**To create an instance** The following ``create-instance`` command creates an m1.large Amazon Linux instance named myinstance1 in a specified stack. The instance is assigned to one layer. :: aws opsworks --region us-east-1 create-instance --stack-id 935450cc-61e0-4b03-a3e0-160ac817d2bb --layer-ids 5c8c272a-f2d5-42e3-8245-5bf3927cb65b --hostname myinstance1 --instance-type m1.large --os "Amazon Linux" To use an autogenerated name, call `get-hostname-suggestion`_, which generates a hostname based on the theme that you specified when you created the stack. Then pass that name to the `hostname` argument. .. _get-hostname-suggestion: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/opsworks/get-hostname-suggestion.html *Output*:: { "InstanceId": "5f9adeaa-c94c-42c6-aeef-28a5376002cd" } **More Information** For more information, see `Adding an Instance to a Layer`_ in the *AWS OpsWorks User Guide*. .. _`Adding an Instance to a Layer`: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/opsworks/latest/userguide/workinginstances-add.html