Score:1

Server

Unable to access GCP Compute Engine VM via domain name

dokgu

12/30/22, 3:49 PM

I'm evaluating Google Cloud Platform to see if I can build a network of applications I need for a project I plan on starting really soon. So far I have the Compute Engine API enabled on my GCP project and a VM instance set up which has Apache installed and ready to serve web pages.

Right now I can only access it through the external IP address. I want to be able to access this VM through a domain name I purchased through Google Domains.

I followed this guide to set up domain names, static IPs, DNS configurations, zones, etc.

At the end of the guide, it gives me instructions on how to verify that my setup is working correctly and I've done all of the steps mentioned in the guide (assuming my domain is domain.com):

dig +trace domain.com

nslookup domain.com

Both of those show the external IP address but when I type the domain name on my browser, it doesn't get resolved to that IP address and I don't see the contents of my VM's web server.

I also went to check for DNS trails and entered the domain name, and it does show the correct records.

I'm still looking around for guides and maybe I should have gone with this: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/custom-hostname-vm - when I created my VM instance, I didn't set up a hostname for it, could it be because of that?

GCP firewall settings:

668

1 + 17

domain-name-system

virtual-machines

google-compute-engine

google-cloud-platform

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 4:44 PM

What is the domain name?

dokgu

12/30/22, 5:35 PM

@MichaelHampton fruitloops.dev

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 5:37 PM

It times out for me. Check your firewall.

dokgu

12/30/22, 5:39 PM

@MichaelHampton When I installed Apache on the VM, the guide I was using had me do both `sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http` and `sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https`. Was I supposed to do more than that?

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 5:41 PM

Your GCP firewall, not the VM's internal firewall.

dokgu

12/30/22, 5:44 PM

@MichaelHampton I've edited the question to include a screenshot of the GCP firewall settings. I don't really know how firewalls work - I'm not much of a network guy.

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 5:45 PM

OK, that seems reasonable, but does your VM have those tags? If not, then the firewall rules won't apply to it.

dokgu

12/30/22, 5:47 PM

@MichaelHampton the only network tag I see on the VM is `http-server`. What else do I need to add? I think this tag was added because I enabled HTTP access but not HTTPS.

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 5:48 PM

Since you need port 443, you also have to have the tag https-server.

dokgu

12/30/22, 5:52 PM

@MichaelHampton I've added that tag but I still can't view the page using the domain name. I believe these were the original tags I had on the VM when I created it but since I was having issues I removed HTTPS because it wasn't on the guide I was following. Putting it back didn't fix the issue though.

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 5:52 PM

Well, now your firewall port is open and it seems to be working fine. I now get a Connection refused. That means now you need to start your web server.

dokgu

12/30/22, 5:54 PM

@MichaelHampton apache is running and I can view the page using the external static IP address I set up for it: 35.235.65.238

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 5:54 PM

It's not answering on port 443, though. That's where your problem is.

dokgu

12/30/22, 5:57 PM

@MichaelHampton when I installed Apache it was recommended to create virtual hosts, but since it wasn't required I just skipped it. I'll see if I can set those up and get back to you.

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 5:58 PM

I think you missed something very important: You bought a .dev domain. This domain (and several others) have HSTS enabled for the entire TLD and so require the use of https.

dokgu

12/30/22, 6:02 PM

@MichaelHampton I saw that when I purchased the domain and I do intend to put everything under HTTPS, I'm just evaluating GCP right now so I know that what I plan to do is possible.

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 6:04 PM

OK, well since your problem is fixed now I've summarized it into an answer.

Score:8

Server

Michael Hampton

12/30/22, 6:04 PM

You bought a .dev domain so you need to have incoming traffic on https (TCP port 443). This domain (and several others) have HSTS enabled for the entire TLD and so require the use of https.

Your GCP firewall shows you have an allow rule for this traffic but only for VMs tagged https-server. Your VM did not have this tag, so giving it this tag will allow port 443 inbound.

At this point you need to set up your web server with a TLS certificate and to answer TLS requests on port 443.

0 + 0

Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: Unable to access GCP Compute Engine VM via domain name

TH: ไม่สามารถเข้าถึง GCP Compute Engine VM ผ่านชื่อโดเมน

RO: Nu se poate accesa VM GCP Compute Engine prin numele de domeniu

RU: Не удалось получить доступ к виртуальной машине GCP Compute Engine через доменное имя

VI: Không thể truy cập máy ảo GCP Compute Engine qua tên miền

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