Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) are fundamental components for ensuring reliability and business continuity in AWS environments. An AMI serves as a template containing the operating system, application server, applications, and associated configurations required to launch EC2 instances consistently.
…Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) are fundamental components for ensuring reliability and business continuity in AWS environments. An AMI serves as a template containing the operating system, application server, applications, and associated configurations required to launch EC2 instances consistently.
**AMI Creation Methods:**
1. **Console-based creation**: Right-click on a running or stopped EC2 instance and select 'Create Image'. This captures the root volume and any attached EBS volumes as snapshots.
2. **AWS CLI**: Use the 'aws ec2 create-image' command for automated and scriptable AMI creation, essential for CI/CD pipelines.
3. **AWS Systems Manager Automation**: Leverage automation documents to create AMIs on schedules or triggered by events.
**Best Practices for Management:**
- **Naming conventions**: Implement clear naming standards including application name, version, and creation date for easy identification.
- **Tagging strategy**: Apply consistent tags for cost allocation, environment identification, and lifecycle management.
- **Cross-region copying**: Copy AMIs to multiple regions for disaster recovery purposes using 'aws ec2 copy-image' or the console.
- **Encryption**: Enable EBS encryption for AMIs containing sensitive data to meet compliance requirements.
**Lifecycle Management:**
Implement AMI lifecycle policies using AWS Backup or custom Lambda functions to:
- Automatically deprecate older AMIs
- Deregister unused AMIs to reduce storage costs
- Maintain a retention policy aligned with business requirements
**Business Continuity Considerations:**
Golden AMIs should be regularly updated with security patches and tested. Maintain version control and document changes. Store AMIs in multiple regions to ensure availability during regional outages.
**Sharing and Permissions:**
AMIs can be shared with specific AWS accounts or made public. Use AWS Resource Access Manager for organizational sharing while maintaining security controls.
Regular validation of AMIs through automated testing ensures instances launch successfully when needed for recovery scenarios.
AMI Creation and Management for AWS SysOps Administrator Associate
Why AMI Creation and Management is Important
Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) are fundamental to AWS infrastructure management and business continuity. They serve as the foundation for launching EC2 instances and are critical for disaster recovery, scaling operations, and maintaining consistent environments across your infrastructure. For SysOps Administrators, mastering AMI management ensures rapid recovery from failures, efficient deployment processes, and reliable system reproducibility.
What is an AMI?
An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) is a pre-configured template that contains the software configuration required to launch an EC2 instance. This includes:
• Root volume template - The operating system, application server, and applications • Launch permissions - Controls which AWS accounts can use the AMI • Block device mapping - Specifies the volumes to attach when launching
AMIs can be: • Public - Available to all AWS accounts • Private - Only available to your account • Shared - Available to specific AWS accounts you designate
How AMI Creation Works
Creating an AMI from an EC2 Instance:
1. Prepare the instance - Stop the instance for data consistency (recommended but not required) 2. Create the AMI - Use the AWS Console, CLI, or API to create the image 3. Snapshot creation - AWS automatically creates EBS snapshots of attached volumes 4. Registration - The AMI is registered and becomes available for launching instances
AMI Types:
• EBS-backed AMIs - Root device is an EBS volume created from a snapshot. Supports stop/start and persistent storage. • Instance store-backed AMIs - Root device is an instance store volume created from a template in S3. Data is lost when instance terminates.
AMI Management Best Practices
• Regular AMI updates - Create new AMIs with security patches and updates • AMI deprecation - Set deprecation dates for outdated AMIs to prevent use • Cross-region copying - Copy AMIs to other regions for disaster recovery • Encryption - Use encrypted AMIs for sensitive workloads • Tagging - Implement consistent tagging for organization and cost tracking • Deregistration - Remove unused AMIs but remember to delete associated snapshots separately
AMI Lifecycle Management:
AWS provides tools for automating AMI lifecycle: • AWS Backup - Centralized backup service supporting AMI creation • Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) - Automate AMI creation, retention, and deletion • Systems Manager Automation - Create custom automation documents for AMI management
Key Operations:
• Copy AMI - Duplicate AMIs within or across regions. Encryption can be added during copy. • Share AMI - Grant launch permissions to other AWS accounts or make public • Deregister AMI - Remove the AMI from your account. Does not delete underlying snapshots.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on AMI Creation and Management
1. Consistency during creation - Questions about data consistency should lead you to answers involving stopping the instance before creating the AMI, especially for databases or applications with in-memory data.
2. Cross-region scenarios - When questions mention disaster recovery or multi-region deployments, remember that AMIs must be copied to each target region. They are region-specific resources.
3. Encryption questions - You can create an encrypted AMI from an unencrypted snapshot during the copy process. You cannot remove encryption once applied.
4. Cleanup procedures - When asked about removing AMIs completely, the correct answer involves both deregistering the AMI AND deleting the associated EBS snapshots.
5. Automation questions - For scenarios requiring automated AMI creation on a schedule, look for answers mentioning Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager or AWS Backup.
6. Sharing scenarios - Remember that sharing an encrypted AMI requires sharing the KMS key used for encryption with the target account.
7. EBS vs Instance Store - Questions about persistent root volumes or stop/start capability point to EBS-backed AMIs. Instance store-backed AMIs lose data on termination.
8. Launch permissions - For questions about controlling who can launch instances from your AMI, focus on modifying launch permissions rather than IAM policies.
9. Golden AMI pattern - Questions about standardization and consistent deployments often reference the golden AMI approach where a fully configured AMI serves as the deployment baseline.
10. Cost considerations - AMI storage costs come from the underlying EBS snapshots. Deregistering an AMI alone does not reduce storage costs.