How to host Symfony on Google Cloud VM Instance - ServerAvatar

Symfony is an open-source PHP framework known for its flexibility and comprehensive features. Symfony allows developers to efficiently create and manage sophisticated web applications, providing tools for routing, templating, and security. With its extensive range of components and customization options, Symfony facilitates the creation of web solutions without requiring extensive technical knowledge. When choosing a hosting platform for Symfony, opting for Google Cloud ensures reliability with its scalable infrastructure and straightforward deployment options. ServerAvatar makes the deployment of the Symfony application on the Google Cloud platform an easy step-by-step process.

Create a VM Instance in Google Cloud

Getting started with Google Cloud:

Google is one of the most famous and reliable cloud providers among all of its competitors in the market. Google Cloud Platform provides a robust and comprehensive set of cloud computing services, catering to diverse business needs from startups to large enterprises. With its focus on scalability, performance, security, and innovation, GCP enables organizations to build, deploy, and scale applications and services efficiently in the cloud. Whether it's computing, storage, data analytics, machine learning, or networking, GCP offers a powerful and flexible platform for modern cloud computing requirements.

Google Cloud Platform’s Compute Engine offers robust virtual machine capabilities designed to meet the needs of modern cloud computing environments. Whether you’re looking for flexibility, scalability, performance, or integration with other Google Cloud services, Compute Engine provides a comprehensive solution for running your applications and workloads in the cloud efficiently and securely. Here’s a detailed introduction to Google Cloud as a virtual machine provider:

• Compute Engine as a primary service: It allows you to quickly scale VMs up or down based on demand, allowing you to handle varying workloads effectively. Users have the flexibility to select VM instance types tailored to their needs for CPU, memory, and disk capacities. Google provides predefined machine types optimized for different tasks, or you can customize machine types to allocate resources according to specific requirements.
• Key Features and Capabilities: It provides preemptible VMs at a greatly reduced price, ideal for fault-tolerant and batch-processing tasks. VM instances can be migrated live between host systems without any downtime, ensuring exceptional availability and reliability. Users have the option to either create custom VM images or utilize Google's pre-built images for quick deployment of popular software configurations.
• Integration with Google Services: It offers Control access and permissions for VM instances by managing IAM roles and policies. Compute Engine seamlessly integrates with Google Cloud's VPC networking, enabling the creation of secure and isolated networks tailored for your VMs. It also supports VPNs, Cloud Interconnect, and Google Cloud Load Balancing to efficiently manage network traffic. Moreover, Google's Deployment Manager can be used to automate the creation and management of VMs and associated resources following Infrastructure-as-Code principles.
• Management and Monitoring: Administer VM instances using the Google Cloud Console, which offers a graphical interface for deploying, monitoring, and managing resources. Engage with Compute Engine programmatically through Google Cloud SDK tools and APIs, enabling automation and seamless integration with other systems.
• Security and Compliance: Compute Engine incorporates security features such as encryption of data at rest and in transit, secure boot, and IAM controls to safeguard VM instances and data. Google Cloud Platform adheres to various compliance standards (e.g., ISO, SOC, GDPR), providing assurances for regulatory requirements across different industries.

Let’s get started with creating a Virtual Machine on the Google Cloud Platform:

Step 1: Creating a VM in Google Cloud Platform

• Click on the below link and log in to your Google account.

  • https://console.cloud.google.com

• Here you can create a New project or you can select the project you want, and then click on Create a VM as shown in the image below.

Step 2: Creating a VM Instance

• For creating a VM instance click on the sidebar, select the Compute Engine, and then click on the VM instances and Create Instance, as depicted in the images below.

Step 3: Configuring a New VM Instance

• Click on New VM Instance, here you can give Name to your virtual machine. Additionally, you can select the Region and Zone of your choice. Moreover, you can select the machine according to your needs from the available types. Refer to the image below.

Step 4: Select the Machine type

• Now you have the option to select a Machine Type with predefined configurations of vCPUs and memory which is suitable for most workloads. In addition to this, you can also add Availability policies according to your needs. (Recommended Standard policy)

• Also, you can customize your machine that is suitable for your workload as shown in the image below.

Step 5: Select the Boot disk

• In this step, you have to select the Operating System for your instance. Click on the Change button to select the boot disk as shown in the image below.

• The Symfony application requires Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or a later version for compatibility and support. We recommend you to use Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. If you are using ServerAvatar to manage your instance, these operating systems are required.
• Moreover, you can select the disk type you want; however, we recommend you select a Balanced persistence disk with a minimum 25 GB disk size, then click on the Select button as depicted in the following image.

Step 6: Firewall rules

• The next step is to allow firewall rules that are available at the time of creating an instance in Google. Select the checkbox next to the HTTP and HTTPS to allow incoming traffic. Click on the Create button to create a VM instance in Google as shown in the image below.

Step 7: Creating New Firewall Rule

• Now, you have to go to the VPC network by clicking on the sidebar and then click on the Firewall section. After that click on Create Firewall Rule as shown in the images below.

• Here you have to enter the details such as the Name of the rule and its description. You can also turn on firewall logs. In addition to this leave the network and priority sections as default. The direction of traffic should be Ingress and Allow the action. In the Targets section, you have three options: All instances in the network, Specified target tags, and Specified service accounts, select from them according to your needs. Furthermore, set the Source filter to IPv4 ranges you can specify the ranges as per your requirement in the Source IPv4 ranges input field. To understand it better refer to the image below.

• Lastly, you need to specify the Protocols and ports. ServerAvatar requires 43210 port to be open and the protocol is TCP so add the port number in that field and click on Create as shown in the image below.

• Congratulations! You have successfully created your instance in Google Cloud which is now ready to connect with ServerAvatar.

Initial Server Configuration

The Initial server configuration includes the installation and configuration of various packages required to host your website. Usually, You have to write commands and modify configuration files. Luckily, With ServerAvatar, Your full server configuration and optimization can be automated.

Here are the three ways to automatically configure your server with ServerAvatar.

wget https://srvr.so/install
chmod +x install
./install

Install and Setup Symfony on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Getting Started With Symfony:

Symfony is a powerful PHP framework used to develop web applications. It offers a robust set of features and tools to help streamline the development process. Whether you're building a simple blog or a complex enterprise application, Symfony provides the structure and flexibility you need. In this blog post, we will guide you through the steps to create and configure your Symfony application, ensuring you have a solid foundation to start your development journey.

Requirements:

• PHP 8.2 or higher: Symfony requires a modern version of PHP to leverage the latest features and improvements. Ensure you have PHP 8.2 or a higher version installed on your machine.

Install and Setup Symfony on Cloud using ServerAvatar:

Step 1: Create a Custom Application

• The first step is to create a new custom application. This can be done easily from your server dashboard. Navigate to the application section and click on the Create button to set up your new application.

• To proceed with the installation and deployment of Symfony, ensure you have met the prerequisites.

• Enter an Application Name of your choice.

• Specify a Domain (choose between a Test Domain or a Primary Domain).

  • Note: If you're hosting Symfony on your domain, make sure your domain is correctly pointed to your server's current IP address.

• Select a Method as a Custom from the given options. Click on the Create Application option.

Step 2: Enable SSH Credentials

• To securely access your server, you need to enable SSH credentials. SSH (Secure Shell) provides a secure way to log in to your server remotely, ensuring that your data and commands are encrypted. This step is crucial for managing your server and deploying your Symfony application.

Step 3: Login Using SSH Credentials

• Once you have your SSH credentials enabled, you can log in to your server. Open a terminal and use the following command:
  • sudo ssh {username}@{ip}
• Replace {username} with your actual username and {ip} with your server's IP address. You will be prompted to enter your password. After successful authentication, you will have remote access to your server.

Step 4: Navigate to the Application Path

• With SSH access established, navigate to your application's directory on the server. This is where you will set up your Symfony project. Use the cd command to change directories to your application's root path.

Step 5: Remove the Default index.html

• Your server might have a default index.html file in the application directory. To avoid conflicts and ensure a clean setup, remove this file by running:
  • rm -rf index.html

Step 6: Run Composer to Create a New Symfony Project

• Composer is a dependency manager for PHP that makes it easy to install and manage libraries and frameworks. Use Composer to create a new Symfony project in your current directory by executing:
  • composer create-project symfony/skeleton .

• This command downloads and sets up the basic structure of a Symfony application.

Step 7: Install Webapp Pack

• To add essential tools and features to your Symfony project, you need to install the Symfony web app pack. Run the following command:
  • composer require symfony/webapp-pack
• This package includes commonly used bundles and components that will help you develop your web application efficiently.

Step 8: Configuration Without Docker

• During the setup process, you may be prompted to configure the application with Docker. For simplicity, choose not to use Docker by entering n when prompted. This will configure Symfony to run in a traditional server environment.

Step 9: Set Custom Webroot

• Next, set the custom webroot as public for your application. This can be done from the application dashboard in the application settings. The webroot is the directory where your web server looks for the application files to serve.

Step 10: Fix Permissions

• Fix file permissions are essential for your application to run smoothly. Adjust the permissions from the application dashboard in the application settings to ensure your web server can access and modify the necessary files.

Step 11: Verify Installation

• To confirm that your Symfony installation is successful, visit your application domain in a web browser. You should see the Symfony welcome page, indicating that your setup is complete and your application is ready for development.

Step 12: Configure Environment File

• Edit the .env File: The .env file in your Symfony project contains environment-specific settings, such as database credentials and configuration options. Open this file in a text editor and update the settings according to your environment.

Step 13: Set Up the Database

• Create a Database: From the server dashboard, navigate to the databases section and create a new database. This database will store your application's data.

• Configure Database Credentials: Update the .env file with your database credentials. Replace the placeholders with your actual database information:
  • DATABASE_URL=”mysql://db_user:db_password@127.0.0.1:3306/db_name

• Run Migrations: If your Symfony application includes database migrations, run them to set up your database schema. Migrations are a way to define changes to your database structure in a version-controlled manner. Execute the following command to apply the migrations:
  • php bin/console doctrine:migrations:migrate

Conclusion:

Congratulations! You have successfully created and configured your Symfony application. With your environment set up and your database connected, you're now ready to start building your web application using Symfony's powerful tools and features. Whether you're developing a small personal project or a large-scale enterprise application, Symfony provides the flexibility and capabilities to help you achieve your goals. Enjoy your journey with Symfony!