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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Type: |
Ancestor: None
Children: snapshotSet, ownersSet, and restorableBySet
snapshotSet
Set of snapshots.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsSetType
Ancestor: DescribeSnapshotsType
Children: item
item
Information for a snapshot.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsSetItemType
Ancestor: snapshotSet
Children: snapshotId
snapshotId
The ID of the Amazon EBS snapshot.
Type: xsd:string
Default: Describes snapshots for which you have launch permissions.
Ancestor: item
Children: None
No
ownersSet
Set of owners that can create volumes from the instance.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsOwnersType
Ancestor: DescribeSnapshotsType
Children: item
item
Describe snapshot item.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsOwnerType
Ancestor: ownersSet
Children: owner
owner
Returns snapshots owned by the specified owner. Multiple owners can be specified.
Type: xsd:string
Valid Values: self | amazon | AWS Account ID
Default: None
Ancestor: item
Children: None
No
restorableBySet
Set of users that can create volumes from the snapshot.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsRestorableBySetType
Ancestor: DescribeSnapshotsType
Children: item
item
Restorable by set type item.
Type: DescribeSnapshotsRestorableByType
Ancestor: restorableBySet
Children: user
user
Account ID of a user that can create volumes from the snapshot.
Type: xsd:string
Default: None
Ancestor: item
Children: None
No
Response Elements
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
|
|
Type: DescribeSnapshotsResponseType Ancestor: None Children: |
|
The ID of the request. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
Snapshot set. Type: DescribeSnapshotsSetResponseType Ancestor: Children: |
|
Information for a snapshot. Type: DescribeSnapshotsSetItemResponseType Ancestor: Children: |
|
The ID of the snapshot. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
The ID of the volume. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
Snapshot state (e.g., pending, completed, or error) Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
Time stamp when the snapshot was initiated. Type: xsd:dateTime Ancestor: Children: None |
|
The progress of the snapshot, in percentage. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
AWS Access Key ID of the user who owns the snapshot. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
The size of the volume, in GiB. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
Description of the snapshot. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
|
The AWS account alias (e.g., "amazon", "redhat", "self", etc.) or AWS account ID that owns the AMI. Type: xsd:string Ancestor: Children: None |
Examples
Example Request
This example describes snapshot snap-78a54011.
<DescribeSnapshots xmlns="http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2009-10-31/">
<snapshotSet>
<item>
<snapshotId>snap-78a54011</snapshotId>
</item>
</snapshotSet>
</DescribeSnapshots>
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>