A Ruby script which spins up a new Ubuntu instance on EC2 and installs java, ant, python and perl on it (all done via Fog). It reads parameters from the config file, but they're overwritable with passed arguments. Can also terminate instances and attach EBS volumes.

README.md

Usage:

ruby aws.rb launch [--region region --aws-key aws_key --aws-secret aws_secret --security-group security_group --key-pair key_pair --key-path key_path --ami-id ami_id--flavor-id flavor_id ]  

ruby aws.rb terminate [--region region --aws-key aws_key --aws-secret aws_secret] --instance-id instance_id  

ruby aws.rb attach [--region region --aws-key aws_key --aws-secret aws_secret] --instance-id instance_id --volume-id volume_id
No arguments provided

aws.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

require 'rubygems'
require 'fog'
require 'trollop'

# read config file
config = eval(File.open(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/config') {|f| f.read })

# check argumens
if ARGV.length == 0
  puts "Usage:"
  puts "ruby aws.rb launch [--region region --aws-key aws_key --aws-secret aws_secret --security-group security_group --key-pair key_pair --key-path key_path --ami-id ami_id--flavor-id flavor_id ]"
  puts "ruby aws.rb terminate [--region region --aws-key aws_key --aws-secret aws_secret] --instance-id instance_id"
  puts "ruby aws.rb attach [--region region --aws-key aws_key --aws-secret aws_secret] --instance-id instance_id --volume-id volume_id"
end

# check provided command
case ARGV[0]
when "launch"
  ARGV.shift
  opts = Trollop::options do
    opt :region, "AWS Region on which to spin up the new instance", :default => config[:region]
    opt :aws_key, "AWS Access Key", :default => config[:aws_key]
    opt :aws_secret, "AWS Secret Access Key", :default => config[:aws_secret]
    opt :security_group, "AWS Security group", :default => config[:security_group]
    opt :key_pair, "AWS keypair for the new instance", :default => config[:key_pair]
    opt :key_path, "Path to the PEM file for ssh access", :default => config[:key_path]
    opt :ami_id, "AMI id which to spin up", :default => config[:ami_id]
    opt :flavor_id, "Instance size id", :default => config[:flavor_id]
  end
  # make sure key file exists
  Trollop::die :key_path, "must exist" unless File.exist?(File.expand_path(opts[:key_path]))

  # connect to AWS
  fog = Fog::Compute.new({:provider => 'AWS', :region => opts[:region], :aws_access_key_id => opts[:aws_key], :aws_secret_access_key => opts[:aws_secret]})
  puts "Creating new instance..."
  # create a new instance
  server = fog.servers.create(:key_name=>opts[:key_pair], :image_id=>opts[:ami_id], :flavor_id=>'t1.micro', :groups => opts[:security_group])
  #server = fog.servers.last
  # set up ssh access
  Fog.credentials = Fog.credentials.merge({ 
    :private_key_path => opts[:key_path],
  })
  # wait for the server to become ready
  server.wait_for { print "."; ready? }
  sleep 60
  #install software
  execute_ssh = server.ssh('sudo apt-get update --fix-missing;sudo apt-get install openjdk-6-jdk ant python perl -y')
  puts execute_ssh.first.stdout

  puts "New instance id:", server.id.to_s

# terminate the instance
when "terminate"
  ARGV.shift
  opts = Trollop::options do
    opt :region, "AWS Region on which to spin up the new instance", :default => config[:region]
    opt :aws_key, "AWS Access Key", :default => config[:aws_key]
    opt :aws_secret, "AWS Secret Access Key", :default => config[:aws_secret]
    opt :instance_id, "Instance id", :type => :string
  end
  Trollop::die :instance_id, "Must be provided" if opts[:instance_id].nil?
  # connect to AWS
  fog = Fog::Compute.new({:provider => 'AWS', :region => opts[:region], :aws_access_key_id => opts[:aws_key], :aws_secret_access_key => opts[:aws_secret]})

  server = fog.servers.get(opts[:instance_id])
  # initiate termination
  server.destroy
  puts "Instance terminated"

# attach an EBS volume
when "attach"
  ARGV.shift
  opts = Trollop::options do
    opt :region, "AWS Region on which to spin up the new instance", :default => config[:region]
    opt :aws_key, "AWS Access Key", :default => config[:aws_key]
    opt :aws_secret, "AWS Secret Access Key", :default => config[:aws_secret]
    opt :instance_id, "Instance id", :type => :string
    opt :volume_id, "Volume id", :type => :string
    opt :device, "Device path", :type => :string
  end
  Trollop::die :instance_id, "Must be provided" if opts[:instance_id].nil?
  Trollop::die :volume_id, "Must be provided" if opts[:volume_id].nil?
  Trollop::die :device, "Must be provided" if opts[:device].nil?
  # connect to AWS
  fog = Fog::Compute.new({:provider => 'AWS', :region => opts[:region], :aws_access_key_id => opts[:aws_key], :aws_secret_access_key => opts[:aws_secret]})

  puts opts[:instance_id]
  puts opts[:volume_id]

  # get server and volume info from AWS
  server = fog.servers.get(opts[:instance_id])
  volume = fog.volumes.get(opts[:volume_id])

  volume.device=opts[:device]
  volume.server = server
  
  puts "Volume attached."
else
  puts "No arguments provided"
end

config

{
    :region     	=> 'us-east-1',
    :aws_key    	=> 'AKIAJ2IGNCHNMSN0000',
    :aws_secret 	=> 'PAyXs1FEgaiy8Xjt8jTO/OLvJfivmUtKYId00000',
    :key_pair  		=> 'testing',
    :key_path 		=> '~/testing.pem',
    :ami_id			=> 'ami-de0d9eb7',
    :security_group => 'quick-start-1',
    :flavor_id 		=> 't1.micro'
}

I hope that's not your actual aws_secret :)

Nope :)