The invention relates to a method for operating a textile machine (1) comprising a plurality of work stations (2) consisting of at least one maintenance unit and a textile machine for carrying out the method (5A, 5B, 6A, 6B) maintenance, the at least one maintenance group performs at least one maintenance operation at the requested station (2), the at least one maintenance operation includes at least one partial task, in order to perform the at least one maintenance operation , the station (2) requests the maintenance unit to perform the maintenance operation through the communication system (18, 20) of the textile machine (1), and the feasibility of the maintenance operation is checked in order to check the functionality of the maintenance unit, wherein, after determining In the event of a malfunction of the maintenance unit, information is sent via the communication system (18, 20) of the textile machine (1) to all relevant workstations (2) about the presence of a malfunction which prevents the execution of maintenance operations or at least Execution of a partial task.