

     Note: If you want to learn more about publishing data to Pub/Sub, see the Publisher Guide.

   When the function has finished you should see the following:

   result: Successfully stopped instance dev-instance
   

   It may take up to 60 seconds to finish running.

   • If instead you get the error:

     error: 'Error: function failed to load.`
     

     Just wait 10 seconds or so for the function to finish deploying and try again.

   • If instead you get the error:

     error: `Error: function execution attempt timed out.`
     

     Move on to the next step to see if the instance is just taking a long time to shut down.

   • If instead you get no result, the function probably just timed out. Move on to the next step to see if the instance is just taking a long time to shut down.

2. Check that the instance has a status of TERMINATED. It may take up to 30 seconds to finish shutting down.

   gcloud compute instances describe dev-instance \
       --zone us-west1-b \
       | grep status
   

   status: TERMINATED
   

Start the instance

1. Call the function to start the instance.

   gcloud functions call startInstancePubSub \
       --data '{"data":"eyJ6b25lIjoidXMtd2VzdDEtYiIsICJsYWJlbCI6ImVudj1kZXYifQo="}'
   

   • Again, this is simply the base64-encoded string for {"zone":"us-west1-b", "label":"env=dev"}

   When the function has finished you should see the following:

   result: Successfully started instance dev-instance
   

2. Check that the instance has a status of RUNNING. It may take up to 30 seconds to finish starting up.

   gcloud compute instances describe dev-instance \
       --zone us-west1-b \
       | grep status
   

   status: RUNNING
   

Set up the Cloud Scheduler jobs to call Pub/Sub

Create the jobs

Console

Create the start job.

1. Go to the Cloud Scheduler page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the Cloud Scheduler page.
2. Click Create a job.
3. Leave the default region.
4. Set the Name to startup-dev-instances.
5. For Frequency, enter 0 9 * * 1-5.
   • This will execute at 9:00 every day Mon-Fri.
6. For Timezone, select your desired country and timezone. This example will use United States and Los Angeles.
7. Click Continue.
8. For Target type, select Pub/Sub.
9. Select start-instance-event from the topic dropdown.
10. For Message, enter the following:

    {"zone":"us-west1-b","label":"env=dev"}
    

11. Click Create.

Create the stop job.

1. You should be on the Cloud Scheduler page in the Google Cloud console.
2. Click Create Job.
3. Leave the default region and click Next at the bottom of the page.
4. Set the Name to shutdown-dev-instances.
5. For Frequency, enter 0 17 * * 1-5.
   • This will execute at 17:00 every day Mon-Fri.
6. For Timezone, select your desired country and timezone. This example will use United States and Los Angeles.
7. Click Continue.
8. For Target type, select Pub/Sub.
9. Select stop-instance-event from the topic dropdown..
10. For Message, enter the following:

    {"zone":"us-west1-b","label":"env=dev"}
    

11. Click Create.

gcloud

Create the start job.

gcloud scheduler jobs create pubsub startup-dev-instances \
    --schedule '0 9 * * 1-5' \
    --topic start-instance-event \
    --message-body '{"zone":"us-west1-b", "label":"env=dev"}' \
    --time-zone 'America/Los_Angeles' \
    --location us-central1

Create the stop job.

gcloud scheduler jobs create pubsub shutdown-dev-instances \
    --schedule '0 17 * * 1-5' \
    --topic stop-instance-event \
    --message-body '{"zone":"us-west1-b", "label":"env=dev"}' \
    --time-zone 'America/Los_Angeles' \
    --location us-central1

Note: Your Cloud Scheduler jobs are deployed to the region you selected when you created them. The job's region cannot be changed.

(Optional) Verify the jobs work

Console

Stop the instance

1. Go to the Cloud Scheduler page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the Cloud Scheduler page.
2. For the job named shutdown-dev-instances, click the Run now button on the far right side of the page.
3. Go to the VM instances page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the VM instances page.
4. Verify that the instance named dev-instance has a grey square next to its name, indicating that it has stopped. It may take up to 30 seconds for it to finish shutting down.

Start the instance

1. Go to the Cloud Scheduler page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the Cloud Scheduler page.
2. For the job named startup-dev-instances, click the Run now button on the far right side of the page.
3. Go to the VM instances page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the VM instances page.
4. Verify that the instance named dev-instance has a green checkmark next to its name, indicating that it is running. It may take up to 30 seconds for it to finish starting up.

gcloud

Stop the instance

1. Run the scheduler job to stop the instance.

   gcloud beta scheduler jobs run shutdown-dev-instances
   

2. Check that the instance has a status of TERMINATED. It may take up to 30 seconds for it to finish shutting down.

   gcloud compute instances describe dev-instance \
       --zone us-west1-b \
       | grep status
   

   status: TERMINATED
   

Start the instance

1. Run the scheduler job to start the instance.

   gcloud beta scheduler jobs run startup-dev-instances
   

2. Check that the instance has a status of RUNNING. It may take up to 30 seconds to finish starting up.

   gcloud compute instances describe dev-instance \
       --zone us-west1-b \
       | grep status
   

   status: RUNNING
   

Clean up

After you finish the tutorial, you can clean up the resources that you created so that they stop using quota and incurring charges. The following sections describe how to delete or turn off these resources.

Delete the Cloud Scheduler jobs

1. Go to the Cloud Scheduler page in the Google Cloud console.

   Go to the Cloud Scheduler page.

2. Click the checkboxes next to your jobs.

3. Click the Delete button at the top of the page and confirm your delete.

Delete the Pub/Sub topics

1. Go to the Pub/Sub page in the Google Cloud console.

   Go to the Pub/Sub page

2. Click the checkboxes next to your topics.

3. Click Delete at the top of the page and confirm your delete.

Delete the functions deployed through Cloud Run functions

1. Go to the Cloud Run functions page in the Google Cloud console.

   Go to the Cloud Run functions page.

2. Click the checkboxes next to your functions.

3. Click the Delete button at the top of the page and confirm your delete.

Delete the Compute Engine instance

To delete a Compute Engine instance:

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the VM instances page.

   Go to VM instances

2. Select the checkbox for the instance that you want to delete.
3. To delete the instance, click More actions, click Delete, and then follow the instructions.

Delete the project

The easiest way to eliminate billing is to delete the project that you created for the tutorial.

To delete the project:

Caution: Deleting a project has the following effects:

• Everything in the project is deleted. If you used an existing project for the tasks in this document, when you delete it, you also delete any other work you've done in the project.
• Custom project IDs are lost. When you created this project, you might have created a custom project ID that you want to use in the future. To preserve the URLs that use the project ID, such as an appspot.com URL, delete selected resources inside the project instead of deleting the whole project.

If you plan to explore multiple architectures, tutorials, or quickstarts, reusing projects can help you avoid exceeding project quota limits.

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Manage resources page.

   Go to Manage resources

2. In the project list, select the project that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
3. In the dialog, type the project ID, and then click Shut down to delete the project.

What's next

• Explore reference architectures, diagrams, and best practices about Google Cloud. Take a look at our Cloud Architecture Center.