Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Deploying Debian 12 Using gcloud

The following command will create a GCP VM with nested virtualization enabled, 500GB of disk space, 16 CPUs and 72 GB of RAM. Adjust the values as required.

You will need to replace {InstanceName}, {Zone}, {ProjectID}, {GCP UserName}, {UserName}, and {SSH KEY}- don't forget to escape spaces with a \.

The {GCP Username} will the be the user that is assigned the SSH key for the VM. Log in as this user.

gcloud compute instances create {InstanceName} \
  --enable-nested-virtualization \
  --zone={Zone} \
  --create-disk=auto-delete=yes,boot=yes,device-name={InstanceName},image=projects/debian-cloud/global/images/debian-12-bookworm-v20240213,mode=rw,size=500,type=projects/{ProjectID}/zones/us-central1-a/diskTypes/pd-balanced  \
  --visible-core-count 4 \
  --custom-cpu 16 \
  --custom-memory 72 \
  --metadata=ssh-keys={GCP UserName}:{Protocol}\ \
{Key}\ {UserName}

Example:

gcloud compute instances create ludus \
  --enable-nested-virtualization \
  --zone=us-central1 \
  --create-disk=auto-delete=yes,boot=yes,device-name=ludus,image=projects/debian-cloud/global/images/debian-12-bookworm-v20240213,mode=rw,size=500,type=projects/myproject/zones/us-central1-a/diskTypes/pd-balanced  \
  --visible-core-count 4 \
  --custom-cpu 16 \
  --custom-memory 72 \
  --metadata=ssh-keys=myname:ssh-ed25519\ AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIHm8UFxzLleq30n+CFdsPGZtOoGjZQus53ffCD9Zik3D\ username@host

Deploying Debian 12 Using Terraform

You will need to replace {InstanceName}, {region}, {Zone}, {project_id}, {SSH_User} and {SSH_Key}. This will install a new Debian 12 server with 24 cores, 82GB Memory, 500GB SSD and nested virtualization enabled (on Intel Haswell chip)

provider "google" {
  region = "{region}"
  project = "{project_id}"
}

resource "google_compute_instance" "{InstanceName}" {
  boot_disk {
    auto_delete = true
    device_name = "{InstanceName}"

    initialize_params {
      image = "projects/debian-cloud/global/images/debian-12-bookworm-v20240213"
      size  = 500
      type  = "pd-balanced"
    }

    mode = "READ_WRITE"
  }

  can_ip_forward      = false
  deletion_protection = false
  enable_display      = false

  labels = {
    goog-ec-src = "vm_add-tf"
  }

  machine_type     = "custom-24-81920"
  min_cpu_platform = "Intel Haswell"

  metadata = {
    ssh-keys = "{SSH_USER}:{SSH KEY}"
  }

  name = "{InstanceName}"

  network_interface {
    access_config {
      network_tier = "PREMIUM"
    }

    queue_count = 0
    stack_type  = "IPV4_ONLY"
    subnetwork  = "projects/{project_id}/regions/{region}/subnetworks/default"
  }

  scheduling {
    automatic_restart   = true
    on_host_maintenance = "MIGRATE"
    preemptible         = false
    provisioning_model  = "STANDARD"
  }


  shielded_instance_config {
    enable_integrity_monitoring = true
    enable_secure_boot          = false
    enable_vtpm                 = true
  }

  zone = "{Zone}"
  advanced_machine_features {
    enable_nested_virtualization   = true
  }
}

Install

1. Run curl -s https://ludus.cloud/install | bash and enter y and I understand to start the install but carefully read each option and change the Public IP. It is almost certainly wrong. Enter the hostname from GCP as the node name (i.e. debian-vm-be83d9b instead of ludus) and the correct Public IP when prompted and continue through the options.
2. When the VM reboots, SSH back in and run ludus-install-status as root to monitor the install.
3. Once the install succeeds, follow the Quick start guide as normal starting at Create a User.

Troubleshooting

This error will automatically be recovered (as of v.1.1.3):

TASK [lae.proxmox : Install Proxmox VE and related packages] *******************
FAILED - RETRYING: [127.0.0.1]: Install Proxmox VE and related packages (2 retries left).
FAILED - RETRYING: [127.0.0.1]: Install Proxmox VE and related packages (1 retries left).
fatal: [127.0.0.1]: FAILED! => {"attempts": 2, "cache_update_time": 1708546691, "cache_updated": false, "changed": false, "msg": "'/usr/bin/apt-get -y -o \"Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef\" -o \"Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold\"       install 'proxmox-ve=8.1.0'' failed: E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)\n", "rc": 100, "stderr": "E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)\n", "stderr_lines": ["E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)"], "stdout": "Reading package lists...\nBuilding dependency tree...\nReading state information...\nproxmox-ve is already the newest version (8.1.0).\nThe following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:\n  python3-distro-info\nUse 'apt autoremove' to remove it.\n0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.\n4 not fully installed or removed.\nAfter this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.\nSetting up ifupdown2 (3.2.0-1+pmx8) ...\r\n\r\nnetwork config changes have been detected for ifupdown2 compatibility.\r\nSaved in /etc/network/interfaces.new for hot-apply or next reboot.\r\n\r\nReloading network config on first install\r\nerror: Another instance of this program is already running.\r\ndpkg: error processing package ifupdown2 (--configure):\r\n installed ifupdown2 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 89\r\nSetting up grub-pc (2.06-13+pmx1) ...\r\ngrub-pc: Running grub-install ...\r\nYou must correct your GRUB install devices before proceeding:\r\n\r\n  DEBIAN_FRONTEND=dialog dpkg --configure grub-pc\r\n  dpkg --configure -a\r\ndpkg: error processing package grub-pc (--configure):\r\n installed grub-pc package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1\r\ndpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of pve-manager:\r\n pve-manager depends on ifupdown2 (>= 3.0) | ifenslave (>= 2.6); however:\r\n  Package ifupdown2 is not configured yet.\r\n  Package ifenslave is not installed.\r\n\r\ndpkg: error processing package pve-manager (--configure):\r\n dependency problems - leaving unconfigured\r\ndpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of proxmox-ve:\r\n proxmox-ve depends on pve-manager (>= 8.0.4); however:\r\n  Package pve-manager is not configured yet.\r\n\r\ndpkg: error processing package proxmox-ve (--configure):\r\n dependency problems - leaving unconfigured\r\nErrors were encountered while processing:\r\n ifupdown2\r\n grub-pc\r\n pve-manager\r\n proxmox-ve\r\n", "stdout_lines": ["Reading package lists...", "Building dependency tree...", "Reading state information...", "proxmox-ve is already the newest version (8.1.0).", "The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:", "  python3-distro-info", "Use 'apt autoremove' to remove it.", "0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.", "4 not fully installed or removed.", "After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.", "Setting up ifupdown2 (3.2.0-1+pmx8) ...", "", "network config changes have been detected for ifupdown2 compatibility.", "Saved in /etc/network/interfaces.new for hot-apply or next reboot.", "", "Reloading network config on first install", "error: Another instance of this program is already running.", "dpkg: error processing package ifupdown2 (--configure):", " installed ifupdown2 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 89", "Setting up grub-pc (2.06-13+pmx1) ...", "grub-pc: Running grub-install ...", "You must correct your GRUB install devices before proceeding:", "", "  DEBIAN_FRONTEND=dialog dpkg --configure grub-pc", "  dpkg --configure -a", "dpkg: error processing package grub-pc (--configure):", " installed grub-pc package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1", "dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of pve-manager:", " pve-manager depends on ifupdown2 (>= 3.0) | ifenslave (>= 2.6); however:", "  Package ifupdown2 is not configured yet.", "  Package ifenslave is not installed.", "", "dpkg: error processing package pve-manager (--configure):", " dependency problems - leaving unconfigured", "dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of proxmox-ve:", " proxmox-ve depends on pve-manager (>= 8.0.4); however:", "  Package pve-manager is not configured yet.", "", "dpkg: error processing package proxmox-ve (--configure):", " dependency problems - leaving unconfigured", "Errors were encountered while processing:", " ifupdown2", " grub-pc", " pve-manager", " proxmox-ve"]}