Frequently Asked Questions

A:

No, the AMI must have an instance store root device (must be Amazon S3-backed).

A:

By describing the image (ec2dim). An AMI is a paid AMI if a product code is returned. Example: run ec2dim -o amazon, and the AMI ami-bd9d78d4 will be returned with a product code (A79EC0DB).

A:

By describing images (ec2dim) with the "-a" flag. This shows all AMIs the user has access to. The AMIs with product codes listed are paid AMIs. Example: run ec2dim -a, and the result contains an AMI with ID ami-bd9d78d4. This is our Demo Paid AMI with product code A79EC0DB.

A:

For Linux/UNIX AMIs: Paid AMIs are comparable to shared AMIs with regards to rebundling and trying to restrict rebundling. If you choose to allow a user running the AMI to see all of its contents (for example, by giving root access to the AMI), then the user could easily rebundle these into their own AMI. For more information, go to Protecting a Shared AMI (Linux and UNIX) in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Developer Guide.

For Windows AMIs: Users can rebundle Windows paid AMIs; you can't restrict this.

A:

For Linux/UNIX AMIs: If your customer uses AWS tools to rebundle the AMI, the product code associated with the AMI is inherited by the rebundled AMI. When launching the rebundled AMI, the customer is still billed for usage based on your price. Note that the inheritance of the product code during rebundling is a convenience feature and not a guarantee that the product code will always be attached to rebundled AMIs. The customer's workflow could bundle the AMI outside of Amazon EC2, or the customer could use modified versions of the AWS tools, preventing the product code from being inherited. You can include software on the AMI that checks the instance's metadata to determine if the product code is associated with the instance. For more information, see Getting the Product Code from Within an Instance.

For Windows AMIs: The product code associated with the AMI is always inherited by the rebundled AMI. Therefore, AWS bills any customers who use instances of the rebundled AMI based on the original product code.

A:

If the AMI is rebundled on an instance that is running with a certain kernel/RAM disk, then the kernel/RAM disk will be inherited by the rebundled AMI. Note that this is a convenience feature, and not a guarantee that the kernel/RAM disk will always be attached to rebundled AMIs.

A:

Only the owner of an AMI can query the AMI attributes. However, anyone can tell if an AMI is paid by describing images (ec2dim). An AMI is paid if a product code is returned. Example: run ec2dim -a amazon, and the AMI with ID ami-bd9d78d4 will be returned with a product code (A79EC0DB).

A:

Only the owner of the AMI can use this command. Owners use this command with supported AMIs to determine if a supported instance with a given product code attached is up and running.

A:

No, you can't automatically transfer AMIs from one account to another. You would have to upload them again using the second AWS developer account and then register them with DevPay using that account. Alternately, you could leave the AMIs with the original account (the AMI owner account) and register them with DevPay using another AWS developer account (the product owner account). You could then use the AMI owner account to associate the product code with the AMIs. However, keep in mind that only the product owner (and not the AMI owner in this case) can use the ec2-confirm-product-instance command, which confirms that an instance is running an AMI associated with the product owner's product code. For more information about this command, go to the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Developer Guide .

A:

Your customers can use Amazon EBS volumes for persistent data storage with instances of your paid AMI, just like they can with any Amazon EC2 instances. Amazon EBS volumes are associated with the customer's account and not with an individual instance. Therefore you are not able to charge your customers for their use of Amazon EBS. AWS charges your customers directly for their use of Amazon EBS. Your customers use their credentials in the calls to create an Amazon EBS volume or to attach it to an instance (as they do when they launch an instance of your paid AMI).

A:

No. The discounts from Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances don't apply to paid or supported AMIs. That is, if you purchase Reserved Instances, you don't get the lower usage price associated with them when your customers launch your paid or supported AMIs. Also, if your customers purchase Reserved Instances, and they use your paid or supported AMIs, they continue to pay the price you specified for the use of your paid or supported AMIs.

A:

No. If your customers make Spot Instance requests for your paid or supported AMI, Amazon EC2 returns an error.