Launching an instance from a launch template
You can create a launch template that contains the configuration
information to launch an instance. Launch templates enable you to store launch parameters
so
that you do not have to specify them every time you launch an instance. For example,
a
launch template can contain the AMI ID, instance type, and network settings that you
typically use to launch instances. When you launch an instance using the Amazon EC2
console, an
AWS SDK, or a command line tool, you can specify the launch template to use.
For each launch template, you can create one or more numbered launch template
versions. Each version can have different launch parameters. When you launch
an instance from a launch template, you can use any version of the launch template.
If you
do not specify a version, the default version is used. You can set any version of
the launch
template as the default version—by default, it's the first version of the launch
template.
The following diagram shows a launch template with three versions. The first version
specifies the instance type, AMI ID, subnet, and key pair to use to launch the instance.
The
second version is based on the first version and also specifies a security group for
the
instance. The third version uses different values for some of the parameters. Version
2 is
set as the default version. If you launched an instance from this launch template,
the
launch parameters from version 2 would be used if no other version were specified.
Launch template restrictions
The following rules apply to launch templates and launch template versions:
-
You are limited to creating 5,000 launch templates per Region and 10,000
versions per launch template.
-
Launch template parameters are optional. However, you must ensure that your
request to launch an instance includes all required parameters. For example, if
your launch template does not include an AMI ID, you must specify both the
launch template and an AMI ID when you launch an instance.
-
Launch template parameters are not fully validated when you create the launch
template. If you specify incorrect values for parameters, or if you do not use
supported parameter combinations, no instances can launch using this launch
template. Ensure that you specify the correct values for the parameters and that
you use supported parameter combinations. For example, to launch an instance in
a placement group, you must specify a supported instance type.
-
You can tag a launch template, but you cannot tag a launch template
version.
-
Launch template versions are numbered in the order in which they are created.
When you create a launch template version, you cannot specify the version number
yourself.
Using launch templates to control
launch parameters
A launch template can contain all or some of the parameters to launch an instance.
When you launch an instance using a launch template, you can override parameters that
are specified in the launch template. Or, you can specify additional parameters that
are
not in the launch template.
You cannot remove launch template parameters during launch (for example, you
cannot specify a null value for the parameter). To remove a parameter, create a new
version of the launch template without the parameter and use that version to launch
the instance.
To launch instances, IAM users must have permissions to use the
ec2:RunInstances action. You must also have permissions to create or
use the resources that are created or associated with the instance. You can use
resource-level permissions for the ec2:RunInstances action to control the
launch parameters that users can specify. Alternatively, you can grant users permissions
to launch an instance using a launch template. This enables you to manage launch
parameters in a launch template rather than in an IAM policy, and to use a launch
template as an authorization vehicle for launching instances. For example, you can
specify that users can only launch instances using a launch template, and that they
can
only use a specific launch template. You can also control the launch parameters that
users can override in the launch template. For example policies, see Launch templates.
Controlling the use of launch
templates
By default, IAM users do not have permissions to work with launch templates. You can
create an IAM user policy that grants users permissions to create, modify, describe,
and delete launch templates and launch template versions. You can also apply
resource-level permissions to some launch template actions to control a user's ability
to use specific resources for those actions. For more information, see the following
example
policies: Example: Working with launch
templates.
Take care when granting users permissions to use the
ec2:CreateLaunchTemplate and
ec2:CreateLaunchTemplateVersion actions. You cannot use resource-level
permissions to control which resources users can specify in the launch template. To
restrict the resources that are used to launch an instance, ensure that you grant
permissions to create launch templates and launch template versions only to appropriate
administrators.
Creating a launch template
Create a new launch template using parameters that you define, or use an existing
launch template or an instance as the basis for a new launch template.
Creating a new launch template using parameters you define
- New console
-
To create a new launch template using defined parameters using the
console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates, and then choose Create launch
template.
-
For Launch template name, enter a descriptive
name for the launch template.
-
For Template version description, provide a brief description
of the launch template version.
-
To tag the launch template on creation, expand Template
tags, choose Add tag, and then
enter a tag key and value pair.
-
For Launch template contents, provide the following
information:
-
AMI: An AMI from which to launch the
instance. To search through all available AMIs, choose
Search for AMI. To select a
commonly used AMI, choose Quick Start.
Or, choose AWS Marketplace or
Community AMIs. You can use an AMI
that you own or find a
suitable AMI.
-
Instance type: Ensure that the instance type is
compatible with the AMI that you've specified. For more information, see
Instance types.
-
Key pair name: The key pair for the instance. For
more information, see Amazon EC2 key pairs and Windows instances.
-
Network platform: If applicable,
whether to launch the instance into a VPC or EC2-Classic. If
you choose VPC, specify the subnet in
the Network interfaces section. If you
choose Classic, ensure that the
specified instance type is supported in EC2-Classic and
specify the Availability Zone for the instance.
-
Security groups: One or more security groups to associate
with the instance. If you add a network interface to the launch template, omit this
setting
and specify the security groups as part of the network interface specification. You
cannot
launch an instance from a launch template that specifies security groups and a network
interface. For more information, see Amazon EC2 security groups for Windows instances.
-
For Storage (volumes), specify volumes to
attach to the instance besides the volumes specified by the AMI
(Volume 1 (AMI Root)). To add a
new volume, choose Add new volume.
-
Volume type: The instance store or Amazon EBS volumes
with which to associate your instance. The type of volume depends on the
instance type that you've chosen. For more information, see Amazon EC2 instance store and
Amazon EBS volumes.
-
Device name: A device name for the volume.
-
Snapshot: The ID of the snapshot from which to
create the volume.
-
Size: For Amazon EBS volumes, the storage size.
-
Volume type: For Amazon EBS volumes, the volume type.
For more information, see Amazon EBS volume types.
-
IOPS: For the Provisioned IOPS SSD volume type, the
number of I/O operations per second (IOPS) that the volume can
support.
-
Delete on termination: For Amazon EBS volumes, whether
to delete the volume when the instance is terminated. For more
information, see Preserving Amazon EBS volumes on instance termination.
-
Encrypted: If the instance type supports
EBS encryption, you can enable encryption for the volume.
If you have enabled encryption by default in this Region,
encryption is enabled for you. For more information, see Amazon EBS encryption.
-
Key: The CMK to use for EBS encryption.
You can specify the ARN of any customer master key (CMK) that
you created using the AWS Key Management Service. If you specify a CMK, you must
also use Encrypted to enable encryption.
-
For Resource tags, specify tags by providing key and value
combinations. You can tag the instance, the volumes, Spot Instance
requests, or all three.
-
For Network interfaces, you can specify up to two network interfaces for the instance.
-
Device index: The device number for
the network interface, for example, eth0 for
the primary network interface. If you leave the field blank,
AWS creates the primary network interface.
-
Network interface: The ID of the network
interface, or leave blank to let AWS create a new network
interface.
-
Description: (Optional) A description for the new
network interface.
-
Subnet: The subnet in which to create a new
network interface. For the primary network interface
(eth0), this is the subnet in which the instance is
launched. If you've entered an existing network interface for
eth0, the instance is launched in the subnet in which
the network interface is located.
-
Auto-assign public IP: Whether to automatically
assign a public IP address to the network interface with the device
index of eth0. This setting can only be enabled for a
single, new network interface.
-
Primary IP: A private IPv4 address from the range
of your subnet. Leave blank to let AWS choose a private IPv4 address for
you.
-
Secondary IP: A secondary private IPv4 address
from the range of your subnet. Leave blank to let AWS choose one for
you.
-
(IPv6-only) IPv6 IPs: An IPv6 address from the
range of the subnet.
-
Security groups: One or more security
groups in your VPC with which to associate the network
interface.
-
Delete on termination: Whether the network
interface is deleted when the instance is deleted.
-
For Advanced details, expand the section to
view the fields and specify any additional parameters for the
instance.
-
Purchasing option: The purchasing
model. Choose Request Spot Instances to
request Spot Instances at the Spot price, capped at the On-Demand
price, and choose Customize to change
the default Spot Instance settings. If you do not request a Spot Instance, EC2
launches an On-Demand Instance by default. For more information, see
Spot Instances.
-
IAM instance profile: An AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
instance profile to associate with the instance. For more information,
see IAM roles for Amazon EC2.
-
Shutdown behavior: Whether the instance should
stop or terminate when shut down. For more information, see Changing the instance initiated shutdown behavior.
-
Stop - Hibernate behavior: Whether the instance
is enabled for hibernation. This field is only valid for instances that
meet the hibernation prerequisites. For more information, see Hibernate your Windows instance.
-
Termination protection: Whether to prevent
accidental termination. For more information, see Enabling termination protection.
-
Detailed CloudWatch monitoring:
Whether to enable detailed monitoring of the instance using
Amazon CloudWatch. Additional charges apply. For more information,
see Monitoring your instances using CloudWatch.
-
Elastic GPU: An Elastic Graphics accelerator to attach
to the instance. Not all instance types support Elastic Graphics. For more
information, see Amazon Elastic Graphics.
-
Elastic inference: An elastic
inference accelerator to attach to your EC2 CPU instance.
For more information, see Working with Amazon Elastic Inference in the
Amazon Elastic Inference Developer
Guide.
-
T2/T3 Unlimited: Whether to enable
applications to burst beyond the baseline for as long as
needed. This field is only valid for T2, T3, and T3a
instances. Additional charges may apply. For more
information, see Burstable performance instances.
-
Placement group name: Specify a placement group
in which to launch the instance. Not all instance types can be launched
in a placement group. For more information, see Placement groups.
-
EBS-optimized instance: Provides additional,
dedicated capacity for Amazon EBS I/O. Not all instance types support this
feature, and additional charges apply. For more information, see Amazon EBS–optimized instances.
-
Capacity Reservation: Specify whether to launch the instance into shared
capacity, any open Capacity Reservation, a specific Capacity Reservation, or a Capacity Reservation
group. For more
information, see Launching Instances into an Existing Capacity Reservation.
-
Tenancy: Choose whether to run your instance on shared hardware
(Shared), isolated, dedicated hardware (Dedicated),
or on a Dedicated Host (Dedicated host). If you choose to launch the instance onto a
Dedicated Host, you can specify whether to launch the instance into a host resource
group or you can target
a specific Dedicated Host. Additional charges may apply. For more information, see
Dedicated Instances and
Dedicated Hosts.
-
RAM disk ID: (Only valid for
paravirtual (PV) AMIs) A RAM disk for the instance. If you
have specified a kernel, you may need to specify a specific
RAM disk with the drivers to support it.
-
Kernel ID: (Only valid for
paravirtual (PV) AMIs) A kernel for the instance.
-
License configurations: You can
launch instances against the specified license
configuration to track your license usage. For more
information, see Create a License Configuration in the
AWS
License Manager User Guide.
-
Metadata accessible: Whether to
enable or disable access to the instance metadata. For more
information, see Configuring the instance metadata
service.
-
Metadata version: If you enable
access to the instance metadata, you can choose to require
the use of Instance Metadata Service Version 2 when requesting instance metadata.
For more information, see Configuring instance metadata options for new
instances.
-
Metadata response hop limit: If you
enable instance metadata, you can set the allowable
number of network hops for the metadata token. For more
information, see Configuring the instance metadata
service.
-
User data: You can specify user data to configure
an instance during launch, or to run a configuration script. For more
information, see Running commands on your Windows instance at
launch.
-
Choose Create launch template.
- Old console
-
To create a new launch template using defined parameters using the
console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch Templates,
and then choose Create launch template.
-
For Launch template name, enter a descriptive name for the
launch template. To tag the launch template on creation, choose Show Tags,
Add Tag, and then enter a tag key and value pair.
-
For Template version description, provide a brief description
of the launch template version.
-
For Launch template contents, provide the following
information:
-
AMI ID: An AMI from which to launch the instance.
To search through all available AMIs, choose Search for
AMI. To select a commonly used AMI, choose
Quick Start. Or, choose AWS
Marketplace or Community AMIs. You
can use an AMI that you own or find a
suitable AMI.
-
Instance type: Ensure that the instance type is
compatible with the AMI that you've specified. For more information, see
Instance types.
-
Key pair name: The key pair for the instance. For
more information, see Amazon EC2 key pairs and Windows instances.
-
Network type: If applicable, whether to launch
the instance into a VPC or EC2-Classic. If you choose
VPC, specify the subnet in the
Network interfaces section. If you choose
Classic, ensure that the specified instance
type is supported in EC2-Classic and specify the Availability Zone for
the instance.
-
Security Groups: One or more security groups to
associate with the instance. For more information, see Amazon EC2 security groups for Windows instances.
-
For Network interfaces, you can specify up to two network interfaces for the instance.
-
Device: The device number for the network
interface, for example, eth0 for the primary network
interface. If you leave the field blank, AWS creates the primary network
interface.
-
Network interface: The ID of the network
interface, or leave blank to let AWS create a new network
interface.
-
Description: (Optional) A description for the new
network interface.
-
Subnet: The subnet in which to create a new
network interface. For the primary network interface
(eth0), this is the subnet in which the instance is
launched. If you've entered an existing network interface for
eth0, the instance is launched in the subnet in which
the network interface is located.
-
Auto-assign public IP: Whether to automatically
assign a public IP address to the network interface with the device
index of eth0. This setting can only be enabled for a
single, new network interface.
-
Primary IP: A private IPv4 address from the range
of your subnet. Leave blank to let AWS choose a private IPv4 address for
you.
-
Secondary IP: A secondary private IPv4 address
from the range of your subnet. Leave blank to let AWS choose one for
you.
-
(IPv6-only) IPv6 IPs: An IPv6 address from the
range of the subnet.
-
Security group ID: The ID of a security group in
your VPC with which to associate the network interface.
-
Delete on termination: Whether the network
interface is deleted when the instance is deleted.
-
For Storage (Volumes), specify volumes to attach to the
instance besides the volumes specified by the AMI.
-
Volume type: The instance store or Amazon EBS volumes
with which to associate your instance. The type of volume depends on the
instance type that you've chosen. For more information, see Amazon EC2 instance store and
Amazon EBS volumes.
-
Device name: A device name for the volume.
-
Snapshot: The ID of the snapshot from which to
create the volume.
-
Size: For Amazon EBS volumes, the storage size.
-
Volume type: For Amazon EBS volumes, the volume type.
For more information, see Amazon EBS volume types.
-
IOPS: For the Provisioned IOPS SSD volume type, the
number of I/O operations per second (IOPS) that the volume can
support.
-
Delete on termination: For Amazon EBS volumes, whether
to delete the volume when the instance is terminated. For more
information, see Preserving Amazon EBS volumes on instance termination.
-
Encrypted: If the instance type supports
EBS encryption, you can enable encryption for the volume.
If you have enabled encryption by default in this Region,
encryption is enabled for you. For more information, see Amazon EBS encryption.
-
Key: The CMK to use for EBS encryption.
You can specify the ARN of any customer master key (CMK) that
you created using the AWS Key Management Service. If you specify a CMK, you must
also use Encrypted to enable encryption.
-
For Instance tags, specify tags by providing key and value
combinations. You can tag the instance, the volumes, or both.
-
For Advanced Details, expand the section to view the
fields and specify any additional parameters for the instance.
-
Purchasing option: The purchasing model. Choose
Request Spot instances to request Spot Instances at the
Spot price, capped at the On-Demand price, and choose
Customize Spot parameters to change the default
Spot Instance settings. If you do not request a Spot Instance, EC2 launches an On-Demand
Instance by
default. For more information, see Spot Instances.
-
IAM instance profile: An AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
instance profile to associate with the instance. For more information,
see IAM roles for Amazon EC2.
-
Shutdown behavior: Whether the instance should
stop or terminate when shut down. For more information, see Changing the instance initiated shutdown behavior.
-
Stop - Hibernate behavior: Whether the instance
is enabled for hibernation. This field is only valid for instances that
meet the hibernation prerequisites. For more information, see Hibernate your Windows instance.
-
Termination protection: Whether to prevent
accidental termination. For more information, see Enabling termination protection.
-
Monitoring: Whether to enable detailed monitoring
of the instance using Amazon CloudWatch. Additional charges apply. For more
information, see Monitoring your instances using CloudWatch.
-
Elastic Graphics: An Elastic Graphics accelerator to attach
to the instance. Not all instance types support Elastic Graphics. For more
information, see Amazon Elastic Graphics.
-
T2/T3 Unlimited: Whether to enable applications
to burst beyond the baseline for as long as needed. This field is only
valid for T2 and T3 instances. Additional charges may apply. For more
information, see Burstable performance instances.
-
Placement group name: Specify a placement group
in which to launch the instance. Not all instance types can be launched
in a placement group. For more information, see Placement groups.
-
EBS-optimized instance: Provides additional,
dedicated capacity for Amazon EBS I/O. Not all instance types support this
feature, and additional charges apply. For more information, see Amazon EBS–optimized instances.
-
Tenancy: Choose whether to run your instance on shared hardware
(Shared), isolated, dedicated hardware (Dedicated),
or on a Dedicated Host (Dedicated host). If you choose to launch the instance onto a
Dedicated Host, you can specify whether to launch the instance into a host resource
group or you can target
a specific Dedicated Host. Additional charges may apply. For more information, see
Dedicated Instances and
Dedicated Hosts.
-
RAM disk ID: A RAM disk for the instance. If you
have specified a kernel, you may need to specify a specific RAM disk
with the drivers to support it. Only valid for paravirtual (PV)
AMIs.
-
Kernel ID: A kernel for the instance. Only valid
for paravirtual (PV) AMIs.
-
User data: You can specify user data to configure
an instance during launch, or to run a configuration script. For more
information, see Running commands on your Windows instance at
launch.
-
Choose Create launch template.
- AWS CLI
-
To create a launch template using the AWS CLI
-
Use the create-launch-template command. The following
example creates a launch template that specifies the
following:
-
A tag for the launch template (purpose=production)
-
The instance type (r4.4xlarge) and AMI
(ami-8c1be5f6) to launch
-
The number of cores (4) and threads per core
(2) for a total of 8 vCPUs (4 cores x 2 threads)
-
The subnet in which to launch the instance
(subnet-7b16de0c)
The template assigns a public IP address and an IPv6 address to the instance
and creates a tag for the instance(Name=webserver).
aws ec2 create-launch-template \
--launch-template-name TemplateForWebServer \
--version-description WebVersion1 \
--tag-specifications 'ResourceType=launch-template,Tags=[{Key=purpose,Value=production}]' \
--launch-template-data file://template-data.json
The following is an example
template-data.json file.
{
"NetworkInterfaces": [{
"AssociatePublicIpAddress": true,
"DeviceIndex": 0,
"Ipv6AddressCount": 1,
"SubnetId": "subnet-7b16de0c"
}],
"ImageId": "ami-8c1be5f6",
"InstanceType": "r4.4xlarge",
"TagSpecifications": [{
"ResourceType": "instance",
"Tags": [{
"Key":"Name",
"Value":"webserver"
}]
}],
"CpuOptions": {
"CoreCount":4,
"ThreadsPerCore":2
}
}
The following is example output.
{
"LaunchTemplate": {
"LatestVersionNumber": 1,
"LaunchTemplateId": "lt-01238c059e3466abc",
"LaunchTemplateName": "TemplateForWebServer",
"DefaultVersionNumber": 1,
"CreatedBy": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root",
"CreateTime": "2017-11-27T09:13:24.000Z"
}
}
Creating a launch template from an existing launch template
- New console
-
To create a launch template from an existing launch template using
the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates, and then choose Create
launch template.
-
For Launch template name, enter a
descriptive name for the launch template.
-
For Template version description, provide
a brief description of the launch template version.
-
To tag the launch template on creation, expand
Template tags, choose Add
tag, and then enter a tag key and value
pair.
-
Expand Source template, and for
Launch template name choose a launch
template on which to base the new launch template.
-
For Source template version, choose the launch template
version on which to base the new launch template.
-
Adjust any launch parameters as required, and then choose
Create launch template.
- Old console
-
To create a launch template from an existing launch template using the
console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch Templates.
-
Choose Create launch template. Provide a name, description,
and tags for the launch template.
-
For Source template, choose a launch template on which to
base the new launch template.
-
For Source template version, choose the launch template
version on which to base the new launch template.
-
Adjust any launch parameters as required, and then choose Create
launch template.
- AWS CLI
-
To get launch template data from an instance using the AWS CLI
-
Use the get-launch-template-data command and specify the
instance ID. You can use the output as a base to create a new
launch template or launch template version. By default, the
output includes a top-level LaunchTemplateData
object, which cannot be specified in your launch template data.
Use the --query option to exclude this
object.
aws ec2 get-launch-template-data \
--instance-id i-0123d646e8048babc \
--query "LaunchTemplateData"
The following is example output.
{
"Monitoring": {},
"ImageId": "ami-8c1be5f6",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [
{
"DeviceName": "/dev/xvda",
"Ebs": {
"DeleteOnTermination": true
}
}
],
"EbsOptimized": false,
"Placement": {
"Tenancy": "default",
"GroupName": "",
"AvailabilityZone": "us-east-1a"
},
"InstanceType": "t2.micro",
"NetworkInterfaces": [
{
"Description": "",
"NetworkInterfaceId": "eni-35306abc",
"PrivateIpAddresses": [
{
"Primary": true,
"PrivateIpAddress": "10.0.0.72"
}
],
"SubnetId": "subnet-7b16de0c",
"Groups": [
"sg-7c227019"
],
"Ipv6Addresses": [
{
"Ipv6Address": "2001:db8:1234:1a00::123"
}
],
"PrivateIpAddress": "10.0.0.72"
}
]
}
You can write the output directly to a file, for example:
aws ec2 get-launch-template-data \
--instance-id i-0123d646e8048babc \
--query "LaunchTemplateData" >> instance-data.json
Creating a launch template from an instance
To create a launch template from an instance using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Instances.
-
Select the instance, and choose Actions, Create
Template From Instance.
-
Provide a name, description, and tags, and adjust the launch parameters as
required.
When you create a launch template from an instance, the instance's network
interface IDs and IP addresses are not included in the template.
-
Choose Create Template From Instance.
Managing launch template
versions
You can create launch template versions for a specific launch template, set the
default version, describe a launch template version, and delete versions that you
no
longer require.
Creating a launch template
version
When you create a launch template version, you can specify new launch parameters
or use an existing version as the base for the new version. For more information
about the launch parameters, see Creating a launch template.
- New console
-
To create a launch template version using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates.
-
Select a launch template, and then choose
Actions, Modify template
(Create new version).
-
For Template version description, enter a
description for the launch template version.
-
(Optional) Expand Source template and
select a version of the launch template to use as a base for the
new launch template version. The new launch template version
inherits the launch parameters from this launch template
version.
-
Modify the launch parameters as required, and choose Create
launch template.
- Old console
-
To create a launch template version using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates.
-
Choose Create launch template.
-
For What would you like to do, choose
Create a new template version
-
For Launch template name, select the name of the
existing launch template from the list.
-
For Template version description, enter a
description for the launch template version.
-
(Optional) Select a version of the launch template, or a version of a
different launch template, to use as a base for the new launch template
version. The new launch template version inherits the launch parameters from
this launch template version.
-
Modify the launch parameters as required, and choose Create
launch template.
- AWS CLI
-
To create a launch template version using the AWS CLI
-
Use the create-launch-template-version command. You can
specify a source version on which to base the new version. The
new version inherits the launch parameters from this version,
and you can override parameters using
--launch-template-data. The following example
creates a new version based on version 1 of the launch template
and specifies a different AMI ID.
aws ec2 create-launch-template-version \
--launch-template-id lt-0abcd290751193123 \
--version-description WebVersion2 \
--source-version 1 \
--launch-template-data "ImageId=ami-c998b6b2"
Setting the default launch
template version
You can set the default version for the launch template. When you launch an
instance from a launch template and do not specify a version, the instance is
launched using the parameters of the default version.
- New console
-
To set the default launch template version using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates.
-
Select the launch template and choose Actions,
Set default version.
-
For Template version, select the version
number to set as the default version and choose Set as
default version.
- Old console
-
To set the default launch template version using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates.
-
Select the launch template and choose Actions,
Set default version.
-
For Default version, select the version number and
choose Set as default version.
- AWS CLI
-
To set the default launch template version using the AWS CLI
Describing a launch template version
Using the console, you can view all the versions of the selected launch template,
or get a list of the launch templates whose latest or default version matches a
specific version number. Using the AWS CLI, you can describe all versions, individual
versions, or a range of versions of a specified launch template. You can also
describe all the latest versions or all the default versions of all the launch
templates in your account.
- New console
-
To describe a launch template version using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates.
-
You can view a version of a specific launch template, or get a
list of the launch templates whose latest or default version
matches a specific version number.
-
To view a version of a launch template: Select the
launch template. On the Versions
tab, from Version, select a version
to view its details.
-
To get a list of all the launch templates whose latest
version matches a specific version number: From the
search bar, choose Latest version,
and then choose a version number.
-
To get a list of all the launch templates whose
default version matches a specific version number: From
the search bar, choose Default
version, and then choose a version
number.
- AWS CLI
-
To describe a launch template version using the AWS CLI
-
Use the describe-launch-template-versions command and
specify the version numbers. In the following example, versions
1 and 3 are specified.
aws ec2 describe-launch-template-versions \
--launch-template-id lt-0abcd290751193123 \
--versions 1 3
To describe all the latest and default launch template versions
in your account using the AWS CLI
-
Use the describe-launch-template-versions command and
specify $Latest, $Default, or both.
You must omit the launch template ID and name in the call. You
cannot specify version numbers.
aws ec2 describe-launch-template-versions \
--versions "$Latest,$Default"
Deleting a launch template
version
If you no longer require a launch template version, you can delete it. You cannot
replace the version number after you delete it. You cannot delete the default
version of the launch template; you must first assign a different version as the
default.
- New console
-
To delete a launch template version using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates.
-
Select the launch template and choose Actions,
Delete template version.
-
Select the version to delete and choose Delete.
- Old console
-
To delete a launch template version using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch
Templates.
-
Select the launch template and choose Actions,
Delete template version.
-
Select the version to delete and choose Delete launch template
version.
- AWS CLI
-
To delete a launch template version using the AWS CLI
Launching an instance from a
launch template
You can use the parameters contained in a launch template to launch an instance. You
have the option to override or add launch parameters before you launch the
instance.
Instances that are launched using a launch template are automatically assigned two
tags with the keys aws:ec2launchtemplate:id and
aws:ec2launchtemplate:version. You cannot remove or edit these
tags.
- New console
-
To launch an instance from a launch template using the
console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch Templates.
-
Select the launch template and choose Actions,
Launch instance from template.
-
For Source template version, select the
launch template version to use.
-
For Number of instances, specify the number
of instances to launch.
-
(Optional) You can override or add launch template parameters by changing and
adding parameters in the Instance details section.
-
Choose Launch instance from template.
- Old console
-
To launch an instance from a launch template using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch Templates.
-
Select the launch template and choose Actions,
Launch instance from template.
-
Select the launch template version to use.
-
(Optional) You can override or add launch template parameters by changing and
adding parameters in the Instance details section.
-
Choose Launch instance from template.
- AWS CLI
-
To launch an instance from a launch template using the AWS CLI
-
Use the run-instances
command and specify the --launch-template parameter. Optionally
specify the launch template version to use. If you don't specify the version,
the default version is used.
aws ec2 run-instances \
--launch-template LaunchTemplateId=lt-0abcd290751193123,Version=1
-
To override a launch template parameter, specify the parameter in the run-instances command. The
following example overrides the instance type that's specified in the launch
template (if any).
aws ec2 run-instances \
--launch-template LaunchTemplateId=lt-0abcd290751193123 \
--instance-type t2.small
-
If you specify a nested parameter that's part of a complex structure, the
instance is launched using the complex structure as specified in the launch
template plus any additional nested parameters that you specify.
In the following example, the instance is launched with the tag
Owner=TeamA as well as any other tags that are specified in the
launch template. If the launch template has an existing tag with a key of
Owner, the value is replaced with TeamA.
aws ec2 run-instances \
--launch-template LaunchTemplateId=lt-0abcd290751193123 \
--tag-specifications "ResourceType=instance,Tags=[{Key=Owner,Value=TeamA}]"
In the following example, the instance is launched with a volume with the
device name /dev/xvdb as well as any other block device
mappings that are specified in the launch template. If the launch
template has an existing volume defined for /dev/xvdb,
its values are replaced with the specified values.
aws ec2 run-instances \
--launch-template LaunchTemplateId=lt-0abcd290751193123 \
--block-device-mappings "DeviceName=/dev/xvdb,Ebs={VolumeSize=20,VolumeType=gp2}"
If the instance fails to launch or the state immediately goes to
terminated instead of running, see Troubleshooting instance launch issues.
Using launch templates with Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling
You can create an Auto Scaling group and specify a launch template to use for the
group. When
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling launches instances in the Auto Scaling group, it uses the
launch parameters defined in
the associated launch template. For more information, see Creating an Auto Scaling Group Using a
Launch Template in the Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling User Guide.
Before you can create an Auto Scaling group using a launch template, you must create
a launch
template that includes the parameters required to launch an instance in an Auto Scaling
group,
such as the ID of the AMI. The new console provides guidance to help you create a
template that you can use with Auto Scaling.
To create a launch template to use with Auto Scaling using the console
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch Templates, and then
choose Create launch template.
-
For Launch template name, enter a descriptive name for
the launch template.
-
For Template version description, provide a brief
description of the launch template version.
-
Under Auto Scaling guidance, select the checkbox to have Amazon EC2
provide guidance to help create a template to use with Auto Scaling.
-
Modify the launch parameters as required. Because you selected Auto Scaling guidance,
some fields are required and some fields are not available. For considerations
to keep in mind when creating a launch template, and for information about how
to configure the launch parameters for Auto Scaling, see Creating a
Launch Template for an Auto Scaling Group in the Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling User Guide.
-
Choose Create launch template.
-
(Optional) To create an Auto Scaling group using this launch template, in the
Next steps page, choose Create Auto Scaling
group.
To create or update an Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling group with a launch template using
the
AWS CLI
Using launch templates with EC2 Fleet
You can create an EC2 Fleet request and specify a launch template in the instance
configuration. When Amazon EC2 fulfills the EC2 Fleet request, it uses the launch
parameters
defined in the associated launch template. You can override some of the parameters
that
are specified in the launch template.
For more information, see Creating an EC2 Fleet.
To create an EC2 Fleet with a launch template using the AWS CLI
Using launch templates with Spot Fleet
You can create a Spot Fleet request and specify a launch template in the instance
configuration. When Amazon EC2 fulfills the Spot Fleet request, it uses the launch
parameters
defined in the associated launch template. You can override some of the parameters
that
are specified in the launch template.
For more information, see Spot Fleet requests.
To create a Spot Fleet request with a launch template using the AWS CLI
Deleting a launch template
If you no longer require a launch template, you can delete it. Deleting a launch
template deletes all of its versions.
To delete a launch template (console)
-
Open the Amazon EC2 console at
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
-
In the navigation pane, choose Launch Templates.
-
Select the launch template and choose Actions,
Delete template.
-
Choose Delete launch template.
To delete a launch template (AWS CLI)
