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AWS CLI EC2 Cheat Sheet

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AWS CLI EC2 commands for instances, AMIs, key pairs, VPC networking, security groups, EBS volumes, and snapshots.

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## EC2 Instances
Describe instances
↗#
aws ec2 describe-instances

# List EC2 instances and their attributes.

Describe instances with query
↗#
aws ec2 describe-instances --query 'Reservations[].Instances[].{Id:InstanceId,State:State.Name,Type:InstanceType,Name:Tags[?Key==`Name`]|[0].Value,PrivateIp:PrivateIpAddress}' --output table

# Return a compact list of instance details.

Launch an instance
↗#
aws ec2 run-instances --image-id ami-0123456789abcdef0 --instance-type t3.micro --subnet-id subnet-0123456789abcdef0 --security-group-ids sg-0123456789abcdef0 --count 1

# Start one or more EC2 instances.

Start stopped instances
↗#
aws ec2 start-instances --instance-ids i-0123456789abcdef0

# Power on one or more stopped instances.

Stop running instances
↗#
aws ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids i-0123456789abcdef0

# Gracefully stop one or more instances.

Reboot instances
↗#
aws ec2 reboot-instances --instance-ids i-0123456789abcdef0

# Perform an OS-level reboot.

Terminate instances
↗#
aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids i-0123456789abcdef0

# Permanently delete one or more instances.

Wait until instance is running
↗#
aws ec2 wait instance-running --instance-ids i-0123456789abcdef0

# Poll until an instance reaches the running state.

## AMIs and Key Pairs
Describe AMIs
↗#
aws ec2 describe-images --owners self amazon

# List AMIs visible to the account.

Create an AMI from an instance
↗#
aws ec2 create-image --instance-id i-0123456789abcdef0 --name web-ami-2026-03-05

# Create an image snapshot from an EC2 instance.

List key pairs
↗#
aws ec2 describe-key-pairs

# Show EC2 key pairs in the account.

Create a key pair
↗#
aws ec2 create-key-pair --key-name my-key --query 'KeyMaterial' --output text > my-key.pem

# Generate a new EC2 key pair and save the private key.

Delete a key pair
↗#
aws ec2 delete-key-pair --key-name my-key

# Remove a key pair from the account.

## VPC, Subnets, and Security Groups
Describe VPCs
↗#
aws ec2 describe-vpcs

# List VPCs in the account.

Describe subnets
↗#
aws ec2 describe-subnets

# List subnets and their attributes.

Describe security groups
↗#
aws ec2 describe-security-groups

# List security groups and their rules.

Add inbound security group rule
↗#
aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress --group-id sg-0123456789abcdef0 --protocol tcp --port 443 --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

# Allow inbound TCP 443 from a CIDR block.

Remove inbound security group rule
↗#
aws ec2 revoke-security-group-ingress --group-id sg-0123456789abcdef0 --protocol tcp --port 443 --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

# Delete an inbound rule from a security group.

Tag EC2 resources
↗#
aws ec2 create-tags --resources i-0123456789abcdef0 vol-0123456789abcdef0 --tags Key=Env,Value=prod Key=App,Value=api

# Apply tags to one or more EC2 resources.

## EBS Volumes and Snapshots
Describe EBS volumes
↗#
aws ec2 describe-volumes

# List attached and unattached EBS volumes.

Create an EBS volume
↗#
aws ec2 create-volume --availability-zone us-west-2a --size 50 --volume-type gp3

# Create a new volume in a specific AZ.

Attach a volume
↗#
aws ec2 attach-volume --volume-id vol-0123456789abcdef0 --instance-id i-0123456789abcdef0 --device /dev/xvdf

# Attach an existing EBS volume to an instance.

Create a snapshot
↗#
aws ec2 create-snapshot --volume-id vol-0123456789abcdef0 --description 'nightly backup'

# Snapshot an EBS volume.

Describe snapshots
↗#
aws ec2 describe-snapshots --owner-ids self

# List snapshots visible to the account.

Delete a snapshot
↗#
aws ec2 delete-snapshot --snapshot-id snap-0123456789abcdef0

# Remove a no-longer-needed snapshot.

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