Legacy GCE Metadata Server endpoints and GAE flex app

user_136598 0
Viewed 740

I have a Python GAE flex app, and I received an email from Google stating:

We are writing to let you know that the v0.1 and v1beta1 endpoints of the Compute Engine Metadata Server will be shut down on January 15, 2020. From January 15, 2020, requests to the v0.1 and v1beta1 endpoints will no longer be supported, and may return HTTP 404 NOT FOUND responses.

The email also stated that my app used these old metadata endpoints in the last 90 days.

I had never heard of the Compute Engine Metadata Server before so it is not something that I have intentionally used. I suppose it is possible that one of my dependencies (Flask etc.) but it seems unlikely.

Any idea where my GAE Flex app might be making a call to the Compute Engine Metadata Server? Is this a false alarm from Google?

app-engine-flexible google-compute-engine google-app-engine-python google-app-engine
1 Answers

No, it is not false alarm. As it writes in the public documentation:

v1beta1 server and v0.1 metadata server endpoints are deprecated and scheduled for shutdown. Ensure that you update all requests to use v1. For more information, see Transitioning to the v1 metadata server endpoint.

The metadata server is the place on where the GCE instances are storing their metadata. Your App Engine Flex app is running on compute instances. You can use the Metadata server to query information about the instance like : ip, instance id, service account info etc..

App Engine Flex uses the metadata server in the back scene, so, even though you did not use the Metadata Server explicitly, app engine does it. Although App Engine flex should do all the updates by itself and it is less probable for you to face any issues,it is recommended to migrate from v0.1 to v1 metadata server endpoint just to be sure. Here there is a guide in the official documentation on how to achieve that.

user_119280880
Related