> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://datum-4926dda5-docs-compute-overview-cli.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Operations

> Restart, roll out, and inspect individual instances of a running workload with datumctl compute.

Once a workload is deployed, these are the commands for day-to-day operation: restarting instances, watching a rollout progress, and drilling into a single instance when something isn't right.

## Restarting

`datumctl compute restart` triggers a rolling restart — instances are replaced without changing the image or configuration, useful for picking up an external change like a secret rotation:

```bash theme={null}
# Restart every instance of the workload
datumctl compute restart api

# Restart only the instances in one city
datumctl compute restart api --city=DFW
```

## Watching a rollout

Any change that replaces instances — a `deploy` with a new image, or a `restart` — starts a rollout. `datumctl compute rollout` attaches to it and prints progress per placement and city as it happens:

```bash theme={null}
datumctl compute rollout api
```

Each row moves through phases — `Pending`, `Updating`, `Done` — until every placement finishes. If a placement stalls for more than 30 seconds without progress, its phase becomes `Blocked` and the command prints the reason (a quota limit, a scheduling issue) reported by the platform.

<Note>
  Ctrl-C detaches from the watch; it never cancels the rollout. Re-run `datumctl compute rollout api` at any time to reattach and see current progress.
</Note>

## Inspecting instances

`datumctl compute instances` lists every instance in the project — one row per running (or attempting-to-run) copy of a workload's container in a specific city:

```bash theme={null}
# Every instance in the project
datumctl compute instances

# Just one workload
datumctl compute instances --workload=api

# Just one city
datumctl compute instances --city=DFW
```

Status reflects availability, not just whether a process happens to be running at this instant — an instance blocked on quota shows `Pending (quota exceeded)` rather than a generic "not ready." Add `-o wide` for the underlying instance type alongside the default columns, or `-o json`/`-o yaml` for the full resource.

For everything about a single instance — runtime configuration, environment, network addresses, and a plain-English explanation of any failure — use `describe`:

```bash theme={null}
datumctl compute instances describe api-dfw-0
```

When an instance can't start because of quota, `describe` also prints the exact next commands to run — typically checking `datumctl compute quota`.

## Next steps

* `datumctl compute restart --help`, `rollout --help`, and `instances --help` for the full flag reference.
* [Deploying workloads](/datumctl/compute/deploying-workloads) — the `deploy` and `workloads` commands that create what you're operating on here.
* [Destroying workloads](/datumctl/compute/destroying-workloads) — remove a workload and every instance it created.