The metadata server is a dedicated, internal service accessible to every GCP virtual machine instance. It provides information about the instance, such as hostname, IP address, project ID, and—most importantly—service account credentials. 169.254.169.254 (link-local) Hostname: metadata.google.internal The server is available only from within the GCP network. 2. Deep Dive: /instance/service-accounts/
: Generates an OAuth2 access token for the instance's primary service account. The metadata server is a dedicated, internal service
http://metadata.google.internal/computeMetadata/v1/instance/service-accounts/default/ The metadata server is a dedicated