How to Start and Stop Instances

This section describes how to start and stop instances that use Amazon EBS volumes as their root devices.

When an instance is stopped, it is saved as a snapshot, and you are not billed for hourly usage or data transfer. You can then start it at any time by using the start operation.

	Note
Before stopping an instance, make sure it is in a state from which it can be restarted. Stopping an instance does not preserve data stored in RAM. Performing this operation on an instance that uses an instance store as its root device returns an error. When you start a stopped instance, the IP address is likely to change. By default, the Ec2ConfigService service (Windows) changes the instance hostname to match the new IP and initiates a reboot.

Note

Before stopping an instance, make sure it is in a state from which it can be restarted. Stopping an instance does not preserve data stored in RAM.

Performing this operation on an instance that uses an instance store as its root device returns an error.

When you start a stopped instance, the IP address is likely to change. By default, the Ec2ConfigService service (Windows) changes the instance hostname to match the new IP and initiates a reboot.

AWS Management Console

To start and stop an instance

Log in to the AWS Management Console and click the Amazon EC2 tab.
Click Instances in the Navigation pane.

The console displays a list of running instances.
Select an instance, select Instance Actions, and click Stop Instance.

A confirmation dialog box appears.
Click the Yes, Stop Instance.

The instance is stopped and saved as a snapshot.
To restart the stopped instance, select Stopped Instances from the Viewing list box.

The newly stopped instance appears in the list.
Select the instance, select Instance Actions, and click Start Instance.

The instance begins restarting.

Command Line Tools

To start and stop an instance

Use the ec2-stop-instances command.
```
PROMPT>  ec2-stop-instances i-10a64379
```
Amazon EC2 returns output similar to the following example.
```
IMAGE i-10a64379 running stopped 
```
Use the ec2-start-instances command.
```
PROMPT>  ec2-start-instances i-10a64379
```
Amazon EC2 returns output similar to the following example.
```
IMAGE i-10a64379 stopped starting 
```