About startup scripts
A startup script is a file that contains commands that run when a virtual
machine (VM) instance boots. Compute Engine provides support for running
startup scripts on Linux VMs and Windows VMs.
Prerequisites
To run scripts stored in metadata on a VM instance, the guest environment must be installed and running.
- The guest environment includes the
guest agent (for example, google-guest-agent on Linux)
that reads the script content or URL from the instance's metadata and initiates execution.
- All public Compute Engine images come with the guest environment
preinstalled.
- If you create a custom image, you must manually install the Google Guest Environment to ensure
scripts from metadata and other Cloud de Confiance by S3NS features function properly.
The following table contains links to documentation that describes how to use
startup scripts.
| Startup script task |
Best used for |
Link to procedure |
| Pass a startup script directly |
Scripts up to 256 KB |
|
| Pass a startup script from a local file |
Scripts up to 256 KB |
|
| Pass a startup script from Cloud Storage |
Scripts greater than 256 KB |
|
| Access metadata from a startup script |
Passing different values to each VM that uses the same script |
|
| Rerun a startup script |
Running a script without restarting the VM |
|
| View the output from a startup script |
Monitoring the progress of a script |
|
What's next
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Last updated 2025-10-18 UTC.
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