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AWS EC2/RDS Instance Schedule

The EC2/RDS scheduler starts and stops EC2/RDS instances based on the cloudaware:scheduler tag value. Schedule tag value may consist of several fields separated by a space, each field in the format key=value.

IAM Policy

To provide Cloudaware with necessary permissions for instance start/stop schedule, apply the following Instance Scheduler policy in your AWS console:

CODE
{
 "Version": "2012-10-17",
 "Statement": [
  {
   "Sid": "CaInstanceScheduler",
   "Effect": "Allow",
   "Action": [
    "ec2:DescribeInstances",
    "ec2:StartInstances",
    "ec2:StopInstances",
    "rds:DescribeDBInstances",
    "rds:ListTagsForResource",
    "rds:StartDBInstance",
    "rds:StopDBInstance"
   ],
   "Resource": [
    "*"
   ]
  }
 ]
}

The policy can be also downloaded in Cloudaware account: go to Admin → AWS Accounts → ADD AMAZON ACCOUNT → Using Access & Secret Keys → select Instance Scheduler in 'Please use one of those'. 

Tag Keys

The list of tag keys that are used to set up instance start/stop:

Key

Description

tz (required)

Timezone to be used by scheduler. Use Area/Location style from IANA Time Zone Database:

CODE
tz=America/New_York

default (required)


Default instance work hours. Can be either numeric or range with a hyphen separated by the slashes /. It also can be the word off which mean that instance should be stopped all that day or on which mean that instance should be running. The work hours should be specified in 24-hour format.

mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat, sun (optional)


Instance work hours for current day. Format is the same as key default.

Example 1. Work hours:

CODE
default=9-16 sat=off sun=off

Instance will be running from 9:00 to 16:59 all days except Saturday and Sunday.

Example 2. Work hours:

CODE
default=off wed=9/14-17

Instance will be running only on Wednesday from 9:00 to 9:59 and from 14:00 to 17:59.

policy (optional)


Scheduler mode. Can be start_at_time or stop_at_time which mean that the scheduler will check and change instance status only at time defined with keys default and mon .. sun.

Learn more about tagging resources in Cloudaware here.

Tag Examples

CODE
tz=America/New_York default=9-17 sat=9-11/15-17 sun=off

Description:

schedule timezone

  • New York (EST);

instance work hours

  • from Monday to Friday: 9:00-17:59;

  • Saturday: 9:00-11:59 and 15:00-17:59;

  • Sunday: completely off;

CODE
tz=America/New_York default=off wed=0-5

Description:

schedule timezone

  • New York (EST);

instance work hours

  • Wednesday: 00:00-5:59;

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