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Describe Instance Attribute operation

The Describe Instance Attribute operation enables you to retrieve information about an attribute of an instance. You can obtain information about only one attribute for each call.

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

Sample <items> XML element for the Describe Instance Attribute operation

 <items>
   <item>
       <parameters>
                   <instance-id></instance-id>
                   <!--You have a CHOICE of one the next 8 items at this level-->
                   <instance-type/>
                   <kernel/>
                   <ramdisk/>
                   <user-data/>
                   <instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior/>
                   <root-device-name/>
                   <block-device-mapping/>
       </parameters>
   </item>
</items>

The following table shows the elements for this adapter request. 

Adapter request elements for the Describe Instance Attribute 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 request
  • 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 <signature-properties mode = "key-files">, requires <private-key-file>
     and <certificate-file>
  • If <signature-properties mode = "key-data">, requires <private-key-data> and <certificate-data>
<operation-name>

Contains the name of the operation: describe-instance-attribute

Yes

<instance-id>

Specifies the instance ID for the instance whose attribute information is to be retrieved

Yes

<instance-type>

Specifies the type of the instance

Conditional; required if the following attributes are absent:

  • <kernel>
  • <ramdisk>
  • <user-data>
  • <instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior>
  • <root-device-name>
  • <block-device-mapping>
<kernel>

Specifies the kernel ID for the instance

Conditional; required if the following attributes are absent:

  • <instance-type>
  • <ramdisk>
  • <user-data>
  • <instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior>
  • <root-device-name>
  • <block-device-mapping>
<ramdisk>

Specifies the RAM disk ID for the instance

Conditional; required if the following attributes are absent:

  • <instance-type>
  • <kernel>
  • <user-data>
  • <instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior>
  • <root-device-name>
  • <block-device-mapping>
<user-data>

Specifies the user data for the instance

Conditional; required if the following attributes are absent:

  • <instance-type>
  • <kernel>
  • <ramdisk>
  • <instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior>
  • <root-device-name>
  • <block-device-mapping>
<instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior>

Specifies whether the Amazon EBS volumes for the instances are stopped or terminated when the instance is shut down

Conditional; required if the following attributes are absent:

  • <instance-type>
  • <kernel>
  • <ramdisk>
  • <user-data>
  • <root-device-name>
  • <block-device-mapping>
<root-device-name>

Specifies the root device name of the instance
For example, /dev/sda1

Conditional; required if the following attributes are absent:

  • <instance-type>
  • <kernel>
  • <ramdisk>
  • <user-data>
  • <instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior>
  • <block-device-mapping>
<block-device-mapping>

Specifies the block device mapping set

Conditional; required if the following attributes are absent:

  • <instance-type>
  • <kernel>
  • <ramdisk>
  • <user-data>
  • <instance-initiated-shutdown-behavior>
  • <root-device-name>

 

The following figure shows a sample adapter request for the Describe Instance Attribute operation. 

Sample adapter request for the Describe Instance Attribute operation

<amazon-ec2-request>
   <wsdl-location>http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2009-11-30/</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-instance-attribute</operation-name>
   <parameters>
       <instance-id>i-bc6c52d4</instance-id>
       <user-data/>
   </parameters>
</amazon-ec2-request>

The following figure shows the response for the sample Describe Instance Attribute operation. 

Sample adapter response for the Describe Instance Attribute operation

<amazon-ec2-response>
   <metadata>
       <status>success</status>
   </metadata>
   <DescribeInstanceAttributeResponse>
       <requestId>44ba465a-165e-43cc-bcd3-70c8396fec6b</requestId>
       <instanceId>i-bc6c52d4</instanceId>
       <userData>
           <value><![CDATA[Test Data]]></value>
       </userData>
   </DescribeInstanceAttributeResponse>
</amazon-ec2-response>

 

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