How do I get an exit code from an Amazon ECS Task?

If you are working with Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), there may be instances where you need to fetch the exit code from an ECS task. The exit code is crucial as it can provide insight into whether your task ran successfully or not. This blog post will take you through a step-by-step guide on how to get an exit code from an Amazon ECS Task.

By Saturn Cloud | Tuesday, August 08, 2023 | Miscellaneous

How do I get an exit code from an Amazon ECS Task?

What is an Amazon ECS Task?

Before we dive into the ‘how’, let’s briefly understand ‘what’ an Amazon ECS Task is. Amazon ECS is a highly scalable, high-performance container orchestration service that allows you to easily run, stop, and manage Docker containers on a cluster. A task is the instantiation of a task definition within a cluster after being run.

Your task definition describes the Docker container and volume definitions of your application, while the task carries out the running of your application. The exit code of a task helps to know the status of this run.

Why is the Exit Code Important?

An exit code is a numerical code that is produced when a process ends. This code can be utilized to determine the ending status of a process. In the context of an Amazon ECS task, the exit code can inform you if your task ended as expected (exit code 0), or if there were errors (any non-zero exit code).

Getting the Exit Code from an Amazon ECS Task

To obtain the exit code from an Amazon ECS task, we can use the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or the ECS API.

Let’s focus on the AWS CLI method:

Ensure AWS CLI is Installed: Before beginning, make sure you have the AWS CLI installed and configured with the necessary IAM permissions.
Run Your Task: Start your task using the run-task command, ensuring you have the necessary task and cluster name.
```
aws ecs run-task --cluster MyCluster --task-definition MyTask
```
Fetch the Task Arn: Once the task is running, you should receive a JSON response with task details. From this output, copy the TaskArn.
Describe the Task: Using the TaskArn, you can then describe the task to get its details, including the exit code.
```
aws ecs describe-tasks --cluster MyCluster --tasks TaskArn
```
View the Exit Code: The JSON response from the describe-tasks command includes a containers array. Within this array, you can find the exitCode field which provides the exit code.

Here is a sample output:

{
    "tasks": [
        {
            "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:task/MyCluster/MyTask",
            "containers": [
                {
                    "containerArn": "arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:container/MyContainer",
                    "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:task/MyCluster/MyTask",
                    "name": "MyContainer",
                    "exitCode": 0
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Understanding the Exit Code

Remember, an exit code of 0 indicates that your task has run successfully without errors. Any non-zero exit code signifies an error or an abnormal ending. It’s crucial to handle these non-zero exit codes appropriately in your operations.

Wrap Up

Getting the exit code from an Amazon ECS task can be a valuable tool for troubleshooting and understanding the execution state of your tasks. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll be able to easily fetch the exit code of your tasks and handle your task operations more effectively.

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