Boot modes - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
ConsiderationsRequirements for launching an instance with UEFIDetermine the boot mode parameter of an AMIDetermine the supported boot modes of an instance typeDetermine the boot mode of an instanceDetermine the boot mode of the OSSet the boot mode of an AMI

Boot modes

When a computer boots up, the first software that it runs is responsible for initializing the platform and providing an interface for the operating system to perform platform-specific operations.

Default boot modes

In EC2, two variants of the boot mode software are supported: Legacy BIOS and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). By default, Intel and AMD instance types run on Legacy BIOS, and Graviton instance types run on UEFI.

Intel and AMD instances types that can optionally run on UEFI

Most Intel and AMD instance types can also run on UEFI instead of on the default Legacy BIOS. To use UEFI, you must select an AMI with the boot mode parameter set to uefi, and the operating system contained in the AMI must be configured to support UEFI.

Purpose of the AMI boot mode parameter

The AMI boot mode parameter signals to EC2 which boot mode to use when launching an instance. When the boot mode parameter is set to uefi, EC2 attempts to launch the instance on UEFI. If the operating system is not configured to support UEFI, the instance launch might be unsuccessful.

Warning

Setting the boot mode parameter does not automatically configure the operating system for the specified boot mode. The configuration is specific to the operating system. For the configuration instructions, see the manual for your operating system.

Possible boot mode parameter on an AMI

The AMI boot mode parameter is optional. An AMI can have one of the following boot mode parameter values: uefi or legacy-bios. Some AMIs do not have a boot mode parameter. For AMIs with no boot mode parameter, the instances launched from these AMIs use the default value of the instance type—uefi on Graviton, and legacy-bios on all Intel and AMD instance types.

Considerations

  • Default boot modes:

    • Intel and AMD instance types: Legacy BIOS

    • Graviton instance types: UEFI

  • Intel and AMD instance types that support UEFI, in addition to Legacy BIOS:

    • Virtualized: C5, C5a, C5ad, C5d, C5n, D3, D3en, G4, I3en, M5, M5a, M5ad, M5d, M5dn, M5n, M5zn, R5, R5a, R5ad, R5b, R5d, R5dn, R5n, T3, T3a, and z1d

  • UEFI Secure Boot is currently not supported.

Requirements for launching an instance with UEFI

To launch an instance in UEFI mode, you must select an instance type that supports UEFI, and configure the AMI and the OS for UEFI, as follows:

  • Instance type – When launching an instance, you must select an instance type that supports UEFI. For more information, see Determine the supported boot modes of an instance type.

  • AMI – When launching an instance, you must select an AMI that is configured for UEFI. The AMI must be configured as follows:

Determine the boot mode parameter of an AMI

The AMI boot mode parameter is optional. An AMI can have one of the following boot mode parameter values: uefi and legacy-bios.

Some AMIs do not have a boot mode parameter. When an AMI has no boot mode parameter, the instances launched from the AMI use the default value of the instance type, which is uefi on Graviton, and legacy-bios on Intel and AMD instance types.

To determine the boot mode parameter of an AMI (console)

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

  2. In the navigation pane, choose AMIs, and then select the AMI.

  3. On the Details tab, inspect the Boot mode field.

To determine the boot mode parameter of an AMI when launching an instance (console)

When launching an instance using the launch instance wizard, at the step to select an AMI, inspect the Boot mode field. For more information, see Step 1: Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI).

To determine the boot mode parameter of an AMI (AWS CLI)

Use the describe-images command to determine the boot mode of an AMI. 

aws ec2 --region us-east-1 describe-images --image-id ami-0abcdef1234567890

Expected output

{
    "Images": [
        {
         ...
            ],
            "EnaSupport": true,
            "Hypervisor": "xen",
            "ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
            "Name": "UEFI_Boot_Mode_Enabled-Windows_Server-2016-English-Full-Base-2020.09.30",
            "RootDeviceName": "/dev/sda1",
            "RootDeviceType": "ebs",
            "SriovNetSupport": "simple",
            "VirtualizationType": "hvm",
            "BootMode": "uefi"
        }
    ]
}

Determine the supported boot modes of an instance type

To determine the supported boot modes of an instance type (AWS CLI)

Use the describe-instance-types command to determine the supported boot modes of an instance type. By including the --query parameter, you can filter the output. In this example, the output is filtered to return only the supported boot modes.

The following example shows that m5.2xlarge supports both UEFI and Legacy BIOS boot modes. 

aws ec2 --region us-east-1 describe-instance-types --instance-types m5.2xlarge --query "InstanceTypes[*].SupportedBootModes"

Expected output

[
    [
        "legacy-bios",
        "uefi"
    ]
]

The following example shows that t2.xlarge supports only Legacy BIOS. 

aws ec2 --region us-east-1 describe-instance-types --instance-types t2.xlarge --query "InstanceTypes[*].SupportedBootModes"

Expected output

[
    [
        "legacy-bios"
    ]
]

Determine the boot mode of an instance

When an instance is launched, the value for its boot mode parameter is determined by the value of the boot mode parameter of the AMI used to launch it, as follows:

  • An AMI with a boot mode parameter of uefi creates an instance with a boot mode parameter of uefi.

  • An AMI with a boot mode parameter of legacy-bios creates an instance with no boot mode parameter. An instance with no boot mode parameter uses its default value, which is legacy-bios in this case.

  • An AMI with no boot mode parameter value creates an instance with no boot mode parameter value.

The value of the instance's boot mode parameter determines the mode in which it boots. If there is no value, the default boot mode is used, which is uefi on Graviton, and legacy-bios on Intel and AMD instance types.

To determine the boot mode of an instance (console)

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

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Instances, and then select your instance.

  3. On the Details tab, inspect the Boot mode field.

To determine the boot mode of an instance (AWS CLI)

Use the describe-instances command to determine the boot mode of an instance. 

aws ec2 --region us-east-1 describe-instances --instance-ids i-1234567890abcdef0

Expected output

{
    "Reservations": [
        {
            "Groups": [],
            "Instances": [
                {
                    "AmiLaunchIndex": 0,
                    "ImageId": "ami-0e2063e7f6dc3bee8",
                    "InstanceId": "i-1234567890abcdef0",
                    "InstanceType": "m5.2xlarge",
                    ... 
                    },
                    "BootMode": "uefi"
                }
            ],
            "OwnerId": "1234567890",
            "ReservationId": "r-1234567890abcdef0"
        }
    ]
}

Determine the boot mode of the OS

The boot mode of the OS guides EC2 on which boot mode to use to boot an instance. To view whether the operating system of your instance is configured for UEFI, you need to connect to your instance via SSH.

To determine the boot mode of the instance’s OS

  1. Connect to your Linux instance using SSH.

  2. To view the boot mode of the OS, try one of the following:

    • Run the following command.

      [ec2-user ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/efibootmgr

      Expected output from an instance booted in UEFI boot mode

      BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0000,0001,0002
Boot0000* UiApp
Boot0001* UEFI Amazon Elastic Block Store vol-xyz
Boot0002* EFI Internal Shell

    • Run the following command to verify the existence of the /sys/firmware/efi directory. This directory exists only if the instance boots using UEFI. If this directory doesn't exist, the command returns Legacy BIOS Boot Detected. 

      [ec2-user ~]$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "UEFI Boot Detected" || echo "Legacy BIOS Boot Detected"

      Expected output from an instance booted in UEFI boot mode

      UEFI Boot Detected

      Expected output from an instance booted in Legacy BIOS boot mode

      Legacy BIOS Boot Detected

    • Run the following command to verify that EFI appears in the dmesg output. 

      [ec2-user ~]$ dmesg | grep -i "EFI"

      Expected output from an instance booted in UEFI boot mode

      [    0.000000] efi: Getting EFI parameters from FDT:
[    0.000000] efi: EFI v2.70 by EDK II

Set the boot mode of an AMI

When you create an AMI using the register-image command, you can set the boot mode of the AMI to either uefi or legacy-bios.

To convert an existing Legacy BIOS-based instance to UEFI, or an existing UEFI-based instance to Legacy BIOS, you need to perform a number of steps: First, modify the instance's volume and OS to support the selected boot mode. Then, create a snapshot of the volume. Finally, use register-image to create the AMI using the snapshot.

You can't set the boot mode of an AMI using the create-image command. With create-image, the AMI inherits the boot mode of the EC2 instance used for creating the AMI. For example, if you create an AMI from an EC2 instance running on Legacy BIOS, the AMI boot mode will be configured as legacy-bios.

Warning

Before proceeding with these steps, you must first make suitable modifications to the instance's volume and OS to support booting via the selected boot mode; otherwise, the resulting AMI will not be usable. The modifications that are required are operating system-specific. For more information, see the manual for your operating system.

To set the boot mode of an AMI (AWS CLI)

  1. Make suitable modifications to the instance's volume and OS to support booting via the selected boot mode. The modifications that are required are operating system-specific. For more information, see the manual for your operating system.

    Note

    If you don't perform this step, the AMI will not be usable.

  2. To find the volume ID of the instance, use the describe-instances command. You'll create a snapshot of this volume in the next step. 

    aws ec2 describe-instances --region us-east-1 --instance-ids i-1234567890abcdef0

    Expected output

    ...
            "BlockDeviceMappings": [
                        {
                            "DeviceName": "/dev/sda1",
                            "Ebs": {
                                "AttachTime": "",
                                "DeleteOnTermination": true,
                                "Status": "attached",
                                "VolumeId": "vol-1234567890abcdef0"
                            }
                        }
                        ...

  3. To create a snapshot of the volume, use the create-snapshot command. Use the volume ID from the previous step. 

    aws ec2 create-snapshot --region us-east-1 --volume-id vol-1234567890abcdef0 
--description "add text"

    Expected output

    {
 "Description": "add text",
 "Encrypted": false,
 "OwnerId": "123",
 "Progress": "",
 "SnapshotId": "snap-01234567890abcdef",
 "StartTime": "",
 "State": "pending",
 "VolumeId": "vol-1234567890abcdef0",
 "VolumeSize": 30,
 "Tags": []
}

  4. Note the snapshot ID in the output from the previous step.

  5. Wait until the snapshot creation is completed before going to the next step. To query the state of the snapshot, use the describe-snapshots command. 

    aws ec2 describe-snapshots --region us-east-1 --snapshot-ids snap-01234567890abcdef

    Example output

    {
    "Snapshots": [
        {
            "Description": "This is my snapshot",
            "Encrypted": false,
            "VolumeId": "vol-049df61146c4d7901",
            "State": "completed",
            "VolumeSize": 8,
            "StartTime": "2019-02-28T21:28:32.000Z",
            "Progress": "100%",
            "OwnerId": "012345678910",
            "SnapshotId": "snap-01234567890abcdef",
...

  6. To create a new AMI, use the register-image command. Use the snapshot ID that you noted in the earlier step. To set the boot mode to UEFI, add the --boot-mode uefi parameter to the command. 

    aws ec2 register-image \
   --region us-east-1 \
   --description "add description" \
   --name "add name" \
   --block-device-mappings "DeviceName=/dev/sda1,Ebs={SnapshotId=snap-01234567890abcdef,DeleteOnTermination=true}" \
   --architecture x86_64 \
   --root-device-name /dev/sda1 \
   --virtualization-type hvm \
   --ena-support \
   --boot-mode uefi

    Expected output

    {
"ImageId": "ami-new_ami_123"
}

  7. To verify that the newly-created AMI has the boot mode that you specified in the previous step, use the describe-images command. 

    aws ec2 describe-images --region us-east-1 --image-id ami-new_ami_123

    Expected output

    {
  "Images": [
   {
   "Architecture": "x86_64",
   "CreationDate": "2021-01-06T14:31:04.000Z",
   "ImageId": "ami-new_ami_123",
   "ImageLocation": "",
   ...
   "BootMode": "uefi"
   }
   ]
}

  8. Launch a new instance using the newly-created AMI. All new instances created from this AMI will inherit the same boot mode.

  9. To verify that the new instance has the expected boot mode, use the describe-instances command.