Use DescribeSnapshots with an AWS SDK or CLI

The following code examples show how to use DescribeSnapshots.

CLI

AWS CLI

Example 1: To describe a snapshot

The following describe-snapshots example describes the specified snapshot.

aws ec2 describe-snapshots \
    --snapshot-ids snap-1234567890abcdef0

Output:

{
    "Snapshots": [
        {
            "Description": "This is my snapshot",
            "Encrypted": false,
            "VolumeId": "vol-049df61146c4d7901",
            "State": "completed",
            "VolumeSize": 8,
            "StartTime": "2019-02-28T21:28:32.000Z",
            "Progress": "100%",
            "OwnerId": "012345678910",
            "SnapshotId": "snap-01234567890abcdef",
            "Tags": [
                {
                    "Key": "Stack",
                    "Value": "test"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

For more information, see Amazon EBS snapshots in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Example 2: To describe snapshots based on filters

The following describe-snapshots example uses filters to scope the results to snapshots owned by your AWS account that are in the pending state. The example uses the --query parameter to display only the snapshot IDs and the time the snapshot was started.

aws ec2 describe-snapshots \
    --owner-ids self \
    --filters Name=status,Values=pending \
    --query "Snapshots[*].{ID:SnapshotId,Time:StartTime}"

Output:

[
    {
        "ID": "snap-1234567890abcdef0",
        "Time": "2019-08-04T12:48:18.000Z"
    },
    {
        "ID": "snap-066877671789bd71b",
        "Time": "2019-08-04T02:45:16.000Z
    },
    ...
]

The following describe-snapshots example uses filters to scope the results to snapshots created from the specified volume. The example uses the --query parameter to display only the snapshot IDs.

aws ec2 describe-snapshots \
    --filters Name=volume-id,Values=049df61146c4d7901 \
    --query "Snapshots[*].[SnapshotId]" \
    --output text

Output:

snap-1234567890abcdef0
snap-08637175a712c3fb9
...

For additional examples using filters, see Listing and filtering your resources in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Example 3: To describe snapshots based on tags

The following describe-snapshots example uses tag filters to scope the results to snapshots that have the tag Stack=Prod.

aws ec2 describe-snapshots \
    --filters Name=tag:Stack,Values=prod

For an example of the output for describe-snapshots, see Example 1.

For additional examples using tag filters, see Working with tags in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Example 4: To describe snapshots based on age

The following describe-snapshots example uses JMESPath expressions to describe all snapshots created by your AWS account before the specified date. It displays only the snapshot IDs.

aws ec2 describe-snapshots \
    --owner-ids 012345678910 \
    --query "Snapshots[?(StartTime<='2020-03-31')].[SnapshotId]"

For additional examples using filters, see Listing and filtering your resources in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Example 5: To view only archived snapshots

The following describe-snapshots example lists only snapshots that are stored in the archive tier.

aws ec2 describe-snapshots \
    --filters "Name=storage-tier,Values=archive"

Output:

{
    "Snapshots": [
        {
            "Description": "Snap A",
            "Encrypted": false,
            "VolumeId": "vol-01234567890aaaaaa",
            "State": "completed",
            "VolumeSize": 8,
            "StartTime": "2021-09-07T21:00:00.000Z",
            "Progress": "100%",
            "OwnerId": "123456789012",
            "SnapshotId": "snap-01234567890aaaaaa",
            "StorageTier": "archive",
            "Tags": []
        },
    ]
}

For more information, see View archived snapshots in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud User Guide.

• For API details, see DescribeSnapshots in AWS CLI Command Reference.

PowerShell

Tools for PowerShell

Example 1: This example describes the specified snapshot.

Get-EC2Snapshot -SnapshotId snap-12345678

Output:

DataEncryptionKeyId :
Description         : Created by CreateImage(i-1a2b3c4d) for ami-12345678 from vol-12345678
Encrypted           : False
KmsKeyId            :
OwnerAlias          :
OwnerId             : 123456789012
Progress            : 100%
SnapshotId          : snap-12345678
StartTime           : 10/23/2014 6:01:28 AM
State               : completed
StateMessage        :
Tags                : {}
VolumeId            : vol-12345678
VolumeSize          : 8

Example 2: This example describes the snapshots that have a 'Name' tag.

Get-EC2Snapshot | ? { $_.Tags.Count -gt 0 -and $_.Tags.Key -eq "Name" }

Example 3: This example describes the snapshots that have a 'Name' tag with the value 'TestValue'.

Get-EC2Snapshot | ? { $_.Tags.Count -gt 0 -and $_.Tags.Key -eq "Name" -and $_.Tags.Value -eq "TestValue" }

Example 4: This example describes all your snapshots.

Get-EC2Snapshot -Owner self

• For API details, see DescribeSnapshots in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference.

Rust

SDK for Rust

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.

Shows the state of a snapshot.

async fn show_state(client: &Client, id: &str) -> Result<(), Error> {
    let resp = client
        .describe_snapshots()
        .filters(Filter::builder().name("snapshot-id").values(id).build())
        .send()
        .await?;

    println!(
        "State: {}",
        resp.snapshots().first().unwrap().state().unwrap().as_ref()
    );

    Ok(())
}

async fn show_snapshots(client: &Client) -> Result<(), Error> {
    // "self" represents your account ID.
    // You can list the snapshots for any account by replacing
    // "self" with that account ID.
    let resp = client.describe_snapshots().owner_ids("self").send().await?;
    let snapshots = resp.snapshots();
    let length = snapshots.len();

    for snapshot in snapshots {
        println!(
            "ID:          {}",
            snapshot.snapshot_id().unwrap_or_default()
        );
        println!(
            "Description: {}",
            snapshot.description().unwrap_or_default()
        );
        println!("State:       {}", snapshot.state().unwrap().as_ref());
        println!();
    }

    println!();
    println!("Found {} snapshot(s)", length);
    println!();

    Ok(())
}

• For API details, see DescribeSnapshots in AWS SDK for Rust API reference.