Compute Engine instances should have automatic restart enabled
Google Compute Engine virtual machine instances are evaluated to ensure that Automatic Restart is enabled. The feature restarts VM instances terminated for non-user-initiated reasons such as maintenance events, hardware failures, or software failures.
VM instances without Automatic Restart enabled will not recover automatically from host maintenance events or unexpected failures, potentially leading to prolonged service downtime and requiring manual intervention to restore services.
What this control checks
Whether Compute Engine instances have automatic restart enabled
Common pitfalls
User-initiated shutdowns are not affected
This setting does not interfere with user-initiated shutdowns or stops.
Audit evidence
Evidence that deployed resources meet this control: Prowler check compute_instance_automatic_restart_enabled (prowler gcp --checks compute_instance_automatic_restart_enabled).
Related controls
- Managed instance groups should have autohealing enabled with a health check
- Compute Engine instances should have deletion protection enabled
- Managed instance groups should span multiple zones
- Compute Engine instances should have IP forwarding disabled
- Compute Engine instances should have custom metadata
Tool mappings
Use these identifiers to cross-reference this control across tools, reports, and evidence.
- Compliance.tf Control:
gcp_compute_instance_automatic_restart_enabled - Prowler Check:
compute_instance_automatic_restart_enabled
Last reviewed: 2026-10-09