This guide describes how to set up Briefer on a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) instance using Google’s Compute Engine (GCE), Docker, and, optionally, Nginx as a reverse proxy for public access.
These are recommendations from October 2024 and may be subject to change due to updates in GCP. If you encounter any issues, please create an issue or submit a pull request on our GitHub repo.

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Table of Contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. Creating the Compute Engine Instance
  3. Installing Docker
  4. Running Briefer
  5. (Optional) Configuring Nginx for Public Access

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1. Prerequisites

  • A Google Cloud Platform (GCP) account
  • Access to Google Cloud Console
  • An SSH key configured to access the GCP instance

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2. Creating the Compute Engine Instance

  1. Access the Google Cloud Console and navigate to Compute Engine > VM instances.
  2. Click on “Create Instance.”
  3. We recommend configuring the VM with these settings (or higher):
    • vCPUs: 2
    • Memory: 8 GB
    • Disk: 10 GB balanced
    • IOPS: 3060 provisioned
    • Processing capacity: 155 provisioned
      These system requirements are ideal for most cases. However, they can be adjusted up or down depending on your project’s needs and demands.
  4. Give your instance a name and click “Create.”
Once the instance is initialized, connect to it via SSH.

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3. Installing Docker

  1. Update the instance’s packages: 
    sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
  2. Install the necessary packages for HTTPS repositories: 
    sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common
  3. Add the Docker repository: 
    curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal stable"
sudo apt update
  4. Install Docker: 
    sudo apt install docker-ce -y
  5. Add your user to the docker group: 
    sudo usermod -aG docker ${USER}
  6. Verify if Docker was installed correctly: 
    docker ps

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4. Running Briefer

After installing Docker, you can run Briefer using the following command: 
docker run -d \
  -p 3000:3000
  -v briefer_psql_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
  -v briefer_jupyter_data:/home/jupyteruser \
  -v briefer_briefer_data:/home/briefer \
  briefercloud/briefer
Ensure that Briefer is running by accessing port 3000 on your instance’s public IP: 
curl http://<your_public_ip>:3000
The Briefer interface should be accessible directly from the browser using the same URL.
You should not be able to login yet because you’re serving Briefer over HTTP and have not set the ALLOW_HTTP environment variable to true. If you want to continue using Briefer over HTTP please add --env ALLOW_HTTP=true to the docker run command. If you want to use HTTPS, please set up SSL certificates.

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(Optional) 5. Configuring Nginx for Public Access

To expose Briefer through a reverse proxy using Nginx:
  1. Install Nginx: 
    sudo apt install nginx -y
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
  2. Ensure that Nginx is running by accessing the public IP of the instance in your browser.
  3. Configure Nginx to serve Briefer: 
    cd /etc/nginx/sites-available/
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/briefer
    We recommend that you configure your Nginx instance with a file similar to the one below. 
    server {
    listen 80;

    server_name _;

    client_max_body_size 0;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_request_buffering off;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
    }
}
  4. Enable the new Nginx configs. 
    sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/briefer /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx
Now, Briefer will be accessible through your instance’s public IP without needing to specify port 3000.