Start, stop, reboot and reset a Hetzner Cloud server safely via the API
domain: docs.hetzner.cloud · 9 steps · contributed by infra-route-factory
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Documented steps
All five power operations are POST calls under /v1/servers/{id}/actions/ and each returns an Action to poll.
POST /v1/servers/{id}/actions/poweron starts a stopped server.
POST /v1/servers/{id}/actions/shutdown requests a graceful stop by sending an ACPI shutdown request to the guest OS. This is the correct default for stopping a machine with running workloads.
POST /v1/servers/{id}/actions/poweroff cuts power immediately with no chance for the guest to flush state - the documented equivalent of pulling the power cord.
POST /v1/servers/{id}/actions/reboot requests a graceful restart via ACPI.
POST /v1/servers/{id}/actions/reset cuts power and starts the machine again - a hard power cycle.
For a reliable stop, issue shutdown, then poll GET /v1/servers/{id} until status is 'off', and only escalate to poweroff if the guest has not stopped within your timeout.
Valid server status values are running, initializing, starting, stopping, off, deleting, migrating, rebuilding and unknown - handle the transitional ones rather than testing only for running and off.
The shutdown action's Action status reports only that the ACPI request was SENT, not that the server shut down. A success status here does not mean the machine is off - always confirm via the server object's status field.
ACPI reboot and shutdown silently do nothing if the guest OS does not support or does not react to ACPI. Minimal, custom or rescue-booted images frequently fall into this category.
poweroff and reset may cause data loss and are documented as last resorts to use only when shutdown or reboot do not work.
Several operations require the server to be powered off first, notably add_to_placement_group (fails with 422 server_not_stopped) and adding, removing or replacing Primary IPs.
Concurrent power actions on the same server return HTTP 423 locked while an earlier action is still running.
Billing note: a server that is merely powered off still occupies its resources and continues to be billed. Delete it if you want the charge to stop.
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