Runs a shell, PowerShell, or batch command on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances.

Usage notes

Unlike the CreateCommand and InvokeCommand operations, RunCommand can be used to create and run a command in a single request.

Take note of the following items:

  • The instances on which you want to run a command must be in the Running (Running) state. You can call the DescribeInstances operation to query the status of instances.
  • Cloud Assistant Agent is pre-installed on the instances.
  • Before you run a PowerShell command on a Windows instance, make sure that the PowerShell module is installed on the instance.
  • When you use a cron expression to specify a schedule, you can specify a time zone based on your business requirements. If you do not specify a time zone, the schedule is determined by the system time of the instance. Make sure that the time or time zone of the instance meets your business requirements. For information about time zones, see Configure the NTP service for ECS instances that run CentOS 6 or Configure the NTP service for Windows instances.
  • You can set Timeout to specify the timeout period for executions of the command on ECS instances. If an execution times out, Cloud Assistant Agent forcefully terminates the command process.
    • When the one-time execution of a command times out, the execution state (InvokeRecordStatus) of the command becomes Failed.

    • For a scheduled task, the timeout period takes effect on each execution of the command. The timeout of one execution does not affect the subsequent executions of the command. When a scheduled execution of a command times out, the execution state (InvokeRecordStatus) of the command becomes Failed.

      To ensure that scheduled tasks can run as expected, make sure that the version of Cloud Assistant Agent is not earlier than the following ones. A scheduled task can run a command at a specified interval, only once at a specified time, or at designated times based on a cron expression with a specified year or time zone. If the ClientNeedUpgrade error code is returned, you must upgrade Cloud Assistant Agent to the latest version. For more information, see Update or disable updates for the Cloud Assistant client.

      • Linux: 2.2.3.282.
      • Windows: 2.1.3.282.
  • Command executions may fail due to instance status exceptions, network exceptions, or exceptions on Cloud Assistant Agent. If a command execution fails, no execution information is generated. For more information, see Check execution results and troubleshoot common issues.
  • When EnableParameter is set to true, the custom parameter feature is enabled. When you specify CommandContent, you can specify custom parameters in the {{parameter}} format. Then, when the command is run, the key-value pairs of the custom parameters are passed in.
  • You can retain up to 500 to 10,000 Cloud Assistant commands in each region based on your ECS usage. You can perform operations that are described in the View and increase resource quotas topic or call the DescribeAccountAttribute operation to query resource quotas.
  • Before you run a command on instances, especially new instances, we recommend that you call the DescribeCloudAssistantStatus operation to query the status of Cloud Assistant Agent on the instances, and then run the command when the value of CloudAssistantStatus in the response is true for the instances.

Debugging

OpenAPI Explorer automatically calculates the signature value. For your convenience, we recommend that you call this operation in OpenAPI Explorer. OpenAPI Explorer dynamically generates the sample code of the operation for different SDKs.

Request parameters

Parameter Type Required Example Description
Action String Yes RunCommand

The operation that you want to perform. Set the value to RunCommand.

RegionId String Yes cn-hangzhou

The region ID of the command. You can call the DescribeRegions operation to query the most recent region list.

ResourceGroupId String No rg-bp67acfmxazb4p****

The ID of the resource group to which to assign the command executions. When you set this parameter, take note of the following items:

  • The instances specified by InstanceId.N must belong to the specified resource group.
  • After the command is run, you can set this parameter to call the DescribeInvocations or DescribeInvocationResults operation to query the execution results in the specified resource group.
Name String No testName

The name of the command. The name supports all character sets and can be up to 128 characters in length.

Description String No testDescription

The description of the command. The description supports all character sets and can be up to 512 characters in length.

Type String Yes RunShellScript

The language type of the command. Valid values:

  • RunBatScript: batch command, applicable to Windows instances.
  • RunPowerShellScript: PowerShell command, applicable to Windows instances.
  • RunShellScript: shell command, applicable to Linux instances.
CommandContent String Yes ZWNobyAxMjM=

The content of the command. The command content can be plaintext or Base64-encoded. Take note of the following items:

  • If you want to retain the command, make sure that the Base64-encoded command content does not exceed 18 KB in size. If you do not want to retain the command, make sure that the Base64-encoded command content does not exceed 24 KB in size. You can set KeepCommand to specify whether to retain the command.
  • If the command content is Base64-encoded, set ContentEncoding to Base64.
  • If you set EnableParameter to true, the custom parameter feature is enabled and you can configure custom parameters based on the following rules:
    • Specify custom parameters in the {{}} format. Within {{}}, the spaces and line feeds before and after the parameter names are ignored.
    • You can specify up to 20 custom parameters.
    • A custom parameter name can contain only letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-). The name is case-insensitive. The ACS:: prefix cannot be used to specify non-built-in environment parameters.
    • Each custom parameter name cannot exceed 64 bytes in length.
  • You can specify built-in environment parameters as custom parameters. Then, when you run the command, the parameters are automatically specified by Cloud Assistant. You can specify the following built-in environment parameters:
    • {{ACS::RegionId}}: the region ID.
    • {{ACS::AccountId}}: the UID of the Alibaba Cloud account.
    • {{ACS::InstanceId}}: the instance ID. When the command is run on multiple instances, if you want to specify {{ACS::InstanceId}} as a built-in environment parameter, make sure that the Cloud Assistant Agent version is not earlier than the following ones:
      • Linux: 2.2.3.309
      • Windows: 2.1.3.309
    • {{ACS::InstanceName}}: the instance name. When the command is run on multiple instances, if you want to specify {{ACS::InstanceName}} as a built-in environment parameter, make sure that the Cloud Assistant Agent version is not earlier than the following ones:
      • Linux: 2.2.3.344
      • Windows: 2.1.3.344
    • {{ACS::InvokeId}}: the task ID. If you want to specify {{ACS::InvokeId}} as a built-in environment parameter, make sure that the Cloud Assistant Agent version is not earlier than the following ones:
      • Linux: 2.2.3.309
      • Windows: 2.1.3.309
    • {{ACS::CommandId}}: the command ID. If you want to specify {{ACS::CommandId}} as a built-in environment parameter, make sure that the version of the Cloud Assistant Agent is not earlier than the following ones:
      • Linux: 2.2.3.309
      • Windows: 2.1.3.309
WorkingDir String No /home/user

The working directory of the command on the instance. The value can be up to 200 characters in length.

Default values:

  • For Linux instances, the default value is /root, which is the home directory of the administrator (the root user).
  • For Windows instances, the default value is the directory where the Cloud Assistant Agent process resides, such as C:\Windows\System32.
Timeout Long No 3600

The timeout period for the command execution. Unit: seconds.

A timeout error occurs if the command cannot be run because the process slows down or because a specific module or Cloud Assistant Agent does not exist. When an execution times out, the command process is forcefully terminated.

Default value: 60.

EnableParameter Boolean No false

Specifies whether to include custom parameters in the command.

Default value: false.

RepeatMode String No Once

Specifies how to run the command. Valid values:

  • Once: immediately runs the command.
  • Period: runs the command on a schedule. If you set this parameter to Period, you must specify Frequency.
  • NextRebootOnly: runs the command the next time the instance is started.
  • EveryReboot: runs the command every time the instance is started.

Default values:

  • If you do not specify Frequency, the default value is Once.
  • If you specify Frequency, Period is used as the value of RepeatMode regardless of whether RepeatMode is set to Period.

Take note of the following items:

  • You can all the StopInvocation operation to stop the pending or scheduled executions of the command.
  • If you set this parameter to Period or EveryReboot, you can call the DescribeInvocationResults operation with IncludeHistory set to true to query the results of historical scheduled executions.
Timed Boolean No true
Note This parameter is no longer used and does not take effect.
Frequency String No 0 */20 * * * ?

The schedule on which to run the command. You can configure a command to run at a fixed interval based on a rate expression, run only once at a specified time, or run at designated times based on a cron expression.

  • To run a command at a fixed interval, use a rate expression to specify the interval. You can specify the interval in seconds, minutes, hours, or days. This option is suitable for scenarios in which tasks need to be executed at a fixed interval. Specify the interval in the following format: rate(<Execution interval value> <Execution interval unit>). For example, specify rate(5m) to run the command every 5 minutes. When you specify an interval, take note of the following limits:
    • The interval can be anywhere from 60 seconds to 7 days, but must be longer than the timeout period of the scheduled task.
    • The interval is the amount of time that elapses between two consecutive executions. The interval is irrelevant to the amount of time that is required to run the command once. For example, assume that you set the interval to 5 minutes and that it takes 2 minutes to run the command each time. Each time the command is run, the system waits 3 minutes before it runs the command again.
    • A task is not executed immediately after the task is created. For example, assume that you set the interval to 5 minutes for a task. The task begins to be executed 5 minutes after it is created.
  • To run a command only once at a specific time, specify a point in time and a time zone. Specify the point in time in the at(yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss <Time zone>) format, which indicates at(Year-Month-Day Hour:Minute:Second <Time zone>). If you do not specify a time zone, the UTC time zone is used by default. You can specify the time zone in the following forms:
    • The time zone name. Examples: Asia/Shanghai and America/Los_Angeles.
    • The time offset from GMT. Examples: GMT+8:00 (UTC+8) and GMT-7:00 (UTC-7). If you use the GMT format, do not add leading zeros to the hour value.

    • The time zone abbreviation. Only UTC is supported.

      For example, to configure a command to run only once at 13:15:30 on June 6, 2022 (Shanghai time), set the time to at(2022-06-06 13:15:30 Asia/Shanghai). To configure a command to run only once at 13:15:30 on June 6, 2022 (UTC-7), set the time to at(2022-06-06 13:15:30 GMT-7:00).

  • To run a command at specific times, use a cron expression to define the schedule. Specify a schedule in the <Cron expression> <Time zone> format. The cron expression is in the <seconds> <minutes> <hours> <day of the month> <month> <day of the week> <year (optional)> format. The system calculates the execution times of the command based on the specified cron expression and time zone and runs the command as scheduled. If you do not specify a time zone, the system time zone of the instance on which you want to run the command is used by default. For more information about cron expressions, see Cron expressions. You can specify the time zone in the following forms:
    • The time zone name. Examples: Asia/Shanghai and America/Los_Angeles.
    • The time offset from GMT. Examples: GMT+8:00 (UTC+8) and GMT-7:00 (UTC-7). If you use the GMT format, do not add leading zeros to the hour value.

    • The time zone abbreviation. Only UTC is supported.

      For example, to configure a command to run at 10:15:00 every day in 2022 (Shanghai time), set the schedule to 0 15 10 ? * * 2022 Asia/Shanghai. To configure a command to run every half an hour from 10:00:00 to 11:30:00 every day in 2022 (UTC+8), set the schedule to 0 0/30 10-11 * ? 2022 GMT +8:00. To configure a command to run every 5 minutes from 14:00:00 to 14:55:00 every October every two years from 2022 in UTC, set the schedule to 0 0/5 14 * 10 ? 2022/2 UTC.
      Note The minimum interval must be 10 seconds or more and cannot be shorter than the timeout period of scheduled executions.
Parameters Map No {"name":"Jack", "accessKey":"LTAIdyvdIqaRY****"}

The key-value pairs of the custom parameters that are passed in when the command that can include custom parameters is run. For example, assume that the command content is echo {{name}}. The Parameter parameter can be used to pass in the {"name":"Jack"} key-value pair. The name key of the custom parameter is automatically replaced by the paired Jack value to generate a new command. As a result, the echo Jack command is run.

You can specify up to 10 custom parameters. Take note of the following items:

  • The key cannot be an empty string. It can be up to 64 characters in length.
  • The value can be an empty string.
  • If you want to retain the command, make sure that the command after Base64 encoding, including custom parameters and original command content, does not exceed 18 KB in size. If you do not want to retain the command, make sure that the command after Base64-encoding does not exceed 24 KB in size. You can set KeepCommand to specify whether to retain the command.
  • The custom parameter names that are specified by Parameters must be included in the custom parameter names that you specified when you created the command. You can use empty strings to represent the parameters that are not passed in.

This parameter is empty by default. You can leave this parameter empty to disable the custom parameter feature.

KeepCommand Boolean No false

Specifies whether to retain the command after the command is run. Valid values:

  • true: retains the command. You can call the InvokeCommand operation to rerun the command. The retained command counts against the quota of Cloud Assistant commands.
  • false: does not retain the command. The command is automatically deleted after it is run and does not count against the quota of Cloud Assistant commands.

Default value: false.

ContentEncoding String No Base64

The encoding mode of command content (CommandContent). The valid values are case-insensitive. Valid values:

  • PlainText: The command content is not encoded.
  • Base64: The command content is encoded in Base64.

Default value: PlainText. If the specified value of this parameter is invalid, PlainText is used by default.

Username String No test

The username to use to run the command on instances. The username cannot exceed 255 characters in length.

  • For Linux instances, the root username is used by default.
  • For Windows instances, the System username is used by default.

You can also specify other usernames that already exist in the instances to run the command. For security purposes, we recommend that you run Cloud Assistant commands as a regular user. For more information, see Configure a regular user to run Cloud Assistant commands.

WindowsPasswordName String No axtSecretPassword

The name of the password to use to run the command on Windows instances. The name cannot exceed 255 characters in length.

If you do not want to use the default System user to run the command on Windows instances, specify both WindowsPasswordName and Username. To mitigate the risk of password leaks, the password is stored in plaintext in Operation Orchestration Service (OOS) Parameter Store, and only the name of the password is passed in by using WindowsPasswordName. For more information, see Encrypt parameters and Configure a regular user to run Cloud Assistant commands.

Note If you use the root username for Linux instances or the System username for Windows instances to run the command, you do not need to specify WindowsPasswordName.
InstanceId.N String Yes i-bp185dy2o3o6neg****

The ID of instance N on which to run the command. Valid values of N: 1 to 50.

If one of the specified instances does not meet the conditions for running the command, the call fails. To ensure that the call is successful, specify only the IDs of instances that meet the conditions.

Tag.N.Key String No TestKey

The key of tag N to add to the command task. Valid values of N: 1 to 20. The tag key cannot be an empty string.

If a single tag is specified to query resources, up to 1,000 resources that have this tag added can be displayed in the response. If multiple tags are specified to query resources, up to 1,000 resources that have all these tags added can be displayed in the response. To query more than 1,000 resources that have specified tags, call ListTagResources.

The tag key can be up to 64 characters in length and cannot start with acs: or aliyun. It cannot contain http:// or https://.

Tag.N.Value String No TestValue

The value of tag N to add to the command task. Valid values of N: 1 to 20. The tag value can be an empty string.

The tag value can be up to 128 characters in length and cannot contain http:// or https://.

ContainerId String No ab141ddfbacfe02d9dbc25966ed971536124527097398d419a6746873fea****

The ID of the container. Only 64-bit hexadecimal strings are supported. Container IDs that are prefixed with docker://, containerd://, or cri-o:// can specify container runtimes.

Take note of the following items:

  • If this parameter is specified, Cloud Assistant runs scripts in the specified container of the instance.
  • If this parameter is specified, scripts can run only on Linux instances on which Cloud Assistant Agent is installed. The version of Cloud Assistant Agent must be 2.2.3.344 or later.
  • If this parameter is specified, the specified Username and WorkingDir parameters do not take effect. You can run the command in the default working directory of the container by using only the default user of the container. For more information, see Use Cloud Assistant to run commands in containers.
  • If this parameter is specified, only shell scripts can be run in Linux containers. You cannot add a command in the format similar to #!/usr/bin/python at the beginning of a script to specify a script interpreter. For more information, see Use Cloud Assistant to run commands in containers.
ContainerName String No test-container

The name of the container.

Take note of the following items:

  • If this parameter is specified, Cloud Assistant runs scripts in the specified container of the instance.
  • If this parameter is specified, scripts can run only on Linux instances on which Cloud Assistant Agent is stalled. The version of Cloud Assistant Agent must be 2.2.3.344 or later.
  • If this parameter is specified, the specified Username and WorkingDir parameters do not take effect. You can run the command in the default working directory of the container by using only the default user of the container. For more information, see Use Cloud Assistant to run commands in containers.
  • If this parameter is specified, only shell scripts can be run in Linux containers. You cannot add a command in the format similar to #!/usr/bin/python at the beginning of a script to specify a script interpreter. For more information, see Use Cloud Assistant to run commands in containers.
ClientToken String No 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000

The client token that is used to ensure the idempotence of the request. You can use the client to generate the token, but you must make sure that the token is unique among different requests. The token can contain only ASCII characters and cannot exceed 64 characters in length. For more information, see How to ensure idempotence.

Response parameters

Parameter Type Example Description
RequestId String 473469C7-AA6F-4DC5-B3DB-A3DC0DE3****

The request ID.

CommandId String c-7d2a745b412b4601b2d47f6a768d****

The command ID.

InvokeId String t-7d2a745b412b4601b2d47f6a768d****

The command task ID.

Examples

Sample requests

http(s)://ecs.aliyuncs.com/?Action=RunCommand
&CommandContent='echo hello'
&InstanceId.1=i-bp185dy2o3o6neg****
&InstanceId.2=i-bp541dc26ko6dd5****
&Name=Test
&RegionId=cn-hangzhou
&Type=RunShellScript
&Username=test
&<Common request parameters>

Sample success responses

XML format

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type:application/xml

<RunCommandResponse>
    <RequestId>E69EF3CC-94CD-42E7-8926-F133B863****</RequestId>
    <CommandId>c-7d2a745b412b4601b2d47f6a768d****</CommandId>
    <InvokeId>t-7d2a745b412b4601b2d47f6a768d****</InvokeId>
</RunCommandResponse>

JSON format

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type:application/json

{
  "RequestId" : "E69EF3CC-94CD-42E7-8926-F133B863****",
  "CommandId" : "c-7d2a745b412b4601b2d47f6a768d****",
  "InvokeId" : "t-7d2a745b412b4601b2d47f6a768d****"
}

Error codes

HTTP status code Error code Error message Description
400 RegionId.ApiNotSupported The api is not supported in this region. This operation cannot be performed in the specified region. Check whether the RegionId parameter is valid.
400 MissingParam.InstanceId The parameter instanceId is missing or empty. InstanceId.N is required.
400 NumberExceed.Tags Ensure the number of tag parameters is not greater than 20. The maximum number of tags is exceeded.
400 InvalidTagValue.Malformed The specified Tag.n.Value is not valid. Invalid Tag.N.Value value.
400 Duplicate.TagKey The Tag.N.Key contain duplicate key. The tag key already exists. Tag keys must be unique.
400 InvalidTagKey.Malformed The specified Tag.n.Key is not valid. Invalid Tag.N.Key value.
400 MissingParameter.TagKey You must specify Tag.N.Key. Tag.N.Key is required.
400 InvalidContainerId.Malformed The specified parameter ContainerId is not valid. Invalid ContainerId value.
400 InvalidContainerName.Malformed The specified parameter ContainerName is not valid. Invalid ContainerName value.
400 InvalidClientToken.Malformed The specified parameter clientToken is not valid. Invalid ClientToken value.
400 CmdParam.EmptyKey Command parameters can not be empty. The custom parameters are required in the command.
400 CmdParam.InvalidParamName A command parameter name is invalid. Invalid custom parameter name.
400 CmdContent.DecodeError The CommandContent can not be base64 decoded. The command content cannot be decoded in Base64.
400 InvalidInstance.NotMatch The specified instance type does not match the command. The specified command cannot be run on the specified instance. Check whether the state of the instance meets the conditions for running the Cloud Assistant command.
400 MissingParam.Frequency The frequency must be specified when you create a timed task. Frequency is required when you create a scheduled command task.
400 InvalidParam.Frequency The specified frequency is invalid. Invalid Frequency value. Check whether the specified Frequency value is valid.
400 ParameterKey.Duplicate The parameter may not contain duplicate keys. A parameter that has the same name already exists. Parameter names must be unique.
400 Parameter.NotMatched The parameters of creation do not match those of invocation. The error message returned because the custom parameters passed in do not match those specified when the command was created.
400 WindowsPasswordName.Missed WindowsPasswordName must be specified when you create a Windows task. WindowsPasswordName is required.
400 Parameter.Disabled Parameters should not be passed when CreateCommand.EnableParameter is false. Do not specify Parameters when you disable the custom parameter feature.
400 InvalidParameter.WorkingDir The specified parameter WorkingDir is not valid. Invalid WorkingDir value.
403 CmdContent.ExceedLimit The length of the command content exceeds the upper limit. The maximum length of the command content is exceeded.
403 CmdName.ExceedLimit The length of the command name exceeds the upper limit. The maximum length of the command name is exceeded.
403 CmdDesc.ExceedLimit The length of the command description exceeds the upper limit. The maximum length of the command description is exceeded.
403 CmdCount.ExceedQuota The total number of commands in the current region exceeds the quota. The maximum number of Cloud Assistant commands in the current region is exceeded.
403 CmdParamName.ExceedLimit The length of the command parameter name exceeds the limit. The maximum length of the custom parameter name in the command is exceeded.
403 InstanceIds.ExceedLimit The number of instance IDs exceeds the upper limit. The maximum number of instance IDs is exceeded.
403 Invocation.ExceedQuota The invocation quota in the current region has been reached for today. The daily maximum number of command executions in the current region is exceeded.
403 ParameterCount.ExceedLimit The number of command parameters exceeds the maximum number that can be set. The maximum number of custom parameters is exceeded.
403 ParameterKey.ExceedLimit The length of the specified parameter key exceeds the maximum length that can be set. The key length of a custom parameter exceeds the upper limit.
403 ParameterType.NotSupported The type of parameter value is not supported. Invalid custom parameter type.
403 Username.ExceedLimit The length of the username exceeds the upper limit. The maximum length of the username is exceeded.
403 WindowsPasswordName.ExceedLimit The length of the WindowsPasswordName exceeds the upper limit. The maximum length of WindowsPasswordName is exceeded.
403 ParameterStore.InvalidParameters The parameter is invalid in Parameter Store. The custom parameter in the {{oos:?}} format is not found.
403 Operation.Forbidden The operation is not permitted. The operation is not supported.
403 IdempotentParameterMismatch The specified parameter has changed while using an already used clientToken. The client token is already in use.
403 IdempotentProcessing The previous idempotent request(s) is still processing. A previous idempotent request is being processed. Try again later.
404 InvalidCmdType.NotFound The specified command type does not exist. The specified command type is not found.
404 InvalidRepeatMode.NotFound The specified repeat mode does not exist. The RepeatMode value is not found.
404 InvalidInstance.NotFound The specified instance does not exist. The specified instance is not found.
404 InvalidCmdId.NotFound The specified command ID does not exist. Invalid CommandId value. You can call the DescribeCommands operation to query all available command IDs.
404 InvalidResourceGroup.NotFound The ResourceGroup provided does not exist in our records. The ResourceGroupId value is not found.
500 InternalError.Dispatch An error occurred when you dispatched the request. An error occurred while the request was being sent. Try again later.

For a list of error codes, see Service error codes.