Launch an instance
You can launch an instance in UEFI or Legacy BIOS boot mode.
Limitations
UEFI boot is not supported in Local Zones, Wavelength Zones, or with AWS Outposts.
Considerations
Consider the following when launching an instance:
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Default boot modes:
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Graviton instance types: UEFI
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Intel and AMD instance types: Legacy BIOS
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Intel and AMD instance types that support UEFI, in addition to Legacy BIOS:
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All instances built on the AWS Nitro System, except: bare metal instances, DL1, G4ad, P4, u-3tb1, u-6tb1, u-9tb1, u-12tb1, and VT1
To see the available instance types that support UEFI in a specific Region
The available instance types vary by Region. To see the available instance types that support UEFI in a Region, use the describe-instance-types command with the
--region
parameter. Include the--filters
parameter to scope the results to the instance types that support UEFI and the--query
parameter to scope the output to the value ofInstanceType
.aws ec2 describe-instance-types --filters Name=supported-boot-mode,Values=uefi --query "InstanceTypes[*].[InstanceType]" --output text | sort
Example output
a1.2xlarge a1.4xlarge a1.large a1.medium ...
To see the available instance types that support UEFI Secure Boot and persist non-volatile variables in a specific Region
Currently, bare metal instances do not support UEFI Secure Boot and non-volatile variables. Use the describe-instance-types command as described in the preceding example, but filter out the bare metal instances by including the
Name=hypervisor,Values=nitro
filter. For information about UEFI Secure Boot, see UEFI Secure Boot.aws ec2 describe-instance-types --filters Name=supported-boot-mode,Values=uefi Name=hypervisor,Values=nitro --query "InstanceTypes[*].[InstanceType]" --output text | sort
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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 operating system for UEFI, as follows:
- Instance type
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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
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When launching an instance, you must select an AMI that is configured for UEFI. The AMI must be configured 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.
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AMI boot mode parameter – The boot mode parameter of the AMI must be set to
uefi
. For more information, see Determine the boot mode parameter of an AMI.
AWS only provides Linux AMIs configured to support UEFI for Graviton-based instance types. To use Linux on other UEFI instance types, you must configure the AMI, import the AMI through VM Import/Export, or import the AMI through CloudEndure
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