Google Cloud Platform Setup Guide

This guide provides detailed instructions for setting up a Shardeum Validator using Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Prerequisites

A Google Cloud Platform account
GCP project created
Basic familiarity with GCP Compute Engine
gcloud CLI installed (optional)

Instance Setup

1. GCP Account Setup

Visit cloud.google.com
Create a new account or sign in
Set up billing and claim your free credits

2. Create a VM Instance

Navigate to "Compute Engine" > "VM instances"
Click "Create Instance"
Configure your instance:
- Name: shardeum-validator (or your preferred name)
- Region: Choose the closest to you
- Machine type: e2-medium (2 vCPU, 4 GB memory)
- Boot disk: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (20 GB SSD)
- Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic

3. Configure Firewall Rules

Navigate to "VPC Network" > "Firewall" and create rules for:
- SSH (tcp:22)
- Dashboard (tcp:8080)
- P2P Communication (tcp:9001)
- P2P Communication (tcp:10001)

4. Connect to Your Instance

Click the SSH button in the GCP console to open the web-based SSH terminal or connect via command line:

gcloud compute ssh your-instance-name --zone your-zone

Once your GCP instance is ready, follow our Base Guide for Running a Shardeum Validator Node for detailed installation instructions, including the steps to open the validator dashboard, stake SHM, start the validator, and more.