AWS SDK EC2 Examples: Launch, List, Stop and Terminate Instances (Python, PHP, Node.js)

By Ravindra Bagale, trainer · LinkedIn · Last updated: 24 October 2026

1. The big picture: renting cars

Why do we need this?

Mei runs a car rental in Singapore. She picks a model (AMI), a size (instance type), puts a name sticker on it (tag), hands over the keys (key pair) and parks it in a lot (subnet). When the customer returns it she parks it (stop) or sells it (terminate). EC2 from code is the same list of choices.

What is it?

RunInstances launches; DescribeInstances lists; StopInstances, StartInstances and TerminateInstances change state. Tags are how scripts find "their" instances later.

How to do it (step by step)

2. Find the latest AMI

Why do we need this?

AMI IDs differ per region and change every month. Hard-coding one breaks next month.

What is it?

AWS publishes the latest Amazon Linux 2023 AMI as a public SSM parameter. Read it with GetParameter.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python.

import boto3
ssm = boto3.client("ssm", region_name="ap-southeast-1")
ami = ssm.get_parameter(Name="/aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/al2023-ami-kernel-default-x86_64")["Parameter"]["Value"]
print(ami)

Expected output:

ami-0a1b2c3d4e5f67890

2. PHP.

<?php
require "vendor/autoload.php";
$ssm = new Aws\Ssm\SsmClient(["region" => "ap-southeast-1"]);
echo $ssm->getParameter(["Name" => "/aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/al2023-ami-kernel-default-x86_64"])["Parameter"]["Value"], PHP_EOL;

Expected output:

ami-0a1b2c3d4e5f67890

3. Node.js.

import { SSMClient, GetParameterCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-ssm";
const ssm = new SSMClient({ region: "ap-southeast-1" });
const r = await ssm.send(new GetParameterCommand({ Name: "/aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/al2023-ami-kernel-default-x86_64" }));
console.log(r.Parameter.Value);

Expected output:

ami-0a1b2c3d4e5f67890

3. Launch a tagged instance and wait

Why do we need this?

Mei's booking app needs a test server for each new developer, named after them.

What is it?

Pass ImageId, InstanceType, MinCount/MaxCount and TagSpecifications. Then use the instance_running waiter and read the public IP.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python: run_instances and wait.

import boto3

ec2 = boto3.client("ec2", region_name="ap-southeast-1")
r = ec2.run_instances(
    ImageId="ami-0a1b2c3d4e5f67890", InstanceType="t3.micro", MinCount=1, MaxCount=1,
    TagSpecifications=[{"ResourceType": "instance", "Tags": [{"Key": "Name", "Value": "dev-mei"}, {"Key": "team", "Value": "booking"}]}],
)
iid = r["Instances"][0]["InstanceId"]
ec2.get_waiter("instance_running").wait(InstanceIds=[iid])
ip = ec2.describe_instances(InstanceIds=[iid])["Reservations"][0]["Instances"][0].get("PublicIpAddress")
print(iid, "running", ip)

Expected output:

i-0123456789abcdef0 running 13.250.10.20

2. PHP: runInstances and waitUntil.

<?php
require "vendor/autoload.php";
$ec2 = new Aws\Ec2\Ec2Client(["region" => "ap-southeast-1"]);
$r = $ec2->runInstances([
    "ImageId" => "ami-0a1b2c3d4e5f67890", "InstanceType" => "t3.micro", "MinCount" => 1, "MaxCount" => 1,
    "TagSpecifications" => [["ResourceType" => "instance", "Tags" => [["Key" => "Name", "Value" => "dev-kunal"], ["Key" => "team", "Value" => "booking"]]]],
]);
$id = $r["Instances"][0]["InstanceId"];
$ec2->waitUntil("InstanceRunning", ["InstanceIds" => [$id]]);
echo "$id running", PHP_EOL;

Expected output:

i-0fedcba9876543210 running

3. Node.js: RunInstancesCommand and waitUntilInstanceRunning.

import { EC2Client, RunInstancesCommand, waitUntilInstanceRunning } from "@aws-sdk/client-ec2";

const ec2 = new EC2Client({ region: "ap-southeast-1" });
const r = await ec2.send(new RunInstancesCommand({
  ImageId: "ami-0a1b2c3d4e5f67890", InstanceType: "t3.micro", MinCount: 1, MaxCount: 1,
  TagSpecifications: [{ ResourceType: "instance", Tags: [{ Key: "Name", Value: "dev-sophie" }, { Key: "team", Value: "booking" }] }],
}));
const id = r.Instances[0].InstanceId;
await waitUntilInstanceRunning({ client: ec2, maxWaitTime: 300 }, { InstanceIds: [id] });
console.log(id, "running");

Expected output:

i-0aa11bb22cc33dd44 running

4. Verify: three dev boxes are running.

aws ec2 describe-instances --region ap-southeast-1 --filters Name=tag:team,Values=booking Name=instance-state-name,Values=running --query "Reservations[].Instances[].Tags[?Key=='Name'].Value[]" --output text

Expected output:

dev-mei	dev-kunal	dev-sophie

4. List instances with filters

Why do we need this?

At 7 pm a script should find every instance tagged team=booking to stop them and save money.

What is it?

Filters run on the AWS side (tag:key, instance-state-name, instance-type). Results are grouped in Reservations, so flatten them.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python: paginator plus filters.

import boto3

ec2 = boto3.client("ec2", region_name="ap-southeast-1")
flt = [{"Name": "tag:team", "Values": ["booking"]}, {"Name": "instance-state-name", "Values": ["running"]}]
ids = []
for page in ec2.get_paginator("describe_instances").paginate(Filters=flt):
    for res in page["Reservations"]:
        ids += [i["InstanceId"] for i in res["Instances"]]
print(len(ids), ids)

Expected output:

3 ['i-0123456789abcdef0', 'i-0fedcba9876543210', 'i-0aa11bb22cc33dd44']

2. PHP: JMESPath search on the result.

<?php
require "vendor/autoload.php";
$ec2 = new Aws\Ec2\Ec2Client(["region" => "ap-southeast-1"]);
$r = $ec2->describeInstances(["Filters" => [["Name" => "tag:team", "Values" => ["booking"]], ["Name" => "instance-state-name", "Values" => ["running"]]]]);
print_r($r->search("Reservations[].Instances[].InstanceId"));

Expected output:

Array
(
    [0] => i-0123456789abcdef0
    [1] => i-0fedcba9876543210
    [2] => i-0aa11bb22cc33dd44
)

3. Node.js: paginateDescribeInstances.

import { EC2Client, paginateDescribeInstances } from "@aws-sdk/client-ec2";

const ec2 = new EC2Client({ region: "ap-southeast-1" });
const Filters = [{ Name: "tag:team", Values: ["booking"] }, { Name: "instance-state-name", Values: ["running"] }];
const ids = [];
for await (const p of paginateDescribeInstances({ client: ec2 }, { Filters })) {
  for (const r of p.Reservations) ids.push(...r.Instances.map(i => i.InstanceId));
}
console.log(ids.length, ids);

Expected output:

3 [ 'i-0123456789abcdef0', 'i-0fedcba9876543210', 'i-0aa11bb22cc33dd44' ]

5. Stop, start and terminate

Why do we need this?

Stopping dev boxes 14 hours a day saves about 58% of their compute bill — for a team of 10 t3.medium boxes that is roughly $180 a month.

What is it?

Stop keeps the disk; start brings it back (new public IP). Terminate deletes the instance. DryRun=True checks permissions without doing anything.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python: dry run, then stop and wait.

import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError

ec2 = boto3.client("ec2", region_name="ap-southeast-1")
ids = ["i-0123456789abcdef0"]
try:
    ec2.stop_instances(InstanceIds=ids, DryRun=True)
except ClientError as e:
    print("DryRun:", e.response["Error"]["Code"])
ec2.stop_instances(InstanceIds=ids)
ec2.get_waiter("instance_stopped").wait(InstanceIds=ids)
print("stopped")

Expected output:

DryRun: DryRunOperation
stopped

2. PHP: start again.

<?php
require "vendor/autoload.php";
$ec2 = new Aws\Ec2\Ec2Client(["region" => "ap-southeast-1"]);
$r = $ec2->startInstances(["InstanceIds" => ["i-0123456789abcdef0"]]);
echo $r["StartingInstances"][0]["PreviousState"]["Name"], " -> ", $r["StartingInstances"][0]["CurrentState"]["Name"], PHP_EOL;

Expected output:

stopped -> pending

3. Node.js: terminate all booking dev boxes.

import { EC2Client, TerminateInstancesCommand, waitUntilInstanceTerminated } from "@aws-sdk/client-ec2";

const ec2 = new EC2Client({ region: "ap-southeast-1" });
const InstanceIds = ["i-0123456789abcdef0", "i-0fedcba9876543210", "i-0aa11bb22cc33dd44"];
const r = await ec2.send(new TerminateInstancesCommand({ InstanceIds }));
console.log(r.TerminatingInstances.map(i => i.CurrentState.Name));
await waitUntilInstanceTerminated({ client: ec2, maxWaitTime: 600 }, { InstanceIds });
console.log("terminated");

Expected output:

[ 'shutting-down', 'shutting-down', 'shutting-down' ]
terminated

4. Verify: nothing tagged booking is running.

aws ec2 describe-instances --region ap-southeast-1 --filters Name=tag:team,Values=booking Name=instance-state-name,Values=running --query "length(Reservations)"

Expected output:

0

6. The same call in Java, Go, .NET and the CLI

Why do we need this?

Teams often mix languages. Once you know the call in Python, PHP and Node.js, the other SDKs are the same API with different syntax.

What is it?

All of them call the RunInstances API. Use the CLI line to test it quickly from a terminal.

How to do it (step by step)

7. Clean up so nothing keeps costing

Why do we need this?

Lab resources left running cost money and can be a security risk.

What is it?

Delete in reverse order: children first, then parents.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Make sure no test instances are left.

aws ec2 describe-instances --region ap-southeast-1 --filters Name=tag:team,Values=booking Name=instance-state-name,Values=pending,running,stopped --query "length(Reservations)"

Expected output:

0

8. Interview questions and answers

Revision, comparison and interview cards

Revise this lesson in a few minutes. Save the cards on your phone or download them as PNG files. The QR code on each card opens this lesson.

More cards: Ravi Sir's Cards.