Requirements to launch an EC2 instance in UEFI boot mode
The boot mode of an instance is determined by the configuration of the AMI, the operating system contained in it, and the instance type. To launch an instance in UEFI boot mode, you must meet the following requirements.
- AMI
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The AMI must be configured for UEFI as follows:
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Operating system – The operating system contained in the AMI must be configured to use UEFI; otherwise, the instance launch will fail. For more information, see Determine the boot mode of the operating system for your EC2 instance.
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AMI boot mode parameter – The boot mode parameter of the AMI must be set to
uefioruefi-preferred. For more information, see Determine the boot mode parameter of an Amazon EC2 AMI.
Linux – The following Linux AMIs support UEFI:
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Amazon Linux 2023
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Amazon Linux 2 (Graviton instance types only)
For other Linux AMIs, you must configure the AMI, import the AMI through VM Import/Export, or import the AMI through CloudEndure
. Windows – The following Windows AMIs support UEFI:
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TPM-Windows_Server-2022-English-Full-Base
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TPM-Windows_Server-2022-English-Core-Base
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TPM-Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-Base
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TPM-Windows_Server-2019-English-Core-Base
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TPM-Windows_Server-2016-English-Full-Base
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TPM-Windows_Server-2016-English-Core-Base
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- Instance type
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All instances built on the AWS Nitro System support both UEFI and Legacy BIOS, except the following: bare metal instances, DL1, G4ad, P4, u-3tb1, u-6tb1, u-9tb1, u-12tb1, u-18tb1, u-24tb1, and VT1. For more information, see Determine the supported boot modes of an EC2 instance type.
The following table shows that the boot mode of an instance (indicated by the Resulting instance boot mode column) is determined by a combination of the boot mode parameter of the AMI (column 1), the boot mode configuration of the operating system contained in the AMI (column 2), and the boot mode support of the instance type (column 3).
| AMI boot mode parameter | Operating system boot mode configuration | Instance type boot mode support | Resulting instance boot mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| UEFI | UEFI | UEFI | UEFI |
| Legacy BIOS | Legacy BIOS | Legacy BIOS | Legacy BIOS |
| UEFI Preferred | UEFI | UEFI | UEFI |
| UEFI Preferred | UEFI | UEFI and Legacy BIOS | UEFI |
| UEFI Preferred | Legacy BIOS | Legacy BIOS | Legacy BIOS |
| UEFI Preferred | Legacy BIOS | UEFI and Legacy BIOS | Legacy BIOS |
| No boot mode specified - ARM | UEFI | UEFI | UEFI |
| No boot mode specified - x86 | Legacy BIOS | UEFI and Legacy BIOS | Legacy BIOS |
