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Describe VPCs operation

The Describe VPCs operation enables you to retrieve information about your VPCs.

You can filter the results to return information only about those VPCs that match the criteria that you specify. For example, you could get information only about VPCs whose state is available. Also, you can specify multiple values for the filter. For example, the VPC uses one of several sets of DHCP options and the state of the VPC is available. However, at least one of the specified values must match a VPC to obtain results.

The result includes information for a particular VPC only if it matches all the specified filters. If there is no match, no special message is returned; the response is empty.

You can use wildcard characters with the filters:

  • Use the asterisk (*) to match any number of characters.
  • Use the question mark (?) to match a single character.

To escape a special character or metacharacter that has a special meaning in searches, precede the special character with a backslash (\ ).

The following table shows the available filters.

Filter Name

Description

cidr

Specifies the CIDR block of the VPC

The CIDR block that you specify must exactly match the VPC's CIDR block to obtain results. Include a forward slash followed by one or two digits (for example, /28) before the CIDR block.

Valid value: Any string

dchp-options-id

Specifies the ID for a set of DHCP options

Valid value: Any string

state

Specifies the state of the VPC

Valid values: pending, available

tag-key

Species the key assigned to a resource

This filter is independent of the <tag-value> filter. For example, if you specify tag-key=Purpose and tag-value=X, the result includes all the resources that are assigned the Purpose tag key (regardless of the value of the tag), and the X tag value (regardless of the value of the tag key). If you want to list only resources where Purpose=X, see the tag:key filter.

Valid value: Any string

tag-value

Specifies the value of the tag assigned to the resource

This filter is independent of the <tag-key> filter.

Valid value: Any string

tag:key

Filters the results based on a specific tag-value combination

For example, to list the resources assigned the Purpose=X tag, specify

name=tag:Purpose

value=X

vpc-id

Specifies the ID of the VPC

Valid value: Any string

The following figure shows a sample <items> XML element for the Describe VPCs operation. 

Sample <items> XML element for the Describe VPCs operation

<items>
 <item>
   <parameters>
     <!--Optional:-->
     <vpc-set>
       <!--Zero or more repetition-->
       <item>
         <vpc-id></vpc-id>
       </item>
     </vpc-set>
     <!--Optional:-->
     <filter-set>
       <!--Zero or more repetition-->
       <item>
         <name></name>
         <value-set>
           <!--Zero or more repetition-->
           <item>
             <value></value>
           </item>
         </value-set>
       </item>
     </filter-set>
   </parameters>
 </item>
</items>

The following table describes the elements for this adapter request. 

Adapter request elements for the Describe VPCs operation

Element

Definition

Required

<wsdl-location>

Specifies the target Web Service Description Language (WSDL) URL for Amazon EC2

Examples:

Conditional:

  • Required if not specified in the configuration
  • If specified in the configuration and request, the value in the request overrides the value in the configuration
<endpoint-address>

Specifies the web service endpoint for the adapter to use while performing operations on Amazon EC2 instances across different regions

Default value: US East region, http://us-east-1.ec2.amazonaws.com/

No

<signature-properties>

Specifies the mode for signing the adapter request

Conditional:

  • Required if not specified in the configuration
  • If mode is set to "key-files", requires <private-key-file> and <certificate-file>
  • If mode is set to "key-data", requires <private-key-data> and <certificate-data>
<operation-name>

Contains the name of the operation: describe-vpcs

Yes

<parameters>

Contains the elements required to execute the operation

Yes

<vpc-set>

Specifies the details of the VPC IDs whose information you want to retrieve

No

<filter-set>

Specifies the details of the filter that is used to retrieve specific information

No

The following figure shows a sample adapter request for the Describe VPCs operation using cidr as a filter. 

Sample adapter request for the Describe VPCs operation

<amazon-ec2-request>
   <wsdl-location>http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2011-02-28/</wsdl-location>
   <endpoint-address>http://us-east-1.ec2.amazonaws.com/</endpoint-address>
   <signature-properties mode = "key-files">
       <private-key-file>C:\Security\
pk-MJ5GIUNLM2XJ3VRJSYTKOFDWILELDQHB.PEM</private-key-file>
       <certificate-file>C:\Security\
cert-MJ5GIUNLM2XJ3VRJSYTKOFDWILELDQHB.PEM</certificate-file>
   </signature-properties>
   <operation-name>describe-vpcs</operation-name>
   <parameters>
     <vpc-set>
        <item>
          <vpc-id>vpc-b950e6d0</vpc-id>
        </item>
      </vpc-set>
      <filter-set>
        <item>
          <name>cidr</name>
          <value-set>
            <item>
              <value>10.0.0.0/16</value>
            </item>
          </value-set>
        </item>
      </filter-set>
   </parameters>
</amazon-ec2-request>

The following figure shows the response for the sample Describe VPCs operation using cidr as a filter. 

Sample adapter response for the Describe VPCs operation

<amazon-ec2-response>
 <metadata>
   <status>success</status>
 </metadata>
 <DescribeVpcsResponse>
   <requestId>f4338ee0-8a41-4fdc-a081-f197cb78d1d4</requestId>
   <vpcSet>
     <item>
       <vpcId>vpc-b950e6d0</vpcId>
       <state>available</state>
       <cidrBlock>10.0.0.0/16</cidrBlock>
       <dhcpOptionsId>dopt-5eac8937</dhcpOptionsId>
       <instanceTenancy>default</instanceTenancy>
     </item>
   </vpcSet>
 </DescribeVpcsResponse>
</amazon-ec2-response>

The following figure shows a sample adapter request for the Describe VPCs operation using state as a filter.

<amazon-ec2-request>
   <wsdl-location>http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2011-02-28/</wsdl-location>
   <endpoint-address>http://us-east-1.ec2.amazonaws.com/</endpoint-address>
   <signature-properties mode = "key-files">
       <private-key-file>C:\Security\
pk-MJ5GIUNLM2XJ3VRJSYTKOFDWILELDQHB.PEM</private-key-file>
       <certificate-file>C:\Security\
cert-MJ5GIUNLM2XJ3VRJSYTKOFDWILELDQHB.PEM</certificate-file>
   </signature-properties>
   <operation-name>describe-vpcs</operation-name>
   <parameters>
     <filter-set>
       <item>
         <name>state</name>
         <value-set>
           <item>
             <value>available</value>
           </item>
         </value-set>
       </item>
     </filter-set>
   </parameters>
</amazon-ec2-request>

The following figure shows the response for the sample Describe VPCs operation using state as a filter

<amazon-ec2-response>
 <metadata>
   <status>success</status>
 </metadata>
 <DescribeVpcsResponse>
   <requestId>f4338ee0-8a41-4fdc-a081-f197cb78d1d4</requestId>
   <vpcSet>
     <item>
       <vpcId>vpc-b950e6d0</vpcId>
       <state>available</state>
       <cidrBlock>10.0.0.0/16</cidrBlock>
       <dhcpOptionsId>dopt-5eac8937</dhcpOptionsId>
       <instanceTenancy>default</instanceTenancy>
     </item>
   </vpcSet>
 </DescribeVpcsResponse>
</amazon-ec2-response>

The following figure shows a sample adapter request for the Describe VPCs operation using tag-key as a filter.

<amazon-ec2-request>
   <wsdl-location>http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2011-02-28/</wsdl-location>
   <endpoint-address>http://us-east-1.ec2.amazonaws.com/</endpoint-address>
   <signature-properties mode = "key-files">
       <private-key-file>C:\Security\
pk-MJ5GIUNLM2XJ3VRJSYTKOFDWILELDQHB.PEM</private-key-file>
       <certificate-file>C:\Security\
cert-MJ5GIUNLM2XJ3VRJSYTKOFDWILELDQHB.PEM</certificate-file>
   </signature-properties>
   <operation-name>describe-vpcs</operation-name>
   <parameters>
     <filter-set>
       <item>
         <name>tag-key</name>
         <value-set>
           <item>
             <value>Name</value>
           </item>
         </value-set>
       </item>
     </filter-set>
   </parameters>
</amazon-ec2-request>

The following figure shows the response for the sample Describe VPCs operation using tag-ey as a filter.

<amazon-ec2-response>
 <metadata>
   <status>success</status>
 </metadata>
 <DescribeVpcsResponse>
   <requestId>f4338ee0-8a41-4fdc-a081-f197cb78d1d4</requestId>
   <vpcSet>
     <item>
       <vpcId>vpc-b950e6d0</vpcId>
       <state>available</state>
       <cidrBlock>10.0.0.0/16</cidrBlock>
       <dhcpOptionsId>dopt-5eac8937</dhcpOptionsId>
       <instanceTenancy>default</instanceTenancy>
     </item>
   </vpcSet>
 </DescribeVpcsResponse>
</amazon-ec2-response>

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*