Deleting an Amazon ECS task definition revision using the console

When no longer need a specific task definition revision in Amazon ECS, you can delete the task definition revision.

When you delete a task definition revision, it immediately transitions from the INACTIVE to DELETE_IN_PROGRESS. Existing tasks and services that reference a DELETE_IN_PROGRESS task definition revision continue to run without disruption.

You can't use a DELETE_IN_PROGRESS task definition revision to run new tasks or create new services. You also can't update an existing service to reference a DELETE_IN_PROGRESS task definition revision.

When you delete all INACTIVE task definition revisions, the task definition name is not displayed in the console and not returned in the API. If a task definition revision is in the DELETE_IN_PROGRESS state, the task definition name is displayed in the console and returned in the API. The task definition name is retained by Amazon ECS and the revision is incremented the next time you create a task definition with that name.

Amazon ECS resources that can block a deletion

A task definition deletion request will not complete when there are any Amazon ECS resources that depend on the task definition revision. The following resources might prevent a task definition from being deleted:

• Amazon ECS tasks - The task definition is required in order for the task to remain healthy.

• Amazon ECS deployments and task sets - The task definition is required when a scaling event is initiated for an Amazon ECS deployment or task set.

If your task definition remains in the DELETE_IN_PROGRESS state, you can use the console, or the AWS CLI to identify, and then stop the resources which block the task definition deletion.

Task definition deletion after the blocked resource is removed

The following rules apply after you remove the resources that block the task definition deletion:

• Amazon ECS tasks - The task definition deletion can take up to 1 hour to complete after the task is stopped.

• Amazon ECS deployments and task sets - The task definition deletion can take up to 24 hours to complete after the deployment or task set is deleted.

Procedure

To delete task definitions (Amazon ECS console)

You must deregister a task definition revision before you delete it. For more information, see Deregistering a task definition revision using the console.

1. Open the console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ecs/v2.

2. From the navigation bar, choose the region that contains your task definition.

3. In the navigation pane, choose Task definitions.

4. On the Task definitions page, choose the task definition family that contains one or more revisions that you want to delete.

5. On the Task definition name page, select the revisions to delete, and then choose Actions, Delete.

   If Delete is unavailable, you must deregister the task definition.

6. Verify the information in the Delete confirmation box, and then choose Delete to finish.