Manually install VSS components on an 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.

• Create VSS snapshots using AWS Backup

• Create VSS snapshots using Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager

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.

Note

To automatically install or update the AwsVssComponents package whenever you create application-consistent snapshots, we recommend that you use Systems Manager to run the AWSEC2-VssInstallAndSnapshot document. For more information, see Run the AWSEC2-VssInstallAndSnapshot command document (recommended).

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

1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/.

2. In the navigation pane, choose Run Command.

3. Choose Run command.

4. For Command document, choose the button next to AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage.

5. For Command parameters, do the following:

   1. Verify that Action is set to Install.

   2. For Name, enter AwsVssComponents.

   3. For Version, enter a version or leave the field empty so that Systems Manager installs the latest version.

6. For Targets, identify the instances on which you want to run this operation by specifying tags or selecting instances manually.

   Note

   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.

7. 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.

8. (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.

     Note

     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.

9. (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.

   Note

   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.

10. (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.

11. 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.

1. Connect to your Windows instance. For more information, see Connect to your Windows instance.

2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Amazon\AwsVssComponents.

3. Open the context (right-click) menu for ec2-vss-agent.exe, and then choose Properties.

4. Navigate to the Digital Signatures tab and verify that the name of the signer is Amazon Web Services Inc.

5. Use the preceding steps to verify the signature on Ec2VssInstaller and Ec2VssProvider.dll.