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manual server-side gtm deployment on google cloud run

published 2025-02-24 · updated 2025-04-20 · sgtm · gcp · [repo]

This guide walks through the manual deployment of a server-side GTM container on Google Cloud Run in under 30 minutes.

Table of contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. Step-by-Step Deployment
    1. 1. Create a Server GTM Container
    2. 2. Open Google Cloud Console
    3. 3. Create a New Project
    4. 4. Open Cloud Shell
    5. 5. Deploy Server-Side GTM
    6. 6. Verify Deployment
    7. 7. Configure Server Container URL

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • A client-side Google Tag Manager (cGTM) container.
  • A Google Cloud Platform (GCP) account with billing enabled.

Step-by-Step Deployment

Create a Server GTM Container

  • Open Google Tag Manager.
  • Create a new container.
  • Choose Server as the container type.
  • In the Install Google Tag Manager dialog, select Manually provision tagging server.
  • Leave this window open; you will need the Container Config later.

Manually provision tagging server in GTM

Open Google Cloud Console

Create a New Project

  • Use the project selector and choose New Project.
  • Name it (e.g. company-name-marketing-sgtm).
  • Click Create and wait for the project to be created.
  • Select the new project.

Open Cloud Shell

  • In the console, go to Cloud Run (e.g. via Search).
  • Click Activate Cloud Shell.
  • Confirm you are in the correct project. If not, run: gcloud config set project [your-project-id].

Open Cloud Shell in Google Cloud Console

Deploy Server-Side GTM

  • In Cloud Shell, run:
bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/selnekovic/sgtm-shell-script/main/sgtm_shell.sh)"
  • Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the deployment.
  • When asked, authorize the script, enable the required APIs, and choose a region for the debugging and production server. I typically use europe-west4 (Netherlands) when planning custom domain mapping.

Note: Custom domain mapping is supported only in certain regions. See Google’s documentation on mapping custom domains for details. To get the most out of server-side GTM, map the server to a custom domain (e.g. using the Load Balancer approach described in the companion post).

Verify Deployment

  • After a successful run, refresh the Cloud Run page and confirm that both sGTM server instances (debug and production) are running.

Configure Server Container URL

  • In Cloud Run, open the production service.
  • Copy the Cloud Run service URL from the console.

Copy Cloud Run service URL

  • In your server GTM container, go to Admin → Container Settings.
  • Paste the Cloud Run service URL into the Server Container URL field and save.

Server Container URL in GTM Container Settings

Your server-side GTM container is now deployed and reachable at that URL. Configure your client-side GTM to send tags to this server container URL (and optionally map a custom domain via a Load Balancer for a cleaner setup).