**Example 1: To describe an instance**
The following ``describe-instances`` example describes the specified instance. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--instance-ids i-1234567890abcdef0
Output::
{
"Reservations": [
{
"Groups": [],
"Instances": [
{
"AmiLaunchIndex": 0,
"ImageId": "ami-0abcdef1234567890",
"InstanceId": "i-1234567890abcdef0",
"InstanceType": "t3.nano",
"KeyName": "my-key-pair",
"LaunchTime": "2022-11-15T10:48:59+00:00",
"Monitoring": {
"State": "disabled"
},
"Placement": {
"AvailabilityZone": "us-east-2a",
"GroupName": "",
"Tenancy": "default"
},
"PrivateDnsName": "ip-10-0-0-157.us-east-2.compute.internal",
"PrivateIpAddress": "10-0-0-157",
"ProductCodes": [],
"PublicDnsName": "ec2-34-253-223-13.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com",
"PublicIpAddress": "34.253.223.13",
"State": {
"Code": 16,
"Name": "running"
},
"StateTransitionReason": "",
"SubnetId": "subnet-04a636d18e83cfacb",
"VpcId": "vpc-1234567890abcdef0",
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [
{
"DeviceName": "/dev/xvda",
"Ebs": {
"AttachTime": "2022-11-15T10:49:00+00:00",
"DeleteOnTermination": true,
"Status": "attached",
"VolumeId": "vol-02e6ccdca7de29cf2"
}
}
],
"ClientToken": "1234abcd-1234-abcd-1234-d46a8903e9bc",
"EbsOptimized": true,
"EnaSupport": true,
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"IamInstanceProfile": {
"Arn": "arn:aws:iam::111111111111:instance-profile/AmazonSSMRoleForInstancesQuickSetup",
"Id": "111111111111111111111"
},
"NetworkInterfaces": [
{
"Association": {
"IpOwnerId": "amazon",
"PublicDnsName": "ec2-34-253-223-13.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com",
"PublicIp": "34.253.223.13"
},
"Attachment": {
"AttachTime": "2022-11-15T10:48:59+00:00",
"AttachmentId": "eni-attach-1234567890abcdefg",
"DeleteOnTermination": true,
"DeviceIndex": 0,
"Status": "attached",
"NetworkCardIndex": 0
},
"Description": "",
"Groups": [
{
"GroupName": "launch-wizard-146",
"GroupId": "sg-1234567890abcdefg"
}
],
"Ipv6Addresses": [],
"MacAddress": "00:11:22:33:44:55",
"NetworkInterfaceId": "eni-1234567890abcdefg",
"OwnerId": "104024344472",
"PrivateDnsName": "ip-10-0-0-157.us-east-2.compute.internal",
"PrivateIpAddress": "10-0-0-157",
"PrivateIpAddresses": [
{
"Association": {
"IpOwnerId": "amazon",
"PublicDnsName": "ec2-34-253-223-13.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com",
"PublicIp": "34.253.223.13"
},
"Primary": true,
"PrivateDnsName": "ip-10-0-0-157.us-east-2.compute.internal",
"PrivateIpAddress": "10-0-0-157"
}
],
"SourceDestCheck": true,
"Status": "in-use",
"SubnetId": "subnet-1234567890abcdefg",
"VpcId": "vpc-1234567890abcdefg",
"InterfaceType": "interface"
}
],
"RootDeviceName": "/dev/xvda",
"RootDeviceType": "ebs",
"SecurityGroups": [
{
"GroupName": "launch-wizard-146",
"GroupId": "sg-1234567890abcdefg"
}
],
"SourceDestCheck": true,
"Tags": [
{
"Key": "Name",
"Value": "my-instance"
}
],
"VirtualizationType": "hvm",
"CpuOptions": {
"CoreCount": 1,
"ThreadsPerCore": 2
},
"CapacityReservationSpecification": {
"CapacityReservationPreference": "open"
},
"HibernationOptions": {
"Configured": false
},
"MetadataOptions": {
"State": "applied",
"HttpTokens": "optional",
"HttpPutResponseHopLimit": 1,
"HttpEndpoint": "enabled",
"HttpProtocolIpv6": "disabled",
"InstanceMetadataTags": "enabled"
},
"EnclaveOptions": {
"Enabled": false
},
"PlatformDetails": "Linux/UNIX",
"UsageOperation": "RunInstances",
"UsageOperationUpdateTime": "2022-11-15T10:48:59+00:00",
"PrivateDnsNameOptions": {
"HostnameType": "ip-name",
"EnableResourceNameDnsARecord": true,
"EnableResourceNameDnsAAAARecord": false
},
"MaintenanceOptions": {
"AutoRecovery": "default"
}
}
],
"OwnerId": "111111111111",
"ReservationId": "r-1234567890abcdefg"
}
]
}
**Example 2: To filter for instances with the specified type**
The following ``describe-instances`` example uses filters to scope the results to instances of the specified type. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters Name=instance-type,Values=m5.large
For sample of output, see Example 1.
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 3: To filter for instances with the specified type and Availability Zone**
The following ``describe-instances`` example uses multiple filters to scope the results to instances with the specified type that are also in the specified Availability Zone. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters Name=instance-type,Values=t2.micro,t3.micro Name=availability-zone,Values=us-east-2c
For sample of output, see Example 1.
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 4: To filter for instances with the specified type and Availability Zone using a JSON file**
The following ``describe-instances`` example uses a JSON input file to perform the same filtering as the previous example. When filters get more complicated, they can be easier to specify in a JSON file. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters file://filters.json
Contents of ``filters.json``::
[
{
"Name": "instance-type",
"Values": ["t2.micro", "t3.micro"]
},
{
"Name": "availability-zone",
"Values": ["us-east-2c"]
}
]
For sample of output, see Example 1.
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 5: To filter for instances with the specified Owner tag**
The following ``describe-instances`` example uses tag filters to scope the results to instances that have a tag with the specified tag key (Owner), regardless of the tag value. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters "Name=tag-key,Values=Owner"
For sample of output, see Example 1.
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 6: To filter for instances with the specified my-team tag value**
The following ``describe-instances`` example uses tag filters to scope the results to instances that have a tag with the specified tag value (my-team), regardless of the tag key. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters "Name=tag-value,Values=my-team"
For sample of output, see Example 1.
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 7: To filter for instances with the specified Owner tag and my-team value**
The following ``describe-instances`` example uses tag filters to scope the results to instances that have the specified tag (Owner=my-team). ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters "Name=tag:Owner,Values=my-team"
For sample of output, see Example 1.
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 8: To display only instance and subnet IDs for all instances**
The following ``describe-instances`` examples use the ``--query`` parameter to display only the instance and subnet IDs for all instances, in JSON format.
Linux and macOS::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].{Instance:InstanceId,Subnet:SubnetId}' \
--output json
Windows::
aws ec2 describe-instances ^
--query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].{Instance:InstanceId,Subnet:SubnetId}" ^
--output json
Output::
[
{
"Instance": "i-057750d42936e468a",
"Subnet": "subnet-069beee9b12030077"
},
{
"Instance": "i-001efd250faaa6ffa",
"Subnet": "subnet-0b715c6b7db68927a"
},
{
"Instance": "i-027552a73f021f3bd",
"Subnet": "subnet-0250c25a1f4e15235"
}
...
]
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 9: To filter instances of the specified type and only display their instance IDs**
The following ``describe-instances`` example uses filters to scope the results to instances of the specified type and the ``--query`` parameter to display only the instance IDs. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters "Name=instance-type,Values=t2.micro" \
--query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].[InstanceId]" \
--output text
Output::
i-031c0dc19de2fb70c
i-00d8bff789a736b75
i-0b715c6b7db68927a
i-0626d4edd54f1286d
i-00b8ae04f9f99908e
i-0fc71c25d2374130c
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 10: To filter instances of the specified type and only display their instance IDs, Availability Zone and the specified tag value in table format**
The following ``describe-instances`` examples display the instance ID, Availability Zone, and the value of the ``Name`` tag for instances that have a tag with the name ``tag-key``, in table format.
Linux and macOS::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters Name=tag-key,Values=Name \
--query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].{Instance:InstanceId,AZ:Placement.AvailabilityZone,Name:Tags[?Key==`Name`]|[0].Value}' \
--output table
Windows::
aws ec2 describe-instances ^
--filters Name=tag-key,Values=Name ^
--query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].{Instance:InstanceId,AZ:Placement.AvailabilityZone,Name:Tags[?Key=='Name']|[0].Value}" ^
--output table
Output::
-------------------------------------------------------------
| DescribeInstances |
+--------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| AZ | Instance | Name |
+--------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| us-east-2b | i-057750d42936e468a | my-prod-server |
| us-east-2a | i-001efd250faaa6ffa | test-server-1 |
| us-east-2a | i-027552a73f021f3bd | test-server-2 |
+--------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 11: To describe instances in a partition placement group**
The following ``describe-instances`` example describes the specified instance. The output includes the placement information for the instance, which contains the placement group name and the partition number for the instance. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--instance-id i-0123a456700123456 \
--query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].Placement"
Output::
[
[
{
"AvailabilityZone": "us-east-1c",
"GroupName": "HDFS-Group-A",
"PartitionNumber": 3,
"Tenancy": "default"
}
]
]
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 12: To filter to instances with the specified placement group and partition number**
The following ``describe-instances`` example filters the results to only those instances with the specified placement group and partition number. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters "Name=placement-group-name,Values=HDFS-Group-A" "Name=placement-partition-number,Values=7"
The following shows only the relevant information from the output. ::
"Instances": [
{
"InstanceId": "i-0123a456700123456",
"InstanceType": "r4.large",
"Placement": {
"AvailabilityZone": "us-east-1c",
"GroupName": "HDFS-Group-A",
"PartitionNumber": 7,
"Tenancy": "default"
}
},
{
"InstanceId": "i-9876a543210987654",
"InstanceType": "r4.large",
"Placement": {
"AvailabilityZone": "us-east-1c",
"GroupName": "HDFS-Group-A",
"PartitionNumber": 7,
"Tenancy": "default"
}
],
For more information, see `Describing instances in a placement group <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/placement-groups.html#describe-instance-placement>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
**Example 13: To filter to instances that are configured to allow access to tags from instance metadata**
The following ``describe-instances`` example filters the results to only those instances that are configured to allow access to instance tags from instance metadata. ::
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters "Name=metadata-options.instance-metadata-tags,Values=enabled" \
--query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].InstanceId" \
--output text
The following shows the expected output. ::
i-1234567890abcdefg
i-abcdefg1234567890
i-11111111aaaaaaaaa
i-aaaaaaaa111111111
For more information, see `Work with instance tags in instance metadata <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/en_us/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/Using_Tags.html#view-access-to-tags-in-IMDS>`__ in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.