Google Cloud Storage

Google Cloud Storage (GCS) can be used as an origin server with your Fastly services once you set up and configure your GCS account and link it to a Fastly service. It can also be configured to use private content. This speeds up your content delivery and reduces your origin's workload and response times with the dedicated links between Google and Fastly's POPs.

Using GCS as an origin server

To make your GCS data available through Fastly, follow the steps below.

Setting up and configuring your GCS account

1. Sign up for Google Cloud Storage.

2. Create a bucket to store your origin's data. The Create a bucket window appears.

   

3. Use Google's Search Console to verify ownership of your domain name, if you have not already done so. See the instructions on Google's website.
4. Fill out the Create a bucket fields as follows:
   • In the Name field, type your domain name (e.g., example.com or images.example.com) to create a domain-named bucket. Remember the name you type. You'll need it to connect your GCS bucket to your Fastly service.
   • In the Default storage class area, select Regional.
   • From the Regional location menu, select a location to store your content. Most customers select a region close to the interconnect location they specify for shielding.
5. Click the Create button.

You should now add files to your bucket and make them externally accessible by selecting the Public link checkbox next to each of the files.

Adding your GCS bucket as an origin server

To add your GCS bucket as an origin server, follow the instructions for connecting to origins. You'll add specific details about your origin server.

1. In the Hosts field on the Origins page, enter the appropriate address for your host using the format <BUCKET>.storage.googleapis.com. For example, if your bucket name is test123, your override hostname would be test123.storage.googleapis.com.

For the initial Edit this host fields:

• In the Name field, enter any descriptive name for your service (e.g., Google Cloud Storage).
• In the Address field, enter the appropriate address for your host using the format <BUCKET>.storage.googleapis.com. For example, if your bucket name is test123, your hostname would be test123.storage.googleapis.com.
  1. When you edit the Transport Layer Security (TLS) area information for your host:
• Leave the Enable TLS? default set to Yes to secure the connection between Fastly and your origin.
• In the Certificate hostname field, enter the same address that appears in the Address field (e.g., test123.storage.googleapis.com).
• Under the SNI hostname field, select the checkbox to Match the SNI hostname to the Certificate hostname. The hostname address you entered during host creation appears.
  1. From the Shielding menu below the TLS area, select an interconnect location from the list of shielding locations.
  2. In the Override host field in the Advanced options area, enter an appropriate address for your host (e.g., test123.storage.googleapis.com). You entered this information during host creation.

Interconnect locations

Interconnect locations allow you to establish direct links with Google's network edge when you choose your shielding location. By selecting one of the locations listed below, you will be eligible to receive discounted pricing from Google CDN Interconnect for traffic traveling from Google Cloud Platform to Fastly's network. Most customers select the interconnect closest to their GCS bucket's region.

Interconnects exist in the following locations within North America:

• Ashburn (DCA)
• Ashburn (IAD)
• Atlanta (ATL)
• Chicago (MDW)
• Dallas (DFW)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• New York (JFK)
• Seattle (SEA)
• San Jose (SJC)
• Toronto (YYZ)

Interconnects outside of North America exist in:

• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Frankfurt (HHN)
• Hong Kong (HKG)
• London (LCY)
• London (LHR)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Paris (CDG)
• Singapore (SIN)
• Stockholm (BMA)
• Tokyo (TYO)
• Tokyo (HND)

Review our caveats of shielding and select an interconnect accordingly.

Setting the default host for your service to your GCS bucket

1. Log in to the Fastly web interface and click the Configure link.
2. From the service menu, select the appropriate service.
3. Click the Configuration button and then select Clone active. The Domains page appears.
4. Click the Settings link. The Settings page appears.

5. Click the Override host switch. The Override host header field appears.

   

6. In the Override host header field, type the name of the override host for this service. The name you type should match the name of the bucket you created in your GCS account and will take the format <your bucket name>.storage.googleapis.com. For example, if your bucket name is test123, your override hostname would be test123.storage.googleapis.com.
7. Click the Save button. The new override host header appears in the Override host section.

Creating domains for GCS

1. Log in to the Fastly web interface and click the Configure link.
2. From the service menu, select the appropriate service.
3. Click the Configuration button and then select Clone active. The Domains page appears.

4. Click the Create domain button. The Create a domain page appears.

   

5. In the Domain Name field, type the name users will type in their browsers to access your site.
6. In the Comment field, optionally type a comment that describes your domain.
7. Click the Create button. A new domain appears on the Domains page.
8. Because GCS responds to different hostnames than your Fastly service, click the Create domain button to create a second domain.
9. In the Domain Name field of the second domain you create, type the same value as the default host you created earlier (e.g., <your bucket name>.storage.googleapis.com) and click the Create button. A second new domain appears on the Domains page. Shielding POPs need this additional domain so they can route requests correctly. (See Caveats of shielding for more information.)
10. Click the Activate button to deploy your configuration changes.
11. Add a CNAME DNS record for the domain if you haven't already done so.

You can use http://<domain>.global.prod.fastly.net/<filename> to access the files you uploaded.

Setting the Cache-Control header for your GCS bucket

GCS performs its own caching, which may complicate efforts to purge cache. To avoid potential problems, we recommend using the gsutil command line utility to set the Cache-Control header for one or more files in your GCS bucket:

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gsutil setmeta -h "Cache-Control: max-age=0, s-maxage=86400" gs://<bucket>/*.html

Replace <bucket> in the example above with your GCS bucket's name. Note that max-age should instruct GCS to cache your content for zero seconds, and Fastly to cache your content for one day. See Google's setmeta docs for more information.

Changing the default TTL for your GCS bucket

If you want to change the default TTL for your GCS bucket, if at all, keep the following in mind:

• Your GCS account controls the default TTL for your GCS content. GCS currently sets the default TTL to 3600 seconds. Changing the default TTL will not override the default setting in your GCS account.
• To override the default TTL set by GCS from within the Fastly web interface, create a new cache setting and enter the TTL there.
• To override the default TTL in GCS, download the gsutil tool and then change the cache-control headers to delete the default TTL or change it to an appropriate setting.

Using GCS with private objects

To use Fastly with GCS private objects, be sure you've already made your GCS data available to Fastly by pointing to the right GCS bucket, then follow the steps below.

Setting up interoperable access

By default, GCS authenticates requests using OAuth2, which Fastly does not support. To access private objects on GCS, your project must have HMAC authentication enabled and interoperable storage access keys (an "Access Key" and "Secret" pair) created. Do this by following the steps below.

1. Open the Google Cloud Platform console and select the appropriate project.
2. Click Settings. The Settings appear with the Project Access controls highlighted.
3. Click the Interoperability tab. The Interoperability API access controls appear.
4. If you have not set up interoperability before, click Enable interoperability access.

5. Click Make <PROJECT-ID> your default project for interoperable access. If that project already serves as the default project, that information appears instead.

   

6. Click Create a new key. An access key and secret code appear.

   

7. Save the access key and secret code that appear. You'll need these later when you're creating an authorization header.

Setting up Fastly to use GCS private content

To use GCS private content with Fastly, create two headers, a Date header (required Authorization Signature) and an Authorization header.

Creating a Date header

1. Log in to the Fastly web interface and click the Configure link.
2. From the service menu, select the appropriate service.
3. Click the Configuration button and then select Clone active. The Domains page appears.
4. Click the Content link. The Content page appears.

5. Click the Create header button. The Create a new header page appears.

   

6. Fill out the Create a new header fields as follows:
   • In the Name field, type Date.
   • From the Type menu, select Request, and from the Action menu, select Set.
   • In the Destination field, type http.Date.
   • In the Source field, type now.
   • From the Ignore if set menu, select No.
   • In the Priority field, type 10.
7. Click the Create button. A new Date header appears on the Content page. You will use this later within the Signature of the Authorization header.

Creating an Authorization header

1. Click the Create header button again to create another new header. The Create a header page appears.

   

2. Fill out the Create a header fields as follows:
   • In the Name field, type Authorization.
   • From the Type menu, select Request, and from the Action menu, select Set.
   • In the Destination field, type http.Authorization.
   • From the Ignore if set menu, select No.
   • In the Priority field, type 20.

3. In the Source field, type the header authorization information using the following format:

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     "AWS <access key>:" digest.hmac_sha1_base64("<GCS secret>", if(req.method == "HEAD", "GET", req.method) LF LF LF req.http.Date LF "/<GCS bucket name>" req.url.path)
   

   replacing <access key>, <GCS secret>, and <GCS bucket name> with the information you gathered before you began. For example:

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     "AWS GOOGQORE5WOJJHLXH6OD:" digest.hmac_sha1_base64("oQb0hdmaxFOc5UmC6F833Cde0+ghRSgsr7CCnX62", if(req.method == "HEAD", "GET", req.method) LF LF LF req.http.Date LF "/test123" req.url.path)
   

4. Click the Create button. A new Authorization header appears on the Content page.
5. Click the Activate button to deploy your configuration changes.

A detailed look at the Source field

So what's going on in the Source field of the Authorization header? Here's the basic format:

AWS<access key><signature function><key><message>

It tells us the following:

The message that's part of the Source field in the Authorization header takes on this basic format:

<HTTP-verb><\n><Content-MD5>\n<Content-Type><\n><Date><\n><CanonicalExtensionHeaders><\n><CanonicalizedResource>

It tells us the following: