aws quota_error ai_generated true

You have requested more vCPU capacity than your current vCPU limit allows

ID: aws/aws-ec2-instance-limit

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
85%Fix Rate
88%Confidence
110Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
2 active — — —

Root Cause

EC2 instance launch failed because the account exceeded the vCPU-based instance limit for the region.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 90% success Request a vCPU limit increase via Service Quotas console or API 
    aws service-quotas request-service-quota-increase --service-code ec2 --quota-code L-1216C47A --desired-value NEW_LIMIT

    Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-on-demand-instances.html

  2. 82% success Terminate unused instances or use Auto Scaling to manage capacity 
    aws ec2 describe-instances --filters Name=instance-state-name,Values=running to find instances to terminate

    Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/terminating-instances.html

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Try launching instances rapidly in quick succession 95% fail

    The limit is a hard cap, not a rate limit; more requests will all fail

  2. Use a different instance family without checking its specific limit 55% fail

    vCPU limits are per-instance-family; the other family may also be at its limit

Error Chain

Leads to:
Frequently confused with: