From the console, the dedicated host state is 'pending'. This is within us-east-1b. I am unable to release the host. I can create 1 Mac host max on my account. As such, I cannot launch a mac instance. The mac instance I was able to launch previously couldn't pass status checks and I could not ssh into it. It was after fully stopping the mac instance that the host became unavailable.
3 Answers
This seemed to resolve itself over time and might be a stability issue on the AWS side. I'm going to leave this answer here because I didn't see any support on this issue elsewhere. Solidarity if you're reading this.
Unfortunately, this is a "feature", not a bug.
From the AWS documentation on Mac instances:
When you stop or terminate a Mac instance, Amazon EC2 performs a scrubbing workflow on the underlying Dedicated Host to erase the internal SSD, to clear the persistent NVRAM variables, and if needed, to update the bridgeOS software on the underlying Mac mini. This ensures that Mac instances provide the same security and data privacy as other EC2 Nitro instances. It also enables you to run the latest macOS AMIs without manually updating the bridgeOS software. During the scrubbing workflow, the Dedicated Host temporarily enters the pending state. If the bridgeOS software does not need to be updated, the scrubbing workflow takes up to 50 minutes to complete. If the bridgeOS software needs to be updated, the scrubbing workflow can take up to 3 hours to complete.
On the bright side:
Metering and billing is paused when the Dedicated Host enters the pending state. You are not charged for the duration of the scrubbing workflow.
So if you're ever need to restart or terminate a Mac instance, be sure to budget the time for it.
I've been spinning ec2 mac instances up and down on the same host quite a bit in the last few days and I believe it just takes a long time for the host to get out of the pending state after you terminate the instance. I think the time has been a little variable, but often it's around an hour. This makes testing things out very tedious so be really careful before you create the instance!
Also for folks that run into this, you'll not be able to release the host until it's been up for 24 hours, and you can't release when it's in a pending state. After the host has been up for 24 hours, if you remove an instance, then wait for the host to get out of the pending state, then you'll be able to release the host.
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