This PowerShell code is attempting to make an HTTP request...

September 4, 2025 at 09:34 PM

Try { Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'http://[fd00:ec2::254]/latest/dynamic/instance-identity/document' -TimeoutSec 5 -OutFile 'C:\temp\ec2.json' } Catch {}

This PowerShell code is attempting to make an HTTP request to a metadata service endpoint of an Amazon EC2 instance over IPv6 to retrieve instance identity metadata and save it to a JSON file. Here's the detailed breakdown:

Code Breakdown:

  1. Try { } Block:

    • The Try block is used to encapsulate code that may throw an exception. If an error occurs (e.g., a timeout or connection failure), execution will jump to the Catch block instead of crashing the script.
  2. Invoke-WebRequest:

    • This is a PowerShell cmdlet used for sending HTTP or HTTPS requests to a specified URI.
    • Parameters:
      • -Uri 'http://[fd00:ec2::254]/latest/dynamic/instance-identity/document': Specifies the URI for the HTTP request.
        • This URI (http://[fd00:ec2::254]/latest/dynamic/instance-identity/document) refers to the IPv6 API endpoint of an Amazon EC2 instance metadata service v1. It provides metadata about the EC2 instance, including instance ID, region, account ID, and more, in JSON format.
      • -TimeoutSec 5: Sets a timeout for the request. If the request doesn't complete within 5 seconds, it will throw a timeout error.
      • -OutFile 'C:\temp\ec2.json': Specifies the path where the response (a JSON document) will be saved on the local file system.
  3. Catch {} Block:

    • If the HTTP request fails (e.g., due to network issues, incorrect URI, or a timeout), the script will execute the Catch {} block. However, since the Catch block is empty, no specific action will be taken for the error.

In Summary:

The code attempts to fetch the instance identity metadata of an Amazon EC2 instance via the local EC2 metadata service using an IPv6 address. The metadata is saved as a JSON file to C:\temp\ec2.json. If the request fails for any reason (e.g., instance not running on AWS, no IPv6 support, or timeout), the script silently suppresses any error without further action.

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