Google Cloud deployment

You can deploy your Helix Core Server using Google Cloud.

Deploying Helix Core

1. Log in to your Google Cloud account.

2. Create a Google Cloud project specifically for the Helix Core deployment. For information about creating projects, see the Google Cloud help.

   You can use an existing project instead, but we recommend creating a new one.

3. Click and select Marketplace.

   The Marketplace page opens.

4. In the search box, type Helix Core and press Enter.

5. In the search results, click Perforce - Helix Core.

6. Make sure that the correct project is selected at the top of the page.

   

7. Click Launch.

   If you are prompted to enable required APIs, click Enable.

8. On the Helix Core deployment page, enter information for your Helix Core deployment. The estimated monthly cost is updated as you make changes.

   Section	Field	Values to enter
   --	Deployment name	Type a name for the VM. Recommended: helix-core-<environment> Example: helix-core-production
   --	Zone	Select the zone closest to your team or one that meets your compliance and security needs.
   Machine Type		Use the default settings unless you need a different machine type. You can change these settings later.
   Boot Disk	Boot disk type	Select Balanced Persistent Disk unless you need to use another disk type. This disk type has SSD speed and minimizes cost.
   	Boot disk size in GB	Type the boot disk size in GBs. Use 1.5 times your expected amount of Helix Core depot data unless you need to mount separate drives after deployment. You can change increase the size later, but you cannot decrease it.
   Networking	Network interface	Expand the section to view options. If you have a static external IP address reserved, select it in the External IP field and click Done. Otherwise, use default and change it later.
   	Firewall	Select Allow TCP port 1666 traffic from the Internet. Helix Core uses port 1666. Your team needs this value to connect to Helix Core. To restrict access to the Helix Core Server, type a source IP address range in CIDR format in the Source IP ranges for TCP port 1666 traffic box. For example, to only allow access to the Helix Core Server from your network, use your public IP address appended with /32. Use whatsmyip.com to find your IP address. To make the server accessible to remote users, use 0.0.0.0/0 to allow open access from all IP addresses.
   Stackdriver	Enable Stackdriver Logging	Not required, but can select if needed.
   	Enable Stackdriver Monitoring	Not required, but can select if needed.

9. Click Deploy.

   Deployment may take a few minutes. When deployment is complete, a <Deployment Name> has been deployed message is displayed.

Assigning a static external IP address to the VM instance

If you used the default external IP address when entering the deployment information, you need to assign a static external IP address to the VM instance.

1. Click , select Compute Engine, and then select VM instances.

2. Click the VM Name created for the deployment.

3. On the Instances tab on the VM details page, click Edit.

4. Go to the Network interfaces section.

5. Click the arrow to expand the network interface settings.

6. In the External IPv4 address list, select Create IP Address.

7. Optionally, in Reserve a new static IP address dialog box, type the values for the IP address in the Name and Description boxes.

8. Click Reserve to reserve the IP address.

   The Network Service Tier is set to the default for the project you are using.

9. Click Save to save the settings.

10. Go to the Network interfaces section.

11. Mouse over the External IP address and click to copy the IP address to the clipboard. Paste it somewhere for future reference.

Accessing the Helix Core Server

You can access the Helix Core Server using the following tools.

• Google Cloud VM details page or gcloud CLI: Provides direct server access to perform administrative tasks.
• Helix Core Visual Client (P4V): Provides a cross-platform graphical user interface to check files in and out, compare versions, work with streams, and more on the Helix Core Server.
• Helix Sync: Provides an easy way for artists, designers, and others who are not developers to upload and download assets stored and managed by a Helix Core Server.

Additional steps

Consider completing the following additional steps after deployment.

• For a production environment, create and mount separate volumes for the /hxdepots, /hxlogs, and /hxmetadata directories.
• Set up a snapshot schedule to back up the /hxdepots and /hxlogs (optional) drives.
• Update firewall rules to either limit or expand the IP addresses that can access the Helix Core Server. See Updating firewall rules - Google Cloud deployment.
• Learn more about accessing the Helix Core Server to perform administration tasks, such as backups. See Using P4Admin to perform administrative tasks on the Helix Core Server.