Set up a server GTM container and deploy it on SGTM.space

The tagging server should live on a subdomain of the site you measure, for example sgtm.example.com for www.example.com. Requests to your own domain are first-party: browsers keep their cookies longer and fewer blockers match them.

• Use a short, neutral name such as sgtm, data or metrics. Avoid gtm or analytics, which some blocklists match.
• Use the same registrable domain as the website. sgtm.example.com works for shop.example.com too.
• Do not reuse a subdomain that already points somewhere else.

Server containers are created in the same GTM account as your web container, but as a separate container with the Server target platform.

1. 1 Open tagmanager.google.com, go to your account and click Create Container.
2. 2 Name it after the site (for example example.com - server) and choose Server as the target platform.
3. 3 In the setup dialog choose Manually provision tagging server.
4. 4 Copy the Container Config string. It is a long base64 value that starts with aWQ9R1RN.

aWQ9R1RNLVhYWFhYWFgmZW52PTEmYXV0aD1hYmNkZWZnaGlqa2xtbm9w

Sign up at SGTM.space and verify your email with the 6-digit code. Then open Containers and click New container.

1. 1 Name: anything that helps you recognise the container later. It is never shown publicly.
2. 2 Domain: the subdomain you chose, for example sgtm.example.com.
3. 3 Google container config: paste the Container Config string from GTM.
4. 4 Region: pick the one closest to most of your visitors (Europe, US East or Asia).
5. 5 Click Create and provision.

Open the DNS tab of the new container. It lists the exact record to add. For the main domain it is a single CNAME that points your subdomain at the endpoint of the region you chose.

Type:   CNAME
Name:   sgtm
Value:  eu.sgtm.space
Proxy:  DNS only

1. 1 Sign in where your domain DNS is managed and open the DNS records.
2. 2 Add a CNAME record. Copy the name and value from the DNS tab exactly.
3. 3 Save it, go back to SGTM.space and click Check DNS next to the record.

Most records resolve within a few minutes, some providers take up to an hour. When the record shows Ready, SGTM.space issues the HTTPS certificate for the subdomain automatically.

Once the container status is Ready, the tagging server answers on your subdomain. The quickest check is the health endpoint, which should return 200 OK.

curl -i https://sgtm.example.com/healthz

Then open the server container in GTM and click Preview. A new Tag Assistant tab opens on your subdomain. It stays empty until data arrives, which is what the next lesson sets up.

• The container status in SGTM.space is Ready.
• The DNS record shows Ready.
• https://sgtm.example.com/healthz returns 200.
• GTM Preview for the server container opens without an error.