AWS SSM using Maintenance Windows to Start and Stop EC2 Instances

playbook.md

How to set up an EC2 schedule using AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Maintenance Windows

Prerequisites:

1. Make sure you have AWS CLI installed and configured.
2. Ensure you have an IAM Role with the necessary permissions for SSM and EC2 start/stop operations.

Step-by-Step Playbook:

1. Create the Maintenance Window for Stopping the EC2 instance:

aws ssm create-maintenance-window \
    --name "StopEC2Window" \
    --schedule "cron(0 20 ? * MON-FRI *)" \
    --duration 2 \
    --cutoff 1 \
    --allow-unassociated-targets

The above command will create a maintenance window to stop your EC2 instance at 8 pm UTC+1 from Monday to Friday.

2. Create the Maintenance Window for Starting the EC2 instance:

aws ssm create-maintenance-window \
    --name "StartEC2Window" \
    --schedule "cron(0 7 ? * MON-FRI *)" \
    --duration 2 \
    --cutoff 1 \
    --allow-unassociated-targets

This will create a maintenance window to start your EC2 instance at 7 am UTC+1 from Monday to Friday.

3. Register the EC2 instance as a target:

Let's assume the instance ID you want to target is i-0abcd1234efgh5678.

For stopping:

aws ssm register-target-with-maintenance-window \
    --window-id "<StopEC2Window_ID_from_step_1>" \
    --resource-type "INSTANCE" \
    --targets "Key=InstanceIds,Values=i-0abcd1234efgh5678"

For starting:

aws ssm register-target-with-maintenance-window \
    --window-id "<StartEC2Window_ID_from_step_2>" \
    --resource-type "INSTANCE" \
    --targets "Key=InstanceIds,Values=i-0abcd1234efgh5678"

4. Register the Maintenance Window Tasks:

For stopping:

aws ssm register-task-with-maintenance-window \
    --window-id "<StopEC2Window_ID_from_step_1>" \
    --targets "Key=WindowTargetIds,Values=<Target_ID_from_previous_step>" \
    --task-type "RUN_COMMAND" \
    --task-arn "AWS-StopEC2Instance" \
    --service-role-arn "<Your_IAM_Role_ARN>" \
    --max-concurrency "1" \
    --max-errors "1" \
    --priority 1 \
    --task-invocation-parameters '{"RunCommand":{"DocumentVersion":"1"}}'

For starting:

aws ssm register-task-with-maintenance-window \
    --window-id "<StartEC2Window_ID_from_step_2>" \
    --targets "Key=WindowTargetIds,Values=<Target_ID_from_previous_step>" \
    --task-type "RUN_COMMAND" \
    --task-arn "AWS-StartEC2Instance" \
    --service-role-arn "<Your_IAM_Role_ARN>" \
    --max-concurrency "1" \
    --max-errors "1" \
    --priority 1 \
    --task-invocation-parameters '{"RunCommand":{"DocumentVersion":"1"}}'

Notes:

• Replace placeholders like <Your_IAM_Role_ARN>, <StopEC2Window_ID_from_step_1>, and <StartEC2Window_ID_from_step_2> with appropriate values.
• This playbook uses AWS CLI. If you prefer the Management Console, you can follow similar steps in the AWS Systems Manager Dashboard.

Final Advice: Always double-check your configurations, especially when scheduling automated tasks. A typo or a misconfiguration could lead to unexpected behavior. And make sure you test these on non-critical environments first!

Happy automating! 🤖🕒👍