GCP URL Map Builder

NetworkingGCP

Build URL map routing configurations for HTTP(S) load balancers with host rules and path matchers.

Last verified: May 2026

URL Maps Configuration

Build URL map routing configurations for HTTP(S) load balancers with host rules, path matchers, and weighted traffic splitting.

Required Fields

namedefaultServicehostRulespathMatchers

{
  "name": "prod-url-map",
  "description": "Production URL map for HTTP(S) load balancer",
  "defaultService": "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/web-backend",
  "hostRules": [
    {
      "hosts": ["api.example.com"],
      "pathMatcher": "api-paths"
    },
    {
      "hosts": ["static.example.com"],
      "pathMatcher": "static-paths"
    }
  ],
  "pathMatchers": [
    {
      "name": "api-paths",
      "defaultService": "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/api-backend",
      "pathRules": [
        {
          "paths": ["/v1/*"],
          "service": "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/api-v1-backend"
        },
        {
          "paths": ["/v2/*"],
          "service": "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/api-v2-backend"
        },
        {
          "paths": ["/health"],
          "service": "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/health-backend"
        }
      ],
      "routeRules": [
        {
          "priority": 1,
          "matchRules": [
            {
              "prefixMatch": "/v2/",
              "headerMatches": [
                {
                  "headerName": "X-Canary",
                  "exactMatch": "true"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "routeAction": {
            "weightedBackendServices": [
              {
                "backendService": "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/api-v2-canary",
                "weight": 100
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "static-paths",
      "defaultService": "projects/my-project/global/backendBuckets/static-bucket"
    }
  ],
  "tests": [
    {
      "host": "api.example.com",
      "path": "/v1/users",
      "service": "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/api-v1-backend"
    }
  ]
}

Generated Output

Output will appear here...

How It Helps

Build URL map routing configurations for HTTP(S) load balancers with host rules and path matchers. This tool helps GCP engineers generate valid configurations quickly without consulting documentation, reducing errors and accelerating infrastructure deployment. All processing runs in your browser with no data sent to external servers.

Things Engineers Ask

Does this tool connect to my GCP account?

No. This tool runs entirely in your browser and generates configuration JSON that you can copy and paste into your infrastructure-as-code templates, CLI commands, or cloud console. It never connects to any cloud account or sends data externally.

Are the generated configurations production-ready?

The tool produces syntactically valid configurations based on current GCP service specifications. Always review generated configs against your organization security policies and test in a non-production environment before deploying.

In Practice

Your team is consolidating 5 microservice load balancers behind a single global HTTPS load balancer for cost reduction (1 LB instead of 5 = $20/month saved + simpler DNS). The builder generates a URL map: host rules for each service's domain → path matcher → backend service NEG. Add HTTP→HTTPS redirect for compliance, /old-api/* → /api/v2/* rewrites for legacy clients. End-to-end consolidation in 1 day; ongoing operational burden drops to managing 1 LB instead of 5.

Practical Applications

1Generating gcp url map configurations for new infrastructure deployments.
2Validating existing configurations against best practices before applying changes.
3Learning GCP service configuration patterns through interactive examples.
4Accelerating infrastructure-as-code development by producing correct JSON/YAML starting points.

Behind the Scenes

The builder constructs URL Map configurations: URL map resource (name, default service for unmatched), host_rules (matching specific hosts), path_matchers (with default service + path rules with route actions: weighted backends, URL rewrites, redirects, retries), and header rules (for header-based routing). Output is generated as gcloud compute url-maps commands and Terraform google_compute_url_map resources.

Things the Docs Don’t Tell You

TIP

URL maps route requests to backend services based on host + path patterns. The order of pathRules matters — first match wins. Always place MORE specific patterns first (`/api/v1/users` before `/api/v1/*` before `/api/*` before `/*`).

TIP

Use URL rewrite + redirect actions for SEO and UX. Common patterns: redirect HTTP to HTTPS (set in load balancer, not URL map), redirect non-canonical hosts (example.com → www.example.com), rewrite legacy paths to new structure (/old-product/* → /products/*).

TIP

Header-based routing in URL maps enables sophisticated patterns: route mobile users to a mobile-optimized backend by inspecting User-Agent, route premium customers based on a custom header, A/B test by routing X% based on a hash header. Don't push this logic into application code if URL maps can handle it.

Related Learning Guides

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GCP Networking Deep Dive30 min read

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Disclaimer: This tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to our servers. Always verify outputs before using them in production. AWS, Azure, and GCP are trademarks of their respective owners.