Use CreateService with an AWS SDK or CLI

Example 1: To create a service with a Fargate task

The following create-service example shows how to create a service using a Fargate task.

aws ecs create-service \
    --cluster MyCluster \
    --service-name MyService \
    --task-definition sample-fargate:1 \
    --desired-count 2 \
    --launch-type FARGATE \
    --platform-version LATEST \
    --network-configuration 'awsvpcConfiguration={subnets=[subnet-12344321],securityGroups=[sg-12344321],assignPublicIp=ENABLED}' \
    --tags key=key1,value=value1 key=key2,value=value2 key=key3,value=value3

Output:

{
    "service": {
        "serviceArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:service/MyCluster/MyService",
        "serviceName": "MyService",
          "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:cluster/MyCluster",
        "loadBalancers": [],
        "serviceRegistries": [],
        "status": "ACTIVE",
        "desiredCount": 2,
        "runningCount": 0,
        "pendingCount": 0,
        "launchType": "FARGATE",
        "platformVersion": "LATEST",
        "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/sample-fargate:1",
        "deploymentConfiguration": {
            "maximumPercent": 200,
            "minimumHealthyPercent": 100
        },
        "deployments": [
            {
                "id": "ecs-svc/1234567890123456789",
                "status": "PRIMARY",
                "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/sample-fargate:1",
                "desiredCount": 2,
                "pendingCount": 0,
                "runningCount": 0,
                "createdAt": 1557119253.821,
                "updatedAt": 1557119253.821,
                "launchType": "FARGATE",
                "platformVersion": "1.3.0",
                "networkConfiguration": {
                    "awsvpcConfiguration": {
                        "subnets": [
                            "subnet-12344321"
                        ],
                        "securityGroups": [
                            "sg-12344321"
                        ],
                        "assignPublicIp": "ENABLED"
                    }
                }
            }
        ],
        "roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/ecs.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForECS",
        "events": [],
        "createdAt": 1557119253.821,
        "placementConstraints": [],
        "placementStrategy": [],
        "networkConfiguration": {
            "awsvpcConfiguration": {
                "subnets": [
                    "subnet-12344321"
                ],
                "securityGroups": [
                    "sg-12344321"
                ],
                "assignPublicIp": "ENABLED"
            }
        },
        "schedulingStrategy": "REPLICA",
        "tags": [
            {
                "key": "key1",
                "value": "value1"
            },
            {
                "key": "key2",
                "value": "value2"
            },
            {
                "key": "key3",
                "value": "value3"
            }
        ],
        "enableECSManagedTags": false,
        "propagateTags": "NONE"
    }
}

For more information, see Creating a Service in the Amazon ECS Developer Guide.

Example 2: To create a service using the EC2 launch type

The following create-service example shows how to create a service called ecs-simple-service with a task that uses the EC2 launch type. The service uses the sleep360 task definition and it maintains 1 instantiation of the task.

aws ecs create-service \
    --cluster MyCluster \
    --service-name ecs-simple-service \
    --task-definition sleep360:2 \
    --desired-count 1

Output:

{
    "service": {
        "serviceArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:service/MyCluster/ecs-simple-service",
        "serviceName": "ecs-simple-service",
        "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:cluster/MyCluster",
        "loadBalancers": [],
        "serviceRegistries": [],
        "status": "ACTIVE",
        "desiredCount": 1,
        "runningCount": 0,
        "pendingCount": 0,
        "launchType": "EC2",
        "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/sleep360:2",
        "deploymentConfiguration": {
            "maximumPercent": 200,
            "minimumHealthyPercent": 100
        },
        "deployments": [
            {
                "id": "ecs-svc/1234567890123456789",
                "status": "PRIMARY",
                "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/sleep360:2",
                "desiredCount": 1,
                "pendingCount": 0,
                "runningCount": 0,
                "createdAt": 1557206498.798,
                "updatedAt": 1557206498.798,
                "launchType": "EC2"
            }
        ],
        "events": [],
        "createdAt": 1557206498.798,
        "placementConstraints": [],
        "placementStrategy": [],
        "schedulingStrategy": "REPLICA",
        "enableECSManagedTags": false,
        "propagateTags": "NONE"
    }
}

For more information, see Creating a Service in the Amazon ECS Developer Guide.

Example 3: To create a service that uses an external deployment controller

The following create-service example creates a service that uses an external deployment controller.

aws ecs create-service \
    --cluster MyCluster \
    --service-name MyService \
    --deployment-controller type=EXTERNAL \
    --desired-count 1

Output:

{
    "service": {
        "serviceArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:service/MyCluster/MyService",
        "serviceName": "MyService",
        "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:cluster/MyCluster",
        "loadBalancers": [],
        "serviceRegistries": [],
        "status": "ACTIVE",
        "desiredCount": 1,
        "runningCount": 0,
        "pendingCount": 0,
        "launchType": "EC2",
        "deploymentConfiguration": {
            "maximumPercent": 200,
            "minimumHealthyPercent": 100
        },
        "taskSets": [],
        "deployments": [],
        "roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/ecs.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForECS",
        "events": [],
        "createdAt": 1557128207.101,
        "placementConstraints": [],
        "placementStrategy": [],
        "schedulingStrategy": "REPLICA",
        "deploymentController": {
            "type": "EXTERNAL"
        },
        "enableECSManagedTags": false,
        "propagateTags": "NONE"
    }
}

For more information, see Creating a Service in the Amazon ECS Developer Guide.

Example 4: To create a new service behind a load balancer

The following create-service example shows how to create a service that is behind a load balancer. You must have a load balancer configured in the same Region as your container instance. This example uses the --cli-input-json option and a JSON input file called ecs-simple-service-elb.json with the following content.

aws ecs create-service \
    --cluster MyCluster \
    --service-name ecs-simple-service-elb \
    --cli-input-json file://ecs-simple-service-elb.json

Contents of ecs-simple-service-elb.json:

 {
    "serviceName": "ecs-simple-service-elb",
    "taskDefinition": "ecs-demo",
    "loadBalancers": [
        {
            "loadBalancerName": "EC2Contai-EcsElast-123456789012",
            "containerName": "simple-demo",
            "containerPort": 80
        }
    ],
    "desiredCount": 10,
    "role": "ecsServiceRole"
}

Output:

{
    "service": {
        "status": "ACTIVE",
        "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/ecs-demo:1",
        "pendingCount": 0,
        "loadBalancers": [
            {
                "containerName": "ecs-demo",
                "containerPort": 80,
                "loadBalancerName": "EC2Contai-EcsElast-123456789012"
            }
        ],
        "roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ecsServiceRole",
        "desiredCount": 10,
        "serviceName": "ecs-simple-service-elb",
        "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:cluster/MyCluster",
        "serviceArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:service/ecs-simple-service-elb",
        "deployments": [
            {
                "status": "PRIMARY",
                "pendingCount": 0,
                "createdAt": 1428100239.123,
                "desiredCount": 10,
                "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/ecs-demo:1",
                "updatedAt": 1428100239.123,
                "id": "ecs-svc/1234567890123456789",
                "runningCount": 0
            }
        ],
        "events": [],
        "runningCount": 0
    }
}

For more information, see Use load balancing to distribute Amazon ECS service traffic in the Amazon ECS Developer Guide.

Example 5: To configure Amazon EBS volumes at service creation

The following create-service example shows how to configure Amazon EBS volumes for each task managed by the service. You must have an Amazon ECS infrastructure role configured with the AmazonECSInfrastructureRolePolicyForVolumes managed policy attached. You must specify a task definition with the same volume name as in the create-service request. This example uses the --cli-input-json option and a JSON input file called ecs-simple-service-ebs.json with the following content.

aws ecs create-service \
    --cli-input-json file://ecs-simple-service-ebs.json

Contents of ecs-simple-service-ebs.json:

{
    "cluster": "mycluster",
    "taskDefinition": "mytaskdef",
    "serviceName": "ecs-simple-service-ebs",
    "desiredCount": 2,
    "launchType": "FARGATE",
    "networkConfiguration":{
        "awsvpcConfiguration":{
            "assignPublicIp": "ENABLED",
            "securityGroups": ["sg-12344321"],
            "subnets":["subnet-12344321"]
        }
    },
    "volumeConfigurations": [
        {
            "name": "myEbsVolume",
            "managedEBSVolume": {
                "roleArn":"arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ecsInfrastructureRole",
                "volumeType": "gp3",
                "sizeInGiB": 100,
                "iops": 3000,
                "throughput": 125,
                "filesystemType": "ext4"
            }
        }
   ]
}

Output:

{
    "service": {
        "serviceArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:service/mycluster/ecs-simple-service-ebs",
        "serviceName": "ecs-simple-service-ebs",
        "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:cluster/mycluster",
        "loadBalancers": [],
        "serviceRegistries": [],
        "status": "ACTIVE",
        "desiredCount": 2,
        "runningCount": 0,
        "pendingCount": 0,
        "launchType": "EC2",
        "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/mytaskdef:3",
        "deploymentConfiguration": {
            "deploymentCircuitBreaker": {
                "enable": false,
                "rollback": false
            },
            "maximumPercent": 200,
            "minimumHealthyPercent": 100
        },
        "deployments": [
            {
                "id": "ecs-svc/7851020056849183687",
                "status": "PRIMARY",
                "taskDefinition": "arn:aws:ecs:us-west-2:123456789012:task-definition/mytaskdef:3",
                "desiredCount": 0,
                "pendingCount": 0,
                "runningCount": 0,
                "failedTasks": 0,
                "createdAt": "2025-01-21T11:32:38.034000-06:00",
                "updatedAt": "2025-01-21T11:32:38.034000-06:00",
                "launchType": "EC2",
                "networkConfiguration": {
                    "awsvpcConfiguration": {
                        "subnets": [
                            "subnet-12344321"
                        ],
                        "securityGroups": [
                            "sg-12344321"
                        ],
                        "assignPublicIp": "DISABLED"
                    }
                },
                "rolloutState": "IN_PROGRESS",
                "rolloutStateReason": "ECS deployment ecs-svc/7851020056849183687 in progress.",
                "volumeConfigurations": [
                    {
                        "name": "myEBSVolume",
                        "managedEBSVolume": {
                            "volumeType": "gp3",
                            "sizeInGiB": 100,
                            "iops": 3000,
                            "throughput": 125,
                            "roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ecsInfrastructureRole",
                            "filesystemType": "ext4"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/ecs.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForECS",
        "events": [],
        "createdAt": "2025-01-21T11:32:38.034000-06:00",
        "placementConstraints": [],
        "placementStrategy": [],
        "networkConfiguration": {
            "awsvpcConfiguration": {
                "subnets": [
                    "subnet-12344321"
                ],
                "securityGroups": [
                    "sg-12344321"
                ],
                "assignPublicIp": "DISABLED"
            }
        },
        "healthCheckGracePeriodSeconds": 0,
        "schedulingStrategy": "REPLICA",
        "deploymentController": {
            "type": "ECS"
        },
        "createdBy": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/AIDACKCEVSQ6C2EXAMPLE",
        "enableECSManagedTags": false,
        "propagateTags": "NONE",
        "enableExecuteCommand": false,
        "availabilityZoneRebalancing": "DISABLED"
    }
}

For more information, see Use Amazon EBS volumes with Amazon ECS in the Amazon ECS Developer Guide.

import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.EcsClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.AwsVpcConfiguration;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.NetworkConfiguration;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.CreateServiceRequest;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.LaunchType;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.CreateServiceResponse;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.EcsException;

/**
 * Before running this Java V2 code example, set up your development
 * environment, including your credentials.
 *
 * For more information, see the following documentation topic:
 *
 * https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/latest/developer-guide/get-started.html
 */
public class CreateService {
        public static void main(String[] args) {
                final String usage = """

                                Usage:
                                  <clusterName> <serviceName> <securityGroups> <subnets> <taskDefinition>

                                Where:
                                  clusterName - The name of the ECS cluster.
                                  serviceName - The name of the ECS service to create.
                                  securityGroups - The name of the security group.
                                  subnets - The name of the subnet.
                                  taskDefinition - The name of the task definition.
                                """;

                if (args.length != 5) {
                        System.out.println(usage);
                        System.exit(1);
                }

                String clusterName = args[0];
                String serviceName = args[1];
                String securityGroups = args[2];
                String subnets = args[3];
                String taskDefinition = args[4];
                Region region = Region.US_EAST_1;
                EcsClient ecsClient = EcsClient.builder()
                                .region(region)
                                .build();

                String serviceArn = createNewService(ecsClient, clusterName, serviceName, securityGroups, subnets,
                                taskDefinition);
                System.out.println("The ARN of the service is " + serviceArn);
                ecsClient.close();
        }

        public static String createNewService(EcsClient ecsClient,
                        String clusterName,
                        String serviceName,
                        String securityGroups,
                        String subnets,
                        String taskDefinition) {

                try {
                        AwsVpcConfiguration vpcConfiguration = AwsVpcConfiguration.builder()
                                        .securityGroups(securityGroups)
                                        .subnets(subnets)
                                        .build();

                        NetworkConfiguration configuration = NetworkConfiguration.builder()
                                        .awsvpcConfiguration(vpcConfiguration)
                                        .build();

                        CreateServiceRequest serviceRequest = CreateServiceRequest.builder()
                                        .cluster(clusterName)
                                        .networkConfiguration(configuration)
                                        .desiredCount(1)
                                        .launchType(LaunchType.FARGATE)
                                        .serviceName(serviceName)
                                        .taskDefinition(taskDefinition)
                                        .build();

                        CreateServiceResponse response = ecsClient.createService(serviceRequest);
                        return response.service().serviceArn();

                } catch (EcsException e) {
                        System.err.println(e.awsErrorDetails().errorMessage());
                        System.exit(1);
                }
                return "";
        }
}

Example 1: This example command creates a service in your default cluster called `ecs-simple-service`. The service uses the `ecs-demo` task definition and it maintains 10 instantiations of that task.

New-ECSService -ServiceName ecs-simple-service -TaskDefinition ecs-demo -DesiredCount 10

Example 2: This example command creates a service behind a load balancer in your default cluster called `ecs-simple-service`. The service uses the `ecs-demo` task definition and it maintains 10 instantiations of that task.

$lb = @{
    LoadBalancerName = "EC2Contai-EcsElast-S06278JGSJCM"
    ContainerName = "simple-demo"
    ContainerPort = 80
}        
New-ECSService -ServiceName ecs-simple-service -TaskDefinition ecs-demo -DesiredCount 10 -LoadBalancer $lb

Example 1: This example command creates a service in your default cluster called `ecs-simple-service`. The service uses the `ecs-demo` task definition and it maintains 10 instantiations of that task.

New-ECSService -ServiceName ecs-simple-service -TaskDefinition ecs-demo -DesiredCount 10

Example 2: This example command creates a service behind a load balancer in your default cluster called `ecs-simple-service`. The service uses the `ecs-demo` task definition and it maintains 10 instantiations of that task.

$lb = @{
    LoadBalancerName = "EC2Contai-EcsElast-S06278JGSJCM"
    ContainerName = "simple-demo"
    ContainerPort = 80
}        
New-ECSService -ServiceName ecs-simple-service -TaskDefinition ecs-demo -DesiredCount 10 -LoadBalancer $lb