Related

List RDS Instances

aws

List RDS database instances.

List S3 Buckets

aws

List S3 buckets or objects in a bucket.

Start EC2 Instance

aws

Start one or more EC2 instances.

aws/ec2-describe

Describe EC2 Instances

List details about EC2 instances.

aws
ec2
list
instances

Command

aws ec2 describe-instances

Explanation

Retrieves information about running, stopped, or terminated EC2 instances.

Common Use Cases

  • •Listing all running instances
  • •Retrieving instance state, IP, and tags

Best Practices

  • ✓Use filters (`--filters`) for faster, targeted results
  • ✓Format results with `--query` and `--output` for clarity

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • ⚠Omitting region and getting empty response
  • ⚠Expecting default output to be human-readable (use `--output table`)

Troubleshooting

Problem: Empty results

Solution: Verify the correct region and permissions.

Examples

List all EC2 instances

aws ec2 describe-instances

Describe a specific instance

aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids i-1234567890abcdef0

More

Stop EC2 Instance

aws

Stop one or more EC2 instances.

Terminate EC2 Instance

aws

Terminate one or more EC2 instances permanently.

List Security Groups

aws

List EC2 security groups