AWS CLI Command Reference

[ aws . ssm ]

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.

See also: AWS API Documentation

Synopsis

  start-session
--target <value>
[--document-name <value>]
[--reason <value>]
[--parameters <value>]
[--cli-input-json | --cli-input-yaml]
[--generate-cli-skeleton <value>]
[--debug]
[--endpoint-url <value>]
[--no-verify-ssl]
[--no-paginate]
[--output <value>]
[--query <value>]
[--profile <value>]
[--region <value>]
[--version <value>]
[--color <value>]
[--no-sign-request]
[--ca-bundle <value>]
[--cli-read-timeout <value>]
[--cli-connect-timeout <value>]
[--cli-binary-format <value>]
[--no-cli-pager]
[--cli-auto-prompt]
[--no-cli-auto-prompt]

Options

--target (string)

The managed node to connect to for the session.

--document-name (string)

The name of the SSM document you want to use to define the type of session, input parameters, or preferences 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. For more information, see Start a session in the Amazon Web Services Systems Manager User Guide .

--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)

The values you want to specify for the parameters defined in the Session document.

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. The generated JSON skeleton is not stable between versions of the AWS CLI and there are no backwards compatibility guarantees in the JSON skeleton generated.

Global Options

--debug (boolean)

Turn on debug logging.

--endpoint-url (string)

Override command’s default URL with the given URL.

--no-verify-ssl (boolean)

By default, the AWS CLI uses SSL when communicating with AWS services. For each SSL connection, the AWS CLI will verify SSL certificates. This option overrides the default behavior of verifying SSL certificates.

--no-paginate (boolean)

Disable automatic pagination. If automatic pagination is disabled, the AWS CLI will only make one call, for the first page of results.

--output (string)

The formatting style for command output.

  • json
  • text
  • table
  • yaml
  • yaml-stream

--query (string)

A JMESPath query to use in filtering the response data.

--profile (string)

Use a specific profile from your credential file.

--region (string)

The region to use. Overrides config/env settings.

--version (string)

Display the version of this tool.

--color (string)

Turn on/off color output.

  • on
  • off
  • auto

--no-sign-request (boolean)

Do not sign requests. Credentials will not be loaded if this argument is provided.

--ca-bundle (string)

The CA certificate bundle to use when verifying SSL certificates. Overrides config/env settings.

--cli-read-timeout (int)

The maximum socket read time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket read will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

--cli-connect-timeout (int)

The maximum socket connect time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket connect will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

--cli-binary-format (string)

The formatting style to be used for binary blobs. The default format is base64. The base64 format expects binary blobs to be provided as a base64 encoded string. The raw-in-base64-out format preserves compatibility with AWS CLI V1 behavior and binary values must be passed literally. When providing contents from a file that map to a binary blob fileb:// will always be treated as binary and use the file contents directly regardless of the cli-binary-format setting. When using file:// the file contents will need to properly formatted for the configured cli-binary-format.

  • base64
  • raw-in-base64-out

--no-cli-pager (boolean)

Disable cli pager for output.

--cli-auto-prompt (boolean)

Automatically prompt for CLI input parameters.

--no-cli-auto-prompt (boolean)

Disable automatically prompt for CLI input parameters.

Examples

Note

To use the following examples, you must have the AWS CLI installed and configured. See the Getting started guide in the AWS CLI User Guide for more information.

Unless otherwise stated, all examples have unix-like quotation rules. These examples will need to be adapted to your terminal’s quoting rules. See Using quotation marks with strings in the AWS CLI User Guide .

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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