# Use `GetConsoleOutput` with a CLI
<a name="example_ec2_GetConsoleOutput_section"></a>

The following code examples show how to use `GetConsoleOutput`.

------
#### [ CLI ]

**AWS CLI**  
**Example 1: To get the console output**  
The following `get-console-output` example gets the console output for the specified Linux instance.  

```
aws ec2 get-console-output \
    --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0
```
Output:  

```
{
    "InstanceId": "i-1234567890abcdef0",
    "Timestamp": "2013-07-25T21:23:53.000Z",
    "Output": "..."
}
```
For more information, see [Instance console output](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/instance-console.html#instance-console-console-output) in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.  
**Example 2: To get the latest console output**  
The following `get-console-output` example gets the latest console output for the specified Linux instance.  

```
aws ec2 get-console-output \
    --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 \
    --latest \
    --output text
```
Output:  

```
i-1234567890abcdef0 [    0.000000] Command line: root=LABEL=/ console=tty1 console=ttyS0 selinux=0 nvme_core.io_timeout=4294967295
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x001: 'x87 floating point registers'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x002: 'SSE registers'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x004: 'AVX registers'
...
Cloud-init v. 0.7.6 finished at Wed, 09 May 2018 19:01:13 +0000. Datasource DataSourceEc2.  Up 21.50 seconds
Amazon Linux AMI release 2018.03
Kernel 4.14.26-46.32.amzn1.x
```
For more information, see [Instance console output](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/instance-console.html#instance-console-console-output) in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.  
+  For API details, see [GetConsoleOutput](https://awscli.amazonaws.com/v2/documentation/api/latest/reference/ec2/get-console-output.html) in *AWS CLI Command Reference*. 

------
#### [ PowerShell ]

**Tools for PowerShell V4**  
**Example 1: This example gets the console output for the specified Linux instance. The console output is encoded.**  

```
Get-EC2ConsoleOutput -InstanceId i-0e19abcd47c123456
```
**Output:**  

```
InstanceId          Output
----------          ------
i-0e194d3c47c123637 WyAgICAwLjAwMDAwMF0gQ29tbW...bGU9dHR5UzAgc2Vs
```
**Example 2: This example stores the encoded console output in a variable and then decodes it.**  

```
$Output_encoded = (Get-EC2ConsoleOutput -InstanceId i-0e19abcd47c123456).Output
[System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([System.Convert]::FromBase64String($Output_encoded))
```
+  For API details, see [GetConsoleOutput](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/v4/reference) in *AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V4)*. 

**Tools for PowerShell V5**  
**Example 1: This example gets the console output for the specified Linux instance. The console output is encoded.**  

```
Get-EC2ConsoleOutput -InstanceId i-0e19abcd47c123456
```
**Output:**  

```
InstanceId          Output
----------          ------
i-0e194d3c47c123637 WyAgICAwLjAwMDAwMF0gQ29tbW...bGU9dHR5UzAgc2Vs
```
**Example 2: This example stores the encoded console output in a variable and then decodes it.**  

```
$Output_encoded = (Get-EC2ConsoleOutput -InstanceId i-0e19abcd47c123456).Output
[System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([System.Convert]::FromBase64String($Output_encoded))
```
+  For API details, see [GetConsoleOutput](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/v5/reference) in *AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V5)*. 

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For a complete list of AWS SDK developer guides and code examples, see [Create Amazon EC2 resources using an AWS SDK](sdk-general-information-section.md). This topic also includes information about getting started and details about previous SDK versions.