code: public static List<Instance> runInstances(final String imageId, final int runCount) {
          // pass any credentials as aws-mock does not authenticate them at all
          AWSCredentials credentials = new BasicAWSCredentials("foo", "bar");
          AmazonEC2Client amazonEC2Client = new AmazonEC2Client(credentials);
  
          // the mock endpoint for ec2 which runs on your computer
          String ec2Endpoint = "http://localhost:8000/aws-mock/ec2-endpoint/";
          amazonEC2Client.setEndpoint(ec2Endpoint);
  
          // instance type
          String instanceType = "m1.large";
  
          // run 10 instances
          RunInstancesRequest request = new RunInstancesRequest();
          final int minRunCount = runCount;
          final int maxRunCount = runCount;
          request.withImageId(imageId).withInstanceType(instanceType)
                  .withMinCount(minRunCount).withMaxCount(maxRunCount);
          RunInstancesResult result = amazonEC2Client.runInstances(request);
  
          return result.getReservation().getInstances();
      }
docs: Run some new ec2 instances.
  
  @param imageId
  AMI for running new instances from
  @param runCount
  count of instances to run
  @return a list of started instances