Resources & FAQ

Q: How do I schedule my instances?

First, you define schedules in the solution's configuration Amazon DynamoDB table. Then, you tag applicable Amazon EC2 and Amazon RDS instances with the name of the applicable schedule.

Q: What default start and stop times does the Instance Scheduler use?

You define a schedule that contains running periods that define the start and stop times for instances. If you specify a start time only, the instance must be stopped manually. Similarly, if you specify a stop time only, the instance must be started manually. You can also choose to run instances during specific days of the week, days of the month, or months of the year. For more information, see the deployment guide.

Q: Can I create multiple start-stop schedules for a single instance?

Yes. Each schedule can contain multiple periods. When more than one period is used in a schedule, the Instance Scheduler will apply the appropriate start action when at least one of the period rules is true. For more information, see the deployment guide.

Q: At what interval(s) can the Instance Scheduler start and stop my instances?

By default, the Amazon Lambda function checks the state of each instance at five minute intervals which means the solution will perform start and stop actions every five minutes. You can change the default interval, but this might reduce the granularity of your schedules. For example, a Lambda function set to run at fifteen minute intervals will only perform start and stop actions every 15 minutes.

Q: Do I configure start and stop times in my local time zone?

During initial configuration, you specify a default time zone that is used for all instances you schedule with the solution. You can also define a time zone for an individual schedule that is used only for instances that use that schedule.