Creating a task definition using the classic console

The new experience is now the default in the Amazon ECS console. For more information, see Creating a task definition using the console.

Important

Amazon ECS has provided a new console experience for creating task definitions. For more information, see Creating a task definition using the console.

You must use the new console to create a task definition for Windows containers on Fargate with the WINDOWS_SERVER_2022_FULL, or WINDOWS_SERVER_2022_CORE operating system.

Before running Docker containers on Amazon ECS, you must first create a task definition. When you create a task definition, you can use it to define multiple containers and data volumes. For more information about the available parameters for task definitions, see Task definition parameters.

To create a new task definition (Classic Amazon ECS console)

Open the Amazon ECS console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ecs/.
In the navigation pane, choose task definitions, Create new task definition.
On the Select compatibilities page, select the launch type that your task is to use and choose Next step.
Follow the steps under one of the following tabs, according to the launch type that you chose.

Fargate launch type

Using the Fargate launch type compatibility template

If you chose Fargate, complete the following steps:

(Optional) If you have a JSON representation of your task definition, complete the following steps:
1. On the Configure task and container definitions page, scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Configure via JSON.
2. Paste your task definition JSON into the text area and choose Save.
3. Verify your information and choose Create.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Configure via JSON.
For Task Definition Name, type a name for your task definition. Up to 255 letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, hyphens, and underscores are allowed.
(Optional) For Task Role, choose an IAM role that provides permissions for containers in your task to make calls to AWS API operations on your behalf. For more information, see Task IAM role.

Note
Only roles that have the Amazon EC2 Container Service Task Role trust relationship are shown here. For more information about creating an IAM role for your tasks, see Creating an IAM role and policy for your tasks.
For Operating system family, choose the container operating system.
For Task execution IAM role, either select your task execution role or choose Create new role so that the console can create one for you. For more information, see Amazon ECS task execution IAM role.

For Task size, choose a value for Task memory (GB) and Task CPU (vCPU). The table below shows the valid combinations.

CPU value	Memory value	Operating systems supported for AWS Fargate
256 (.25 vCPU)	512 MiB, 1 GB, 2 GB	Linux
512 (.5 vCPU)	1 GB, 2 GB, 3 GB, 4 GB	Linux
1024 (1 vCPU)	2 GB, 3 GB, 4 GB, 5 GB, 6 GB, 7 GB, 8 GB	Linux, Windows
2048 (2 vCPU)	Between 4 GB and 16 GB in 1 GB increments	Linux, Windows
4096 (4 vCPU)	Between 8 GB and 30 GB in 1 GB increments	Linux, Windows
8192 (8 vCPU) Note This option requires Linux platform `1.4.0` or later.	Between 16 GB and 60 GB in 4 GB increments	Linux
16384 (16vCPU) Note This option requires Linux platform `1.4.0` or later.	Between 32 GB and 120 GB in 8 GB increments	Linux

For each container in your task definition, complete the following steps:
1. Choose Add container.
2. Fill out each required field and any optional fields to use in your container definitions. More container definition parameters are available in the Advanced container configuration menu. For more information, see Task definition parameters.
3. Choose Add to add your container to the task definition.
(Optional) For Service Integration, to configure the parameters for App Mesh integration, choose Enable App Mesh integration and then do the following:
1. For Mesh name, choose the existing App Mesh service mesh to use. If you don't see any meshes listed, then you need to create one first. For more information, see Service meshes in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
  
  Note
  This option is not available for Windows containers on Fargate.
2. For App Mesh endpoints, select one of the following options.
  - Virtual node – Enter or select the following information.
    For Application container name, choose the container name to use for the App Mesh integration. This container must already be defined within the task definition.
    For Virtual node name, choose the existing App Mesh virtual node to use. If you don't see any virtual nodes listed, then you need to create one first. For more information, see Virtual nodes in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
    For Virtual node port – Pre-populated with the listener port set on the virtual node in App Mesh.
  - Virtual gateway – Enter or select the following information.
    For Virtual gateway name, choose the existing App Mesh virtual gateway to use. If you don't see any virtual gateways listed, then you need to create one first. For more information, see Virtual gateways in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
    For Virtual gateway port – Pre-populated with the listener port set on the virtual gateway in App Mesh.
3. For Envoy image, enter 840364872350.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-appmesh-envoy:v1.15.1.0-prod for all regions except me-south-1 and ap-east-1. You can replace us-west-2 with any Region except me-south-1 and ap-east-1. If your application is in one of these regions, then you also need to replace 840364872350 with the appropriate value for your Region. For more information, see Envoy image in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
4. Choose Apply and then choose Confirm. This will add an Envoy proxy container to the task definition, as well as the settings to support it. If you selected Virtual node, it will also auto-populate the App Mesh Proxy Configuration settings for the next step. If you selected Virtual gateway, then the Proxy Configuration is disabled, because it's not used for a virtual gateway.
(Optional) If you selected Virtual node in Service Integration, then for Proxy Configuration, verify all of the pre-populated values. For more information about these fields, see the JSON tab in Update services.
(Optional) For Log Router Integration, you can add a custom log routing configuration. Choose Enable FireLens integration and then do the following:
1. For Type, choose the log router type to use.
2. For Image, type the image URI for your log router container. If you chose the fluentbit log router type, the Image field pre-populates with the AWS for Fluent Bit image. For more information, see Using the AWS for Fluent Bit image.
3. Choose Apply. This creates a new log router container to the task definition named log_router, and applies the settings to support it. If you make changes to the log router integration fields, choose Apply again to update the FireLens container.
(Optional) To define data volumes for your task, choose Add volume. For more information, see Using data volumes in tasks.
1. For Name, type a name for your volume. Up to 255 letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, hyphens, and underscores are allowed.
In the Tags section, specify the key and value for each tag to associate with the task definition. For more information, see Tagging Your Amazon ECS Resources.
Choose Create.

EC2 launch type

Using the EC2 launch type compatibility template

If you chose EC2, complete the following steps:

(Optional) If you have a JSON representation of your task definition, complete the following steps:
1. On the Configure task and container definitions page, scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Configure via JSON.
2. Paste your task definition JSON into the text area and choose Save.
3. Verify your information and choose Create.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Configure via JSON.
For task definition Name, type a name for your task definition. Up to 255 letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, hyphens, and underscores are allowed.
(Optional) For Task Role, choose an IAM role that provides permissions for containers in your task to make calls to AWS APIs on your behalf. For more information, see Task IAM role.

For tasks that use the EC2 launch type, these permissions are usually granted by the Amazon ECS Container Instance IAM role. For more information, see Amazon ECS container instance IAM role.

Note
Only roles that have the Amazon EC2 Container Service Task Role trust relationship are shown here. For instructions on how to create an IAM role for your tasks, see Creating an IAM role and policy for your tasks.
(Optional) For Network Mode, choose the Docker network mode to use for the containers in your task. The available network modes correspond to those that are described in Network settings in the Docker run reference. If you select Enable App Mesh integration in a following step, then you must select awsvpc.

The default Docker network mode is bridge. If the network mode is set to none, you can't specify port mappings in your container definitions. Moreover, the task's containers don't have external connectivity. If the network mode is awsvpc, the task is provided with an elastic network interface. The host and awsvpc network modes offer the highest networking performance for containers. This is because they use the Amazon EC2 network stack, instead of the virtualized network stack that's provided by the bridge mode. However, exposed container ports are mapped directly to the corresponding host port. Therefore, if port mappings are used, you can't use dynamic host port mappings or run multiple instantiations of the same task on a single container instance.
(Optional) For Task execution role, choose an IAM role that provides permissions for containers in your task to make calls to AWS APIs on your behalf.

For tasks that use the EC2 launch type, these permissions are usually granted by the Amazon ECS Container Instance IAM role. This role is specified earlier as the Task Role. There's no need to specify a task execution role. For more information, seeAmazon ECS task execution IAM role.
(Optional) For Task size, choose a value for Task memory (GB) and Task CPU (vCPU). The Task CPU (vCPU) values that are supported are between 128 CPU units (0.125 vCPUs) and 10240 CPU units (10 vCPUs).

Note
Task-level CPU and memory parameters are ignored for Windows containers. We recommend specifying container-level resources for Windows containers.
For each container in your task definition, complete the following steps.
1. Choose Add container.
2. Enter each of the required fields and any optional fields to use in your container definitions. More container definition parameters are available in the Advanced container configuration menu. For more information, see Task definition parameters.
3. Choose Add to add your container to the task definition.
(Optional) For Constraint, you define how tasks that are created from this task definition are placed in your cluster. For tasks that use the EC2 launch type, you can use constraints to place tasks based on Availability Zone, instance type, or custom attributes. For more information, see Amazon ECS task placement constraints.
(Optional) For Service Integration, to configure the parameters for App Mesh integration, choose Enable App Mesh integration and then do the following:
1. For Mesh name, choose the existing App Mesh service mesh to use. If you don't see any meshes listed, then you need to create one first. For more information, see Service meshes in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
  
  Note
  This option is not available for Windows containers on Fargate.
2. For App Mesh endpoints, select one of the following options.
  - Virtual node – Enter or select the following information.
    For Application container name, choose the container name to use for the App Mesh integration. This container must already be defined within the task definition.
    For Virtual node name, choose the existing App Mesh virtual node to use. If you don't see any virtual nodes listed, then you need to create one first. For more information, see Virtual nodes in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
    For Virtual node port – Pre-populated with the listener port set on the virtual node in App Mesh.
  - Virtual gateway – Enter or select the following information.
    For Virtual gateway name, choose the existing App Mesh virtual gateway to use. If you don't see any virtual gateways listed, then you need to create one first. For more information, see Virtual gateways in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
    For Virtual gateway port – Pre-populated with the listener port set on the virtual gateway in App Mesh.
3. For Envoy image, enter 840364872350.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-appmesh-envoy:v1.15.1.0-prod for all regions except me-south-1 and ap-east-1. You can replace us-west-2 with any Region except me-south-1 and ap-east-1. If your application is in one of these regions, then you also need to replace 840364872350 with the appropriate value for your Region. For more information, see Envoy image in the AWS App Mesh User Guide.
4. Choose Apply and then choose Confirm. This will add an Envoy proxy container to the task definition, as well as the settings to support it. If you selected Virtual node, it will also auto-populate the App Mesh Proxy Configuration settings for the next step. If you selected Virtual gateway, then the Proxy Configuration is disabled, because it's not used for a virtual gateway.
(Optional) If you selected Virtual node in Service Integration, then for Proxy Configuration, verify all of the pre-populated values. For more information about these fields, see the JSON tab in Update services.
(Optional) For Log Router Integration, you can add a custom log routing configuration. Choose Enable FireLens integration and then do the following:
1. For Type, choose the log router type to use.
2. For Image, type the image URI for your log router container. If you chose the fluentbit log router type, the Image field pre-populates with the AWS for Fluent Bit image. For more information, see Using the AWS for Fluent Bit image.
3. Choose Apply. This creates a new log router container to the task definition named log_router, and applies the settings to support it. If you make changes to the log router integration fields, choose Apply again to update the FireLens container.
(Optional) To define data volumes for your task, choose Add volume. You can create either a bind mount or Docker volume. For more information, see Using data volumes in tasks.
1. For Name, type a name for your volume. Up to 255 letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, hyphens, and underscores are allowed.
2. (Optional) To create a bind mount volume, for Source path, enter the path on the host container instance to present to the container. If you leave this field empty, the Docker daemon assigns a host path for you. If you specify a source path, the data volume persists at the specified location on the host container instance until you delete it manually. If the source path doesn't exist on the host container instance, the Docker daemon creates it. If the location does exist, the contents of the source path folder are exported to the container.
3. To create a Docker volume, select Specify a volume driver.
  1. For Driver, choose the Docker volume driver to use. The driver value must match the driver name provided by Docker. Use docker plugin ls on your container instance to retrieve the driver name.
  2. For Scope, choose the option that determines the lifecycle of the Docker volume. Docker volumes that are scoped to a task are automatically provisioned when the task starts and destroyed when the task stops. Docker volumes that are scoped as shared persist after the task stops.
  3. Select Enable auto-provisioning to have the Docker volume created if it doesn't already exist. This option is only available for volumes that specify the shared scope.
  4. For Driver options, specify the driver-specific key values to use.
  5. For Volume labels, specify the custom metadata to add to your Docker volume.
In the Tags section, specify the key and value for each tag to associate with the task definition. For more information, see Tagging Your Amazon ECS Resources.
Choose Create.

External instance launch type

Using the external instance launch type

If you chose External, complete the following steps:

(Optional) If you have a JSON representation of your task definition, complete the following steps:
1. On the Configure task and container definitions page, scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Configure via JSON.
2. Paste your task definition JSON file into the text area and choose Save.
3. Verify your information and choose Create.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Configure via JSON.
For task definition Name, enter a name for your task definition. Up to 255 letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, hyphens, and underscores are allowed.
(Optional) For Task Role, choose an IAM role that provides permissions for containers in your task to make calls to AWS APIs on your behalf. For more information, see Task IAM role and IAM permissions for Amazon ECS Anywhere.
(Optional) For Network Mode, choose the Docker network mode to use for the containers in your task. The available network modes correspond to those that are described in Network settings in the Docker run reference.

The default Docker network mode is bridge. If the network mode is set to none, you can't specify port mappings in your container definitions, and the task's containers don't have external connectivity. If the network mode is awsvpc, the task is allocated an elastic network interface. The host and awsvpc network modes offer the highest networking performance for containers. This is because they use the Amazon EC2 network stack, instead of the virtualized network stack that's provided by the bridge mode. However, exposed container ports are mapped directly to the corresponding host port. Therefore, you can't use dynamic host port mappings or run multiple instantiations of the same task on a single container instance if port mappings are used.
(Optional) For Task execution role, choose an IAM role that provides permissions for containers in your task to make calls to AWS APIs on your behalf.
(Optional) For Task size, choose a value for Task memory (GB) and Task CPU (vCPU). Supported Task CPU (vCPU) values are between 128 CPU units (0.125 vCPUs) and 10240 CPU units (10 vCPUs).

Note
Task-level CPU and memory parameters are ignored for Windows containers. We recommend specifying container-level resources for Windows containers.
For each container in your task definition, complete the following steps.
1. Choose Add container.
2. Enter each of the required fields and any optional fields to use in your container definitions. More container definition parameters are available in the Advanced container configuration menu. For more information, see Task definition parameters.
3. Choose Add to add your container to the task definition.
(Optional) For Constraint, you define how tasks that are created from this task definition are placed in your cluster. For more information, see Amazon ECS task placement constraints.
(Optional) For Log Router Integration, you can add a custom log routing configuration. Choose Enable FireLens integration and then do the following:
1. For Type, choose the log router type to use.
2. For Image, type the image URI for your log router container. If you chose the fluentbit log router type, the Image field pre-populates with the AWS for Fluent Bit image. For more information, see Using the AWS for Fluent Bit image.
3. Choose Apply. This creates a new log router container to the task definition named log_router, and applies the settings to support it. If you make changes to the log router integration fields, choose Apply again to update the FireLens container.
(Optional) To define data volumes for your task, choose Add volume. You can create either a bind mount or Docker volume. For more information, see Using data volumes in tasks.
1. For Name, type a name for your volume. Up to 255 letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, hyphens, and underscores are allowed.
2. (Optional) To create a bind mount volume, for Source path, enter the path on the host container instance to present to the container. If you leave this field empty, the Docker daemon assigns a host path for you. If you specify a source path, the data volume persists at the specified location on the host container instance until you delete it manually. If the source path doesn't exist on the host container instance, the Docker daemon creates it. If the location does exist, the contents of the source path folder are exported to the container.
3. To create a Docker volume, select Specify a volume driver.
  1. For Driver, choose the Docker volume driver to use. The driver value must match the driver name provided by Docker. Use docker plugin ls on your container instance to retrieve the driver name.
  2. For Scope, choose the option that determines the lifecycle of the Docker volume. Docker volumes that are scoped to a task are automatically provisioned when the task starts and destroyed when the task stops. Docker volumes that are scoped as shared persist after the task stops.
  3. Select Enable auto-provisioning to have the Docker volume created if it does not already exist. This option is only available for volumes that specify the shared scope.
  4. For Driver options, specify the driver-specific key values to use.
  5. For Volume labels, specify the custom metadata to add to your Docker volume.
In the Tags section, specify the key and value for each tag to associate with the task definition. For more information, see Tagging Your Amazon ECS Resources.
Choose Create.

To create a new task definition (AWS CLI)

Use the register-task-definition command. For more information, see register-task-definition in the AWS Command Line Interface Reference.

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Document Conventions

Task definition management in the classic Amazon ECS console

Updating a task definition using the classic console