Overview
The AWS ECS - Run Task operation node allows you to start a new task on Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) using a specified task definition. This is useful for running containerized workloads on demand, such as batch jobs, microservices, or one-off scripts, without needing to manage the underlying infrastructure directly.
Common scenarios:
- Launching a containerized job in response to an event.
- Running ad-hoc data processing tasks.
- Spinning up temporary services for testing or development.
Practical example:
You could use this node in an n8n workflow to automatically run a data transformation task in ECS Fargate whenever a file is uploaded to S3.
Properties
| Name | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Type | options | The infrastructure to run your standalone task on. Options: EC2 (on EC2 instances), Fargate (serverless), External (on-premises/VMs). |
| Cluster | string | The short name or full ARN of the ECS cluster to run your task on. If not specified, the default cluster is used. |
| Task Definition | string | The family and revision (family:revision) or full ARN of the task definition to run. If no revision is specified, the latest ACTIVE revision is used. |
| Count | number | The number of instantiations of the specified task to place on your cluster. You can specify up to 10 tasks per call. |
| Enable ECS Managed Tags | boolean | Whether to use Amazon ECS managed tags for the task. |
| Propagate Tags | options | Specifies whether to propagate tags from the service or task definition to the task. Only available if "Enable ECS Managed Tags" is true. |
| Network Configuration | fixedCollection | The network configuration for the task. Required for awsvpc network mode (e.g., Fargate). Includes VPC configuration, subnets, security groups, and public IP assignment options. |
Output
The node outputs a json object containing the full response from the AWS ECS runTask API call. The structure includes:
{
"tasks": [
{
"taskArn": "...",
"clusterArn": "...",
"taskDefinitionArn": "...",
"lastStatus": "...",
"desiredStatus": "...",
// ... other ECS task fields
}
// ... more tasks if count > 1
],
"failures": [
{
"arn": "...",
"reason": "..."
}
// ... if any failures occurred
]
}
- tasks: Array of details about each started task.
- failures: Array of failure objects if any tasks failed to start.
No binary output is produced by this operation.
Dependencies
- AWS Account with ECS permissions.
- AWS credentials (access key ID, secret access key, region) must be configured in n8n.
- The aws-sdk library is used internally.
n8n configuration:
Set up AWS credentials in n8n under "Credentials" as type "AWS".
Troubleshooting
Common issues:
- Invalid credentials: Ensure your AWS credentials are correct and have permission to run ECS tasks.
- Missing required parameters: Make sure all required properties (e.g., Task Definition, Count, Network Configuration for Fargate) are provided.
- Network configuration errors: For Fargate/awsvpc, ensure subnets and security groups are valid and belong to the same VPC.
- API limits: You can only launch up to 10 tasks per call.
Error messages:
"Operation \"...\" not supported!": Check that you selected a valid operation.- AWS error messages (e.g., "Cluster not found", "Invalid task definition"): Review the property values and ensure resources exist in your AWS account.