Listmonk on GCP - Developer Guide

Welcome to the Meetrix Listmonk developer guide for Google Cloud Platform! Listmonk is a fast, open-source newsletter and mailing list manager backed by PostgreSQL, giving you subscriber lists, campaign templates, and open/click tracking without handing your list to a third-party SaaS. With the Meetrix pre-configured GCP image, Listmonk and its database come up already wired together the moment the VM boots.

This guide walks you through finding the product on GCP Marketplace, configuring the deployment, setting up your Super Admin account, pointing your domain at the instance, and connecting Gmail as your SMTP provider so your campaigns actually send.

Listmonk Newsletter Manager on GCP Marketplace by Meetrix - Deploy in Minutes

Deploy a self-hosted Listmonk newsletter and mailing list manager on Google Cloud Platform in minutes. Meetrix's pre-configured GCP Marketplace solution keeps your subscriber data and campaigns fully under your control.

By Shalomi Umeshika • Meetrix.io

Launch the Product

Step 1: Find the Product

1. Log in to your Google account.
2. Go directly to the product page: Listmonk: Open-Source Newsletter Manager & Email Marketing
3. You can also browse all Meetrix products at the Meetrix Solutions Page.
4. You will see the product listing page. Click Get started.

Step 2: Accept the Agreements

1. Confirm your GCP project is selected.
2. Tick the box under Terms and agreements to accept the Google Cloud Marketplace and Meetrix Pte Ltd terms of service.
3. Click AGREE.

Free Trial

This product includes a 5-day free trial with up to USD 50.00 in licence fee credits. To activate it, tick I accept the solution trial Terms and Conditions on the launch screen before proceeding.

Step 3: Configure the Deployment

You will see the deployment configuration form, with Terraform and Command-Line deployment tabs. Fill in the fields across the following sections:

General

• Deployment name — A unique name for this deployment (e.g. listmonk-1).
• Deployment Service Account — Use an existing service account with the config.agent, compute.admin, and iam.serviceAccountUser roles, or create a new one.
• Zone — Select the GCP zone closest to your subscribers (e.g. us-central1-a).
• Machine type — Default e2-medium (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) is a solid starting point for most mailing lists. Scale up if you expect heavy campaign volume or a very large subscriber base.

Boot Disk

Keep the default persistent disk settings unless you expect a large subscriber base or need extra room for media uploads, in which case increase the disk size accordingly.

Networking

• Network / Subnetwork — Leave as default unless you have a custom VPC.
• External IP — Leave as Ephemeral for now. You will reserve a static IP before pointing DNS at the server.
• Allow SSH (TCP port 22) — Enabled by default. Restrict the source IP range if you want to limit SSH access to specific IPs.

Once the fields are filled in, follow the on-screen instructions in your chosen tab (Terraform or Command-Line deployment) to deploy, and wait a few minutes for the deployment to complete.

Reserve a Static IP

1. Open the VM instance created by the deployment and note the External IP under Network interfaces — it is marked (Ephemeral).
2. In the GCP console, go to VPC network → IP addresses, find that same address, and click Reserve Static Address (or promote it directly from the VM instance details page).
3. Copy the reserved external IP — you will use it for your A record.

Point DNS to the Server

1. Add an A record pointing your chosen subdomain (e.g. lists.yourdomain.com) to the reserved static IP.
2. Wait for DNS propagation before proceeding (typically a few minutes to 1 hour).

SSH into the Server

1. Go to the VM instance page in the GCP console.
2. Click SSH to open a browser-based terminal and authorize access.

Access Your Listmonk Instance

Once DNS has propagated, open your domain (or the instance's IP address) in your browser. You will land on the Listmonk login screen, with links to subscribe or browse the public mailing list archive.

Step 1: Create the Super Admin Account

On a fresh install, Listmonk asks you to set up the Super Admin account. Enter an email, username, and password, then click Continue.

Step 2: Explore the Dashboard

You will land on the Listmonk dashboard, showing your lists, subscribers, campaigns, and messages sent at a glance.

Step 3: Update the Root URL

Before you start sending campaigns, go to Settings → General and set the Root URL to match your domain. This is the public URL Listmonk uses in unsubscribe links, tracking pixels, and the subscriber archive.

Setup Gmail SMTP Server

Step 1: Obtain an App Password

1. Navigate to your Google account at https://myaccount.google.com/.
2. In the Security section, enable 2-Step Verification.

3. Use the search bar to find the "App passwords" option and navigate to the App passwords section.

4. Provide an app name (e.g. listmonkSMTP) and click Create.

5. Once generated, copy the password and keep it safe, it will not be shown again.

Step 2: Configure and Test SMTP

1. Navigate to the SMTP tab in Listmonk's Settings.
2. Provide the following details:
   • Host: smtp.gmail.com
   • Port: 465
   • Auth protocol: LOGIN
   • Username: Your Gmail address
   • Password: The app password generated in Step 1
   • To e-mail: An email address to send the test message to
3. Click Send e-mail. If everything is in order, you will receive a test email.

4. Save the settings once the test succeeds.

Manage the Server

Restart the Service

sudo systemctl restart listmonk

Shut Down the VM

To stop the VM without deleting it, go to Compute Engine → VM Instances in the GCP console, select your instance, and click Stop.

Delete the Deployment

To fully remove the deployment and stop all billing:

1. Go to Solution deployments in the GCP console.
2. Find your Listmonk deployment.
3. Click Delete to remove all associated resources.

Troubleshoot

Check the Service Logs

SSH into the server and check the Listmonk service status and logs:

sudo systemctl status listmonk
sudo journalctl -u listmonk -f

502 Bad Gateway Error

If you see a "502 Bad Gateway" error right after deployment, the application is likely still starting up. Wait about 5 minutes and refresh the page.

Test Email Not Arriving

Double-check the SMTP host, port, and app password match exactly what Gmail generated, and confirm 2-Step Verification is still enabled on the Google account, disabling it invalidates existing app passwords.

Conclusion

The Meetrix Listmonk developer guide helps you get a self-hosted newsletter manager running on GCP without provisioning a database or wiring up SMTP by hand. Reserve a static IP, point your domain at it, connect Gmail (or your preferred SMTP provider), and you have a private, subscriber-owned alternative to per-recipient email platforms running on infrastructure you control.

Technical Support

If you run into any issues, our support team is here to help. Reach out to us at support@meetrix.io and we will respond within 12 hours.