AWS – EC2 Describe Commands

Notes:
By default, the AWS CLI will return the results in JSON format. If you prefer another format like text or table, you can specify it using the –output flag:

aws ec2 describe-vpcs --output table

If you want more details like subnets, route tables, etc., associated with a VPC, you would need to use their respective describe commands such as describe-subnets, describe-route-tables, and so on. For example:

aws ec2 describe-subnets --filters "Name=vpc-id,Values=vpc-xxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Command Description
describe-availability-zones Get details about availability zones in a region
describe-capacity-reservations Get details about Capacity Reservations
describe-carrier-gateways Get details about carrier gateways
describe-client-vpn-authorization-rules Get details about Client VPN authorization rules
describe-client-vpn-connections Get details about active Client VPN connections
describe-client-vpn-endpoints Get details about Client VPN endpoints
describe-client-vpn-routes Get details about Client VPN endpoint routes
describe-client-vpn-target-networks Get details about Client VPN endpoint target networks
describe-coip-pools Get details about customer-owned IP pools
describe-conversion-tasks Get details about instance conversion tasks
describe-customer-gateways Get details about customer gateways
describe-dhcp-options Get details about DHCP options sets
describe-egress-only-internet-gateways Get details about egress-only Internet gateways
describe-elastic-gpus Get details about Elastic GPUs
describe-elastic-ips Get details about Elastic IP addresses
describe-elastic-load-balancers Get details about ELB load balancers
describe-export-image-tasks Get details about VM import/export image tasks
describe-export-instance-tasks Get details about VM import/export instance tasks
describe-fast-snapshot-restores Get details about fast snapshot restores
describe-fleet-history Get details about EC2 Fleet events
describe-fleet-instances Get details about EC2 Fleet instances
describe-fleets Get details about EC2 Fleets
describe-flow-logs Get details about VPC flow logs
describe-fpga-image-attributes Get details about FPGA image attributes
describe-fpga-images Get details about FPGA images
describe-host-reservations Get details about Dedicated Host reservations
describe-hosts Get details about Dedicated Hosts
describe-iam-instance-profile-associations Get details about IAM instance profile associations
describe-id-format Get details about resource ID formats
describe-identity-id-format Get details about Regions that support longer EC2/EBS resource IDs
describe-image-attribute Get details about AMI attributes
describe-images Get details about AMIs
describe-import-image-tasks Get details about VM import image tasks
describe-import-snapshot-tasks Get details about VM import snapshot tasks
describe-instance-attribute Get details about instance attributes
describe-instance-credit-specifications Get details about T2/T3 Unlimited credits
describe-instance-event-windows Get details about instance event start/end times
describe-instance-status Get details about instance status
describe-instance-type-offerings Get details about instance offerings in Region
describe-instance-types Get details about instance types
describe-instances Get details about instances
describe-internet-gateways Get details about Internet gateways
describe-key-pairs Get details about key pairs
describe-launch-template-versions Get details about launch template versions
describe-launch-templates Get details about launch templates
describe-local-gateway-route-table-vpc-associations Get details about local gateway associations
describe-local-gateway-route-tables Get details about local gateway route tables
describe-local-gateway-virtual-interface-groups Get details about local gateway virtual interface groups
describe-local-gateway-virtual-interfaces Get details about local gateway virtual interfaces
describe-local-gateways Get details about local gateways
describe-managed-prefix-lists Get details about managed prefix lists
describe-moving-addresses Get details about moving Elastic IP addresses
describe-nat-gateways Get details about NAT gateways
describe-network-acls Get details about network ACLs
describe-network-insights-analyses Get details about Network Insights analyses
describe-network-insights-paths Get details about Network Insights paths
describe-network-interfaces Get details about network interfaces
describe-placement-groups Get details about placement groups
describe-prefix-lists Get details about prefix lists
describe-principal-id-format Get details about principal ID formats
describe-public-ipv4-pools Get details about public IPv4 address pools
describe-regions Get details about AWS regions
describe-reserved-instances Get details about Reserved Instances
describe-reserved-instances-modifications Get details about Reserved Instances modifications
describe-reserved-instances-offerings Get details about Reserved Instance offerings
describe-route-tables Get details about route tables
describe-scheduled-instances Get details about Scheduled Instances
describe-security-group-references Get details about security groups for an instance
describe-security-groups Get details about security groups
describe-snapshot-attribute Get details about snapshot attributes
describe-snapshots Get details about EBS snapshots
describe-spot-datafeed-subscription Get details about Spot datafeed subscription
describe-spot-fleet-instances Get details about Spot Fleet instances
describe-spot-fleet-request-history Get details about Spot Fleet request history
describe-spot-fleet-requests Get details about Spot Fleet requests
describe-spot-instance-requests Get details about Spot Instance requests
describe-spot-price-history Get details about Spot price history
describe-stale-security-groups Get details about stale security groups
describe-subnets Get details about subnets
describe-tags Get details about resource tags
describe-traffic-mirror-filters Get details about Traffic Mirror filters
describe-traffic-mirror-sessions Get details about Traffic Mirror sessions
describe-traffic-mirror-targets Get details about Traffic Mirror targets
describe-transit-gateway-attachments Get details about transit gateway attachments
describe-transit-gateway-connect-peers Get details about transit gateway connect peers
describe-transit-gateway-connects Get details about transit gateway connects
describe-transit-gateway-multicast-domains Get details about transit gateway multicast domains
describe-transit-gateway-peering-attachments Get details about transit gateway peering attachments
describe-transit-gateway-route-tables Get details about transit gateway route tables
describe-transit-gateway-vpc-attachments Get details about transit gateway VPC attachments
describe-transit-gateways Get details about transit gateways
describe-volume-attribute Get details about volume attributes
describe-volume-status Get details about volume status
describe-volumes Get details about EBS volumes
describe-volumes-modifications Get details about modified EBS volumes
describe-vpc-attribute Get details about VPC attributes
describe-vpc-classic-link Get details about VPC ClassicLink
describe-vpc-classic-link-dns-support Get details about ClassicLink DNS support
describe-vpc-endpoint-connection-notifications Get details about VPC endpoint connections
describe-vpc-endpoint-connections Get details about VPC endpoint connections
describe-vpc-endpoint-service-configurations Get details about VPC endpoint service configurations
describe-vpc-endpoint-service-permissions Get details about VPC endpoint service permissions
describe-vpc-endpoint-services Get details about VPC endpoint services
describe-vpc-endpoints Get details about VPC endpoints
describe-vpc-peering-connections Get details about VPC peering connections
describe-vpcs Get details about VPCs
describe-vpn-connections Get details about VPN connections
describe-vpn-gateways Get details about VPN gateways