Google Cloud Free VM + SSH Account

What you get free

The e2-micro free tier is available in us-west1, us-central1, and us-east1. Requires a credit card for verification only.

Tip: if e2-micro is out of capacity in one region, try another of the three free regions. Only e2-micro is free.

1. Create the account

1. Go to cloud.google.com/free and click Get started for free.
2. Sign in with a Google account, complete country/phone/card verification.
3. Open the console at console.cloud.google.com.

2. Create the VM

1. Open Compute Engine → VM instances → Create instance.
2. Name: proxy-vm.
3. Region: us-west1 (or us-central1 / us-east1 — must be a free-tier region).
4. Machine type: E2 → e2-micro.
5. Boot disk: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Debian 12, default ~10 GB disk.
6. SSH (port 22) is allowed by default via the default-allow-ssh firewall rule.
7. Click Create.

3. Add your SSH key

Generate a key on your Mac:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/gcp_proxy -C "gcp-proxy"
cat ~/.ssh/gcp_proxy.pub

In the console go to Compute Engine → Settings → Metadata → SSH Keys → Add and paste the full ssh-ed25519 AAAA... user@host line. The username GCP uses is the part before the @; to force a specific username, prefix it like yourname:ssh-ed25519 AAAA....

4. Connect

ssh -i ~/.ssh/gcp_proxy <USERNAME>@<EXTERNAL_IP>

Find the External IP on the VM instance page.

Reserve a static IP (recommended): the external IP is ephemeral. Go to VPC network → External IP addresses → Reserve static address, associate it with the VM, and use it in the app.

5. Add it as an SSH proxy site in Portus - Proxy Tool

1. Settings → Routing → Proxy Sites → Add Proxy Site.
2. Set Kind = SSH, Host = <EXTERNAL_IP>, Port = 22, Username = <USERNAME>.
3. Tap Import RSA keys and paste the contents of ~/.ssh/gcp_proxy and ~/.ssh/gcp_proxy.pub.
4. Save, then Test Proxy.

6. (Optional) Enable Full VPN (UDP)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y dante-server
sudo systemctl enable --now danted

Add a minimal /etc/danted.conf:

logoutput: stderr
internal: 127.0.0.1 port = 1080
external: eth0
method: username none
client pass { from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0 }
socks pass { from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0 }

Then turn on Full VPN (UDP) for this SSH site in the app.

Keep it running

• The Always Free e2-micro does not expire, but keep light traffic flowing to avoid being swept during low-usage checks.
• Stop the VM when unused — a stopped VM costs nothing.
• Staying under 1 GB/month egress keeps it fully free.

Security tips

• Keep SSH key auth only; disable password login.
• Only open port 22 (and 1080 if you use danted) to the internet.
• Use the app's Test Proxy to confirm everything works.