Connect GCP

Before setup

• Choose the GCP project you want CloudWatcher to read.
• Create a service account with the permissions needed for inventory, metrics, and billing.
• Enable required APIs for the resources you want to view.
• Set up billing export if you need reliable cost data.

Setup steps

• Open Settings > GCP.
• Use assisted setup or paste service-account JSON manually.
• Save and validate the connection.
• Switch Dashboard to GCP.
• Check a region or project where resources already exist.

Cloud Shell callback note

GCP Cloud Shell cannot call a backend running on your laptop through localhost. Use a hosted backend URL for callbacks, or use manual service-account JSON paste during local development.

GCP services and config fields

• Compute Engine VM: configure instance name, machine type, zone, image, boot disk size, HTTP access, and region.
• Cloud Storage Bucket: configure bucket name, storage class, location, versioning, region, and policy.
• Cloud SQL Database: configure instance name, database name, database version, tier, and region.
• Cloud Run Function: configure function name, runtime, entry point, and region.
• VPC Network: configure network name, CIDR block, subnet CIDR, SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, private mode, and region.
• GKE Cluster: configure cluster name, node count, machine type, location, and region.
• Artifact Registry: configure Google Cloud container image registry settings.
• External Address: configure static external IP addressing.
• Firewall Rule: configure firewall rules for VM and network traffic.
• Backend Service: configure load-balancing backend service settings.
• Persistent Disk: configure block storage for GCP compute workloads.
• Cloud Load Balancer: configure load balancer name, port, and region.
• Managed Instance Group: configure scalable compute groups and autoscaling settings.
• Cloud CDN: configure edge caching and global delivery.
• GitHub Repository and Docker Hub: connect source code or container images for deployment workflows.

GCP verification checklist

• Open Dashboard and switch provider to GCP.
• Confirm the selected project, region, and zone match your resources.
• Open inventory, metrics, billing, alerts, or insights after the service account is saved.
• For cost data, confirm billing export is configured and has published records.
• For simulation, start with a small Compute Engine VM, Cloud Storage Bucket, VPC Network, or Cloud Run Function.
• If deployment fails, check enabled APIs, IAM roles, quota, region, zone, naming, and organization policy.