Cloud Shell / gcloud Open Source

EasyGCE — Zero-Friction GCE Provisioning

EasyGCE wraps the gcloud CLI with opinionated, zero-friction scripts for developers who want to launch, configure, and SSH into Compute Engine VMs without memorizing a dozen gcloud flags.

View on GitHub ← All Projects

bash spin-up.sh --name dev-box --machine e2-standard-4
bash ssh.sh --name dev-box
bash teardown.sh --name dev-box

Features

Declarative bash and gcloud scripts for spinning up, configuring, and tearing down Google Compute Engine instances in seconds.

🚀

One-Command Launch

spin-up.sh creates a fully-configured VM with your SSH key, firewall rules, and startup script in one shot.

💰

Cost Awareness

Defaults to preemptible/spot instances. Includes tear-down scripts so you never leave an instance running.

🔐

Secure by Default

Configures OS Login, scoped service accounts, and firewall rules without manual IAM wrestling.

🛠️

Composable Scripts

Each script is a standalone bash file — combine them in your own automation pipelines.

Documentation & Architecture

Repository: https://github.com/darianhickman/EasyGCE
Original Design doc link

Problem: * Many saas offerings make it pain in the ass to download files or objects via commandline or require paid memberships to access API’s

Goal: * Make it insanely easy to download files from anywhere and to then scp/stps/cli to any server on-premise and in cloud and in the storage services like S3, Google Storage.

Tactic

Dockerize a server that enables Remote Desktop. Possible solution
Install
- google cloud sdk
- aws sdk
- azure sdk
- Gnome or XFCE
- Google Chrome
- Cyberduck if it exists for Linux
- Install fast web server with directory browsing enabled for the highest level folder possible “/”
- Install web service to edit text files on the file system with sudo privs
- If a web version of SublimeText exists, install that
- Install a web shell
- If bash as a web app exists install that. Possible solution
- Install a fast VNC Server or better server for enabling Remote Desktop
- Turn off / disable iptables
- Config files and service scripts necessary
Update Google Cloud Firewall rules by script to open up all relevant ports and protocols

Tests

Connect to Server with Vnc Viewer
Connect to Server with the Remote Desktop baked into MacOS
Connect to Server with Chrome Remote Desktop
Download a large file from a free Google Drive account without first downloading to desktop system
Download a large file from Box.com directly to server
Download a large file from a free Dropbox.com account
Upload a file to Google Storage bucket
Upload a file to Amazon S3 bucket