The Start VM Instances action can be used to start one or more Google Compute VM instances at a specific time of day. Once the instances have been started, they can optionally be stopped after they have been running for a specific amount of time.

For example, 5 instances can be started at 8am and stopped 8 hours later with a single Start VM Instances action.

Please see Common Action Settings for a description of settings common to all action types.

Instances

Indicates the method in which the VM instances will be selected. Possible options include:

Instance Names

Specifies the list of VM instance names that are to be started. List names one per line.

Instance Name Comparisons

This is a list of comparisons against the instance name. All comparisons must match for a cluster to be selected.

Label Comparison

This is a list of comparisons against labels on the instances. All comparisons must match for a cluster to be selected.

Stop the Instances

Indicate whether the instances should be automatically stopped later. The running time of the instances must also be specified if this is checked.

Running Duration

Indicate the length of time the instances should run before they are stopped. This value is only required if "Stop the Instances" is checked.