Terraform Essentials: Firewall Policy - gem-terraform-fw-rule-create


Activate Cloud Shell
Cloud Shell is a virtual machine that is loaded with development tools. It offers a persistent 5GB home directory and runs on the Google Cloud. Cloud Shell provides command-line access to your Google Cloud resources.
Click Activate Cloud Shell
at the top of the Google Cloud console.
When you are connected, you are already authenticated, and the project is set to your PROJECT_ID. The output contains a line that declares the PROJECT_ID for this session:
Your Cloud Platform project in this session is set to YOUR_PROJECT_ID
gcloud
is the command-line tool for Google Cloud. It comes pre-installed on Cloud Shell and supports tab-completion.
- (Optional) You can list the active account name with this command:
gcloud auth list
Click Authorize.
Your output should now look like this:
Output:
ACTIVE: *
ACCOUNT: student-01-xxxxxxxxxxxx@qwiklabs.net
To set the active account, run:
$ gcloud config set account `ACCOUNT`
- (Optional) You can list the project ID with this command:
gcloud config list project
Output:
[core]
project = <project_ID>
Example output:
[core]
project = qwiklabs-gcp-44776a13dea667a6
Note: For full documentation of gcloud
, in Google Cloud, refer to the gcloud CLI overview guide.
Overview
This lab guides you through creating a firewall rule in Google Cloud using Terraform. You will learn how to define a firewall rule resource, configure its properties, and apply it to your Google Cloud project. This lab assumes you have a basic understanding of Google Cloud and Terraform.
Task 1. Configure Google Cloud Project
Before you begin, configure your Google Cloud project. This includes setting the project ID, region, and zone. Also, enable the IAM API.
Set your Project ID:
qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753
gcloud config set project qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753
Note:
This command sets your active project.Set your default region to
us-central1
gcloud config set compute/region us-central1
Note:
This command sets your active compute region.Set your default zone to
us-central1-b
gcloud config set compute/zone us-central1-b
Note:
This command sets your active compute zone.
Task 2. Create a Cloud Storage Bucket for Terraform State
Terraform uses a state file to track the resources it manages. For collaboration and persistence, it's best to store this state file in a remote backend like Google Cloud Storage (GCS).
Create a Cloud Storage bucket. Ensure the bucket name is globally unique and prefixed with your project ID:
qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753
gcloud storage buckets create gs://qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753-tf-state --project=qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753 --location=us-central1 --uniform-bucket-level-access
Note:
This command creates a Cloud Storage bucket in the specified region to store the Terraform state file.Enable versioning on the GCS bucket:
gsutil versioning set on gs://qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753-tf-state
Note:
This enables versioning on the bucket.
Task 3. Defining the Firewall Rule in Terraform
Now, you will define the firewall rule using Terraform's configuration language.
Create a new directory for your Terraform configuration files.
mkdir terraform-firewall && cd $_
Note:
This creates a new directory and changes the current directory to it.Create a file named
firewall.tf
and add the following code to define a firewall rule that allows SSH traffic (port 22) to instances with the tagssh-allowed
.resource "google_compute_firewall" "allow_ssh" { name = "allow-ssh-from-anywhere" network = "default" project = "qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753" allow { protocol = "tcp" ports = ["22"] } source_ranges = ["0.0.0.0/0"] target_tags = ["ssh-allowed"] }
Note:
This configuration creates a firewall rule namedallow-ssh-from-anywhere
that allows TCP traffic on port 22 from any source IP address (0.0.0.0/0) to instances tagged withssh-allowed
.Create a
variables.tf
file to define variables used infirewall.tf
andmain.tf
.variable "project_id" { type = string default = "qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753" } variable "bucket_name" { type = string default = "qwiklabs-gcp-03-1a83fda8d753-tf-state" } variable "region" { type = string default = "us-central1" }
Note:
This creates variables for the project ID, bucket name, and region.Create an
outputs.tf
file to output the firewall rule name.output "firewall_name" { value = google_compute_firewall.allow_ssh.name }
Note:
This outputs the name of the firewall rule.
Task 4. Applying the Terraform Configuration
Now you will apply the Terraform configuration to create the firewall rule in your Google Cloud project.
Run
terraform init
to enable Terraform.terraform init
Note:
This command downloads the Terraform provider for the configuration files.Run
terraform plan
to preview the changes Terraform will make.terraform plan
Note:
This command shows the planned changes without applying them.Run
terraform apply
to apply the configuration and create the firewall rule.terraform apply
Note:
Typeyes
when prompted to confirm the changes.Verify that the firewall rule has been created in the Google Cloud Console.
Navigate to **VPC network > Firewall** in the Google Cloud Console and verify the existence of the `allow-ssh-from-anywhere` firewall rule.
Note:
This is a manual verification step.
Task 5. Cleaning Up Resources
To avoid incurring unnecessary costs, destroy the resources created in this lab.
Run
terraform destroy
to remove the firewall rule.terraform destroy
Note:
Typeyes
when prompted to confirm the destruction.
Solution of Lab
curl -LO raw.githubusercontent.com/ePlus-DEV/storage/refs/heads/main/labs/gem-terraform-fw-rule-create/lab.sh
sudo chmod +x lab.sh
./lab.sh
Script alternative
curl -LO raw.githubusercontent.com/gcpsolution99/GCP-solution/refs/heads/main/GSP/Abhi_Firewall_Policy.sh
sudo chmod +x Abhi_Firewall_Policy.sh
./Abhi_Firewall_Policy.sh
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Written by

David Nguyen
David Nguyen
A passionate full-stack developer from @ePlus.DEV