AWS Systems Manager
User Guide

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Run the EC2Rescue Tool on Unreachable Instances

EC2Rescue can help you diagnose and troubleshoot problems on Amazon EC2 Linux and Windows Server instances. You can run the tool manually, as described in Using EC2Rescue for Linux Server and Using EC2Rescue for Windows Server. Or, you can run the tool automatically by using Systems Manager Automation and the AWSSupport-ExecuteEC2Rescue document. The AWSSupport-ExecuteEC2Rescue document is designed to perform a combination of Systems Manager actions, AWS CloudFormation actions, and Lambda functions that automate the steps normally required to use EC2Rescue.

You can use the AWSSupport-ExecuteEC2Rescue document to troubleshoot and potentially remediate different types of operating system (OS) issues. See the following topics for a complete list:

Windows: See Rescue Action in Using EC2Rescue for Windows Server with the Command Line.

Linux: Some EC2Rescue for Linux modules detect and attempt to remediate issues. For more information, see the aws-ec2rescue-linux documentation for each module on GitHub.

How It Works

Troubleshooting an instance with Automation and the AWSSupport-ExecuteEC2Rescue document works as follows:

  • You specify the ID of the unreachable instance and run the Automation workflow.

  • The system creates a temporary VPC, and then runs a series of Lambda functions to configure the VPC.

  • The system identifies a subnet for your temporary VPC in the same Availability Zone as your original instance.

  • The system launches a temporary, SSM-enabled helper instance.

  • The system stops your original instance, and creates a backup. It then attaches the original root volume to the helper instance.

  • The system uses Run Command to run EC2Rescue on the helper instance. EC2Rescue identifies and attempts to fix issues on the attached, original root volume. When finished, EC2Rescue reattaches the root volume back to the original instance.

  • The system restarts your original instance, and terminates the temporary instance. The system also terminates the temporary VPC and the Lambda functions created at the start of the automation.

Before You Begin

Before you run the following Automation, do the following:

  • Copy the instance ID of the unreachable instance. You will specify this ID in the procedure.

  • Optionally, collect the ID of a subnet in the same availability zone as your unreachable instance. The EC2Rescue instance will be created in this subnet. If you don’t specify a subnet, then Automation creates a new temporary VPC in your AWS account. Verify that your AWS account has at least one VPC available. By default, you can create five VPCs in a Region. If you already created five VPCs in the Region, the automation fails without making changes to your instance. For more information, see VPC and Subnets.

  • Optionally, you can create and specify an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role for Automation. If you don't specify this role, then Automation runs in the context of the user who ran the automation. For more information about creating roles for Automation, see Running an Automation Workflow by Using an IAM Service Role.

Granting AWSSupport-EC2Rescue Permissions to Perform Actions On Your Instances

EC2Rescue needs permission to perform a series of actions on your instances during the Automation execution. These actions invoke the AWS Lambda, IAM, and Amazon EC2 services to safely and securely attempt to remediate issues with your instances. If you have Administrator-level permissions in your AWS account and/or VPC, you might be able to run the automation without configuring permissions, as described in this section. If you don't have Administrator-level permissions, then you or an administrator must configure permissions by using one of the following options.

Granting Permissions By Using IAM Policies

You can either attach the following IAM policy to your IAM user account, group, or role as an inline policy; or, you can create a new IAM managed policy and attach it to your user account, group, or role. For more information about adding an inline policy to your user account, group, or role see Working With Inline Policies. For more information about creating a new managed policy, see Working With Managed Policies.


If you create a new IAM managed policy, you must also attach the AmazonSSMAutomationRole managed policy to it so that your instances can communicate with the Systems Manager API.

IAM Policy for AWSSupport-EC2Rescue

{ "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Action": [ "lambda:InvokeFunction", "lambda:DeleteFunction", "lambda:GetFunction" ], "Resource": "arn:aws:lambda:*:An-AWS-Account-ID:function:AWSSupport-EC2Rescue-*", "Effect": "Allow" }, { "Action": [ "s3:GetObject", "s3:GetObjectVersion" ], "Resource": [ "arn:aws:s3:::awssupport-ssm.*/*.template", "arn:aws:s3:::awssupport-ssm.*/*.zip" ], "Effect": "Allow" }, { "Action": [ "iam:CreateRole", "iam:CreateInstanceProfile", "iam:GetRole", "iam:GetInstanceProfile", "iam:PutRolePolicy", "iam:DetachRolePolicy", "iam:AttachRolePolicy", "iam:PassRole", "iam:AddRoleToInstanceProfile", "iam:RemoveRoleFromInstanceProfile", "iam:DeleteRole", "iam:DeleteRolePolicy", "iam:DeleteInstanceProfile" ], "Resource": [ "arn:aws:iam::An-AWS-Account-ID:role/AWSSupport-EC2Rescue-*", "arn:aws:iam::An-AWS-Account-ID:instance-profile/AWSSupport-EC2Rescue-*" ], "Effect": "Allow" }, { "Action": [ "lambda:CreateFunction", "ec2:CreateVpc", "ec2:ModifyVpcAttribute", "ec2:DeleteVpc", "ec2:CreateInternetGateway", "ec2:AttachInternetGateway", "ec2:DetachInternetGateway", "ec2:DeleteInternetGateway", "ec2:CreateSubnet", "ec2:DeleteSubnet", "ec2:CreateRoute", "ec2:DeleteRoute", "ec2:CreateRouteTable", "ec2:AssociateRouteTable", "ec2:DisassociateRouteTable", "ec2:DeleteRouteTable", "ec2:CreateVpcEndpoint", "ec2:DeleteVpcEndpoints", "ec2:ModifyVpcEndpoint", "ec2:Describe*" ], "Resource": "*", "Effect": "Allow" } ] }

Granting Permissions By Using An AWS CloudFormation Template

AWS CloudFormation automates the process of creating IAM roles and policies by using a preconfigured template. Use the following procedure to create the required IAM roles and policies for the EC2Rescue Automation by using AWS CloudFormation.

To create the required IAM roles and policies for EC2Rescue

  1. Choose the Launch Stack button. The button opens the AWS CloudFormation console and populates the Specify an Amazon S3 template URL field with the URL to the EC2Rescue template.


    Choose View to view the template.

    View Launch


  2. Choose Next.

  3. On the Specify Details page, in the Stack Name field, either choose to keep the default value or specify your own value. Choose Next.

  4. On the Options page, you don’t need to make any selections. Choose Next.

  5. On the Review page, scroll down and choose the I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources option.

  6. Choose Create.

    AWS CloudFormation shows the CREATE_IN_PROGRESS status for approximately three minutes. The status changes to CREATE_COMPLETE after the stack has been created.

  7. In the stack list, choose the option next to the stack you just created, and then choose the Outputs tab.

  8. Copy the Value. The is the ARN of the AssumeRole. You will specify this ARN when you run the Automation.

Running the Automation


The following Automation execution stops the unreachable instance. Stopping the instance can result in lost data on attached instance store volumes (if present). Stopping the instance can also cause the public IP to change, if no Elastic IP is associated.

To run the AWSSupport-ExecuteEC2Rescue Automation

  1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Automation.



  3. Choose Execute automation.

  4. In the Automation document section, choose Owned by Me or Amazon from the list.

  5. In the documents list, choose AWSSupport-ExecuteEC2Rescue. The document owner is Amazon.

  6. In the Document details section verify that Document version is set to the highest default version. For example, 6 (default).

  7. In the Execution mode section, choose Simple Execution.

  8. In the Input parameters section, specify the following parameters:

    1. For UnreachableInstanceId, specify the ID of the unreachable instance.

    2. For LogDestination, specify an Amazon S3 bucket if you want to collect operating system-level logs while troubleshooting your instance. Logs are automatically uploaded to the specified bucket.

    3. For EC2RescueInstanceType, specify an instance type for the EC2Rescue instance. The default instance type is t2.small.

    4. For SubnetId, specify a subnet in an existing VPC in the same availability zone as the unreachable instance. By default, Systems Manager creates a new VPC, but you can specify a subnet in an existing VPC if you want.


      If you don't see the option to specify a bucket or a subnet ID, verify that you are using the latest Default version of the document.

    5. For AssumeRole, if you created roles for this Automation by using the CloudFormation procedure described earlier in this topic, then specify the AssumeRole ARN that you copied from the CloudFormation console.

  9. Choose Execute automation.

The Automation creates a backup AMI as part of the workflow. All other resources created by the Automation workflow are automatically deleted, but this AMI remains in your account. The AMI is named using the following convention:

Backup AMI: AWSSupport-EC2Rescue:UnreachableInstanceId

You can locate this AMI in the Amazon EC2 console by searching on the Automation execution ID.