Elastic Compute Service (ECS)

---

name: alicloud-compute-ecs

description: Manage Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) via OpenAPI/SDK. Use for listing or creating instances, starting/stopping/rebooting, managing disks/snapshots/images/security groups/key pairs/ENIs, querying status, and troubleshooting workflows for this product.

version: 1.0.0

---

Category: service

# Elastic Compute Service (ECS)

Validation

mkdir -p output/alicloud-compute-ecs
python -m py_compile skills/compute/ecs/alicloud-compute-ecs/scripts/list_instances_all_regions.py
python -m py_compile skills/compute/ecs/alicloud-compute-ecs/scripts/query_instance_usage.py
python -m py_compile skills/compute/ecs/alicloud-compute-ecs/scripts/run_remote_command.py
echo "py_compile_ok" > output/alicloud-compute-ecs/validate.txt

Pass criteria: command exits 0 and `output/alicloud-compute-ecs/validate.txt` is generated.

Output And Evidence

Use Alibaba Cloud OpenAPI (RPC) with official SDKs or OpenAPI Explorer to manage ECS resources.

Prefer the Python SDK for all examples and execution.

Prerequisites

API behavior notes (from ECS docs)

Workflow

1) Confirm region, resource identifiers, and desired action.

2) Find API group and exact operation name in `references/api_overview.md`.

3) Call API with Python SDK (preferred) or OpenAPI Explorer.

4) Verify results with describe/list APIs.

5) If you need repeatable inventory or summaries, use `scripts/` and write outputs under `output/alicloud-compute-ecs/`.

SDK priority

1) Python SDK (preferred)

2) OpenAPI Explorer

3) Other SDKs (only if Python is not feasible)

Python SDK quickstart (list instances)

Virtual environment is recommended (avoid PEP 668 system install restrictions).

python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install alibabacloud_ecs20140526 alibabacloud_tea_openapi alibabacloud_credentials

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        # Use env vars or shared config files per AccessKey priority.
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_instances(region_id: str):
    client = create_client(region_id)
    resp = client.describe_instances(ecs_models.DescribeInstancesRequest(
        region_id=region_id,
        page_number=1,
        page_size=50,
    ))
    for inst in resp.body.instances.instance:
        print(inst.instance_id, inst.instance_name, inst.instance_type, inst.status)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_instances("cn-hangzhou")

Python SDK scripts (recommended for inventory)

Python SDK: query one instance resource usage

Install dependencies (add CMS SDK):

python -m pip install alibabacloud_ecs20140526 alibabacloud_cms20190101 alibabacloud_tea_openapi alibabacloud_credentials

Example (last 1 hour, 5-minute period):

python skills/compute/ecs/alicloud-compute-ecs/scripts/query_instance_usage.py \
  --instance-id i-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --region-id cn-shanghai \
  --hours 1 \
  --period 300 \
  --summary-only \
  --output output/alicloud-compute-ecs/ecs-usage-i-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-1h.json

Recommended default metrics:

Python SDK: run remote command on one ECS instance

Example (`ps -ef`):

python skills/compute/ecs/alicloud-compute-ecs/scripts/run_remote_command.py \
  --instance-id i-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --region-id cn-shanghai \
  --command 'ps -ef' \
  --output output/alicloud-compute-ecs/runcommand-i-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-ps-ef.json

Behavior:

Python SDK: list instances for all regions

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_regions() -> list[str]:
    client = create_client("cn-hangzhou")
    resp = client.describe_regions(ecs_models.DescribeRegionsRequest())
    return [r.region_id for r in resp.body.regions.region]


def list_instances_all_regions():
    for region_id in list_regions():
        client = create_client(region_id)
        req = ecs_models.DescribeInstancesRequest(
            region_id=region_id,
            page_number=1,
            page_size=100,
        )
        resp = client.describe_instances(req)
        print(f"== {region_id} ({resp.body.total_count}) ==")
        for inst in resp.body.instances.instance:
            print(inst.instance_id, inst.instance_name, inst.instance_type, inst.status)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_instances_all_regions()

Python SDK: paginated instance listing

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_instances_paged(region_id: str):
    client = create_client(region_id)
    page_number = 1
    page_size = 100
    while True:
        resp = client.describe_instances(ecs_models.DescribeInstancesRequest(
            region_id=region_id,
            page_number=page_number,
            page_size=page_size,
        ))
        for inst in resp.body.instances.instance:
            print(inst.instance_id, inst.instance_name, inst.instance_type, inst.status)
        total = resp.body.total_count
        if page_number * page_size >= total:
            break
        page_number += 1


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_instances_paged("cn-hangzhou")

Python SDK: list instance types and pricing inputs

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_types(region_id: str, zone_id: str | None = None, instance_type_family: str | None = None):
    client = create_client(region_id)
    req = ecs_models.DescribeInstanceTypesRequest(
        zone_id=zone_id,
        instance_type_family=instance_type_family,
    )
    resp = client.describe_instance_types(req)
    for t in resp.body.instance_types.instance_type:
        print(t.instance_type_id, t.cpu_core_count, t.memory_size)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_types("cn-hangzhou", "cn-hangzhou-k")

Common operation mapping

Query patterns

Cloud Assistant (RunCommand) tips

See `references/command-assistant.md`.

AccessKey priority (must follow, align with README)

1) Environment variables: `ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID` / `ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET` / `ALICLOUD_REGION_ID`

Region policy: `ALICLOUD_REGION_ID` is an optional default. If unset, decide the most reasonable region for the task; if unclear, ask the user.

2) Shared config file: `~/.alibabacloud/credentials` (region still from env)

Auth setup (README-aligned)

Environment variables:

export ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-ak"
export ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET="your-sk"
export ALICLOUD_REGION_ID="cn-hangzhou"

Also supported by the Alibaba Cloud SDKs:

export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-ak"
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET="your-sk"

Shared config file:

`~/.alibabacloud/credentials`

[default]
type = access_key
access_key_id = your-ak
access_key_secret = your-sk

API discovery

Output policy

If you need to save responses or generated artifacts, write them under:

`output/alicloud-compute-ecs/`

Resource usage query evidence example:

`output/alicloud-compute-ecs/ecs-usage-<instance-id>-<window>.json`

Remote command evidence example:

`output/alicloud-compute-ecs/runcommand-<instance-id>-<name>.json`

References