Manage VSS components package
for Windows VSS based EBS snapshots
Before you create VSS based EBS snapshots, ensure that you have the latest version of the VSS
components package installed on your Windows instance. There are several ways that you can install
the AwsVssComponents package onto an existing instance, as follows:
You can also create an AMI with EC2 Image Builder that uses the
aws-vss-components-windows managed component to install the
AwsVssComponents package for the image. The managed component
uses AWS Systems Manager Distributor to install the package. After Image Builder creates the image, every
instance that you launch from the associated AMI will have the VSS package installed
on it. For more information about how you can create an AMI with the VSS package installed,
see Distributor
package managed components for Windows in the
EC2 Image Builder User Guide.
Manually install the VSS components on an EC2 Windows instance
Your EC2 Windows instance must have VSS components installed before you can create
application-consistent snapshots with Systems Manager. If you don't run the
AWSEC2-VssInstallAndSnapshot command document to automatically
install or update the package every time you create application-consistent snapshots,
you must manually install the package.
You must also install manually if you plan to use one of the following methods to
create application-consistent snapshots from your EC2 instance.
If you need to perform a manual install, we recommend that you use
the latest AWS VSS component package to improve the reliability and
performance of application-consistent snapshots on your EC2 Windows
instances.
To install the VSS components on an Amazon EC2 Windows instance, follow the steps for
your preferred environment.
- Console
-
To install the VSS components using SSM Distributor
-
Open the AWS Systems Manager console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Run Command.
-
Choose Run command.
-
For Command document, choose the button next to
AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage.
-
For Command parameters, do the following:
-
Verify that Action is set to
Install.
-
For Name, enter
AwsVssComponents.
-
For Version, enter a version or leave the field
empty so that Systems Manager installs the latest version.
-
For Targets, identify the instances on which you want
to run this operation by specifying tags or selecting instances
manually.
If you choose to select instances manually, and an instance you expect
to see is not included in the list, see Where Are My Instances? in the
AWS Systems Manager User Guide for troubleshooting
tips.
-
For Other parameters:
-
(Optional) For Comment, type information
about this command.
-
For Timeout (seconds), specify the number of
seconds for the system to wait before failing the overall command
execution.
-
(Optional) For Rate control:
-
For Concurrency, specify either a number or a
percentage of instances on which to run the command at the same
time.
If you selected targets by choosing Amazon EC2 tags, and you are
not certain how many instances use the selected tags, then limit
the number of instances that can run the document at the same
time by specifying a percentage.
-
For Error threshold, specify when to stop
running the command on other instances after it fails on either a
number or a percentage of instances. For example, if you specify
three errors, then Systems Manager stops sending the command when the fourth
error is received. Instances still processing the command might also
send errors.
-
(Optional) For Output options section, if you want to
save the command output to a file, select the box next to Enable
writing to an S3 bucket. Specify the bucket and (optional)
prefix (folder) names.
The S3 permissions that grant the ability to write the data to an S3
bucket are those of the instance profile assigned to the instance, not
those of the user performing this task. For more information, see
Create an IAM
Instance Profile for Systems Manager in the
AWS Systems Manager User Guide.
-
(Optional) Specify options for SNS
notifications.
For information about configuring Amazon SNS notifications for Run Command, see
Configuring
Amazon SNS Notifications for AWS Systems Manager.
-
Choose Run.
- AWS CLI
-
Use the following procedure to download and install the
AwsVssComponents package on your instances
by using Run Command from the AWS CLI. The package installs two
components: a VSS requester and a VSS provider. The system copies
these components to a directory on the instance, and then registers
the provider DLL as a VSS provider.
To install the VSS package by using the AWS CLI
-
Run the following command to download and install the required VSS
components for Systems Manager.
aws ssm send-command \
--document-name "AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage" \
--instance-ids "i-01234567890abcdef" \
--parameters '{"action":["Install"],"name":["AwsVssComponents"]}'
- PowerShell
-
Use the following procedure to download and install the
AwsVssComponents package on your instances
by using Run Command from the Tools for Windows PowerShell. The package installs two
components: a VSS requester and a VSS provider. The system copies
these components to a directory on the instance, and then registers
the provider DLL as a VSS provider.
To install the VSS package using the AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell
-
Run the following command to download and install the required VSS
components for Systems Manager.
Send-SSMCommand -DocumentName AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage -InstanceId "i-01234567890abcdef" -Parameter @{'action'='Install';'name'='AwsVssComponents'}
Verify the signature on AWS VSS components
Use the following procedure to verify the signature on the AwsVssComponents package.
-
Connect to your Windows instance. For more information, see Connect to your Windows instance using RDP.
-
Navigate to C:\Program Files\Amazon\AwsVssComponents.
-
Open the context (right-click) menu for ec2-vss-agent.exe, and then choose
Properties.
-
Navigate to the Digital Signatures
tab and verify that the name of the signer is Amazon Web Services Inc.
-
Use the preceding steps to verify the signature on Ec2VssInstaller and
Ec2VssProvider.dll.
Update the VSS components package on your EC2 Windows instance
We recommend that you keep the VSS components updated with the latest recommended
version. There are several different ways that you can update components when a new version
of the AwsVssComponents package is released.
Update methods
-
You can repeat the steps described in Manually install the VSS components on an EC2 Windows instance when a new version of the AWS VSS components
is released.
-
You can configure a Systems Manager State Manager association to automatically download and
install new or updated VSS components when the AwsVssComponents
package becomes available.
-
You can automatically install or update the AwsVssComponents
package whenever you create application-consistent snapshots, when you use Systems Manager to run
the AWSEC2-VssInstallAndSnapshot document.
To create a Systems Manager State Manager association, follow the steps for your preferred
environment.
- Console
-
To create a State Manager association using the console
-
Open the AWS Systems Manager console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose State Manager.
Or, if the Systems Manager homepage opens first, open the navigation
pane and then choose State Manager.
-
Choose Create association.
-
In the Name field, enter a descriptive name.
-
In the Document list, choose AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage.
-
In the Parameters section, choose
Install from the Action list.
-
For Installation type, choose Uninstall
and reinstall.
-
In the Name field, enter AwsVssComponents.
You can keep the Version and Additional Arguments
fields empty.
-
In the Targets section, choose an option.
If you choose to target instances by using tags, and you specify tags that
map to Linux instances, the association succeeds on the Windows instance but
fails on the Linux instances. The overall status of the association shows
Failed.
-
In the Specify schedule section, choose an option.
-
In the Advanced options section, for Compliance severity,
choose a severity level for the association. For more information, see
About State Manager association compliance. For Change Calendars,
select a preconfigured change calendar. For more information, see about AWS Systems Manager Change Calendar.
-
For Rate control, do the following:
-
For Concurrency, specify either a number or a
percentage of managed nodes on which to run the command at the same time.
-
For Error threshold, specify when to stop running
the command on other managed nodes after it fails on either a number or a
percentage of nodes.
-
(Optional) For Output options, to save the command
output to a file, select Enable writing output to S3.
Enter the bucket and prefix (folder) names in the boxes.
-
Choose Create association, and then choose
Close. The system attempts to create the
association on the instances and immediately apply the state.
If EC2 instances for Windows Server show a status of Failed,
verify that the SSM Agent is running on the instance, and verify that the instance
is configured with an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role for Systems Manager. For more information, see
Setting up AWS Systems Manager.
- AWS CLI
-
You can run
create-association AWS CLI command to update a Distributor package on a schedule without
taking the associated application offline. Only new or updated files in the package are replaced.
To create a State Manager association using the AWS CLI
-
Install and configure the AWS CLI, if you haven't already. For information, see
Install
or update the latest version of the AWS CLI.
-
Run the following command to create an association. The value of --name,
the document name, is always AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage. The following command
uses the key InstanceIds to specify target instances.
aws ssm create-association \
--name "AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage" \
--parameters '{"action":["Install"],"installationType":["Uninstall and reinstall"],"name":["AwsVssComponents"]}' \
--targets [{\"Key\":\"InstanceIds\",\"Values\":[\"i-01234567890abcdef\",\"i-000011112222abcde\"]}]
For information about other options you can use with the create-association command,
see
create-association in the AWS Systems Manager section of the AWS CLI Command Reference.
