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:

{
 "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": [
    "*"
   ]
  }
 ]
}
CODE

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. Can be POSIX style abbreviation or Area/Location style from IANA Time Zone Database.

Example 1. Timezone POSIX style:

tz=EST
CODE

Example 2. Timezone Area/Location style:

tz=America/New_York
CODE

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:

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

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

Example 2. Work hours:

default=off wed=9/14-17
CODE

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

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

Description:

schedule timezone

  • UTC;

instance work hours

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

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

  • Sunday: completely off;

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

Description:

schedule timezone

  • America/New York;

instance work hours

  • Wednesday: 00:00-5:59;