AWS CLI — EC2 & Compute Cheat Sheet 2026

AWS CLI EC2 & Compute Cheat Sheet is the complete quick-reference of AWS CLI EC2 & Compute commands grouped by function. Copy any command with one click and find what you need with Ctrl+F in under 3 seconds.

EC2 & Compute

Action	Command	Useful flags
Display information about a specific instance	`aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids <instance_id>`	`--instance-ids`
Display information about all instances	`aws ec2 describe-instances`
Display information about all EC2 volumes	`aws ec2 describe-volumes`
Delete an EC2 volume	`aws ec2 delete-volume --volume-id <volume_id>`	`--volume-id`
Create a snapshot from an EC2 volume	`aws ec2 create-snapshot --volume-id <volume_id>`	`--volume-id`
List available AMIs (Amazon Machine Images)	`aws ec2 describe-images`
Show list of all available EC2 commands	`aws ec2 help`
Display help for specific EC2 subcommand	`aws ec2 <subcommand> help`

⚠️ Dangerous / Destructive Commands

These commands are irreversible. Verify your environment (dev/staging vs prod) before running them.

Action	Command	Warning
⚠️ Ec2 delete-volume	`aws ec2 delete-volume --volume-id <volume_id>`	Irreversible — verify the target before running

FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between EC2 & Compute and the other groups?

Each group in this AWS CLI cheat sheet covers a distinct area. EC2 & Compute focuses on its specific scope, while the other groups and the remaining groups cover networking, storage, security and diagnostics respectively.

How do I check the installed AWS CLI version?

Run the version command (usually aws version or aws --version). The output shows the client and, when applicable, the server version.

Why does AWS CLI return ‘permission denied’?

A ‘permission denied’ error in AWS CLI usually means the current user lacks sufficient privileges or credentials are not configured. Check: (1) assigned IAM/RBAC roles, (2) an active authentication context via the corresponding login command.

How do I filter AWS CLI output by status or name?

Use flags such as --filter, --selector or --query depending on the tool. You can also pipe into grep or jq to process JSON:

aws list | grep RUNNING

What is the fastest way to debug a AWS CLI error?

Add the verbose flag (--verbose, -v or --debug) to the failing command. This reveals the underlying HTTP/API calls and the full error response body.

Official sources & references

Commands cross-checked against vendor documentation and high-authority repositories:

raw.githubusercontent.com