# Amazon EC2: Allows starting or stopping an EC2 instance and modifying a security group, programmatically and in the console
<a name="reference_policies_examples_ec2_instance-securitygroup"></a>

This example shows how you might create an identity-based policy that allows starting or stopping a specific EC2 instance and modifying a specific security group. This policy defines permissions for programmatic and console access. To use this policy, replace the *italicized placeholder text* in the example policy with your own information. Then, follow the directions in [create a policy](access_policies_create.md) or [edit a policy](access_policies_manage-edit.md).

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#### [ JSON ]

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```
{
  "Version":"2012-10-17",		 	 	 
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Action": [
        "ec2:DescribeInstances",
        "ec2:DescribeSecurityGroups",
        "ec2:DescribeSecurityGroupReferences",
        "ec2:DescribeStaleSecurityGroups"
      ],
      "Resource": "*",
      "Effect": "Allow"
    },
    {
      "Action": [
        "ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupEgress",
        "ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress",
        "ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupEgress",
        "ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupIngress",
        "ec2:StartInstances",
        "ec2:StopInstances"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:instance/i-instance-id",
        "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:security-group/sg-security-group-id"
      ],
      "Effect": "Allow"
    }
  ]
}
```

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