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When you start an EC2 instance and it runs smoothly for a few minutes before shutting down unexpectedly, it can be confusing and frustrating. Here’s a simple way to understand and troubleshoot this problem.
First, check the instance’s console logs immediately after starting it. If everything looks normal initially, but then the system starts to shut down, review the CloudWatch alarms set up for your instance. In some cases, a specific alarm might trigger a shutdown.
In your case, the alarm titled “awsec2-i-{ID}-GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold-StatusCheckFailed” is suspicious because it doesn’t clearly state what metric is reaching the threshold. Usually, alarms like this monitor system health, such as status checks, but if the description is unclear, it’s hard to pinpoint the cause.
A common question is whether unpaid bills can cause your instance to stop automatically. The answer is yes—if your AWS account is overdue on payment, AWS may suspend or stop your resources. However, in many cases, you’ll receive email warnings beforehand. Check your billing dashboard or notifications area to confirm whether there’s an outstanding balance.
Another reason your instance may be stopping could be related to automated rules or scripts. Sometimes, alarms are set up to automatically stop instances if certain conditions are met, like repeated health check failures or high CPU usage. These rules may be configured intentionally or accidentally.
The AI-generated summary about the “StatusCheckFailed” indicates that your instance became unresponsive, possibly because of hardware or hypervisor issues. While hardware issues are less common, they can cause instances to become unresponsive or fail health checks, leading AWS to stop them automatically.
To sum up, here are steps to troubleshoot:
1. Verify your account billing status to ensure no unpaid bills are causing instance suspensions.
2. Double-check your CloudWatch alarms to understand what conditions are monitoring. Edit or disable alarms that might trigger automatic stops if you determine they’re not set correctly.
3. Review the system logs and console output right after starting the instance for any error messages.
4. Consider stopping and starting your instance again after confirming billing sources and alarm settings, but keep a close eye on the logs and alarm triggers.
If needed, contact AWS support with detailed information about your instance and alarms. They can help identify whether billing issues, configurations, or failures are causing your server to shut down unexpectedly.
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