The ebs_create_attach.sh script automates the entire process of creating, attaching, and configuring EBS volumes with intelligent device management and comprehensive error handling.

What This Script Does

The script handles the complete EBS volume lifecycle:

  • Creates EBS volumes with configurable specifications
  • Automatically detects EC2 instance metadata (region, AZ, instance ID)
  • Finds available device names to avoid conflicts
  • Attaches volumes with proper configuration
  • Maps NVMe devices on modern instance types
  • Applies tags for organization and tracking
  • Configures DeleteOnTermination to prevent orphaned volumes

Key Features

  • The script automatically finds the next available device name, starting from /dev/sdf and incrementing through /dev/sdz. It checks both the local system and AWS to ensure no conflicts exist.
  • The script enables DeleteOnTermination by default to prevent orphaned volumes that continue to incur charges after instance termination.
  • Use tagging for cost allocation and resource management, for example: 
    ./ebs_create_attach.sh --tag "Environment:Production" --tag "CostCenter:Engineering" --tag "Project:DataPipeline"

Usage Examples

Basic Usage

Create a standard 8GB gp3 volume with default settings:

./ebs_create_attach.sh

High-Performance Volume

Create a 100GB io2 volume with 10,000 IOPS:

./ebs_create_attach.sh --volume-type io2 --size 100 --iops 10000

Optimized gp3 Volume

Create a gp3 volume with custom IOPS and throughput:

./ebs_create_attach.sh --volume-type gp3 --size 50 --iops 4000 --throughput 500

Tagged Volume

Create a volume with custom tags for organization:

./ebs_create_attach.sh --tag "Environment:Production" --tag "Project:DataAnalysis"

Specific Device and Region

Override automatic detection for specific requirements:

./ebs_create_attach.sh --device /dev/sdh --region us-east-1

Command Line Options

The script provides extensive configuration options:

Option Description Default
--volume-type EBS volume type (gp2|gp3|io1|io2|st1|sc1) gp3
--size Volume size in GB 8
--iops IOPS for gp3/io1/io2 volumes 3000
--throughput Throughput for gp3 volumes (MiB/s) -
--device Device name (auto-increments if unavailable) /dev/sdf
--tag Custom tag in “KEY:VALUE” format -
--delete-on-termination Delete volume when instance terminates true
--region AWS region (auto-detected on EC2) -
--az Availability zone (auto-detected on EC2) -
--instance-id EC2 instance ID (auto-detected on EC2) -

Verify

$ sudo nvme list
Node                  SN                   Model                                    Namespace Usage                      Format           FW Rev
--------------------- -------------------- ---------------------------------------- --------- -------------------------- ---------------- --------
/dev/nvme0n1          vol00000000000000000 Amazon Elastic Block Store               1          48.32  GB /  48.32  GB    512   B +  0 B   2.0
/dev/nvme1n1          AWS11111111111111111 Amazon EC2 NVMe Instance Storage         1         237.00  GB / 237.00  GB    512   B +  0 B   0