Use DescribeVolumes with an Amazon SDK or CLI

Example 1: To describe a volume

The following describe-volumes example describes the specified volumes in the current Region.

aws ec2 describe-volumes \
    --volume-ids vol-049df61146c4d7901 vol-1234567890abcdef0

Output:

{
    "Volumes": [
        {
            "AvailabilityZone": "us-east-1a",
            "Attachments": [
                {
                    "AttachTime": "2013-12-18T22:35:00.000Z",
                    "InstanceId": "i-1234567890abcdef0",
                    "VolumeId": "vol-049df61146c4d7901",
                    "State": "attached",
                    "DeleteOnTermination": true,
                    "Device": "/dev/sda1"
                }
            ],
            "Encrypted": true,
            "KmsKeyId": "arn:aws:kms:us-east-2a:123456789012:key/8c5b2c63-b9bc-45a3-a87a-5513eEXAMPLE,
            "VolumeType": "gp2",
            "VolumeId": "vol-049df61146c4d7901",
            "State": "in-use",
            "Iops": 100,
            "SnapshotId": "snap-1234567890abcdef0",
            "CreateTime": "2019-12-18T22:35:00.084Z",
            "Size": 8
        },
        {
            "AvailabilityZone": "us-east-1a",
            "Attachments": [],
            "Encrypted": false,
            "VolumeType": "gp2",
            "VolumeId": "vol-1234567890abcdef0",
            "State": "available",
            "Iops": 300,
            "SnapshotId": "",
            "CreateTime": "2020-02-27T00:02:41.791Z",
            "Size": 100
        }
    ]
}

Example 2: To describe volumes that are attached to a specific instance

The following describe-volumes example describes all volumes that are both attached to the specified instance and set to delete when the instance terminates.

aws ec2 describe-volumes \
    --region us-east-1 \
    --filters Name=attachment.instance-id,Values=i-1234567890abcdef0 Name=attachment.delete-on-termination,Values=true

For an example of the output for describe-volumes, see Example 1.

Example 3: To describe available volumes in a specific Availability Zone

The following describe-volumes example describes all volumes that have a status of available and are in the specified Availability Zone.

aws ec2 describe-volumes \
    --filters Name=status,Values=available Name=availability-zone,Values=us-east-1a

For an example of the output for describe-volumes, see Example 1.

Example 4: To describe volumes based on tags

The following describe-volumes example describes all volumes that have the tag key Name and a value that begins with Test. The output is then filtered with a query that displays only the tags and IDs of the volumes.

aws ec2 describe-volumes \
    --filters Name=tag:Name,Values=Test* \
    --query "Volumes[*].{ID:VolumeId,Tag:Tags}"

Output:

[
    {
       "Tag": [
           {
               "Value": "Test2",
               "Key": "Name"
           }
       ],
       "ID": "vol-1234567890abcdef0"
   },
   {
       "Tag": [
           {
               "Value": "Test1",
               "Key": "Name"
           }
       ],
       "ID": "vol-049df61146c4d7901"
    }
]

For additional examples using tag filters, see Working with tags in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Example 1: This example describes the specified EBS volume.

Get-EC2Volume -VolumeId vol-12345678

Output:

Attachments      : {}
AvailabilityZone : us-west-2c
CreateTime       : 7/17/2015 4:35:19 PM
Encrypted        : False
Iops             : 90
KmsKeyId         :
Size             : 30
SnapshotId       : snap-12345678
State            : in-use
Tags             : {}
VolumeId         : vol-12345678
VolumeType       : standard

Example 2: This example describes your EBS volumes that have the status 'available'.

Get-EC2Volume -Filter @{ Name="status"; Values="available" }

Output:

Attachments      : {}
AvailabilityZone : us-west-2c
CreateTime       : 12/21/2015 2:31:29 PM
Encrypted        : False
Iops             : 60
KmsKeyId         :
Size             : 20
SnapshotId       : snap-12345678
State            : available
Tags             : {}
VolumeId         : vol-12345678
VolumeType       : gp2
...

Example 3: This example describes all your EBS volumes.

Get-EC2Volume