DescribeSnapshots
Description
Returns information about Amazon EBS snapshots available to the user. Information returned includes volume ID, status, start time, progress, owner ID, volume size, and description. Snapshots available to the user include public snapshots available for any user to launch, private snapshots owned by the user making the request, and private snapshots owned by other users for which the user granted explicit create volume permissions.
The create volume permissions fall into 3 categories:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| public | The owner of the snapshot granted create volume permissions for the snapshot to the all group. All users have create volume permissions for these snapshots. |
| explicit | The owner of the snapshot granted create volume permissions to a specific user. |
| implicit | A user has implicit create volume permissions for all snapshots he or she owns. |
The list of snapshots returned can be modified by specifying snapshot IDs, snapshot owners, or users with create volume permissions. If no options are specified, Amazon EC2 returns all snapshots for which the user has create volume permissions.
If you specify one or more snapshot IDs, only snapshots that have the specified IDs are returned. If you specify an invalid snapshot ID, a fault is returned. If you specify a snapshot ID for which you do not have access, it will not be included in the returned results.
If you specify one or more snapshot owners, only snapshots from the specified owners and for which you have access are returned. The results can include the AWS Account IDs of the specified owners, amazon for snapshots owned by Amazon or self for snapshots that you own.
If you specify a list of restorable users, only users that have create snapshot permissions for the snapshots are returned. You can specify AWS Account IDs (if you own the snapshot(s)), self for snapshots for which you own or have explicit permissions, or all for public snapshots.
Request Parameters
| Name | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| The ID of the Amazon EBS snapshot. Type: String Default: Describes snapshots for which you have launch permissions. | No |
| Returns snapshots owned by the specified owner. Multiple owners can be specified. Type: String Valid Values: Default: None | No |
| Account ID of a user that can create volumes from the snapshot. Type: String Default: None | No |
Response Elements
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
|
Type: |
Ancestor: None
Children: requestId, snapshotSet
requestId
The ID of the request.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: DescribeSnapshotsResponseType
Children: None
snapshotSet
Snapshot set.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsSetResponseType
Ancestor: DescribeSnapshotsResponseType
Children: item
item
Information for a snapshot.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsSetItemResponseType
Ancestor: snapshotSet
Children: snapshotId, volumeId, status, startTime, progress, ownerId, volumeSize, description, and ownerAlias
snapshotId
The ID of the snapshot.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
volumeId
The ID of the volume.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
status
Snapshot state (e.g., pending, completed, or error)
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
startTime
Time stamp when the snapshot was initiated.
Type: xsd:dateTime
Ancestor: item
Children: None
progress
The progress of the snapshot, in percentage.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
ownerId
AWS Access Key ID of the user who owns the snapshot.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
volumeSize
The size of the volume, in GiB.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
description
Description of the snapshot.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
ownerAlias
The AWS account alias (e.g., "amazon", "redhat", "self", etc.) or AWS account ID that owns the AMI.
Type: xsd:string
Ancestor: item
Children: None
Examples
Example Request
This example describes snapshot snap-78a54011.
https://ec2.amazonaws.com/?Action=DescribeSnapshots&SnapshotId=snap-78a54011&AuthParams
Example Response
<DescribeSnapshotsResponse xmlns="http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2009-10-31/">
<snapshotSet>
<item>
<snapshotId>snap-78a54011</snapshotId>
<volumeId>vol-4d826724</volumeId>
<status>pending</status>
<startTime>2008-05-07T12:51:50.000Z</startTime>
<progress>80%</progress>
<ownerId>218213537122</ownerId>
<volumeSize>10</volumeSize>
<description>Daily Backup</description>
</item>
</snapshotSet>
</DescribeSnapshotsResponse>