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Deploy a VM with Apache Server via Startup Script and Dynv6 Dynamic IP

Objective

  1. Deploy a VM instance that automatically runs an Apache server using a startup script.
  2. Use Dynv6 to bind the VM's external IP to a dynamic DNS name for consistent access.

Prerequisites

  1. Google Cloud Platform Setup:

    • GCP project initialized with billing.
    • gcloud CLI installed and configured: 
      gcloud init

  2. Enable Required APIs:
    Enable the Compute Engine API.

    gcloud services enable compute.googleapis.com

  3. Dynv6 Account:

    • Create an account at dynv6.
    • Generate a token for dynamic DNS updates.
    • Create a dynv6 hostname (e.g., example.dynv6.net).

Step 1: Create a VM Instance with a Startup Script

The startup script will:

  • Update the package list.
  • Install and start Apache HTTP server.
  • Update the Dynv6 dynamic DNS with the instance's public IP.

Startup Script

Create a startup-script.sh file locally with the following content:

#!/bin/bash
# Update packages and install Apache
apt-get update
apt-get install -y apache2 curl

# Start Apache service
systemctl start apache2
systemctl enable apache2

# Fetch public IP of the VM
PUBLIC_IP=$(curl -s ifconfig.me)

# Update Dynv6 dynamic DNS
DYNV6_TOKEN="YOUR_DYNV6_TOKEN"
DYNV6_HOSTNAME="YOUR_DYNV6_HOSTNAME"

curl "https://dynv6.com/api/update?hostname=${DYNV6_HOSTNAME}&token=${DYNV6_TOKEN}&ipv4=${PUBLIC_IP}"

# Add log entry
echo "Dynv6 updated with IP: ${PUBLIC_IP}" >> /var/log/startup-script.log

Replace:

  • YOUR_DYNV6_TOKEN with your Dynv6 token.
  • YOUR_DYNV6_HOSTNAME with your Dynv6 hostname (e.g., example.dynv6.net).

Deploy the VM

Run the following gcloud command to create the VM:

gcloud compute instances create apache-dynv6-vm \
    --zone=us-central1-a \
    --machine-type=e2-micro \
    --image-family=ubuntu-2204-lts \
    --image-project=ubuntu-os-cloud \
    --tags=http-server \
    --metadata-from-file startup-script=startup-script.sh \
    --boot-disk-size=10GB

or add it manually.

apt update
apt -y install apache2
cat <<EOF > /var/www/html/index.html
<html><body><p>Linux startup script added directly. $(hostname -f) </p></body></html>

Step 2: Allow HTTP Traffic

If not already enabled, add a firewall rule to allow HTTP traffic.

Using gcloud CLI

gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-http \
    --direction=INGRESS \
    --action=ALLOW \
    --rules=tcp:80 \
    --target-tags=http-server

Step 3: Verify Apache and Dynv6 Configuration

  1. Apache Verification:

    • Find the external IP of the instance: 
      gcloud compute instances list
    • Open the IP in a browser:
      http://<EXTERNAL-IP>
    • The default Apache server page should load.

  2. Dynv6 DNS Update:

    • Go to your Dynv6 hostname URL:
      http://example.dynv6.net
    • It should point to your VM's Apache server.

Step 4: Automate Dynv6 Updates (Optional)

To ensure the Dynv6 hostname stays updated even after a VM restart, add a cron job to periodically update the DNS.

  1. SSH into the VM:

    gcloud compute ssh apache-dynv6-vm --zone=us-central1-a

  2. Edit the cron jobs:

    crontab -e

  3. Add the following line to run the Dynv6 update script every 10 minutes:

    */10 * * * * curl "https://dynv6.com/api/update?hostname=YOUR_DYNV6_HOSTNAME&token=YOUR_DYNV6_TOKEN&ipv4=$(curl -s ifconfig.me)"

Cleanup (Optional)

To delete the VM instance:

gcloud compute instances delete apache-dynv6-vm --zone=us-central1-a

Summary

  • A VM instance is created and runs an Apache server using a startup script.
  • The script automatically updates the Dynv6 dynamic DNS with the VM's external IP.
  • Dynv6 provides consistent hostname access even when the VM restarts or its IP changes.

Now, your Apache server is accessible via the Dynv6 dynamic hostname!