Install / Hosting

Genesis on GCP Compute Engine (Docker, Production VPS Guide)

Goal

Run a persistent Genesis Gateway on a GCP Compute Engine VM using Docker, with durable state, baked-in binaries, and safe restart behavior.

If you want "Genesis 24/7 for ~$5-12/mo", this is a reliable setup on Google Cloud. Pricing varies by machine type and region; pick the smallest VM that fits your workload and scale up if you hit OOMs.

What are we doing (simple terms)?

• Create a GCP project and enable billing
• Create a Compute Engine VM
• Install Docker (isolated app runtime)
• Start the Genesis Gateway in Docker
• Persist ~/.genesis + ~/.genesis/workspace on the host (survives restarts/rebuilds)
• Access the Control UI from your laptop via an SSH tunnel

That mounted ~/.genesis state includes genesis.json, per-agent agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json, and .env.

The Gateway can be accessed via:

• SSH port forwarding from your laptop
• Direct port exposure if you manage firewalling and tokens yourself

This guide uses Debian on GCP Compute Engine. Ubuntu also works; map packages accordingly. For the generic Docker flow, see Docker.

Quick path (experienced operators)

1. Create GCP project + enable Compute Engine API
2. Create Compute Engine VM (e2-small, Debian 12, 20GB)
3. SSH into the VM
4. Install Docker
5. Clone Genesis repository
6. Create persistent host directories
7. Configure .env and docker-compose.yml
8. Bake required binaries, build, and launch

What you need

• GCP account (free tier eligible for e2-micro)
• gcloud CLI installed (or use Cloud Console)
• SSH access from your laptop
• Basic comfort with SSH + copy/paste
• ~20-30 minutes
• Docker and Docker Compose
• Model auth credentials
• Optional provider credentials
  • WhatsApp QR
  • Telegram bot token
  • Gmail OAuth

Install gcloud CLI (or use Console)

Option A: gcloud CLI (recommended for automation)

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

Initialize and authenticate:

gcloud init
gcloud auth login

Option B: Cloud Console

All steps can be done via the web UI at https://console.cloud.google.com

Create a GCP project

CLI:

gcloud projects create my-genesis-project --name="Genesis Gateway"
gcloud config set project my-genesis-project

Enable billing at https://console.cloud.google.com/billing (required for Compute Engine).

Enable the Compute Engine API:

gcloud services enable compute.googleapis.com

Console:

1. Go to IAM & Admin > Create Project
2. Name it and create
3. Enable billing for the project
4. Navigate to APIs & Services > Enable APIs > search "Compute Engine API" > Enable

Create the VM

Machine types:

CLI:

gcloud compute instances create genesis-gateway \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --machine-type=e2-small \
  --boot-disk-size=20GB \
  --image-family=debian-12 \
  --image-project=debian-cloud

Console:

1. Go to Compute Engine > VM instances > Create instance
2. Name: genesis-gateway
3. Region: us-central1, Zone: us-central1-a
4. Machine type: e2-small
5. Boot disk: Debian 12, 20GB
6. Create

SSH into the VM

CLI:

gcloud compute ssh genesis-gateway --zone=us-central1-a

Console:

Click the "SSH" button next to your VM in the Compute Engine dashboard.

Note: SSH key propagation can take 1-2 minutes after VM creation. If connection is refused, wait and retry.

Install Docker (on the VM)

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y git curl ca-certificates
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for the group change to take effect:

exit

Then SSH back in:

gcloud compute ssh genesis-gateway --zone=us-central1-a

Verify:

docker --version
docker compose version

Clone the Genesis repository

git clone https://github.com/PIXELZX0/Genesis.git
cd genesis

This guide assumes you will build a custom image to guarantee binary persistence.

Create persistent host directories

Docker containers are ephemeral. All long-lived state must live on the host.

mkdir -p ~/.genesis
mkdir -p ~/.genesis/workspace

Configure environment variables

Create .env in the repository root.

GENESIS_IMAGE=genesis:latest
GENESIS_GATEWAY_TOKEN=
GENESIS_GATEWAY_BIND=lan
GENESIS_GATEWAY_PORT=18789

GENESIS_CONFIG_DIR=/home/$USER/.genesis
GENESIS_WORKSPACE_DIR=/home/$USER/.genesis/workspace

GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD=
XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/node/.genesis

Leave GENESIS_GATEWAY_TOKEN blank unless you explicitly want to manage it through .env; Genesis writes a random gateway token to config on first start. Generate a keyring password and paste it into GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD:

openssl rand -hex 32

Do not commit this file.

This .env file is for container/runtime env such as GENESIS_GATEWAY_TOKEN. Stored provider OAuth/API-key auth lives in the mounted ~/.genesis/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json.

Docker Compose configuration

Create or update docker-compose.yml.

services:
  genesis-gateway:
    image: ${GENESIS_IMAGE}
    build: .
    restart: unless-stopped
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      - HOME=/home/node
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - TERM=xterm-256color
      - GENESIS_GATEWAY_BIND=${GENESIS_GATEWAY_BIND}
      - GENESIS_GATEWAY_PORT=${GENESIS_GATEWAY_PORT}
      - GENESIS_GATEWAY_TOKEN=${GENESIS_GATEWAY_TOKEN}
      - GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD=${GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD}
      - XDG_CONFIG_HOME=${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}
      - PATH=/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
    volumes:
      - ${GENESIS_CONFIG_DIR}:/home/node/.genesis
      - ${GENESIS_WORKSPACE_DIR}:/home/node/.genesis/workspace
    ports:
      # Recommended: keep the Gateway loopback-only on the VM; access via SSH tunnel.
      # To expose it publicly, remove the `127.0.0.1:` prefix and firewall accordingly.
      - "127.0.0.1:${GENESIS_GATEWAY_PORT}:18789"
    command:
      [
        "node",
        "dist/index.js",
        "gateway",
        "--bind",
        "${GENESIS_GATEWAY_BIND}",
        "--port",
        "${GENESIS_GATEWAY_PORT}",
        "--allow-unconfigured",
      ]

--allow-unconfigured is only for bootstrap convenience, it is not a replacement for a proper gateway configuration. Still set auth (gateway.auth.token or password) and use safe bind settings for your deployment.

Shared Docker VM runtime steps

Use the shared runtime guide for the common Docker host flow:

• Bake required binaries into the image
• Build and launch
• What persists where
• Updates

GCP-specific launch notes

On GCP, if build fails with Killed or exit code 137 during pnpm install --frozen-lockfile, the VM is out of memory. Use e2-small minimum, or e2-medium for more reliable first builds.

When binding to LAN (GENESIS_GATEWAY_BIND=lan), configure a trusted browser origin before continuing:

docker compose run --rm genesis-cli config set gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins '["http://127.0.0.1:18789"]' --strict-json

If you changed the gateway port, replace 18789 with your configured port.

Access from your laptop

Create an SSH tunnel to forward the Gateway port:

gcloud compute ssh genesis-gateway --zone=us-central1-a -- -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789

Open in your browser:

http://127.0.0.1:18789/

Reprint a clean dashboard link:

docker compose run --rm genesis-cli dashboard --no-open

If the UI prompts for shared-secret auth, paste the configured token or password into Control UI settings. This Docker flow writes a token by default; if you switch the container config to password auth, use that password instead.

If Control UI shows unauthorized or disconnected (1008): pairing required, approve the browser device:

docker compose run --rm genesis-cli devices list
docker compose run --rm genesis-cli devices approve <requestId>

Need the shared persistence and update reference again? See Docker VM Runtime and Docker VM Runtime updates.

Troubleshooting

SSH connection refused

SSH key propagation can take 1-2 minutes after VM creation. Wait and retry.

OS Login issues

Check your OS Login profile:

gcloud compute os-login describe-profile

Ensure your account has the required IAM permissions (Compute OS Login or Compute OS Admin Login).

Out of memory (OOM)

If Docker build fails with Killed and exit code 137, the VM was OOM-killed. Upgrade to e2-small (minimum) or e2-medium (recommended for reliable local builds):

# Stop the VM first
gcloud compute instances stop genesis-gateway --zone=us-central1-a

# Change machine type
gcloud compute instances set-machine-type genesis-gateway \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --machine-type=e2-small

# Start the VM
gcloud compute instances start genesis-gateway --zone=us-central1-a

Service accounts (security best practice)

For personal use, your default user account works fine.

For automation or CI/CD pipelines, create a dedicated service account with minimal permissions:

1. Create a service account:

   gcloud iam service-accounts create genesis-deploy \
     --display-name="Genesis Deployment"
   

2. Grant Compute Instance Admin role (or narrower custom role):

   gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding my-genesis-project \
     --member="serviceAccount:genesis-deploy@my-genesis-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
     --role="roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1"
   

Avoid using the Owner role for automation. Use the principle of least privilege.

See https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/understanding-roles for IAM role details.

Next steps

• Set up messaging channels: Channels
• Pair local devices as nodes: Nodes
• Configure the Gateway: Gateway configuration

Related

• Install overview
• Azure
• VPS hosting