GCP PlayCloud Labs Guided Lab: SSH Access to GCP VM Instance from Local Machine using SSH Key Pair

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Guided Lab: SSH Access to GCP VM Instance from Local Machine using SSH Key Pair

Jon-Bonso

Description

Secure Shell (SSH) is the standard way to remotely access and manage virtual machines in Google Cloud. Instead of relying on passwords, SSH uses key pairs (a private key stored locally and a public key registered with the VM) to provide secure, encrypted authentication

In this guided lab, you will learn how to set up and use SSH keys to establish secure access to a VM instance in Google Cloud. This is a foundational skill for cloud administrators and developers who need to manage workloads safely and efficiently.

Prerequisites

To ensure the successful completion of this lab, you must have prior experience in creating VM instances and be familiar with their essential components. If you feel that your knowledge in this area is insufficient, we highly recommend taking this lab to gain the necessary understanding:

Guided Lab: How to Launch a GCP Compute Engine Linux Instance

Objectives

In this lab, you will:

Create a VM instance.
Generate and secure an SSH key pair (private + public key).
Register the public key with your VM.
Connect to the VM manually using the ssh -i command from your local machine.

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Lab Steps

Create a VM Instance

1. In the Cloud Console, navigate to Compute Engine → VM instances.

2. Click Create instance.

3. Enter the desired name.

4. Select a machine type (e.g., e2-small).

6. Under OS and storage, click the Change button to modify the Boot disk:

Operating System: Ubuntu

6. Leave other configurations at their default values.

7. Click Create.

Generate SSH Key Pair

1. On your local machine, generate a new key pair. You can choose any filename (example: my-gcp-key)

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/my-gcp-key

2. Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase)

This creates:

my-gcp-key → private key file
my-gcp-key.pub → public key file

3. Secure the private key:

chmod 400 ~/my-gcp-key

Add Public Key to GCP VM

1. Go to Google Cloud Console → Compute Engine → VM instances

2. Select your VM → Edit.

3. Scroll to SSH Keys → Add Item.

4. Paste the public key in the correct format (ssh-rsa … ubuntu).

When pasting the public key, ensure it ends with the username you intend to log in with. For example: ssh-rsa AAAAB3… ubuntu

5. Save.

Verify Firewall Rules

Ensure SSH (TCP port 22) is allowed:

Go to VPC Network → Firewall rules.
Confirm a default-allow-ssh exists allowing tcp:22

Connect to VM

Use the external IP of your VM and the correct username, referencing your private key file

ssh -i ~/my-gcp-key ubuntu@<VM_EXTERNAL_IP>

Test & Troubleshoot

Permission denied (publickey) → Check that the public key is in /home/ubuntu/.ssh/authorized_keys and matches the username.
Wrong username → If you pasted ssh-rsa … myuser, connect as myuser@<VM_EXTERNAL_IP>.
Key permissions → Ensure chmod 400 my-gcp-key (private key).

Congratulations! You’ve successfully set up and used SSH keys to securely access a VM in Google Cloud. You now understand how to generate key pairs, register them with a VM, and connect from your local machine using secure, password‑less authentication.