AWS CLI

EC2 Commands

Manage EC2 instances from the command line. Learn to launch, stop, and configure virtual machines in the AWS cloud.

8 commands

Pro Tips

Use 'aws ec2 describe-instances --query' with JMESPath to filter exactly the data you need.

Tag instances consistently - use 'aws ec2 describe-instances --filters' to find them later.

Use '--dry-run' flag to test permissions without actually executing operations.

Common Mistakes

Running instances cost money. Stop or terminate unused instances to avoid surprise bills.

Terminating an instance deletes its root volume by default. Use EBS volumes for persistent data.

Commands

List instances

$ aws ec2 describe-instances --query 'Reservations[].Instances[].[InstanceId,State.Name,Tags[?Key==`Name`].Value|[0]]' --output table

List instances with ID, state, and name.

Start instance

$ aws ec2 start-instances --instance-ids i-xxx

Start a stopped EC2 instance.

Stop instance

$ aws ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids i-xxx

Stop a running EC2 instance.

Terminate instance

$ aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids i-xxx

Permanently delete an instance.

Get public IP

$ aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids i-xxx --query 'Reservations[].Instances[].PublicIpAddress' --output text

Get public IP address of instance.

List security groups

$ aws ec2 describe-security-groups --output table

List all security groups.

Create key pair

$ aws ec2 create-key-pair --key-name mykey --query 'KeyMaterial' --output text > mykey.pem

Create and save SSH key pair.

List AMIs

$ aws ec2 describe-images --owners self amazon --filters 'Name=name,Values=*ubuntu*' --query 'Images[*].[ImageId,Name]' --output table

Search for AMIs by name pattern.