AWS CLI Command Reference

Note:

You are viewing the documentation for an older major version of the AWS CLI (version 1).

AWS CLI version 2, the latest major version of AWS CLI, is now stable and recommended for general use. To view this page for the AWS CLI version 2, click here. For more information see the AWS CLI version 2 installation instructions and migration guide.

[ aws . ssm ]

describe-sessions

Description

Retrieves a list of all active sessions (both connected and disconnected) or terminated sessions from the past 30 days.

See also: AWS API Documentation

describe-sessions is a paginated operation. Multiple API calls may be issued in order to retrieve the entire data set of results. You can disable pagination by providing the --no-paginate argument. When using --output text and the --query argument on a paginated response, the --query argument must extract data from the results of the following query expressions: Sessions

Synopsis

  describe-sessions
--state <value>
[--filters <value>]
[--cli-input-json <value>]
[--starting-token <value>]
[--page-size <value>]
[--max-items <value>]
[--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>]

Options

--state (string)

The session status to retrieve a list of sessions for. For example, "Active".

Possible values:

  • Active
  • History

--filters (list)

One or more filters to limit the type of sessions returned by the request.

(structure)

Describes a filter for Session Manager information.

key -> (string)

The name of the filter.

value -> (string)

The filter value. Valid values for each filter key are as follows:

  • InvokedAfter: Specify a timestamp to limit your results. For example, specify 2024-08-29T00:00:00Z to see sessions that started August 29, 2024, and later.
  • InvokedBefore: Specify a timestamp to limit your results. For example, specify 2024-08-29T00:00:00Z to see sessions that started before August 29, 2024.
  • Target: Specify a managed node to which session connections have been made.
  • Owner: Specify an Amazon Web Services user to see a list of sessions started by that user.
  • Status: Specify a valid session status to see a list of all sessions with that status. Status values you can specify include:
    • Connected
    • Connecting
    • Disconnected
    • Terminated
    • Terminating
    • Failed
  • SessionId: Specify a session ID to return details about the session.

Shorthand Syntax:

key=string,value=string ...

JSON Syntax:

[
  {
    "key": "InvokedAfter"|"InvokedBefore"|"Target"|"Owner"|"Status"|"SessionId",
    "value": "string"
  }
  ...
]

--cli-input-json (string) Performs service operation based on the JSON string provided. The JSON string follows the format provided by --generate-cli-skeleton. If other arguments are provided on the command line, the CLI 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.

--starting-token (string)

A token to specify where to start paginating. This is the NextToken from a previously truncated response.

For usage examples, see Pagination in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide .

--page-size (integer)

The size of each page to get in the AWS service call. This does not affect the number of items returned in the command's output. Setting a smaller page size results in more calls to the AWS service, retrieving fewer items in each call. This can help prevent the AWS service calls from timing out.

For usage examples, see Pagination in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide .

--max-items (integer)

The total number of items to return in the command's output. If the total number of items available is more than the value specified, a NextToken is provided in the command's output. To resume pagination, provide the NextToken value in the starting-token argument of a subsequent command. Do not use the NextToken response element directly outside of the AWS CLI.

For usage examples, see Pagination in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide .

--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. If provided with the value output, it validates the command inputs and returns a sample output JSON for that command.

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

--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.

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 list all active Session Manager sessions

This describe-sessions example retrieves a list of the active sessions created most recently (both connected and disconnected sessions) over the past 30 days that were started by the specified user. This command returns only results for connections to targets initiated using Session Manager. It does not list connections made through other means, such as Remote Desktop Connections or SSH.

aws ssm describe-sessions \
    --state "Active" \
    --filters "key=Owner,value=arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Administrator/Shirley-Rodriguez"

Output:

{
    "Sessions": [
        {
            "SessionId": "John-07a16060613c408b5",
            "Target": "i-1234567890abcdef0",
            "Status": "Connected",
            "StartDate": 1550676938.352,
            "Owner": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Administrator/Shirley-Rodriguez",
            "OutputUrl": {}
        },
        {
            "SessionId": "John-01edf534b8b56e8eb",
            "Target": "i-9876543210abcdef0",
            "Status": "Connected",
            "StartDate": 1550676842.194,
            "Owner": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Administrator/Shirley-Rodriguez",
            "OutputUrl": {}
        }
    ]
}

Example 2: To list all terminated Session Manager sessions

This describe-sessions example retrieves a list of the most recently terminated sessions from the past 30 days for all users.

aws ssm describe-sessions \
    --state "History"

Output:

{
    "Sessions": [
        {
            "SessionId": "Mary-Major-0022b1eb2b0d9e3bd",
            "Target": "i-1234567890abcdef0",
            "Status": "Terminated",
            "StartDate": 1550520701.256,
            "EndDate": 1550521931.563,
            "Owner": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Administrator/Mary-Major"
        },
        {
            "SessionId": "Jane-Roe-0db53f487931ed9d4",
            "Target": "i-9876543210abcdef0",
            "Status": "Terminated",
            "StartDate": 1550161369.149,
            "EndDate": 1550162580.329,
            "Owner": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Administrator/Jane-Roe"
        },
        ...
    ],
    "NextToken": "--token string truncated--"
}

For more information, see View Session History in the AWS Systems Manager User Guide.

Output

Sessions -> (list)

A list of sessions meeting the request parameters.

(structure)

Information about a Session Manager connection to a managed node.

SessionId -> (string)

The ID of the session.

Target -> (string)

The managed node that the Session Manager session connected to.

Status -> (string)

The status of the session. For example, "Connected" or "Terminated".

StartDate -> (timestamp)

The date and time, in ISO-8601 Extended format, when the session began.

EndDate -> (timestamp)

The date and time, in ISO-8601 Extended format, when the session was terminated.

DocumentName -> (string)

The name of the Session Manager SSM document used to define the parameters and plugin settings for the session. For example, SSM-SessionManagerRunShell .

Owner -> (string)

The ID of the Amazon Web Services user that started the session.

Reason -> (string)

The reason for connecting to the instance.

Details -> (string)

Reserved for future use.

OutputUrl -> (structure)

Reserved for future use.

S3OutputUrl -> (string)

Reserved for future use.

CloudWatchOutputUrl -> (string)

Reserved for future use.

MaxSessionDuration -> (string)

The maximum duration of a session before it terminates.

NextToken -> (string)

The token for the next set of items to return. (You received this token from a previous call.)