[SOLVED] Correct usage of describeInstances amazon ec2

Issue

I am trying to use the describeInstances function in amazon ec2 to get details about my instance using my tag id. In the documentation it mentions use the filter,

tag:key=value - The key/value combination of a tag assigned to the resource, where tag:key is the tag's key.

I tried it in the following way:

var params1 = {
            Filters : [
                {
                    Tags      : [ {
                        Key   : key_name,
                        Value : key_value
                    } ]
                }
            ]
        };

ec2.describeInstances(params1, function(data, err) {
})

, but I get an error: Unexpected Token at Tags : What is the correct way to use this api?

Solution

The documentation is a little confusing, but you need to construct a filter name that includes the tag: prefix and your tag name. Here's a working example:

var AWS = require('aws-sdk');
var ec2 = new AWS.EC2({
  region: 'eu-west-1'
});

var params = {
  Filters: [
    {
      Name: 'tag:Project',
      Values: ['foo']
    }
  ]
};

ec2.describeInstances(params, function (err, data) {
  if (err) return console.error(err.message);

  console.log(data);
});

This returns all instances that have the tag Project set to the value foo.

Answered By - Robin Murphy

Answer Checked By - Marie Seifert (WPSolving Admin)