Can Google Compute instances be started and stopped on a schedule?

Question

I run a simple task 3 times a day from my desktop computer. It connects to a certain website at 4pm, 8pm, and 1am, downloads a small amount of data (less then 50mb), and stores it on the harddrive. It's important that this runs everyday, so I am looking into moving this to Google Compute. I know I could just create an instance and leave it on 24/7/365, but that is expensive. Is there a way to have the instance turn on only at 4pm, 8pm, and 1am for 10 minutes each so the data can be downloaded, and then have them turn off after, so I am only charged 30 minutes/day of Google Compute time? Btw, I would be using a Windows Server 2008 image (which is now in limited preview at Google Compute I believe), not a linux image, in case that is relevant.

Answer 1

There is not a built in scheduler for Compute Engine instances.

You can use App Engine's cron scheduler to make Compute Engine API calls. Here is a sample app which uses cron to list instances and delete ones which have been running for more than 8 hours.

You could do something similar, by making an App Engine url which starts an instance with a startup script which runs your task, copies the data to Cloud Storage and then shuts down the instance as soon as it is complete. Then, create the cron job to hit that URL on your schedule.

Answer 2

There's also a 3rd party service called VMPower which does exactly this with a calendar interface. It's a lot quicker & flexible than writing a script and it has a decent free tier.

Answer 3

It's 2020, and yes you can! Follow this easy official guide:

https://cloud.google.com/scheduler/docs/start-and-stop-compute-engine-instances-on-a-schedule

..and change these vars: {"zone":"us-west1-b","label":"env=dev"}

I haven't found a way to export/import schedules, but would be nice as there's a lot of manual clicking. You can save a couple clicks by using Copy in Functions to clone the first one.

There is also an option for HTTP triggers by enabling unauthenticated curl messages: https://cloud.google.com/functions/docs/calling/http

EDIT: spoke too soon, it didnt start my instance even though the function test output said "Successfully started instance(s)"

Answer 4

I still wonder why gcp has still not have this feature in the first place like other platforms. Anyways These simple steps did the job for me using Job Scheduler Pub/Sub option.

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To stop

• Create a new JobScheduler.
• Fill in the required details
• Choose frequency which suits your requirement.
• Choose the target to Pub/Sub.
• Choose the topic name (Create a new topic if not created ).
• In the payload section use this stop script gcloud compute instances stop instance-name.

To verify the change you can run the job manually and check.

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To start, same procedures as mentioned above the only change you need to have is the payload script ie gcloud compute instances start instance-name