Start EC2 Instances

This task allows the user to start one or more stopped EC2 instances from all VPCs in a chosen region.

You can run this task interactively, from a schedule, or via an API call to PPA.

It requires an AWS API key that has permissions to read & start instances in EC2.

Playbook Files

# The task was built to work with these plugin versions.
plugins:
  aws: ~3.3
  ppa: ~5
  hashicorp_vault: ~5


steps:

  - name: Introduction
    actions:

      - ppa.ui.output_markdown:
          doc: >
            {{ globals.icons.ppa.full }}


            ### AWS - Start EC2 Instances


            Use this task to start one or more stopped EC2 instances.


            You will need to:


            - Select an EC2 region

            - Select a VPC _or_ choose to look in all VPCs

            - Choose the instances to start (if any)


      - ppa.ui.input_accept:
          text: Start


  - name: Get AWS Secrets
    actions:

      - hashicorp_vault.key_value.read_secret_keys:
          secret: aws
          keys:
            - name: aws_access_key_id
            - name: aws_secret_access_key
              sensitive: true
          create_missing: true
        save: aws_secrets


  - name: Get VPC Type & Region
    actions:

      - aws.ec2.regions.select:
          text: Select an EC2 Region
        save: region

      - ppa.ui.input_confirm:
          text: Please Choose an Option
          confirm: Select VPC
          cancel: Search all VPCs
        save: select_vpc


  - name: Default to All VPCs
    when: not select_vpc
    actions:

      - set:
          name: vpc_id
          value: null


  - name: Select VPC
    when: select_vpc
    actions:

      - aws.ec2.vpcs.get_all:
        load:
          region_name: region
          aws_client: aws_secrets
        save: all_vpcs

      - aws.ec2.vpcs.input_table:
          text: Select a VPC
          minimum: 1
          maximum: 1
        load:
          vpcs: all_vpcs
        save: selected_vpcs

      - set:
          name: vpc_id
        load:
          value: selected_vpcs.0.vpc_id


  - name: Find Stopped Instances
    actions:

      - ppa.ui.output_progress:
          text: Finding stopped instances...
          percent: null
          element_id: finding_instances

      - aws.ec2.instances.get_stopped:
        load:
          region_name: region
          vpc_id: vpc_id
          aws_client: aws_secrets
        save: stopped_instances

      - count:
        load:
          item: stopped_instances
        save: instance_count

      - ppa.ui.output_progress:
          text: Found {{ instance_count }} stopped instance(s)
          percent: 100
          element_id: finding_instances


  - name: Exit if no Instances Found
    when: instance_count == 0
    actions:

      - ppa.ui.output_info:
          text: No stopped EC2 instances were found!

      - exit:
          exit_code: 0


  - name: Select Instances to Start
    until: submit
    actions:

      # Reset these each time through the loop.
      - set:
          name: submit
          value: false

      - set:
          name: select_again
          value: false

      - aws.ec2.instances.input_table:
          text: Select Instances to Start
        load:
          instances: stopped_instances
        save: instances_to_start

      - ppa.ui.output_error:
          text: No instances selected.
          element_id: no_instances_selected
        when: not instances_to_start

      - ppa.ui.input_confirm:
          text: Select Again?
          confirm: Yes
          cancel: No
        save: select_again
        when: not instances_to_start

      - ppa.ui.output_info:
          text: Goodbye!
        when: not instances_to_start and not select_again

      - exit:
          exit_code: 0
        when: not instances_to_start and not select_again

      - count:
        load:
          item: instances_to_start
        save: instance_start_count
        when: instances_to_start

      - ppa.ui.output_markdown:
          doc: >
            ### Instances to Start ({{ region }})

            {% for instance in instances_to_start %}

            __Instance ID:__ {{ instance.instance_id }}

            __Public DNS Name:__ {{ instance.public_dns_name }}

            __State:__ {{ instance.state }}

            {% endfor %}
        when: instances_to_start

      - ppa.ui.input_confirm:
          text: Start instances or choose again?
          confirm: Start Instances
          cancel: Choose Again
        save: submit
        when: instances_to_start


  - name: Start Instances
    actions:

      - ppa.ui.output_progress:
          text: Starting {{ instance_terminate_count }} Instances...
          percent: null
          element_id: starting_instances

      - aws.ec2.instances.start:
        load:
          region_name: region
          instance_id: loop.action.item.value.instance_id
          aws_client: aws_secrets
        sequence: instances_to_start

      - ppa.ui.output_progress:
          text: Started {{ instance_terminate_count }} Instances
          percent: 100
          element_id: starting_instances


  - name: Final Prompt
    actions:

      - ppa.ui.output_info:
          text: All operations completed successfully!

Integrations

PPA User Interface & Events
Hashicorp Vault Key-Value engine
AWS EC2 Instances

Required Vault Details

AWS

Access key ID
Secret access key

The key must have permissions to read & start instances in EC2.

Vault Configuration Wizard

The first time you run a task built from this playbook, PPA will check the required Vault details exist.

If they don't exist, PPA will ask you to supply the details at the start of the task.

Below you can see a user providing details the first time they run an Active Directory task.

vault-config-wizard

Once the details are added to Vault, the task won't ask for them again.

If you don't know the required details, ask an administrator to run the task or configure Vault manually.

What the Task Does

Once started this task will:

Ask the user to select an EC2 region
Ask the user to select a specific or all VPCs
Find all the relevant stopped instances in the chosen EC2 region
Allow the user to select any number of instances
Ask the user to confirm the selected instances
Start the selected instances

See our other playbooks

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Documentation

Installation Guide
See how easy it is to get started with our installation guide
Playbooks
View our task writing reference guide
Plugins
See how to integrate with different systems using our plugins reference guide.