# CreateInstanceExportTask
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask"></a>

Exports a running or stopped instance to an Amazon S3 bucket.

For information about the prerequisites for your Amazon S3 bucket, supported operating systems, image formats, and known limitations for the types of instances you can export, see [Exporting an instance as a VM Using VM Import/Export](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/vm-import/latest/userguide/vmexport.html) in the *VM Import/Export User Guide*.

## Request Parameters
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_RequestParameters"></a>

The following parameters are for this specific action. For more information about required and optional parameters that are common to all actions, see [Common Query Parameters](CommonParameters.md).

 **Description**   
A description for the conversion task or the resource being exported. The maximum length is 255 characters.  
Type: String  
Required: No

 **ExportToS3**   
The format and location for an export instance task.  
Type: [ExportToS3TaskSpecification](API_ExportToS3TaskSpecification.md) object  
Required: Yes

 **InstanceId**   
The ID of the instance.  
Type: String  
Required: Yes

 **TagSpecification.N**   
The tags to apply to the export instance task during creation.  
Type: Array of [TagSpecification](API_TagSpecification.md) objects  
Required: No

 **TargetEnvironment**   
The target virtualization environment.  
Type: String  
Valid Values: `citrix | vmware | microsoft`   
Required: Yes

## Response Elements
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_ResponseElements"></a>

The following elements are returned by the service.

 **exportTask**   
Information about the export instance task.  
Type: [ExportTask](API_ExportTask.md) object

 **requestId**   
The ID of the request.  
Type: String

## Errors
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_Errors"></a>

For information about the errors that are common to all actions, see [Common client error codes](errors-overview.md#CommonErrors).

## Examples
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_Examples"></a>

### Example
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_Example_1"></a>

This example request creates an Export VM task that makes a Windows instance available as an OVA.

#### Sample Request
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_Example_1_Request"></a>

```
https://ec2.amazonaws.com/?Action=CreateInstanceExportTask
&Description=Example%20for%20docs
&InstanceId=i-1234567890abcdef0
&TargetEnvironment=VMWare
&ExportToS3.DiskImageFormat=VMDK
&ExportToS3.ContainerFormat=OVA
&ExportToS3.S3bucket=amzn-s3-demo-for-exported-vm
&ExportToS3.S3prefix=my-exports/
&AUTHPARAMS
```

#### Sample Response
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_Example_1_Response"></a>

```
<CreateInstanceExportTaskResponse xmlns="http://ec2.amazonaws.com/doc/2016-11-15/">
<requestId>59dbff89-35bd-4eac-99ed-be587EXAMPLE</requestId>
  <exportTask>
   <exportTaskId>export-i-1234wxyz</exportTaskId>
   <description>Example for docs</description>
   <state>active</state>
   <statusMessage>Running</statusMessage>
    <instanceExport>
     <instanceId>i-1234567890abcdef0</instanceId>
     <targetEnvironment>VMWare</targetEnvironment>
    </instanceExport>
    <exportToS3>
     <diskImageFormat>VMDK</diskImageFormat>
     <containerFormat>OVA</containerFormat>
     <s3Bucket>amzn-s3-demo-for-exported-vm</s3Bucket>
     <s3Key>my-exports/ export-i-1234wxyz.ova</s3Key>
    </exportToS3>
  </exportTask>
</CreateInstanceExportTaskResponse>
```

## See Also
<a name="API_CreateInstanceExportTask_SeeAlso"></a>

For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific Amazon SDKs, see the following:
+  [Amazon Command Line Interface V2](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/cli2/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for .NET V4](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/DotNetSDKV4/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for C\$1\$1](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/SdkForCpp/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for Go v2](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/SdkForGoV2/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for Java V2](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/SdkForJavaV2/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for JavaScript V3](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/SdkForJavaScriptV3/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for Kotlin](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/SdkForKotlin/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for PHP V3](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/SdkForPHPV3/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for Python](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/boto3/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask) 
+  [Amazon SDK for Ruby V3](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/goto/SdkForRubyV3/ec2-2016-11-15/CreateInstanceExportTask)