gistfile1.txt

require 'net/http'

link = URI.parse('http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/instance-id')
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(link.path)

begin
  response = Net::HTTP.start(link.host, link.port) { |http|
    http.read_timeout = 5 #Default is 60 seconds
    http.request(request)
  }


rescue Net::ReadTimeout => e  
   puts e.message
end