Instance stuck in "shutting down" state

    Your instance being stuck in the "shutting down" state for an extended period is not uncommon and doesn't necessarily require AWS intervention. This situation can occur due to various reasons, such as shutdown scripts running on the instance or issues with the underlying host computer.

    In most cases, Amazon EC2 will automatically handle this situation. If an instance remains in the "shutting-down" state for several hours, EC2 typically treats it as a stuck instance and forcibly terminates it. However, this process can take some time.

    If you need to resolve this issue more quickly, you can try the following steps:

    1. Use the AWS CLI to force stop the instance with the command:
       aws ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids "i-04572676913a493b5" --force

    2. If the force stop doesn't work after about 10 minutes, you may want to seek further assistance.

    Regarding your concern about charges, you will not be charged for instance usage while it's in the "shutting-down" state. AWS only charges for instance usage when an instance is in the "running" state. However, you may still be charged for the associated EBS volume if it remains active.

    For the spot request showing as "request-canceled-and-instance-running", this status suggests that the spot request was canceled, but the instance is still running. This aligns with your observation of the instance being stuck in the shutting-down process.

    If this situation persists for several hours and you need immediate assistance, you can post a request for help on AWS re:Post or, if you have a support plan, create a technical support case in the AWS Support Center. When doing so, include your instance ID and describe the steps you've already taken to expedite the resolution.
  

Sources
Troubleshoot Amazon EC2 instance termination issues - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
Troubleshoot Amazon EC2 instance stop issues - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
AWS Instance stuck in shutting-down | AWS re:Post

If your instance (i-04572676913a493b5) is stuck in the "shutting down" state for over an hour, it likely indicates an issue with either the underlying host or a termination process that didn’t complete cleanly.

✅ What This Status Means "Shutting down" indicates that the termination process has started, but the instance hasn't yet fully transitioned to the "terminated" state.

In your case, since the Spot request status says request-canceled-and-instance-running, the spot request was canceled but the instance was still running at the time — EC2 is likely still trying to finish cleanup.

Will You Be Charged? No EC2 charges: AWS does not charge for compute once the instance enters the "shutting down" state.

Yes, possibly for EBS: If the EBS volume is still attached and not marked for deletion, you will continue to be charged for storage.

Steps You Can Try You can attempt to force the termination via the AWS CLI:

bash Copy Edit aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids i-04572676913a493b5 If that doesn’t work:

bash Copy Edit aws ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids i-04572676913a493b5 --force Wait 10–15 minutes after issuing the command.

🛟 When to Escalate If the instance remains stuck for more than 2 hours, and you don’t see the state change to terminated, open a support case with AWS Support:

Go to AWS Support Center

Create a case → Technical → EC2 → Instance stuck in shutdown

Be sure to include:

Instance ID

Current state

Actions already attempted