diff --git a/scripts/gcp-create.sh b/scripts/gcp-create.sh
index b65d6a4..b174c0f 100755
--- a/scripts/gcp-create.sh
+++ b/scripts/gcp-create.sh
@@ -17,14 +17,14 @@ echo "=== gcp-dev.sh $PROJECT $BRANCH"
 
 echo "+++ creating VM"
 gcloud compute instances create --zone=$ZONE $VM --machine-type=e2-highcpu-4 --preemptible
+IP=$(gcloud compute instances describe essentials --format='value(networkInterfaces.accessConfigs[0].natIP)')
 
-echo "+++ wait for boot"
+echo "+++ wait for boot $IP"
 while ! gcloud compute ssh --zone=$ZONE $NAME@$VM --command='hostname' ; do
     sleep 1
 done
 
 echo "+++ configuring VM"
-
 gcloud compute ssh --zone=$ZONE $NAME@$VM --ssh-flag='-A' <<EOF
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install --yes git python3-pip python3-venv bash-completion
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ EOF
 
 echo "+++ configure local ssh"
 gcloud compute config-ssh
+cat > ~/.ssh/$VM.config <<EOF
+Host essentials
+    HostName $IP
+    CheckHostIP=no
+    ForwardAgent=yes
+    User=$NAME
+EOF
 
 echo "+++ starting Jypter"
 gcloud compute ssh --zone=$ZONE $NAME@$VM --ssh-flag='-t -L 8080:localhost:8080 -L 8081:localhost:8081' --command="cd $PROJECT ; ./scripts/jupyter-lab.sh"