start-session¶

Description¶

Initiates a connection to a target (for example, a managed node) for a Session Manager session. Returns a URL and token that can be used to open a WebSocket connection for sending input and receiving outputs.

Note

Amazon Web Services CLI usage: start-session is an interactive command that requires the Session Manager plugin to be installed on the client machine making the call. For information, see Install the Session Manager plugin for the Amazon Web Services CLI in the Amazon Web Services Systems Manager User Guide .

Amazon Web Services Tools for PowerShell usage: Start-SSMSession isn’t currently supported by Amazon Web Services Tools for PowerShell on Windows local machines.

Synopsis¶

  start-session
--target <value>
[--document-name <value>]
[--reason <value>]
[--parameters <value>]
[--cli-input-json | --cli-input-yaml]
[--generate-cli-skeleton <value>]

Options¶

--target (string)

The managed node to connect to for the session.

--document-name (string)

The name of the SSM document to define the parameters and plugin settings for the session. For example, SSM-SessionManagerRunShell . You can call the GetDocument API to verify the document exists before attempting to start a session. If no document name is provided, a shell to the managed node is launched by default.

--reason (string)

The reason for connecting to the instance. This value is included in the details for the Amazon CloudWatch Events event created when you start the session.

--parameters (map)

Reserved for future use.

key -> (string)

value -> (list)

(string)

Shorthand Syntax:

KeyName1=string,string,KeyName2=string,string

JSON Syntax:

{"string": ["string", ...]
  ...}

--cli-input-json | --cli-input-yaml (string) Reads arguments from the JSON string provided. The JSON string follows the format provided by --generate-cli-skeleton. If other arguments are provided on the command line, those values will override the JSON-provided values. It is not possible to pass arbitrary binary values using a JSON-provided value as the string will be taken literally. This may not be specified along with --cli-input-yaml.

--generate-cli-skeleton (string) Prints a JSON skeleton to standard output without sending an API request. If provided with no value or the value input, prints a sample input JSON that can be used as an argument for --cli-input-json. Similarly, if provided yaml-input it will print a sample input YAML that can be used with --cli-input-yaml. If provided with the value output, it validates the command inputs and returns a sample output JSON for that command.

See ‘aws help’ for descriptions of global parameters.

Examples¶

Example 1: To start a Session Manager session

This start-session example establishes a connection with an instance for a Session Manager session. Note that this interactive command requires the Session Manager plugin to be installed on the client machine making the call.

aws ssm start-session \
    --target "i-1234567890abcdef0"

Output:

Starting session with SessionId: Jane-Roe-07a16060613c408b5

Example 2: To start a Session Manager session using SSH

This start-session example establishes a connection with an instance for a Session Manager session using SSH. Note that this interactive command requires the Session Manager plugin to be installed on the client machine making the call, and that the command uses the default user on the instance, such as ec2-user for EC2 instances for Linux.

ssh -i /path/my-key-pair.pem ec2-user@i-02573cafcfEXAMPLE

Output:

Starting session with SessionId: ec2-user-07a16060613c408b5

For more information, see Start a Session and Install the Session Manager Plugin for the AWS CLI in the AWS Systems Manager User Guide.

Output¶

None

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