**To describe a DB instance** This example describes a single DB instance (*test-instance*):: aws rds describe-db-instances --db-instance-identifier test-instance Output:: { "DBInstance": { "DBInstanceIdentifier": "test-instance", "DBInstanceClass": "db.m1.small", "Engine": "mysql", "DBInstanceStatus": "available", "MasterUsername": "myawsuser", "Endpoint": { "Address": "test-instance.cdgmuqiadpid.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com", "Port": 3306, "HostedZoneId": "Z2R2ITUGPM61AM" }, <...output omitted...> }