Celeb Glow
general | February 21, 2026

python boto3 parameter validation error

Here I have written a python program to start an instance that matches all the conditions. But The following error is displayed while executing the program.botocore.exceptions.ParamValidationError: Parameter validation failed: Invalid type for parameter InstanceIds, value: i-012345678, type: <type 'str'>, valid types: <type 'list'>, <type 'tuple'> .Below is my code:

import boto3
ec2=boto3.client('ec2',region_name='ap-south-1')
a=ec2.describe_instances()
for i in a['Reservations']: for x in i['Instances']: if x['InstanceId']=="i-12345678" and x['State'['Name']=='stopped': n = x['InstanceId'] ec2.start_instances(InstanceIds=n)`

1 Answer

The error itself is self-explanatory. You have to pass a list or tuple of instance ids rather than just string. You can see this in the docs

See the updated code below.

import boto3
ec2=boto3.client('ec2',region_name='ap-south-1')
a=ec2.describe_instances()
for i in a['Reservations']: for x in i['Instances']: if x['InstanceId']=="i-12345678" and x['State'['Name']=='stopped': n = x['InstanceId'] ec2.start_instances(InstanceIds=[n])`

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.