Systems Manager Documents

An Amazon EC2 Systems Manager Document defines the actions that Systems Manager performs on your managed instances. Systems Manager includes more than a dozen pre-configured documents that you can use by specifying parameters at runtime. Documents use JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and they include steps and parameters that you specify. Steps execute in sequential order.

Systems Manager Pre-Defined Documents

To help you get started quickly, Systems Manager provides pre-defined documents. You can view these documents in the Amazon EC2 console. In the EC2 console, expand Systems Manager Shared Resources, and then choose Documents. After you choose a document, use the tabs in the lower pane to view information about the document you selected, as shown in the following image.

You can also use the AWS CLI and Tools for Windows PowerShell commands to view a list of documents and get descriptions about those documents.

AWS CLI

aws ssm list-documents

aws ssm describe-document --name "document_name"

Tools for Windows PowerShell

Get-SSMDocumentList

Get-SSMDocumentDescription -Name "document_name"

Customizing a Document

If you want to customize the steps and actions in a document, you can create your own. The first time you use a document to perform an action on an instance, the system stores the document with your AWS account. For more information about how to create a Systems Manager document, see Creating Systems Manager Documents.

Document Schemas and Features

Systems Manager documents currently use the following schema versions.

By using the latest schema versions for each document type, you can take advantage of the following features.

Document Examples by Schema Version

The following example shows a document that uses schema version 1.2. In this example, the document includes the aws:runShellScript plugin for executing ifconfig with Run Command.

Schema 1.2 example

{
  "schemaVersion": "1.2",
  "description": "Check ip configuration of a Linux instance.",
  "parameters": {
 
  },
  "runtimeConfig": {
    "aws:runShellScript": {
      "properties": [
        {
          "id": "0.aws:runShellScript",
          "runCommand": ["ifconfig"]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

The following example shows a document that uses schema version 2.0. In this example, the document includes the aws:runShellScript and aws:runPowerShellScript plugins for executing commands with Run Command.

Schema 2.0 example

{
   "schemaVersion":"2.0",
   "description":"Run a script",
   "parameters":{
      "commands":{
         "type":"StringList",
         "description":"(Required) Specify a shell script or a command to run.",
         "minItems":1,
         "displayType":"textarea"
      }
   },
   "mainSteps":[
      {
         "action":"aws:runShellScript",
         "name":"runShellScript",
         "inputs":{
            "runCommand":"{{ commands }}"
         }
      },
      {
         "action":"aws:runPowerShellScript",
         "name":"runPowerShellScript",
         "inputs":{
            "runCommand":"{{ commands }}"
         }
      }
   ]
}

Schema 2.0 example

{
   "schemaVersion": "2.0",
   "description": "Sample version 2.0 document v2",
   "parameters": {

   },
   "mainSteps": [
      {
         "action": "aws:runPowerShellScript",
         "name": "runPowerShellScript",
         "inputs": {
            "runCommand": [
               "Get-Process"
            ]
         }
      }
   ]
}

The following table lists the differences between versions.