Creating Amazon EBS-Backed AMIs Using the Console

To create an AMI from a running Amazon EBS-backed instance

1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.

2. If you don't have a running instance that uses an Amazon EBS volume for the root device, you must launch one. For instructions, see Launching an Instance from an AMI.

3. [Optional] Connect to the instance and customize it however you want. For example, you can install software and applications, copy data, or attach additional EBS volumes. For more information about connecting to an instance, see Connecting to Amazon EC2 Instances.

4. In the navigation pane, click Instances to view a list of your instances. Right-click your running instance and select Create Image (EBS AMI).

   Tip

   If this option is disabled, your instance isn't an Amazon EBS-backed instance.

   The Create Image dialog box appears.

   

5. Fill in the requested information as follows, and click Yes, Create.

   1. A unique name for the image.

   2. [Optional] A description of the image (up to 255 characters).

   3. By default, Amazon EC2 shuts down the instance, takes snapshots of any attached volumes, creates and registers the AMI, and then reboots the instance. Select No Reboot if you don't want your instance to be shut down.

      Warning

      If you select the No Reboot option, the file system integrity of the created image can't be guaranteed.

   4. [Optional] You can modify the root volume, EBS volumes, and instance store volumes as follows:

      • To change the size of the root volume, click Root Volume, fill in the Volume Size field, and click Save.

      • To suppress an EBS volume specified by the block device mapping of the AMI used to launch the instance, click EBS Volumes, go to the volume, and click Delete.

      • To add an EBS volume, click EBS Volumes, fill in the fields (Device, Snapshot, and so on), and click Add. When you then launch an instance from your new AMI, these additional volumes are automatically attached to the instance. Empty volumes must be formatted and mounted. Volumes based on a snapshot must be mounted.

      • To suppress an instance store volume specified by the block device mapping of the AMI used to launch the instance, click Instance Store Volumes, go to the volume, and click Delete.

      • To add an instance store volume, click Instance Store Volumes, select the Instance Store and Device, and click Add. When you launch an instance from your new AMI, these additional volumes are automatically initialized and mounted. These volumes don't contain data from the instance store volumes of the running instance from which you based your AMI.

      For more information, see Amazon EC2 Root Device Volume, Amazon EC2 Instance Store, and Block Device Mapping

6. Click AMIs in the navigation pane to view the AMI's status. While the new AMI is being created, its status is pending.

   It takes a few minutes for the whole process to finish.

7. After your new AMI's status is available, go to the Snapshots page and view the new snapshot that was created for the new AMI. Any instance you launch from the new AMI uses this snapshot for its root device volume.

8. Go back to the AMIs page, select the image, and click Launch.

   The launch wizard opens.

9. Walk through the wizard to launch an instance of your new AMI.

10. After your instance's status is running, connect to the instance and verify that any changes you made to the original AMI have persisted.

To delete an AMI and a snapshot

1. Go to the AMIs page. Select the AMI, click Actions, then select Deregister. When asked for confirmation, click Continue.

   The image is deregistered, which means it is deleted and can no longer be launched.

2. Go to the Snapshots page. Right-click the snapshot and select Delete Snapshot. When asked for confirmation, click Yes, Delete.

   The snapshot is deleted.