[SOLVED] What is the difference between terminate_instances() and terminate() in boto3?

Issue

I am trying to delete the instance using boto3 According to the documentation, there are two methods for deleting the instance using boto3.

terminate()
terminate_instances

What is the difference between these two methods and which one should I use for deleting the instance?

Using terminate_instances() throws the following error:

AttributeError: 'ec2.ServiceResource' object has no attribute 'terminate_instances'

import boto3
ec2 = boto3.resource('ec2')

Instances = ec2.terminate_instances(InstanceIds=['i-xxxxxxxx'])
print(Instances)

What is the correct way to delete the instance using boto3?

Solution

The difference is simply the caller of the function.

The terminate function is performed on a collection of instances you have already retrieved.

The terminate_instances function is performed from the client, and requires you to specify the filter of which instances you need to terminate.

Answered By - Chris Williams