AWS
InvalidParameterValue - Invalid Parameter Value
Hitting an **InvalidParameterValue** error means one of your API parameters has the wrong format, is out of range, or violates AWS service constraints—EC2 instance types must be valid, S3 bucket names must follow naming rules, or IAM role names must match patterns. This client-side error (4xx) happens when AWS validates your request parameters before processing. Most common when EC2 instance types are invalid, S3 bucket names violate rules, or IAM resource names don't match patterns, but also appears when parameter values exceed limits, unsupported combinations are used, or data types don't match expected formats.
#Common Causes
- →Identity: IAM role/user name doesn't match naming pattern (1-64 chars, alphanumeric). Policy document JSON syntax error. Resource ARN format incorrect. Tag key/value format invalid.
- →Network: Security Group ID format wrong (sg-xxxxx). VPC ID format invalid (vpc-xxxxx). Subnet ID format incorrect (subnet-xxxxx). Availability Zone name invalid.
- →Limits: EC2 instance type doesn't exist (e.g., t2.invalid). S3 bucket name violates global naming rules. Parameter value exceeds service limit. Unsupported region/zone combination.
✓Solutions
- 1Step 1: Diagnose - Check the exact error message from AWS CLI—it usually specifies which parameter is invalid. Review the parameter name and value in your request.
- 2Step 2: Diagnose - Validate EC2 instance types: aws ec2 describe-instance-types --query 'InstanceTypes[*].InstanceType' --output table. Check if your instance type exists.
- 3Step 3: Diagnose - Verify S3 bucket naming: Bucket names must be 3-63 chars, lowercase, alphanumeric/hyphens only, globally unique. Check: aws s3api head-bucket --bucket BUCKET_NAME.
- 4Step 4: Fix - Validate IAM resource names: aws iam get-role --role-name ROLE_NAME. Names must be 1-64 chars, alphanumeric plus: +=,.@-_. Check ARN format: arn:aws:service:region:account:resource.
- 5Step 5: Fix - Check parameter value ranges: Review AWS API documentation for valid ranges. Use AWS CLI help: aws ec2 run-instances help. Validate before sending request.
</>Code Examples
Validate EC2 Instance Types
1#!/bin/bash
2# List all valid EC2 instance types
3echo "=== Valid EC2 Instance Types ==="
4aws ec2 describe-instance-types \
5 --query 'InstanceTypes[*].InstanceType' \
6 --output table
7
8# Check specific instance type
9INSTANCE_TYPE="t2.micro"
10echo "\n=== Checking Instance Type: ${INSTANCE_TYPE} ==="
11aws ec2 describe-instance-types \
12 --instance-types ${INSTANCE_TYPE} \
13 --query 'InstanceTypes[0].[InstanceType,ProcessorInfo.SupportedArchitectures[0]]' \
14 --output table
15
16# Validate before launching
17AMI_ID="ami-xxxxx" # Replace with valid AMI ID
18INSTANCE_TYPE="t2.micro"
19echo "\n=== Validating Launch Parameters ==="
20aws ec2 run-instances \
21 --image-id ${AMI_ID} \
22 --instance-type ${INSTANCE_TYPE} \
23 --count 1 \
24 --dry-run 2>&1 | grep -q "DryRunOperation" && echo "Parameters valid" || echo "Invalid parameters"Validate S3 Bucket Naming
1#!/bin/bash
2# S3 bucket naming rules validation
3BUCKET_NAME="my-bucket-name"
4
5# Check bucket name length (3-63 chars)
6if [ ${#BUCKET_NAME} -lt 3 ] || [ ${#BUCKET_NAME} -gt 63 ]; then
7 echo "ERROR: Bucket name must be 3-63 characters"
8 exit 1
9fi
10
11# Check for valid characters (lowercase, alphanumeric, hyphens)
12if [[ ! ${BUCKET_NAME} =~ ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9]$ ]] && [[ ! ${BUCKET_NAME} =~ ^[a-z0-9]$ ]]; then
13 echo "ERROR: Bucket name must be lowercase, alphanumeric, with hyphens"
14 exit 1
15fi
16
17# Check if bucket name is globally unique
18echo "=== Checking Bucket Availability ==="
19aws s3api head-bucket --bucket ${BUCKET_NAME} 2>&1
20if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
21 echo "Bucket exists"
22else
23 echo "Bucket name available or access denied"
24fiValidate IAM Resource Names and ARNs
1#!/bin/bash
2# Validate IAM role name (1-64 chars, alphanumeric plus: +=,.@-_)
3ROLE_NAME="MyRole-123"
4
5# Check length
6if [ ${#ROLE_NAME} -lt 1 ] || [ ${#ROLE_NAME} -gt 64 ]; then
7 echo "ERROR: Role name must be 1-64 characters"
8 exit 1
9fi
10
11# Validate ARN format
12ARN="arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/MyRole"
13echo "=== Validating ARN Format ==="
14if [[ ${ARN} =~ ^arn:aws:[a-z0-9-]+:[a-z0-9-]*:[0-9]{12}:[a-z0-9-]+/.+$ ]]; then
15 echo "ARN format valid"
16else
17 echo "ERROR: Invalid ARN format"
18fi
19
20# Check if role exists
21echo "\n=== Checking Role Exists ==="
22aws iam get-role --role-name ${ROLE_NAME} 2>&1 || echo "Role not found or invalid name"↗Related Errors
Provider Information
This error code is specific to AWS services. For more information, refer to the official AWS documentation.