Google Cloud Build & Deploy Guide

A step-by-step guide for students to build Docker images and deploy them to Google Cloud Run.

Prerequisites

• Docker installed on your machine
• A Google Cloud account
• A project with Docker files ready to deploy

---

Step 1: Setup Google Cloud Project

Create a new project (if needed)

# Template
gcloud projects create <PROJECT_ID> --name="<PROJECT_NAME>"

# Example
gcloud projects create technova-mcp-server --name="Technova MCP Server"

Set your project as active

# Template
gcloud config set project <PROJECT_ID>

# Example
gcloud config set project technova-mcp-server

---

Step 2: Install Google Cloud CLI

For macOS (using Homebrew)

brew install google-cloud-sdk

For Windows

Download from: https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install

For Linux

curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash
exec -l $SHELL

---

Step 3: Authenticate with Google Cloud

gcloud auth login

This opens your browser to sign in with your Google account.

---

Step 4: Build Your Docker Image

Build your Docker image locally

# Template
docker build -t <IMAGE_NAME> .

# Example important we need to specify platform

docker build --platform linux/amd64 -t technova-mcp-server .

Verify your image was built

docker images

---

Step 5: Enable Required APIs

Enable Artifact Registry API

# Template
gcloud services enable artifactregistry.googleapis.com --project=<PROJECT_ID>

# Example
gcloud services enable artifactregistry.googleapis.com --project=technova-mcp-server

Enable Cloud Run API

# Template
gcloud services enable run.googleapis.com --project=<PROJECT_ID>

# Example
gcloud services enable run.googleapis.com --project=technova-mcp-server

---

Step 6: Create Artifact Registry Repository

# Template
gcloud artifacts repositories create <REPO_NAME> \
  --repository-format=docker \
  --location=<REGION> \
  --project=<PROJECT_ID>

# Example
gcloud artifacts repositories create technova-repo \
  --repository-format=docker \
  --location=us-central1 \
  --project=technova-mcp-server

---

Step 7: Configure Docker Authentication

# Template
gcloud auth configure-docker <REGION>-docker.pkg.dev

# Example
gcloud auth configure-docker us-central1-docker.pkg.dev

---

Step 8: Set Up IAM Permissions

Grant yourself editor permissions

# Template
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding <PROJECT_ID> \
  --member="user:<YOUR_EMAIL>" \
  --role="roles/editor"

# Example
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding technova-mcp-server \
  --member="user:muellerjohannes93@gmail.com" \
  --role="roles/editor"

Grant Artifact Registry writer permissions

# Template
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding <PROJECT_ID> \
  --member="user:<YOUR_EMAIL>" \
  --role="roles/artifactregistry.writer"

# Example
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding technova-mcp-server \
  --member="user:muellerjohannes93@gmail.com" \
  --role="roles/artifactregistry.writer"

---

Step 9: Tag and Push Image to Artifact Registry

Tag your image

# Template
docker tag <LOCAL_IMAGE_NAME> \
  <REGION>-docker.pkg.dev/<PROJECT_ID>/<REPO_NAME>/<IMAGE_NAME>:<TAG>

# Example
docker tag technova-mcp-server \
  us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/technova-mcp-server/technova-repo/technova-mcp-server:latest

Push image to registry

# Template
docker push <REGION>-docker.pkg.dev/<PROJECT_ID>/<REPO_NAME>/<IMAGE_NAME>:<TAG>

# Example
docker push \
  us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/technova-mcp-server/technova-repo/technova-mcp-server:latest

---

Step 10: Deploy to Cloud Run

Deploy using the pushed image

# Template
gcloud run deploy <SERVICE_NAME> \
  --image <REGION>-docker.pkg.dev/<PROJECT_ID>/<REPO_NAME>/<IMAGE_NAME>:<TAG> \
  --region <REGION> \
  --project <PROJECT_ID> \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --memory <MEMORY_SIZE> \
  --platform managed \
  --port <PORT>

# Example
gcloud run deploy technova-mcp-server \
  --image us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/technova-mcp-server/technova-repo/technova-mcp-server:latest \
  --region us-central1 \
  --project technova-mcp-server \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --memory 1Gi \
  --platform managed \
  --port 8080

Note: This example uses the consistent project ID technova-mcp-server throughout._ID>
--allow-unauthenticated
--memory <MEMORY_SIZE>
--platform managed
--port

Example

gcloud run deploy technova-mcp-server
--image us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/technova-mcp-server/technova-repo/technova-mcp-server:latest
--region us-central1
--project technova-mcp-server
--allow-unauthenticated
--memory 1Gi
--platform managed
--port 8080

### ⭐ Recommended: Deploy directly from source (Cloud Build handles everything)
```bash
# Template
gcloud run deploy <SERVICE_NAME> \
  --source . \
  --port <PORT> \
  --memory <MEMORY_SIZE> \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --region <REGION> \
  --project <PROJECT_ID>

# Working example (from successful deployment)
gcloud run deploy technova-mcp-server \
  --source . \
  --port 8080 \
  --memory 1Gi \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --region us-central1 \
  --project technova-mcp-server

Why this method works better:

• Cloud Run automatically builds your Docker image using Cloud Build
• No manual Docker registry setup needed
• Handles dependencies and build process automatically
• Less prone to port configuration errors

---

Common Values Reference

Parameter	Common Values	Description
<REGION>	us-central1, us-east1, europe-west1	Geographic location
<MEMORY_SIZE>	512Mi, 1Gi, 2Gi, 4Gi	Memory allocation
<PORT>	8080, 3000, 5000	Application port
<TAG>	latest, v1.0, dev	Image version tag

---

Verification Steps

Check your deployment

gcloud run services list --project=<PROJECT_ID>

Get service URL

gcloud run services describe <SERVICE_NAME> \
  --region=<REGION> \
  --project=<PROJECT_ID> \
  --format="value(status.url)"

View logs

gcloud logs tail --project=<PROJECT_ID>

---

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Authentication Error: Run gcloud auth login again

Permission Denied: Check IAM permissions in Step 8

Image Not Found: Verify image was pushed successfully with gcloud artifacts docker images list --repository=<REPO_NAME> --location=<REGION>

🔥 Container Failed to Start (Port Issues)

Error Message: The user-provided container failed to start and listen on the port defined provided by the PORT=8080 environment variable

Root Cause: Your application isn't listening on the correct port that Cloud Run expects.

Solution Steps:

1. Check your application code Your app must listen on the port specified by the PORT environment variable:

// Node.js/Express example
const port = process.env.PORT || 8080;
app.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${port}`);
});

# Python/Flask example
import os
from flask import Flask

app = Flask(__name__)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    port = int(os.environ.get('PORT', 8080))
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=port)

2. Test locally with PORT environment variable

# Test locally to ensure your app respects PORT env var
PORT=8080 docker run -p 8080:8080 -e PORT=8080 technova-mcp-server

# Test if accessible
curl http://localhost:8080

3. Check your Dockerfile Ensure your Dockerfile doesn't hardcode a different port:

# ❌ Bad - hardcoded port
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

# ✅ Good - uses environment variable
EXPOSE 8080
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

4. Deploy with increased timeout

gcloud run deploy technova-mcp-server \
  --image us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/technova-mcp-server/technova-repo/technova-mcp-server:latest \
  --region us-central1 \
  --project technova-mcp-server \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --memory 1Gi \
  --port 8080 \
  --timeout 300 \
  --cpu 1

5. Check logs for more details

gcloud logs tail --project=technova-mcp-server

Debug Checklist:

• App listens on process.env.PORT or equivalent
• App binds to 0.0.0.0, not localhost or 127.0.0.1
• Dockerfile exposes the correct port
• No firewall or security groups blocking the port
• App starts within Cloud Run's timeout (default 240 seconds)

---

Debugging Your Deployment

Get detailed logs

# Follow logs in real-time
gcloud logs tail --project=technova-mcp-server

# Get specific revision logs
gcloud logging read "resource.type=cloud_run_revision AND resource.labels.service_name=technova-mcp-server" --project=technova-mcp-server --limit=50

Test your container locally first

# Build and test locally with same environment as Cloud Run
docker build -t technova-mcp-server .
docker run -p 8080:8080 -e PORT=8080 technova-mcp-server

# In another terminal, test if it responds
curl http://localhost:8080

Check service status

# Get service details
gcloud run services describe technova-mcp-server \
  --region us-central1 \
  --project technova-mcp-server

# List all revisions
gcloud run revisions list \
  --service technova-mcp-server \
  --region us-central1 \
  --project technova-mcp-server

---

Quick Commands Summary

# Setup
gcloud config set project <PROJECT_ID>
gcloud services enable artifactregistry.googleapis.com run.googleapis.com

# Build & Push
docker build -t <IMAGE_NAME> .
docker tag <IMAGE_NAME> <REGION>-docker.pkg.dev/<PROJECT_ID>/<REPO_NAME>/<IMAGE_NAME>:latest
docker push <REGION>-docker.pkg.dev/<PROJECT_ID>/<REPO_NAME>/<IMAGE_NAME>:latest

# Deploy
gcloud run deploy <SERVICE_NAME> \
  --image <REGION>-docker.pkg.dev/<PROJECT_ID>/<REPO_NAME>/<IMAGE_NAME>:latest \
  --region <REGION> \
  --allow-unauthenticated