I want to create a backup of my instance, launch multiple copies of an instance, or I received a maintenance notification suggesting I create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) of my instance. What’s an AMI, and how do I create one?
Amazon Machine Images (AMI) are archival copies of instances that you can use to launch other instances. If you have an EBS-backed Amazon EC2 instance, you can create your own custom AMI in order to launch multiple copies of one instance, or you can use a custom AMI as a backup solution.
Unlike snapshots, AMIs can launch with multiple EBS volumes attached, allowing you to replicate not only an instance's configuration, but the state of all the EBS volumes attached to that instance.
If your instance is a Linux instance, follow the instructions at Creating an Amazon EBS-Backed Linux AMI. If your instance is a Windows instance, see Creating an Amazon EBS-Backed Windows AMI.
AMI, EBS, image, copy, backup, maintenance, power, network, retirement
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Published: 2016-09-02
