The Start Multiple EC2 Instances action can be used to start many EC2 instances at a specific time of day. Once the instances have been started, they can optionally be stopped after they have been running for a specific amount of time.

For example, 5 instances can be started at 8am and stopped 8 hours later with a single Start Multiple Instances action.

Please see Common Action Settings for a description of settings common to all action types.

Instance Identification Method

Indicate the method in which the instances are to be identified. Valid options are:

Instance IDs

Indicate the list of instance IDs of your EC2 instances. Instance IDs usually looks like "i-84a3dc7b". All instances must reside in the region specified. Along with the instance IDs, an Elastic IP address can be specified for each ID which should be assigned to the instance once it has started. Required only if Instance Identification Method is set to "Instance ID".

Multiple instances can be added by clicking "Add many instances". In the dialog that appears, enter a space-, comma-, or line-seperated list of instance IDs.

Instance Name

Indicate the value of the "Name" tag of the EC2 instances. This instances must reside in the region specified. Required only if Instance Identification Method is set to "Instance Name".

EC2 Tag Name

Required if Instance Identification Method is "EC2 Tag". Indicates the name of the EC2 tag used to compare.

EC2 Tag Value

Required if Instance Identification Method is "EC2 Tag". Indicates the value of the EC2 tag used to compare.

Stop the Instances

Indicate whether the instances should be automatically stopped later. The running time of the instances must also be specified if this is checked.

Running Duration

Indicate the length of time the instances should run before they are stopped. This value is only required if "Stop the Instances" is checked.

Load Balancer Name

Optional. Specify the name of the Elastic Load Balancer that the instance is to be registered with.

The following Amazon AWS commands are used. The access key should have permission to execute all of them.