Did this page help you? Yes No Tell us about it...

DescribeInstanceAttribute

Description

Returns information about an attribute of an instance. You can get information about only one attribute per call. These are the available attributes:

instanceType—Instance type (e.g., m1.small)
kernel—ID of the kernel associated with the instance
ramdisk—ID of the RAM disk associated with the instance
userData—MIME, Base64-encoded user data provided to the instance
disableApiTermination—Whether the instance can be terminated using the Amazon EC2 API (false means the instance can be terminated with the API)
instanceInitiatedShutdownBehavior—Whether the instance stops or terminates when an instance shutdown is initiated (default is stop)
rootDeviceName—Root device name of the instance (e.g., /dev/sda1, or xvda)
blockDeviceMapping—Block device mapping of the instance
sourceDestCheck—This attribute exists to enable a Network Address Translation (NAT) instance in a VPC to perform NAT. The attribute controls whether source/destination checking is enabled on the instance. A value of true means checking is enabled. The value must be false for the instance to perform NAT.
groupSet—Security groups the instance belongs to

Request Parameters

Name Description Required

Name	Description	Required
`InstanceId`	The instance ID. Type: String Default: None	Yes
`Attribute`	The instance attribute to get. Type: String Default: None Valid Values: `instanceType` \| `kernel` \| `ramdisk` \| `userData` \| `disableApiTermination` \| `instanceInitiatedShutdownBehavior` \| `rootDeviceName` \| `blockDeviceMapping` \| `sourceDestCheck` \| `groupSet`	Yes

InstanceId

The instance ID.

Type: String

Default: None

Yes

Attribute

The instance attribute to get.

Type: String

Default: None

Yes

Response Elements

The elements in the following table are wrapped in a DescribeInstanceAttributeResponse structure.

Name	Description
`requestId`	The ID of the request. Type: xsd:string
`instanceId`	The ID of the instance. Type: xsd:string
`instanceType`	The instance type (e.g., m1.small), wrapped in a `value` element. Type: xsd:string
`kernel`	The kernel ID, wrapped in a `value` element. Type: xsd:string
`ramdisk`	The RAM disk ID, wrapped in a `value` element. Type: xsd:string
`userData`	MIME, Base64-encoded user data, wrapped in a `value` element. Type: xsd:string
`disableApiTermination`	Boolean indicating whether the instance can be terminated through the Amazon EC2 API. The value is wrapped in a `value` element. A value of `true` means you can't terminate the instance using the API (i.e., the instance is "locked"); a value of `false` means you can. You must modify this attribute before you can terminate any "locked" instances using the API. Type: xsd:boolean
`instanceInitiatedShutdownBehavior`	If an instance shutdown is initiated, this determines whether the instance stops or terminates. The value is wrapped in a `value` element. Type: xsd:string Valid Values: `stop` \| `terminate`
`rootDeviceName`	The root device name (e.g., /dev/sda1), wrapped in a `value` element. Type: xsd:string
`blockDeviceMapping`	List of block device mappings for the instance. Each mapping's information is wrapped in an `item` element. Type: InstanceBlockDeviceMappingResponseItemType
`sourceDestCheck`	This attribute exists to enable a Network Address Translation (NAT) instance in a VPC to perform NAT. The attribute controls whether source/destination checking is enabled on the instance. A value of `true` means checking is enabled, and `false` means checking is disabled. The value must be `false` for the instance to perform NAT. For more information, go to NAT Instances in the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud User Guide. Type: xsd:boolean
`groupSet`	Security groups the instance belongs to. Each group's information is wrapped in an `item` element. Type: GroupItemType

Examples

Example Request

This example lists the kernel ID of the i-10a64379 instance.

https://ec2.amazonaws.com/?Action=DescribeInstanceAttribute
&InstanceId=i-10a64379
&Attribute=kernel
&AUTHPARAMS

Example Response

<DescribeInstanceAttributeResponse xmlns="http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2011-12-15/">
  <requestId>59dbff89-35bd-4eac-99ed-be587EXAMPLE</requestId> 
  <instanceId>i-10a64379</instanceId>
  <kernel>
    <value>aki-f70657b2</value>
  </kernel>
</DescribeInstanceAttributeResponse>

Document Conventions
Terms of Use