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The container startup agent in Compute Engine was deprecated on July 21, 2025.
This agent was used to deploy containers on Compute Engine instances
when you create VMs or VMs in a managed instance group (MIG). To create and
to run containers on VMs and MIGs, use one of the following solutions instead:
Run Docker container on VMs using a startup script or cloud-init:
to run a container on a single VM or on each VM in a MIG,
use one of the Container-optimized VM images
and configure container using a startup script
or cloud-init.
[[["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 2025-08-29 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Compute Engine container startup agent deprecation\n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\nThe *container startup agent* in Compute Engine was deprecated on July 21, 2025.\nThis agent was used to deploy containers on Compute Engine instances\nwhen you create VMs or VMs in a managed instance group (MIG). To create and\nto run containers on VMs and MIGs, use one of the following solutions instead:\n\n- Run Docker container on VMs using a startup script or `cloud-init`: to run a container on a single VM or on each VM in a MIG, use one of the [Container-optimized VM images](/compute/docs/containers#container_images) and configure container using a [startup script](/compute/docs/containers/migrate-containers#startup-scripts) or [`cloud-init`](/compute/docs/containers/migrate-containers#cloud-init).\n- [Google Kubernetes Engine](/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/kubernetes-engine-overview): to deploy and manage containerized applications at scale.\n- [Cloud Run](/run/docs/deploying): to run stateless container applications and small or medium jobs.\n- [Batch](/batch/docs/create-run-basic-job): to run a batch job that has a definite end state and requires additional computing resources.\n\nFor more information, see\n[Migrate containers that were deployed on VMs during VM creation](/compute/docs/containers/migrate-containers).\n\nShutdown schedule\n-----------------\n\nThe following table lists the shutdown schedule for Compute Engine\ncontainer startup agent."]]
