Deploy a MeiliSearch instance on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Compute Engine

Using our GCP custom image, MeiliSearch can be deployed on GCP in just a few minutes.

The following guide will walk you through every step to deploy MeiliSearch in a GCP Compute Engine instance. If you have any problems with our GCP image, please create an issue in this repositoryDeploy on GCP - 图1 (opens new window).

Table of contents:

Part 1: Deploy a MeiliSearch instance

1. Import MeiliSearch custom image on your GCP account

  • Navigate to Compute Engine => Images.

Compute Engine - Images

  • Click on [+] CREATE IMAGE.

Fill in image info

  • Give it a name (meilisearch-example).

  • For the Source field select Virtual disk (VMDK, VHD).

  • If you are prompted to enable Cloud Build tools and grant permissions, do it.

  • Copy the following URI in the Cloud Storage file field.

  1. gs://meilisearch-image/meilisearch-v0.23.1-debian-10.vmdk

  • The other fields are not required.

  • Click on Create. You may have to wait up to 6 minutes while the MeiliSearch custom image imports to your account.

Wait for the image to finish importing

2. Create a new GCP Compute Engine instance from the imported image

  • Open the tab Images and click on the name of the image that you just imported, and click on the [+] Create instance button.

Create instance

  • Give your instance a name

  • In the Machine configuration section, make sure to pick a Machine type with enough memory to run MeiliSearch according to your needs. More memory means faster searching.

Machine configuration

  • In the Boot disk section, click the Change button.

  • From the Custom images tab, select the image that you just imported in the previous steps (meilisearch-vX-X-X) from the drop down menu. Don’t forget to set the Size of the disk to an amount corresponding to your needs. When you are done, click on Select.

Boot disk

  • In the Firewall section, make sure to check the Allow HTTP traffic and Allow HTTPS traffic boxes so that your MeiliSearch instance can communicate with the internet.

  • Finally, click on the Create button. After a minute or two, your MeiliSearch instance should be up and running.

Your instance is running!

You can check that your instance is running correctly by copying and pasting the External IP address provided by GCP into your browser, or by typing the following command on your terminal:

  1. curl http://<your-external-ip>/health

The server should answer with a 200 OK status code as shown in the example below:

  1. {"status":"available"}

Part 2: Set your instance to a production environment

Configuring your MeiliSearch instance in a production environment is not just straightforward—it’s completely automated. Establish an SSH connection with your instance, and a script will guide you through the process.

1. Make your domain name point to your instance IP

If you want to use a custom domain name (or sub-domain), add an A record in your domain name provider account. Otherwise, you can skip this step.

Domain to MeiliSearch

Your domain name should now be linked to your MeiliSearch instance. Run a health check to verify that your instance is running and your DNS is well configured:

  1. curl -v http://<your-domain-name>/health

The server should answer with a 200 OK status code as shown in the example below:

  1. ...
  2. < HTTP/1.1 200 OK
  3. ...

2. Set API key and SSL (HTTPS)

MeiliSearch is currently running in a development environment. You haven’t set up an API key, meaning that anyone can read/write from your MeiliSearch, and you aren’t using HTTPS yet, which makes this configuration unsafe for production.

To start the configuration process, connect via SSH to your new MeiliSearch instance and follow the instructions that appear.

2.2. Run the configuration script

2.2.1 Option 1: Using the Google Cloud Console

Navigate to Compute Engine => VM instances. Click on the name of your instance, and then click on the SSH button (make sure to have pop-ups enabled or the window may be blocked). The connection will be established and the script will automatically run.

2.2.2 Option 2: Add your SSH key to the Compute Engine metadata

  • Make sure that you have an SSH public key (normally stored in ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub). If you haven’t created your SSH key or want to generate a new one, you can follow this guideDeploy on GCP - 图10 (opens new window).

  • On the GCP dashboard, navigate to Compute Engine => Metadata, and click on theSSH Keys tab. Click on Edit.

  • To add a new SSH key, click on + Add item. Copy your Public key and paste it on the new box that has been created on the GCP interface. Usually you can read your public key by running the following command on a terminal:

  1. cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
  • Click on Save.

Now establish an SSH connection using the same username that is present on your SSH key. If you are adding your local system key, it will probably be your username on your local system. To know what this username is in UNIX-like systems, run the command:

  1. whoami

Then establish a connection using the following command:

  1. ssh <your-username>@<your-external-ip-or-domain-name>

You should see something like this:

  1. ________________________________________________
  2. ________________________________________________
  3.              _ _ _ __                     _
  4.   /\/\   ___(_) (_) _\ ___  __ _ _ __ ___| |__
  5.  /    \ / _ \ | | \ \ / _ \/ _` | '__/ __| '_ \
  6. / /\/\ \  __/ | | |\ \  __/ (_| | | | (__| | | |
  7. \/    \/\___|_|_|_\__/\___|\__,_|_|  \___|_| |_|
  9. ________________________________________________
  10. ________________________________________________

If it’s your first time accessing the instance via SSH, a script will run automatically asking for your settings and desired configuration. If you want to run this script again at any time, you can do so by using the following command:

  1. meilisearch-setup

3. Enjoy your ready-to-use MeiliSearch instance

Your MeiliSearch instance is up and running on GCP and ready to be used in production.

To make sure that everything is running smoothly, do a final HTTP call to the /health route:

  1. curl -v https://<your-domain-name>/health

Note that this time, we’re using HTTPS.

The server should answer with a 200 OK status code as shown in the example below:

  1. ...
  2. < HTTP/1.1 200 OK
  3. ...

You’re all set to use MeiliSearch in production with GCP! If you have any problems with our GCP image, please create an issue in this repositoryDeploy on GCP - 图11 (opens new window).