How to automate Start & Stop of Amazon EC2 Instances using AWS Systems Manager (SSM) - Demo

This video demonstrates the setup of below tasks to automate stop & start of Amazon EC2 instances:
1. Tag EC2 instances and create a resource group.
2. Create an AWS Systems Manager Maintenance window to register targets and AWS-StartEC2Instance Automation document task.
3. Create an AWS Systems Manager Maintenance window to register targets and AWS-StopEC2Instance Automation document task.
Links:
Automatically stop and start an Amazon RDS DB instance using AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows:
docs.aws.amazo...
About pseudo parameters:
docs.aws.amazo...

[@AroundDubai]

Spent whole day trying to figure out and wondering why AWS is such big pain. And new AWS Instance Scheduler was a useless feature. Hey look we both using Sydney region. Glad it worked. Thanks a million. (Liked & Subscribed)

[@DayalanT-wq4by]

This video is a lifesaver, please upload more AWS content with real-time scenarios

[@unmaskITnow]

Thanks for the compliment, means a lot 🙏 Please be sured to subscribe so you are notified when i release more such content.

[@DharanMathers]

Hi there, This is much better! Concise and helpful. This comment is coming from the AWS dude.

[@unmaskITnow]

Awesome, thank you!

[@davidjenkins5962]

Thank you, that worked great for me! I had previously tried the AWS guide to do the same thing ("Instance Scheduler on AWS"), but it never worked. The lambda would run, but the instances wouldn't start. Your method works like a charm! I am now subscribed.

[@unmaskITnow]

I'm really glad this video helped you. Yes, its a lot simpler to achieve the same outcome using SSM.

[@Vadranam6300]

I appreciate the informative video; it greatly assisted me in automating EC2 instances. Please continue to create similar informative videos in AWS

[@ulogin1]

thank you for this info , great content.... better than useing Lambda for start and stop ec2

[@unmaskITnow]

Thanks 😊 yes it does substitute having to run lambda functions to do the job.

[@Ihteshamulhaq296]

Thank you for very informative video and complete live demo. Really love your content!

[@unmaskITnow]

Thank you so much ❤️ glad this video was of help. Please do like and subscribe for more similar content in the future.

[@nivretech2072]

Thank you for this ❤ I have been able to automate our RDS DB Instance to start/stop.

[@unmaskITnow]

That's amazing. Yes, it works both for EC2 & RDS. Glad u were able to follow along and get it working. Please do subscribe as it will help grow the channel

[@nivretech2072]

@@unmaskITnow Hi, may I ask how to sched my RDS DB to start and stop only on Mon-Fri? Thanks!

[@sreedharm2465]

Really life saver videos, Please do some AWS CLI Stuff.

[@user-sj1yq6rt1x]

amazing stuff, i just automated my server thanks to you. if there is one thing you could do to help learners better, it would be to switch on a mouse cursor trail so we know where you are clicking. thanks again!

[@wofytw]

It works for me, thank you

[@unmaskITnow]

Your most welcome 🙏 please do subscribe for more such content in the future.

[@RahulRaj-sc8pv]

helped me alot .. Thank you .. Keep uploading content .

[@unmaskITnow]

Happy to help! This is motivation enough to keep adding more such content. Stay tuned!

[@Townshipgamestreaming]

Thank you so much for a tutorial, really helped

[@unmaskITnow]

Glad it helped.

[@fishtaco2002]

Thanks, didn't know about pseduo parameters. Was just entering each instance ID

[@unmaskITnow]

Hey thanks 😊 Yes its a lesser known parameter.

[@user-su8wj4ey3x]

Perfect tutorial. Worked!

[@unmaskITnow]

Amazing to hear that. Do like and subscribe if you'd like to see more relevant content :)

[@77enaldo]

Parabéns! Excelente didática. Vídeo muito útil.

[@unmaskITnow]

Thank you so much. Glad I could be of help. I'll aim to have more such content out :)

[@vinaypatil1612]

Nice Job, you saved my lot of time thanks

[@unmaskITnow]

Thank you so much, glad my content helped you 😊 stay tuned for more

[@srinusameini2534]

It has greatly helped me.thank you

[@bryanmendoza3919]

Thank you for this content, very informative, may i also ask questions what if we have a resources from other region?, how we can group all together

[@user-gy4wk4ln8y]

you are awesome

[@unmaskITnow]

Thank you so much ❤️ please do subscribe for more similar content 😊

[@SurangaJayalath]

great content. Thanks for sharing

[@unmaskITnow]

My pleasure :) Thanks for watching

[@jacquesebot9382]

Thank you

[@unmaskITnow]

You're welcome

[@riiseupenterprises]

keep up the good work !

[@kliffordmanto4022]

Greatly helped.

[@hoanghuy3735]

Tuyệt vời quá 😄

[@unmaskITnow]

Thanks 😊 Glad you liked the video. Please do subscribe for more similar content.

[@jayasrisadaram283]

Can we have single maintenance window for both start and stop actions?

[@reeteshkumarchaurasia6183]

Hello Mam please provide vedio for How to automate Start & Stop of Amazon RDS Instances using AWS Systems Manager (SSM)

[@Dineshchauhan28]

Thanks for great content. in my case it automation failed with " The provided role does not contain the correct Resource Groups permissions." i gave permission but than failed with "The provided role does not contain the iam:PassRole permission, which is required when providing a role as a task parameter." it worked when i removed parameter for role as ARN(input parameter) and use IAM service role

[@unmaskITnow]

Hi there, there are two IAM roles applicable when creating a task in maintenance window. The AutomationAssumeRole (under Input parameters) and IAM service role for the maintenance window. In my video, i shared the steps to create AutomationAssumeRole (this should have ec2:StartInstances/ec2:StopInstances permissions) while i left the IAM service role blank which will autopopulate when saving changes to maintainence window with servicerole policy that already has permission for iam:Passrole & resource-groups:ListGroupResources. I tested the steps in my video again and I was able to follow through exactly as demonstrated without any issues.

[@siddharthamichanagantla5634]

Tags based approach is not working remaining two resource group and choosing instance manually is working fine.Can any one answer me?

[@dalbir.s]

Great Vid. Just one question. If it is possible to schedule daily Start STOP but also to stop instances on weekends? The thing is we only need them running in working days between 9-5 and the rest of other hours it can be in stopped mode.

[@AroundDubai]

Search for "Cron and rate expressions for Systems Manager" and you can find the combination for all kinds of schedules

[@riiseupenterprises]

cron(15 10 ? * MON-FRI *) 10:15 AM every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

[@a1ijamshed]

Is there a cost for creating and scheduling this scheduler?

[@deekshithmy8155]

Great! What is the cost incured by this service? And we have ssm instance scheduler now. Can you please make a video on that

[@unmaskITnow]

The costs incurred on this solution (if any) would have to be with AWS Systems Manager Automation. As of today, the pricing structure is - There is a free tier of 100,000 steps per account per month. Beyond the free tier, each basic step is charged at $0.002 per step. Refer aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/pricing/. If you aren't crossing 100,000 steps per month, you can say this whole solution comes at no cost. AWS SSM does have a Resource Scheduler under Quick Setup. It is practically the same steps but allows for ease of configuration from a single UI. Under the hood, what gets built is exactly the same with the exception that my video does not demonstrate multi-account multi-region setup. I will explore your suggestion to make a video, thank you. Hope that helps!

[@sherlinsharmi532]

Really great to see. May I know that whether it's free of cost in AWS free tier account?

[@unmaskITnow]

For this setup, You will need to check free tier limits for Amazon EC2, Amazon EBS and AWS Systems Manager Automation services from AWS public docs. Assuming you are using free tier instances under free tier EBS limits, for AWS Systems Manager Automation there is a free tier of 100,000 basic steps per account per month. So, with all these considerations you can say set this up for free.

[@sherlinsharmi532]

@@unmaskITnow thanks for the information

[@MrHiteshchawra]

Please review the revised text below: "This video is really helpful. Is it available for free?"

[@jvmusicph]

Can I use this to schedule to plot all the holiday for a year?(for turning off rds/ec2) Also is it doable to turn off EC2 1 by 1? Totally turn off EC2#1 before turn off the EC2#2 and so on?

[@unmaskITnow]

Custom schedules can be built by using cron expression. However, in the case of public holidays it is not a straightforward cron expression so you will need to use AWS Systems Manager Change Calendar to plot select days in a year you need to schedule this automation. You can use the rate control setting to define concurrency of the targets for automation, but you cannot control the order.

[@jvmusicph]

@@unmaskITnow Can you make a tutorial for this one? will give monetary if needed. :)

[@abhishekmahawar3082]

I manually selected ec2 for these.. they do stop but they don't start... I didn't create any resource group ... why they aren't starting??

[@unmaskITnow]

In all honesty, it's hard to tell what's missed, I can only offer suggestions. Have you tried switching the document in the same maintenance window to see if it works? Does the maintenance window role have permissions to start the instance? Did the maintenance window trigger, what do you see in history tab for the start task? If the task triggered, check StartInstance API in Cloud trail for that instance. If the task didn't trigger double check the configuration - schedule time and timezone, targets registered. Hope these are useful!

[@enochasante2284]

the instance is stopping but getting it to restart seems to be a problem. I have deleted and redid it several times. please help

[@unmaskITnow]

I would recommend checking the history tab of the maintenance window task for starting instance to see if the task did trigger and check its details. Verify that you have selected the correct document for starting instance and desired time to trigger that document. Alternatively, cloudtrail can help if EC2 StartInstance API. Hope this helps.

[@jvmusicph]

how about the process for stopping and start of RDS

[@unmaskITnow]

You can follow the same steps for Amazon RDS. The only difference would be to create a resource group for RDS Instance and use SSM document - AWS-StartRdsInstance/AWS-StopRdsInstance

[@srinivasand8900]

it is not wokring for me , i followed the video ,but i am failed,its not working

[@horrigueaziz6473]

How to automate Start & Stop of Amazon EC2 Instances based on tags

[@unmaskITnow]

The instances are tagged with key-value Env=Dev. I used those tags to create a Resource Group so it targets instances with that tag. When creating the maintenance window, i used that Resource group name. You can alternatively select "Specify Instance tags" option there instead of Resource group

[@alfonsonishikawa]

WOW! Superuseful!Thank you very much!!!🙏 Works like a charm.

[@sonnsh]

It worked for me, thank you so much