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LinuxWindows
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.
The following table contains links to documentation that describes how to use
startup scripts.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-02 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eStartup scripts are files containing commands that execute upon the boot of a virtual machine (VM) instance, supported by both Linux and Windows VMs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eStartup scripts can be passed directly, from a local file, or from Cloud Storage, depending on the script's size, with direct and local files limited to 256 KB, and Cloud Storage for larger scripts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can use startup scripts to pass different values to each VM via metadata.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can rerun a startup script without having to restart the VM.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThere is documentation to describe how to monitor the progress of a script when it is running, and also how to add a shutdown script.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# About startup scripts\n\nLinux Windows\n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\nA startup script is a file that contains commands that run when a virtual\nmachine (VM) instance boots. Compute Engine provides support for running\nstartup scripts on Linux VMs and Windows VMs.\n\nThe following table contains links to documentation that describes how to use\nstartup scripts.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Learn how to [add a shutdown script](/compute/docs/shutdownscript)."]]
