For the most recent update on ongoing service disruptions affecting the AWS Middle East (UAE) Region (ME-CENTRAL-1), refer to the AWS Health Dashboard. For information on AWS Service migration, see How do I migrate my services to another region?
How do I retrieve my Windows administrator password after I launch an EC2 instance?
I launched an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance, and now I need to retrieve my Windows administrator password.
Resolution
Note: If you receive errors when you run AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) commands, then see Troubleshooting errors for the AWS CLI. Also, make sure that you're using the most recent AWS CLI version.
To retrieve your initial administrator password, you can use either the Amazon EC2 console or the AWS CLI.
Use the Amazon EC2 console
Note: This method requires an Amazon EC2 key pair. If you lost your key pair, then see How can I reset the administrator password on an EC2 Windows instance? If you need an Amazon EC2 key pair, then see Create a key pair for your Amazon EC2 instance.
Complete the following steps:
- Open the Amazon EC2 console, and then choose Instances.
- Select the check box for the instance, and then choose Actions. For the old console, choose Get Windows Password. For the new console, choose Security, and then choose Get Windows Password.
Note: This option might be unavailable for a few minutes after you launch a new instance. - Choose Browse, select your key pair file, and then choose Open.
-or-
Enter the contents of your key pair into the text box. - Choose Decrypt Password.
Use the AWS CLI
Use the get-password-data command. For more information, see Examples.
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