Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)

5 minutes 5 Questions

An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) is a template that contains software configurations, including an operating system, applications, and other settings. It is used to launch and set up an Amazon EC2 instance quickly and easily. Users can choose from a wide range of predefined Amazon, community-driven or their custom AMIs, allowing them to create EC2 instances with the desired software and configurations already in place.

Exam Guide: Understanding and Answering Questions on Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)

What are Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)?
An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) is a template that contains a software configuration (for example, an operating system, an application server, and applications). From an AMI, we launch instances, which are copies of the AMI running as virtual servers in the cloud.

Why are AMIs important?
AMI provides the information required to launch an instance, which is a virtual server in the cloud. You can customize the instance that you launch from a public AMI and then save that configuration as a custom AMI.

How do AMIs work?
When you launch an instance, the root device volume contains the image used to boot the instance. Amazon EC2 uses Amazon EBS and instance store volumes for root and block-level storage.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)
Tip 1: Understand the difference between EBS and instance store-backed instances.
Tip 2: Be aware that you can share AMIs, but shared AMIs can only be used to launch instances in the same region as the AMI is stored.
Tip 3: Know how to create an AMI, both from an existing instance and from scratch.

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Question 1

A company has multiple departments, each with a unique set of Amazon EC2 instances running on Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). They want to ensure that each department can only access the AMIs relevant to their use case. What is the best practice to achieve this?

Require manual approval for each AMI on a per-department basis Share only public AMIs with all departments Use VPC peering between departments to share AMIs Separate AWS accounts for each department for AMI usage

Correct Answer: Separate AWS accounts for each department for AMI usage

Using separate AWS accounts for each department is a best practice in AWS for isolating resources, managing permissions, and enhancing security. This approach ensures that each department can access only the Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) relevant to their use case, as resources and permissions are confined within each account. Managing departments under AWS Organizations allows for centralized billing and governance while maintaining strict access controls. This method provides a clear separation of resources, reduces the risk of unauthorized access, and simplifies compliance and auditing processes.

Question 2

A software company is designing a new application using Amazon EC2 instances. The development team needs to create several identical environments for testing purposes. What is the most efficient way to achieve this?

Manually install the environment on each EC2 instance Create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) with the required environment and use it to launch new instances Create duplicate instances using AWS Lambda functions Use Amazon S3 to store the environment and copy it to every instance

Correct Answer: Create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) with the required environment and use it to launch new instances

Creating an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) with the desired environment setup allows the team to launch multiple identical instances based on that AMI efficiently. This approach provides a scalable solution without the need for manual intervention.

Question 3

A financial institution running its application on an Amazon EC2 Amazon Machine Image (AMI) recently experienced a security breach. It is determined that the breach was due to an outdated OpenSSL library. What is the best practice to avoid such issues in the future?

Switch to a different AWS service that does not use OpenSSL Reboot the instance every week Regularly update the AMI with the latest software patches and security updates Terminate the instance and create an Instance Store-backed AMI

Correct Answer: Regularly update the AMI with the latest software patches and security updates

To avoid security issues like outdated libraries, it is best practice to regularly update the Amazon Machine Image (AMI) with the latest software patches, security updates, and other system updates. This ensures that the instances created from these updated AMIs are protected from known vulnerabilities.

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