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App Engine: Qwik Start - Java

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App Engine: Qwik Start - Java

Lab 30 minutes universal_currency_alt 1 Credit show_chart Introductory
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GSP068

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Overview

App Engine allows developers to focus on doing what they do best, writing code. The App Engine standard environment is based on container instances running on Google's infrastructure. Containers are preconfigured with one of several available runtimes (Java, Python, Go and PHP). Each runtime also includes libraries that support App Engine Standard APIs. For many applications, the standard environment runtimes and libraries might be all you need.

The App Engine standard environment makes it easy to build and deploy an application that runs reliably even under heavy load and with large amounts of data. It includes the following features:

  • Persistent storage with queries, sorting, and transactions.
  • Automatic scaling and load balancing.
  • Asynchronous task queues for performing work outside the scope of a request.
  • Scheduled tasks for triggering events at specified times or regular intervals.
  • Integration with other Google Cloud services and APIs.

Applications run in a secure, sandboxed environment, allowing App Engine standard environment to distribute requests across multiple servers, and scaling servers to meet traffic demands. Your application runs within its own secure, reliable environment that is independent of the hardware, operating system, or physical location of the server.

This hands-on lab shows you how to create a small App Engine application that displays a short message.

Objectives

In this lab you will learn how to:

  • Download starter code from a GitHub repository.
  • Deploy your application with Google App Engine.

Setup and requirements

Before you click the Start Lab button

Read these instructions. Labs are timed and you cannot pause them. The timer, which starts when you click Start Lab, shows how long Google Cloud resources are made available to you.

This hands-on lab lets you do the lab activities in a real cloud environment, not in a simulation or demo environment. It does so by giving you new, temporary credentials you use to sign in and access Google Cloud for the duration of the lab.

To complete this lab, you need:

  • Access to a standard internet browser (Chrome browser recommended).
Note: Use an Incognito (recommended) or private browser window to run this lab. This prevents conflicts between your personal account and the student account, which may cause extra charges incurred to your personal account.
  • Time to complete the lab—remember, once you start, you cannot pause a lab.
Note: Use only the student account for this lab. If you use a different Google Cloud account, you may incur charges to that account.

How to start your lab and sign in to the Google Cloud console

  1. Click the Start Lab button. If you need to pay for the lab, a dialog opens for you to select your payment method. On the left is the Lab Details pane with the following:

    • The Open Google Cloud console button
    • Time remaining
    • The temporary credentials that you must use for this lab
    • Other information, if needed, to step through this lab

  2. Click Open Google Cloud console (or right-click and select Open Link in Incognito Window if you are running the Chrome browser).

    The lab spins up resources, and then opens another tab that shows the Sign in page.

    Tip: Arrange the tabs in separate windows, side-by-side.

    Note: If you see the Choose an account dialog, click Use Another Account.

  3. If necessary, copy the Username below and paste it into the Sign in dialog.

    {{{user_0.username | "Username"}}}

    You can also find the Username in the Lab Details pane.

  4. Click Next.

  5. Copy the Password below and paste it into the Welcome dialog.

    {{{user_0.password | "Password"}}}

    You can also find the Password in the Lab Details pane.

  6. Click Next.

    Important: You must use the credentials the lab provides you. Do not use your Google Cloud account credentials. Note: Using your own Google Cloud account for this lab may incur extra charges.

  7. Click through the subsequent pages:

    • Accept the terms and conditions.
    • Do not add recovery options or two-factor authentication (because this is a temporary account).
    • Do not sign up for free trials.

After a few moments, the Google Cloud console opens in this tab.

Note: To access Google Cloud products and services, click the Navigation menu or type the service or product name in the Search field. Navigation menu icon and Search field

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.

  1. Click Activate Cloud Shell Activate Cloud Shell icon at the top of the Google Cloud console.

  2. Click through the following windows:

    • Continue through the Cloud Shell information window.
    • Authorize Cloud Shell to use your credentials to make Google Cloud API calls.

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 {{{project_0.project_id | "PROJECT_ID"}}}

gcloud is the command-line tool for Google Cloud. It comes pre-installed on Cloud Shell and supports tab-completion.

  1. (Optional) You can list the active account name with this command:
gcloud auth list
  1. Click Authorize.

Output:

ACTIVE: * ACCOUNT: {{{user_0.username | "ACCOUNT"}}} To set the active account, run: $ gcloud config set account `ACCOUNT`
  1. (Optional) You can list the project ID with this command:
gcloud config list project

Output:

[core] project = {{{project_0.project_id | "PROJECT_ID"}}} Note: For full documentation of gcloud, in Google Cloud, refer to the gcloud CLI overview guide.

Task 1. Download the sample HTTP Server app

We've created a simple HTTP Server app written in Java so you can quickly get a feel for deploying an application on Google Cloud. Follow these steps to download the HTTP Server sample code.

  1. Open a new Cloud Shell session by clicking the Activate Cloud Shell button at the top right of the Cloud Console.

  2. In your new Cloud Shell terminal, run the following command to copy the files from Google Cloud Storage to your local directory::

gcloud storage cp -r gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/* .

Output:

Copying gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/helloworld/http-server/src/main/java/com/example/appengine/Main.java to file://./helloworld/http-server/src/main/java/com/example/appengine/Main.java Copying gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/helloworld/pom.xml to file://./helloworld/pom.xml Copying gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/helloworld/settings.gradle to file://./helloworld/settings.gradle Copying gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/helloworld/src/main/java/com/example/appengine/java21/HelloAppEngine.java to file://./helloworld/src/main/java/com/example/appengine/java21/HelloAppEngine.java Copying gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/helloworld/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/appengine-web.xml to file://./helloworld/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/appengine-web.xml Copying gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/helloworld/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml to file://./helloworld/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml Copying gs://spls/gsp068/appengine-java21/appengine-java21/helloworld/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/java21/HelloAppEngineTest.java to file://./helloworld/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/java21/HelloAppEngineTest.java Completed files 20/20 | 54.2kiB/54.2kiB Average throughput: 40.0kiB/s
  1. Next, navigate to the directory that contains the sample code:
cd helloworld/http-server

In this folder you will find the src directory that contains a package called com.example.appengine. This package contains the source code for the HTTP Server app.

The source code looks like this:

package com.example.appengine; import com.sun.net.httpserver.HttpServer; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.OutputStream; import java.net.InetSocketAddress; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException { // Create an instance of HttpServer bound to port defined by the // PORT environment variable when present, otherwise on 8080. int port = Integer.parseInt(System.getenv().getOrDefault("PORT", "8080")); HttpServer server = HttpServer.create(new InetSocketAddress(port), 0); // Set root URI path. server.createContext("/", (var t) -> { byte[] response = "Hello World!".getBytes(); t.sendResponseHeaders(200, response.length); try (OutputStream os = t.getResponseBody()) { os.write(response); } }); // Create a second URI path. server.createContext("/foo", (var t) -> { byte[] response = "Foo!".getBytes(); t.sendResponseHeaders(200, response.length); try (OutputStream os = t.getResponseBody()) { os.write(response); } }); server.start(); } }

How it Works

This code creates a basic web server on Google App Engine that responds to two addresses:

  • /: (main page) Displays "Hello World!"
  • /foo: (special page) Displays "Foo!"
  1. Imports: Includes tools for creating the server and handling requests.
  2. Main Function: Starts the app when it runs.
  3. Server Creation:
    • Figures out which port to use (either from App Engine or default 8080).
    • Creates a web server that listens on that port.
  4. Request Handling:
    • Two rules are set up:
      • If someone visits the main page (/), show "Hello World!"
      • If someone visits /foo, show "Foo!"
  5. Start: The server starts running, ready to respond to web requests.

App Engine simplifies web app development by handling server management, scaling, and security for you. It's a great way to quickly get a simple web app up and running.

Task 2. Deploy and view your app

In this task, you'll deploy the HTTP Server app to Google App Engine.

  1. Now you'll create an application on an App Engine with the following command:
gcloud app deploy

  1. When prompted, enter your choice of number associated with . Type y to continue.

  2. To view your app, use command:

gcloud app browse

You should receive the following output soon after (your URL will be different):

Did not detect your browser. Go to this link to view your app: https://qwiklabs-gcp-00-3e8fa18ec9dc.uc.r.appspot.com

  1. Click on the link to view your deployed app in a web browser. You should see a simple web page that displays "Hello World!".

  2. Next, append /foo to the URL in the address bar and press Enter. You should see a page that displays "Foo!".

Click Check my progress to verify the objective.

Deploy your app.

Task 3. Test your knowledge

Test your knowledge about Google Cloud Platform by taking our quiz. (Please select multiple correct options if necessary.)

Congratulations!

Congratulations! In this lab, you learned how to deploy a simple Java application to Google App Engine. You also learned how to view the deployed application in a web browser.

Next steps / learn more

Google Cloud training and certification

...helps you make the most of Google Cloud technologies. Our classes include technical skills and best practices to help you get up to speed quickly and continue your learning journey. We offer fundamental to advanced level training, with on-demand, live, and virtual options to suit your busy schedule. Certifications help you validate and prove your skill and expertise in Google Cloud technologies.

Manual Last Updated February 6, 2025

Lab Last Tested February 6, 2025

Copyright 2025 Google LLC All rights reserved. Google and the Google logo are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

Before you begin

  1. Labs create a Google Cloud project and resources for a fixed time
  2. Labs have a time limit and no pause feature. If you end the lab, you'll have to restart from the beginning.
  3. On the top left of your screen, click Start lab to begin

Use private browsing

  1. Copy the provided Username and Password for the lab
  2. Click Open console in private mode

Sign in to the Console

  1. Sign in using your lab credentials. Using other credentials might cause errors or incur charges.
  2. Accept the terms, and skip the recovery resource page
  3. Don't click End lab unless you've finished the lab or want to restart it, as it will clear your work and remove the project

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Setup your console before you begin

Use an Incognito or private browser window to run this lab. This prevents any conflicts between your personal account and the Student account, which may cause extra charges incurred to your personal account.