Google Compute Engine: how to set hostname permanently?

Question

How do I set the hostname of an instance in GCE permanently? I can set it via hostname,but after reboot it is gone again.

I tried to feed in metadata (hostname:f.q.d

Answer 1

When creating a VM, you can specify a custom FQDN hostname as an optional parameter. This feature is currently in Beta.

$ gcloud beta compute instances create INSTANCE_NAME --hostname example.hostname

This should work across OSes, and prevent the need for workaround scripts. More info in the docs.

-- Sirui (Product Manager, Google Compute Engine)

Answer 2

Edit rc.local

sudo nano /etc/rc.local 

Add your line under the rest:

hostname *your.hostname.com*

Make sure to run the following after for the script to be executed

chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.local

Reboot, and profit.