GSP031

Note: This lab requires right-click functionality in a windows-server virtual machine. It is significantly easier to complete with a mouse.

Overview

Compute Engine is a customizable compute service that lets you create and run virtual machines on Google’s infrastructure. You can create either a pre-defined or customized Virtual Machine (VM) to fit your needs.

In this lab, you learn how to create a virtual machine with Microsoft SQL Server installed. You'll create a Windows user and password, and learn how to connect to the Windows Server via remote desktop.

What you'll learn

In this lab you do the following:

• Stand up a virtual machine running Microsoft SQL Server on Compute Engine.
• Create a Windows user and password.
• Remote desktop into a Windows Server VM.

Prerequisites

To maximize your learning, you should have the following:

• Basic familiarity with Microsoft SQL Server and RDP Connections
• Either a Windows machine or a non-Windows machine with Chrome. Other RDP Clients should suffice but instructions for their use are not provided in this lab.

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.

Task 1. Deploy a Microsoft SQL server

Create a new Compute Engine virtual machine instance running Microsoft SQL Server from the Cloud Console.

1. In Cloud Console, click the Navigation menu in the top left of the screen.

2. Click Compute Engine > VM Instance.

3. Click Create Instance.

4. In the Machine configuration.

   Select the values for:

   • Name: sqlserver-lab
   • Zone:

5. Click OS and storage.

   Click Change to begin configuring your boot disk and select the values for:

   Remain in the Public images tab:

   • Operating system: SQL Server on Windows Server
   • Version: SQL Server 2022 Web on Windows Server 2022 Datacenter

At the bottom of the window, click Select.

6. Click Create.

Note: You will see a warning about being billed for this instance. You will not be billed for these resources because you are using credentials provided to run this lab. It's good to keep in mind that any instances you create in your personal or work accounts will be billed to you.

This takes you to a new page where you can see the new instance being created. A checked green circle appears when the instance is ready.

You've created a VM named sqlserver-lab, but you need a Windows user and password to use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to access sqlserver-lab from this page.

Click Check my progress to verify the objective. Deploy Microsoft SQL Server

Task 2. Create a Windows user and password

To RDP into a Windows instance, you must create a Windows user and password.

1. To create it for your VM, click the name of your VM, sqlserver-lab, to see the VM instance details.

2. Then, select Set Windows password.

A new window opens where you can create a user.

3. Copy and save the default username for later use and click Set.

After a few seconds, you should have a New Windows password dialog with the newly created password.

4. Click the rectangles alongside the password to copy the password.

Copy and paste with the RDP client

Once you are securely logged into your instance, you may find yourself copying and pasting commands from the lab manual.

To paste, hold the CTRL-V keys (if you are a Mac user, using CMND-V will not work.) If you are in a Powershell window, be sure that you have clicked into the window or else the paste shortcut won't work.

If you are pasting into putty, right click.

Click Check my progress to verify the objective. Create a Windows user and password

Task 3. Remote desktop (RDP) into the Windows server

It's time to RDP into the Windows Server. There are two different ways to do this, depending on whether or not you are on Windows.

Not running Windows

1. If you are not on Windows but are using Chrome, open the Spark View extension page in a normal window.

2. Click Add to Chrome. Then, click Launch app.

3. A login page opens, add your VM instance's External IP in the Computer field.

4. Enter your Windows user name and password and click Connect.

Running Windows

1. If you are on a Windows machine, download the RDP file by selecting it from the RDP dropdown menu.

2. Double click the RDP file and log in using the Windows user and password.

Task 4. Run Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

1. Inside your remote desktop window, click the Start menu, and type SQL.

2. Then right-click on SQL Server Management Studio 20 and Run as administrator.

Note: If you are on a Mac trackpad, try placing two fingers on the trackpad and clicking with your thumb in order to emulate a right-click. Note: If you do not run SQL Server Management Studio as administrator the connection will not work.

Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio launches and a Connect to Server window opens.

3. In the Connect to Server window, check the box for Trust server certificate.

4. Click Connect.

5. Use the Object Explorer window to examine your new database.

Congratulations!

Compute Engine is the foundation to Google Cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service. As you've seen, application images make it easy to run Microsoft SQL Server.

Take your next lab

Continue your learning with Running Windows Containers on Compute Engine, or check out these suggestions:

• APIs Explorer: Compute Engine
• Hosting a Web App on Google Cloud Using Compute Engine

Next steps

• Wonder how much it'll cost to run your workloads? Try using the Pricing Calculator -- enter the number of instances, vCPU, and memory needs.
• Learn more about Windows on Google Cloud.
• Learn more about .NET on Google Cloud.
• Learn more about SQL Server on Google Cloud.
• Learn more about Cloud Tools for Visual Studio.

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Manual Last Updated June 23, 2025

Lab Last Tested June 23, 2025

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